Writing this feels like ages ago. And yet as if it was yesterday when I visited a gym for the first time ever. But in truth, the story started earlier than that.
Growing up, I wasn’t a sporty kid. For the most part, I was the filler-guy. I.e the guy that get picked last and just for the sole purpose of completing the team lol. No sympathies needed, I wasn’t the best sportsperson. I preferred to spend my time daydreaming, drawing cartoons or at the library engrossed in my books.
It all started to change when I got into 11th grade. That’s when I started playing basket ball. At the time I was no longer one of the shortest guys in class, but still skinny. Basket ball did it for me contrary to football which everyone was into. I just enjoyed playing basket ball and thus, continued in college.
I think it was in my sophomore year when I got into dieting ( i.e. if I can even call it that). At the time I didn’t care about gaining muscles per se. I just wanted to gain weight. I didn’t care if it came in fat or muscles, as long as it covered my bones.
It turned out to be challenging eating more at school given that I was away from the luxury of mom’s free homemade meals. couple that with the stress of daily lectures and night studying, it was hard to even find time to eat the basic 3 let alone binge eat.
I remember coming back home one holiday and decided on an early morning regiment. I’d get up early and get in my oversized red tracksuit and run 12 laps around the neighbourhood’s football field. I’d come back home drenched in my own sweat but with a satisfied smile on my face nonetheless. This was the worse strategy I could have come up with and counter-intuitive for any skinny guy trying to gain weight.
Some time past, and finally I joined a gym. I kicked off a more in-tuned workout routine and started a surplus diet around the same time. This new routine didn’t last long, unfortunately. Although I did perceive that I was getting some where before going back to the status quo. That’s how I struggled but my desire never left. It held strong at my heart.
And then came January of 2018. When I decided to put it down in paper as one of my new year’s resolutions. This time I was serious and furious about changing my body ones and for all. So I went to a sports store, got myself a skipping rope, a mat, a pair of gloves and a shaker bottle. And bought 5kg! of mass gainer. Yes, that’s how serious I was. I did my “nutrition research”, laid down 6 daily meals. downloaded a home workout app and I kicked it off.
I would wake up around 5am in the morning, have about 10 slices of brown bread with fried eggs and tea to flush it down with. Before leaving for class, I’d have my 2nd breakfast which is usually a bowl of oatmeal socked in milk. During my break I would pop out my prepped meal of fries and eggs. During the 2nd break time I’d have my mass-gainer-shake. And upon returning from class, I’d have another meal before my home workout session. Then a post-workout meal immediately after. Followed by one last meal before going to bed. Then I would wake up the next morning to do it all over again.
This lasted for 2 weeks before my willpower started to wobble. Although my body started toning up, the routine was unsustainable. I couldn’t keep the routine up at 100%.
At some point, I understood that to really garner real mass, I can’t keep relying on my body weight. Thus I joined a gym. Unlike my simple gear of a mat skipping rope at home, I was now equipped with a full arsenal of bars, isolation equipment and so much more. So I went crazy. I had no concrete workout plan, I was just doing everything. Although I was one of the skinniest guys at the gym, it didn’t correlate to the calibre of weights that I was humping on my skinny arms. I knew nothing about technique nor humility but my ego was a 10 any day of the week lol.
Similarly, the gym was an upgrade definitely from where I started. My nutrition has improved but I nevertheless, haven’t got the gym figured out and my consistency also started becoming irregular with school as an excuse if you may allow me.
Things continued that way until after my first semester exams. I wasn’t happy with my grades. Actually, I was furious at myself and pissed. All my life ( even though I’ve never been the best student), my results have never rocked that low.
By God’s grace, I remembered the gym and I channeled all that heat there. I found a persuasive gym-trainer online who was selling a very specific course for skinny dudes who can’t seem to gain weight no matter what they do. So paid, got the course, and jumped on it. It had unique workout plans for 3 months straight which resets after the 90 days. This was one of his selling point; The 90 days body transformation. The coach explained concisely the fundamental concepts of muscle growth, technique, diet, and recuperation. It was easy to follow.
I’ve always gave my all when embarking on any goal. But with this found guidance, I’ve never been more certain about my objective and confident about the process. I started eating a lot (about 6x a day), went to the gym 6x a week with only one rest day. At night, I Worked on getting about 6 hours of sleep. I was locked in. With no school as an excuse, that’s the only thing I occupied myself with. eat-hit the gym-rest, eat-hit the gym, rest. I was very meticulous about not skipping meals and was always planning my next meal. The game plan was not to allow my stomach to even get a whiff of the hunger zone. I had meal preps from pure whole foods, protein shakes, and I made high calorie energy shakes.
I remember, there were days when I will come back from a night work-out exhausted, but still some how manage to get food into my body before passing out. The next day I’d wake up sore. But I consoled myself “no pain, no gain. If it hurts it means it working, and we are growing. It’s worth it. Let’s keep going”. On days when I don’t feel like it, with no hesitation in my mind, that’s how I get myself to the gym.
And oh my God did I begin to flurish without even noticing. I could remember waking up in the middle of the night to ease myself and finding it difficult to get up. I was feeling so heavy as if there were weights on my chest. When I saw my reflection in the mirror I froze. My tiny ribs and small chest are now covered with raw meat and muscle. My once lanky arms have morphed into two bazookas with boulders on top for shoulders. similar stuff with my thighs. It felt like a dream. It was so surreal but it was real. Then the looks started rolling in, People were noticing at school, friends talking about how I look so buffed and some started calling me ” Big Man!”.
That’s how Within 6 weeks of intence composure and discipline, I changed my body physique forever. And this was only the beginning.
To be continued…
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer!: The stuff discussed in this article should not be taking as a guide into body building. From the excerpts above, I’ve obviously gone through a lot of blunders and was still going through others when I made my first breakthrough at the end. There are other blogs where I explained how better to go about bodybuilding and what to avoid (e.g bodybuilding myths). Here is one of those blogs: https://mgkayzen.com/mistakes-to-avoid-when-embarking-on-your-bodybuilding-journey/. Like, comment and subscribe. I’ll see you in the next one. Adios.