Bodybuilding.com - Male Transformation Of The Week - Andy Kuhlman.

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For the most part I did 3-4 sets per exercise...

Andy suffered a typical hardgainer lifestyle as he went through school and his freshman year in college - Even though he was athletic he could not gain muscle mass. Learn more about this amazing transformation as he puts on almost 30lbs of lean muscle!

Male Transformation Of The Week - Andy Kuhlman.

By: Andy Kuhlman

Before:
158 lbs

After:
185 lbs

Vital Stats

Name: Andy Kuhlman
Email: AndyKuhl86@cableone.net
BodySpace: THESTUD86

Stats: Before After

Age 19 20

Height 6'3" 6'3"

Weight 158 185

Body Fat% 5% 8%

Chest 37" 40.5"

Arms 12 14.5"

Hips 35" 39"

Waist 30 33"

Thighs 19" 23"

Calves 13" 15.25"

Click To Enlarge.

Why I Got Started

Ever since I can remember, I was always known as the tall skinny kid. From the beginning of school, until after my freshman year of college, I was never given respect by a single guy, nor given serious attention by hardly any attractive woman.

Being overly self conscious didn't help one bit either. I constantly found myself looking into the mirror and was always disappointed with what I saw. As the years went by in High School, the more I became disappointed by my thin body, the more I became shy in public. I lacked the self-esteem to enjoy large social events and get-togethers. The problem was not that I was un-athletic, but that I struggled to put on weight.

Click To Enlarge.
Andy Kuhlman.

I was always athletic, but it was in a cross country kind of way: long and lanky. I took so much criticism from people, that sooner or later a change had to come, for better or for worse. The school year started in fall of 2006, and as I walked around campus again, constantly reminded of how thin I was, and how little attention I got from the female crowd, I had decided it was enough. I was going to change my body no matter what it took, I had finally had enough.

How I Did It

In the fall of 2006, I turned my previous workouts upside down. I had worked out inconsistently for almost 3 years prior to then, but I had minimal to no gains at all in terms of size. I was experiencing what so many call being a hardgainer.

I remember that I could bench 240 lbs by the end of High School, yet I was 6'3" and weighed 158 lbs. So what I did was to totally reexamine my workouts, change any ideas I had before, and shock my muscles into a state of growth. Before the new workout, I had done very low reps and low sets like a 3x3, which I finally realized was mainly meant for strength, not size. That explained why I could bench 240 lbs, yet weighed a scrawny 158 lbs.

Click To Enlarge.
Andy Kuhlman.

Besides changing my workouts, I began to change my eating habits. Simply, I ate like an animal, shoving in as much food as I could get my hands on, yet keeping my selections healthy as not to encourage excess fat growth. I found myself weighing 5-6 lbs more at the end of the day than in the morning.

I measured my diet for a while to find, that on average, I consumed about 4-4500 calories on weekdays, and sometimes up to 5000 on weekends. Eating was just as important to my growth as the workout change, maybe even more important. After all, most people have probably heard that you grow not in the gym, but outside of it.

Click To Enlarge.
Andy Kuhlman.

Supplements

Amazingly, I did not take much in terms of supplements. When I started my new workout and eating habits, I did try the Twin Lab Creatine Stack, it helped me to jumpstart my body into growth.

I took it off and on for about 2 months out of my 12 month transformation, and the rest of the time, I got everything I needed from an increased food intake.

Without a doubt, the Twin Labs product gave me a considerable boost in muscle growth. I would recommend it for anybody looking for a quality creatine stack.

Sample Diet

Friday Morning:

8 medium sized pancakes
1.5 cups applesauce
1 sausage patty
2 glasses water

Morning Snack:

1 large piece cornbread
1 tbsp. butter
1 large nectarine
1 glass water

Lunch:

6 hotdogs
2 cans turkey chili
1 can chicken (to eat seperate)
1 bowl grapes
2 glasses water

Afternoon Snack:

1 large slice blueberry cake
1 glass water

Dinner:

1 large salmon fillet
1 cup wild rice (before cooked)
1 package frozen green beans
1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 glasses water

Evening Snack:

2 cups oatmeal (before cooked)
1/3 cup raising
4 eggs (whites only)
1 glass water

One Week Workout

This is the workout which I used and tweaked for most of my transformation, I am now trying a split routine

For the most part I did 3-4 sets per exercise, and the reps are listed for all exercises. I honestly missed my abs too much, and am now working on them as I should, so it will be a little while before I see good results from them.

Anyway, here is my workout for most of my transformation.

Day 1: Cardio/Abs:

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 1.

Day 2: Chest/Back/Thighs/Calves:

Machine Press: 4-8 reps
Incline Flyes: 4-8 reps
Incline DB Press: 4-8 reps
Dips: 4-8 reps
Pull Ups (reach total of 50 reps)
Machine Rows: 4-8 reps
Leg Press: 8-12 reps
Lunges: 12 total reps
Leg Curl: 8-12 reps
Leg Extension: 8-12 reps
Calf Machine: 12 reps x4 sets

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 2.

Day 3: Shoulders, L Back, Arms:

DB Lateral Raises: 4-8 reps
Arnold Press: 4-8 reps
Good Mornings: 10,6,4
Standing Barbell Curls: 6-8 reps
Skull Crusher: 6-8 reps
Incline DB Curl: 6-8 reps
Standing Triceps Extensions BB: 6-8 reps
Reverse Curls: 6-8 reps
Cable Pressdowns: 6-8 reps
Wrist Curls BB: 8-12 reps
Sit Ups: 25 reps

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 3.

Day 4: Cardio/Abs:

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 4.

Day 5: Chest/Back/Thighs/Calves:

Machine Press: 4-8 reps
Incline Flyes: 4-8 reps
Incline DB Press: 4-8 reps
Dips: 4-8 reps
Pull Ups (reach total of 50 reps)
Palms in Pulldown: 4-8 reps
Leg Press: 8-12 reps
Lunges: 12 total reps
Leg Curl: 8-12 reps
Leg Extension: 8-12 reps
Calf Machine: 12 reps x4 sets

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 5.

Day 6: Shoulders, L Back, Arms:

DB Lateral Raises: 4-8 reps
Arnold Press: 4-8 reps
Good Mornings: 10,6,4
Standing Barbell Curls: 6-8 reps
Skull Crusher: 6-8 reps
Incline DB Curl: 6-8 reps
Standing Triceps Extensions BB: 6-8 reps
Reverse Curls: 6-8 reps
Cable Pressdowns: 6-8 reps
Wrist Curls BB: 8-12 reps
Sit Ups: 25 reps

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day 6.

Advice For Others

I speak to all the hardgainers or just plain skinny people out there who have taken criticism all their life from other people. If you really would like to stack on some weight, focus on three things. Those three key ingredients which I made myself follow was:

To create a broad workout targeting every major muscle group, and most of the time trying to stay with compound movements, with reps targeting maximum muscle growth, somewhere between 8-12 reps for myself, but it differs from person to person.

Next I made sure to eat eat eat which allows the body to recover and get excess calories, allowing an anabolic process to occur in the muscles.

Last but surely not least, I made sure to do the workouts, and not makes excuses about homework and all the other time consuming aspects of life.

With those three things accomplished, I put on nearly 27lbs of muscle on a hardgainer's body, and I hope this motivates anybody else out there looking to do the same. Now when I walk around campus, I find my friends telling me how many girls they see looking at me as I pass by.

The transformation has changed my body considerably, but even more so my confidence. Instead of shying away from social events, I look for them, as a way to show off my hard work, and my new confidence in myself. IT FEELS GREAT!!