Steve Wortham

503 reputation

bio	website	bucketsoft.com
	location	Colorado Springs, CO
	age	30
visits	member for	1 year, 7 months
	seen	Apr 9 at 17:15
stats	profile views	22

I've been a skinny guy all my life. I couldn't seem to gain weight even if I tried. Then in 2005 I came across the Gaining Mass program by Anthony Ellis. I followed the advice in the book and tracked my progress religiously. With my new diet and weight training routine I managed to gain 20 pounds of muscle in the first 10 months.

Then in 2011 I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. In retrospect, I probably had this disease for at least 3 years and this had caused me to lose practically everything I had gained. But now that the disease is being treated and I'm able to put on weight, my fitness goals are renewed once again.

	503 reputation	bio	website	bucketsoft.com	visits	member for	1 year, 7 months
16 badges		location	Colorado Springs, CO		seen	Apr 9 at 17:15

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Feb 27	comment	Foods for gaining muscle for a new gym guy @mushfiq - Now that I have Crohn's Disease in addition to my fast metabolism, gaining weight is harder than ever. But I still stand by the 6 meal a day routine for a person who has trouble gaining weight. I fell out of the habit of doing that around the time I was diagnosed with Crohn's. But I recently started up again. The thing I realized is that by doing this you'll eventually develop a habit of eating before you're hungry. As a result, by the end of the day you'll have eaten more calories than you ever would have with just 3 meals a day.
Jul 9	comment	What to expect in terms of post-exercise fatigue and what to do about it @Bee - See my updated answer.
Feb 27	comment	What can I do to tone up my bottom? @Aaron - Very true. Or a weight vest also works and is very stylish... amazon.com/dp/B0032HSCKI/…
Feb 16	comment	Why is it beneficial for powerlifters and heavy weight olympic lifters to not have low body fat? Plus, it's very difficult to lose fat while building muscle. In fact, in many cases when bodybuilders go on a "cutting phase" they'll actually lose muscle. So the idea of a cutting phase would probably just be counterproductive for a powerlifter.
Feb 14	comment	Is eating rice everyday healthy? I can't give a detailed answer, but I will say that brown rice is healthier than white rice due to its fiber content. Many brown rices are bland though, and I'd recommend brown basmati for its flavor.
Jan 13	comment	Become strong without spending money Weights are preferred of course, but Rocky improvised with what he could find lying around... youtube.com/watch?v=1SUzcDUERLo
Dec 28	comment	What's the point of the weekly 2-day break in Starting Strength's programming? Can a novice just skip that? Plus, Steve Reeves found that the optimal training frequency for him was just 3 days a week. Other natural bodybuilders did the same back in the day before steroids. As strange as it seems, even for a novice you can easily hurt your progress by training more often than this.
Dec 17	comment	Is body fat monitor worth buying? +1. The most important thing with measuring your progress is repeatability. This is something the impedance-based tools are not so good at as they can be thrown off by how well hydrated you are. But with skinfold measurements, as long you're using the tool properly every time, they should be very consistent. There's an overview of the different methods here... sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=1045
Dec 17	comment	Foods for gaining muscle for a new gym guy @gruszczy - Fine then. Why don't you recommend intermittent fasting to a skinny guy trying to gain weight?
Dec 17	comment	Foods for gaining muscle for a new gym guy @gruszczy - There are hundreds of such individuals on the program that I bought back in 2005 called "Gaining Mass" by Anthony Ellis. I know because I was a regular on their forums for years. Before that program came along the advice for skinny guys/hardgainers was seriously lacking. Nowadays there are dozens of copycat programs out there.
Dec 16	comment	Foods for gaining muscle for a new gym guy Eating small meals 6 times a day is sometimes recommended for people trying to lose weight because it allows you to curb your appetite. But it's perhaps even more effective for those trying to gain weight (you just have to up your calories accordingly). I had literally spent years trying to gain weight before trying this. Then I managed to gain 20 pounds of muscle in 10 months following the advice I gave above.
Dec 16	comment	Foods for gaining muscle for a new gym guy @gruszczy - I ate 6 times a day for two years while working 40 hours/week and going to school part-time. It's not that unreasonable when you consider how often some people snack during the day. And not every meal has to be big and elaborate. In fact my "meal" around 3 o'clock was usually just a protein bar, or sometimes a granola bar.
Dec 16	comment	What to expect in terms of post-exercise fatigue and what to do about it +1. Good suggestion.
Dec 12	comment	Alternatives to Vibram Five Fingers I considered these but the strap between the toes worries me. Running long distances in these must be uncomfortable. I mean, aside from the fact that the sole is super thin. At least the RunAmocs have a nice fit without any unusual pressure points.
Nov 9	comment	Four day training for strength For a thorough (but not too rigorous) warm-up, check this out... youtube.com/watch?v=ake8Q9StTTs I've done this routine many times and it does a good job of warming up the muscles and the joints.