Little Dude Gets Muscles (But Still Feels Little)

[15-Ceps-145-Lbs]

Hey guys -- new to the forum. Really like all the posts.

I see a lot of guys consider themselves "small" and "hardgainers" and then, when they give their stats, they're like 5'11" and weigh around 175!

I wish !!!!!! That sounds HUGE to me.

Me, I was ALWAYS the smallest guy in school, by far. In my senior year, I weighed exactly 97 lbs LOL !!

I started lifting the summer after graduation and gained 30 lbs. in one year. For the first time in my life, I had muscles (13" biceps, which was a big deal for me !)

For the first time, I could flex my biceps and see something. Can't begin to tell you how good that felt.

I've stuck with it, and though I know these stats will sound puny to most of you guys, here's what I've got:

5'7", 145, 41 chest, 15 biceps, 30 waist, 22 quads.

Those are cold measurements, when I'm pumped, the ceps go to 15.5, sometimes 15.7; quads go to 23; chest goes to 41.5. If I super-monitor my caloric intake, I can get my waist to 29, but I have to watch it, otherwise I also lose weight and drop to 138-140 lbs.

Had a personal trainer for several years, which was great and pushed me to the limit. My max barbell curl is 125 for about five reps with spotter (not perfect form) and 105 for 12 reps with good form.

I also do chin-ups in sets of 20-25 (my max on that is 33, with good form). I can do leg presses of 700 lbs for six to eight reps, but it's excruciating and not perfect form. 500 pretty much does it for me, 10-12 reps at good form.

My one frustration is not being able to get over 150 lbs. Seriously! I eat and eat and eat but at 150 it all goes to my waist and I lose def everywhere. Believe me, genetics does play a part in this. I'm sort of like a Tobey Macguire type, I guess.

People tell me all the time I've got plenty of muscles, and if I wear a tank or short-sleeve shirt I get remarks and compliments, even from total strangers, so I guess I don't look exactly pathetic LOL. But still ---------------------

Being a little guy can be FRUSTRATING !!

I've always said it takes me three times the effort to get one-third the results.

And I won't take roids, so all I've got to work with is training and diet.

Anyway, I was wondering what you guys thought of this, and especially wanted to know if there are any guys on here WHO ARE LIKE ME and in a similar situation.

By the way, the above isn't meant to sound like whining or complaining. If I do need an attitude check, I simply remind myself that I've been given a healthy (if not huge) body and I should be totally grateful for that.

Thanks for reading. Please reply. This is a great site !!

[DonnieJvilleNC]

It's really cool to hear the story from the other extreme. I was the opposite...the Fatty McFatterson who finds it hard to lose weight/fat.

From your description, you sound like you've made great progress. Keep hitting it hard and you never know...your body just might kick into "high gear".

[arpeejay]

Pix, dammit, pix!

xoxo

Richard

[15-Ceps-145-Lbs]

Thanks, Donnie. Right now, I'm hitting the gym 5 times a week, plus I do some stuff at home in the morning.

Also doing cardio (running) to keep six-pak.

[harleyxr]

I'm definitely a hard gainer and while not natural now I trained natural for many years. You say if you eat more it goes right to your waist. For me, I had little size but great definition, so naturally that was very important to me. One of the best things I ever heard was how when guys were trying to gain they panicked and ditched it as soon as their precious abs started to dissapear. I had to understand that it is almost impossible for hard gainers (or most other guys too) to bulk and cut at the same time. The answer for me was to increase calorie intake just slightly, eat 6x/day and NOT panic if I was a little smoother for a while. What I do now is bulk fall and Winter and cut in the Spring so I look my best in the Summer.

p.s: Many congrats on the improvement. I do know how very cool it is not to be skinny anymore.

[Jim USA]

Of course you get compliments when wearing a tank top. Little waist and 15" arms. C'mon. Let's see your pics.

[b.spencer]

Jim's right. With those measurements, you sound very impressive.

One of my close childhood friends sounds exactly like you. He started working out when we were young as part of rehab after a car accident. 5'8" and quite thin to start with. He didn't explode in growth, but by the time we were 18, he was about 150 lbs. with measurements virtually the same as you. He tried time and again to gain mass, but he could never seem to gain an ounce no matter how hard he tried. He decided that if he couldn't gain, he wouldn't worry about it and instead concentrated on sculpting himself and every muscle he could figure out someway to work. The traditional muscle groups and many of the smaller ones, down to even individual fingers for grip strength. If he gained, that was fine, but refining his build and increasing his weight:strength ratio became almost an obsession.

We've run into each other a couple of times over the 13 years since we graduated, and he's still only gained maybe 10 lbs. But, even though I know many guys who dwarf him in size, I can honestly say I've never seen with my own eyes a more balanced, quality physique in my life. And he can do things in the gym and at home that make most big guys just shake the heads in amazement. Whatever you decide to do, you've already made yourself into someone most guys can only dream about becoming.

Brad

[jcnutt]

I agree, those are some big numbers for biceps on a smaller frame. Just keep working, make sure you are getting enough fule or food fo your body to add muscle mass and it will happen. Remember even though you feel small, I can guarantee there are a lot if bigger guys that think you have the better build..lean hard muscle.

[15-Ceps-145-Lbs]

Hey guys,

Thanks very, very much for the nice posts and the encouragement. I really appreciate it.

Yes, Brad, your friend is very much like me. I did everything you could possibly imagine (except steroids) to put on weight and I couldn't get beyond 150 to save my life! So I'm doing what your friend did -- concentrate on definition and strength as opposed to bulk. I think that will probably work better for me. Like your friend, I focus on smaller muscle groups as well as the larger ones, including hand and forearm grips. I also do cardio (running and jump rope) which helps me stay cut.

Again, thanks for the kind words. Sometimes I obsess a little over my stats and wonder if they're big enough. So thanks for the encouragement!

[tremorwolf]

Dude, at 5'6, i can relate to the always feeling small bit,, I'm by far the shortest out of all my freinds, but im also the strongest

[TitanInTraining]

I'm 5'9" on average but feel about 5'8 1/2" so even at my weight I do feel a little short. So I understand also just a little, though.

[Speaker]

I knew a kid in high school who when he was a freshman was 78 lbs. The wierd thing was his parents werent short at all, but i kept in touch with him after high school and he's had a major turnaround. We dont live near each other so i cant really give pics but he actually grew to about 5'9 (which is impressive considering he was under 5'0" when he was a freshman, apparently his dad didnt really start growing until college/late high school either) and gained a fair amount of muscle. Dont give up! It CAN happen to you!

[nj.]

I'm 125 pounds at 5'11'', so I know what you're talking about. I've tried working out several times, but for some reason I never continued. However, suddenly I've started actually enjoying it and I think I've got something going right now. I'm pretty young for my age (18), physically, so there's hope. I'll always be pretty small -- that's just the way my family is -- but I won't give up this time !

Thanks for your inspiring story too.

[arpeejay]

When I was 18 I was the same height I am now (5'10 1/2" tall) and weighed all of 140 lbs. I had a 29 inch waist (but no abs!) and my parents thought I looked emaciated.

Actually, I'd just spent 9 months working in the Lawn and Garden Department at Montgomery Ward. Moving bags of fertilizer and mulch and potting soil and concrete mix around all day pretty much melted the 30 lbs. of baby fat I was carrying when I started my senior year of h.s.

That was a long time ago. By the time I graduated from college I was up to 180 and I hit 200 a couple of years after that. Things stayed in that range, 170-200, for a very long time. It was only after I hit 40 that I had another growth spurt, eventually reaching my maximum weight of about 230-235 when I was living in Houston circa 2000-2002.

After that I stopped working out (long story) and in the process dropped about 30 lbs. I started up again in March (with a personal trainer, woo hoo) and I'm pleased to report that while my weight hasn't changed really (up or down) the measurements are all moving in the right direction; shoulders, chest, arms, quads, and calves are all a bit thicker, waist is a bit smaller.

The point of all this is to say:

It's a lifelong process. What you look like at 18, in terms of build, is likely to be radically different from what you look like at 22 or 25, much less 30 or 40. Some people are gifted and make gains really fast; the others of us just plod along. But that's OK. It's all about consistency of effort over time.

As for me, I'd kill to have biceps as big as my calves, much less biceps that were the same proportion as yours, 15Ceps. Relatively speaking, mine would need to be about 20 inches to match yours! From my point of view, yours come under the heading of "Holy Fuckin' Moly!"

Mwah / smoochies...

Richard

[James35]

Originally Posted by nj.

I'm 125 pounds at 5'11'', so I know what you're talking about. I've tried working out several times, but for some reason I never continued. However, suddenly I've started actually enjoying it and I think I've got something going right now. I'm pretty young for my age (18), physically, so there's hope. I'll always be pretty small -- that's just the way my family is -- but I won't give up this time !

Thanks for your inspiring story too.

Hey nj, those were my exact stats when I was your age! Don't give up. Keep up the workouts, eat a lot of the right foods and you'll make good progress... the key with our type builds is consistency and time. Getting older will be good for you (that's not true for everybody). I just wish I had gotten into training when I was your age; that will also be a plus for you over time.