So, I have devised a new quest for myself, which I will call “Project AWESOME.” The goal of project AWESOME is to make myself more awesome.
Being a white kid blessed with the scrawny genes, I figured I was doomed to being skinny for the rest of my life. I have generally stayed pretty active (lifted, Tar Kwon Do, running, dancing), but nothing seems to elevate me above white skinny kid status – except maybe a full day in the sun, in which case I become the red skinny kid.
The first phase of Project AWESOME is weight gain – preferably with muscle. While I have my doubts about some of Tim Ferriss’ methods, his Geek to Freak story is quite motivating. I doubt I will have the same gains, but I decided to give it a try. I picked up a copy of Tim’s 4 Hour Body book and read through the muscle building chapters. I devised a low-fat, 3000 Calorie diet with 180 g of protein per day. I have a lifting routine that works out my entire body with Single Set Failure two days per week.
More importantly, I started tracking my weight and body fat daily with a scale that uses Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA). I also track the amount of weight used in the gym. This has proven to be extremely useful, as I know when to increase the weights. I write down the weight I want to lift. If I make it past 8 reps, I add a ‘+’ after the number, which tells me that I need to increase the weight on my next visit.
You can find my food schedule here: 2012-01-03 – Food Schedule and my workout log here: 2012-01-03 – Workout Log.
Hep Cap 
Ok, I’ve looked over you workout and checked out those links. There’s a lot i don’t agree with. I don’t want to sound mean or awful in any way, in all the things I’ve read, you cant gain 34lbs of muscle in 4 weeks. You are doing well to gain 1.5 lbs of muscle in 2 weeks. I don’t really agree with the workout your whole body everyday thing. I personally have seen better gains by separating the different group into days. For example. I do Chest sunday, back and shoulders on Tuesday (Monday is a rest and nutrient day) thursday is bi’s and tri’s and on friday i do legs. I haven’t done enough research to know for sure that full body workouts increase the level of testosterone, but i do know stressing the body like that creates cortisol, which is bad for the muscles. Working out the legs is a great way to stimulate testosterone, because they are the largest muscle in your body. Green tea is a good drink to fight off the effect of cortisol. I’m not going to tell you to change your workout, but this is how I’ve made gains. Your diet is amazing, you just need to find a workout that your muscle type agrees with. Good luck my friend.
-Andrew K
Andrew,
Thanks for the info! After more research and experimenting, I’m starting to think that Tim is a hack when it comes to physical fitness :P It might be possible to RE-gain 34 pounds in a month with some extreme training, eating, and supplements/drugs, but it seems pretty ludicrous. However, he’s a genius when it comes to psychology. The main point in his 4-Hour Body book is to record and log everything. Since I’ve been doing that, I’ve been able to visually see progress with the numbers (strength and weight gains per week, etc.) and it keeps me motivated to stay on track. Also, it allows me to experiment with things and see what works best for my body type. Thus far, I’ve been able to prove that I definitely need at least 25% fat in my diet to keep my energy levels high, and I also need at least 3000 Calories per day to gain weight. Since I’ve done 1 month of full-body workouts twice per week and I’ve started to plateau, I actually started working with a friend to design a workout routine almost exactly like the one you mentioned (three times per week while focusing on specific muscle groups). Once I have that routine, I will post it, and I will let you know how it works (your input is also always welcome).
-Shawn