Hardgainer trying to bulk up...

[johnbiggity]

A little background--- I'm a college student and I've been vegan for about 4 years. I've ALWAYS been very skinny even though I eat a ton. I've lifted on and off for the past couple years and have had little/moderate success gaining weight. However, the past couple months of school have been pretty stressful/busy and I've lost a lot of the gains I made. I'm posting on this board to try to motivate myself to stick to my routine... (still feel a little bit dumb posting shirtless pictures of myself on the internet).

Height: 5'9 1/2"
Weight: 150lbs.

I'm starting off on a split-day lifting schedule 5 days a week. In addition, I'm planning on taking in 5000+ calories a day with 150g+ of protein. My goal is to add on a solid 10 pounds of muscle to get to 160lbs. Any suggestions are welcome!

Before picture.

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[Nicholas_Weir]

May I say you have a great foundation man! (no homo).

Just keep your workouts intense and under or at 1 hour in length to prevent entering a catabolic state. Best of luck, look forward to seeing your progress over the next few months!

[chewybaws]

I'm planning on taking in 5000+ calories a day with 150g+ of protein

Sounds like a good plan. If the five day split doesn't work, try a 3x/week strength prog

[Nicholas_Weir]

I'm planning on taking in 5000+ calories a day with 150g+ of protein

Sounds like a good plan. If the five day split doesn't work, try a 3x/week strength prog

Yeah, I actually second chewy on the strength program!

[veggiesasquatch]

Destroy all food you see (obviously nothing animal related if your vegan)

[awaken375]

http://stronglifts.com/how-to-gain-weig ... inny-guys/

this isn't all vegan, but you can take the numbers into account.

there's no such thing as a hardgainer.. just eat more protein between lifts.
and maybe get deeper sleep..
turn lights off an hour before sleep (melatonin). make sure you sleep in silence (alpha waves are required for muscle).
and i don't know if you're planning on enough protein. i'd shoot for 200g/day.
if you want to eat more protein in one sitting, get chlorella. the chlorophyll will keep you alkaline when you double-dose the protein scoops.

i was trained 3 sets of 8 reps. once 24 reps are complete, add 5 pounds.
eating lots of pasta and protein should get you where you want to be..
i feel like i'm rambling.

[johnbiggity]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll try to keep this updated every couple weeks or so.

there's no such thing as a hardgainer.

I'm not so sure if there is 'no such thing as a hardgainer'. Obviously some people have faster metabolisms and have ectomorphic body types less conducive to building mass; thus, it's harder for them to gain. Not impossible though!

What you said about sleep is interesting. I'll look into it for sure.

[veggiesasquatch]

Agree 150g protein isn't enough