So as part of attempting to be less of a stick, I've started doing this hundred pushups program. I like its mix of flexibility with structure, its "end goal" and the ability to do this at home. I am currently on week 2 and as of now, I'll have to repeat week 2 as I am struggling far more than my first week, not being able to complete the final set even with 'cheat pushups'. I may not reach week 6 if my body simply does not have the muscle/resources to work with, though I doubt that'll be the case given the program's target audience being so broad.

http://hundredpushups.com/

Ultimately, even when I get through this, I realize this will more focus on strength than mass, which is why I consider this a stepping stone to ultimately do more weights. I'm doing this in part because I do not wish to go to the gym and my freeweights options for home are rather limited. Still, doing what I can with things like this to start with, and I figured better strength will allow me for better mass, and hey, it's not like the former is a bad thing. :p I also realize that exercise is only half of the equation - I need the right diet to succeed anywhere. However, I pretty much eat as I please anyway, which I'm trying to include a lot of high protein (meats and fish when I can, nuts, bread with more protein, etc.) and calories in general (pasta for instance). Hell, I even drink my fair share of beer, and that's supposed to be a sure-fire way to gain weight. Instead, thusfar, I've somehow managed to lose 5 pounds.

So my questions for the fitness nuts of Massassi are as follows:
1) Is there a similar program to the 100 pushups program that a) is focused more on body building and b) can be done at home (i.e. suggestions for using fewer freeweights for more purposes etc.). I need structure as I have no sense of how to progress on my own, and I need flexibility to adjust for time and if I'm not in a certain 'bracket' for the norm.

2) What are some recommended safer protein supplements? It's obvious that normal diet alone has done all it can.

Things I am not interested in hearing:
- Telling me to go to the gym. I have no interest in paying money or time to go to a sweaty, smelly environment with strangers around (or friends for that matter). If I'm doing that, I might as well go to a brothel and pick up some STDs while I'm at it.
- Telling me not to focus on mass/telling me how great being skinny is. I am a stick and have no desire to be a stick. Gaining strength, endurance, etc. are all great, and they are only stepping stones for me in my ultimate goal -- to turn into the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man, of course.
-Telling me not to use supplements/"just have a lot of ice cream/beer/potato chips/souls of unbaptized children". Again, I am 6'6" and 160lbs, and have been this way for 10 years regardless of my diet. I will probably never have normal human proportions, and I would like to make the effort to get as close as I can to normal human proportions. I would appreciate any sites that tailor to a healthy calorie goal and diet for gaining weight, as I would like to make sure I am still eating an ideal normal diet for my goal.
-Telling me to hire a personal trainer. I don't have the money and I would likely not trust any I could afford. If this "personal trainer" is in fact a hot mistress, however, I will reconsider.
-Offer any other unsolicited advice. If you have none for what I asked for, then just don't respond. Otherwise, I will offer unsolicited advertisement for the Interactive Story Board.

Feel free to use this thread to describe your own progress on any fitness programs or diets you're following, as well as any other questions to make this a general "questions for fitness nuts" thread. I will likely post my progress in this thread so as to get even more people to harass me when I try to quit.

I used this to put on weight - went from 6' 144lb to 166lb in less than two months.

Gyms don't have to be sweaty and smelly...not sure what ones you're going to, but mine is really nice.

Admittedly, I've only been to 1-2 gyms that weren't at my old high school/college. Regardless, even ideal gyms have other people in them, and at least at this point, I have no interest in working out with other people around me. It's not a matter of thinking I look bad -- I know that many people have that issue. I just prefer to be by myself when working out, just as some people might prefer not studying in a library or praying at a church.

As for GOMAD (what a scary acronym!), sounds intriguing. I love my milk as it is, though it sounds like I'd have to switch back from 2% to whole and start taking some to work. According to the site, my minimum weight goal should be 210lbs. I'll probably have to start including a squat program as well as a sit-up program sooner so to spread the weight around and not look like I'm getting a beer gut. Thanks, JLee!

Eat a ton. High protein, low fat foods. Put in as many calories as possible. You should be aiming for over 3500 a day.

Do a four day workout program with "off days" on wednesday, saturday, and sunday. Run on wednesday and saturday. Run for 20 minutes. Doesn't matter how far.

On the workout days, do muscle groups. I can point you to a few programs if you want.

If you don't want to go to the gym, buy a bench. You can get a decent enough one for 200 dollars or so. Buy a barbell, a few dumbells, and a handful of plates. You aren't going to need 300lbs of plates any time soon. You also have no immediate need for an olympic bench, so don't let someone convince you that you do. There's no good reason you shouldn't be able to fit a small bench in your house/apartment.

You can potentially put on weight using body weight exercises like pushups and such, but you'll have to do a ton of them every day. Using weights is going to save you a lot of time.

Or you could use P90X. I hear that's good. But it's also going to require you to buy some equipment. You just have to stick with it. No matter what you do, unless you get on the juice, it's going to feel like forever before it seems like anything is happening.

As far as gyms go, I don't see any real reason to go to one. It's cheaper to buy a bench for home use and you won't have to deal with some grunting ******* using it when you need it.

Oh, and as far as supplements go, your mileage may vary on most of them. Some people have a lot of luck with certain ones, and others don't have any luck with the same ones. The most crucial part of using supplements is to actually have a real stack. Go to [url]www.bodybuilding.com[/url] for a lot of informative articles, workout plans, supplement suggestions, etc... They also have a store with actual helpful user reviews, as well as a message board full of people who are more than willing to help you out.

Thanks, Anthony! As for buying a bench, unless I can convince my roommate (which I may try soon), I unfortunately do NOT have the room, since I only have my own room to work with and there's only enough space for me to eek out for push-ups as it is. To that end, it's also why I'm limited on the amount of free-weights I can get as well. I'm considering buying weighted clothes, which I realize are expensive and only do so much, yet is something I can use in a limited space in conjunction with non-weighted exercises.

Also, so long as it seems I'm improving in something, somehow, I can be patient. I've been discouraged in the past though since there was a time where a solid 6 months seemed to have little effect. That was some time ago, though, and I'm hopeful my metabolism has changed enough for me to make better progress.

If room really is an issue, give P90X a try. It's super brutal, but I've never heard bad things about it.

I'm not sure P90X is really what I'm looking for, though I do find the focus of minimal equipment to be appealing. I'd be interested to see the general program and then perhaps adapt it to something less "XTREME!"

Eventually, I want to have a complete workout where I'm not critically neglecting a vital part of the body, become an inflexible brick, falling over from lack of balance, and so forth.

Try to add up all the grams of protein you're eating, a loose rule of thumb is 180lbs = 180 x 0.9 = 162g. Although some people go for 180lbs = 180g.

Also try to figure out your maintenance calories, either something like this link, or google Harris-Benedict formula.
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm#

And then determine if you're eating enough. If you're not eating this + ~500 calories, that will be why you're losing weight (unless it's water loss).

http://dailyburn.com/ Is useful for counting up how much you're eating, and figuring out your calories/protein intake.

I remember there was someone on here years ago doing some kind of no-weights workout where you utilise your body mass. I think Greenboy or happydud. I don't know if they're still doing it.

There are actually a few levels to the P90 program. Power 90, Power 90 Master Series, P90X, P90X+, P90X One-on-One, and P90X:MC2. P90x is the "extreme" version of Power 90.

I'm not qualified to offer any advise, but best of luck! I'm planning on putting on some muscle myself, though probably gonna do it gym style. Hopefully I won't be picking up any STDs while I'm at it... Thanks for the link, too. The program sounds fun.

I've started a new diet to go with my fitness routine. I'm currently hovering around 280lbs at the moment, which I'm not complaining. I just want some cut and not lose strength. I talked to a personal trainer friend who gave me a new diet. Complex Carbs are my new friend. 6 small meals a day. I'm switching from white rice to brown, eating boneless skinless chicken for meat, and a lot of whole grain breads. Fruits and veggies are no problem for me and I really don't have much of a sweet tooth except for soda, which is going to be tough on me. I'm hoping for some improvement six months down the road. We'll see how this goes.

im out of shape and will probably stay that way for the remainder of my existence

100 pushups in six weeks? Yeah, I could probably do that. That's only, what, like 2 or 3 a day.

I keep misreading the title as "For the finest nuts."

I did the test... But I'm not sure if I was doing it right. Basically I've put a roll of toilet paper under my chest and made sure I touched it every time I went down. But maybe I made it too easy on myself. I could do 26 that way, so I guess column 3. Let's see how this goes.

If you go over twenty, they suggest skipping to the third week, I believe. I myself will certainly have to repeat week 2 where I am right now, since I am struggling far more than I did during week 1.