In your OP you only mentioned that your brother just recently got back into weightlifting but there isn’t anything about his goals in relation to that. Is he just trying to get his feet wet to get into the habit of exercising just for the sake of it (to “stay in shape”) or did he outright tell you that he wants to build muscle (and you didn’t just assume that he does)?

I talked to him today and it seemed to catch him off guard. He basically just said it’s a good habit to get into and he considers it exercise more than bodybuilding. He has 3 young kids under 5 so I’m guessing that his main reason is to do exercise in a productive way that lets him still help out around the house like if a kid starts crying or breaks something, he can immediately stop what he’s doing and take care of it.

I agree with the person you’re replying to that a hands off approach would be best. Honestly the routine he’s doing is fine when it comes to just getting general movement in. I think the most important thing is getting him to see exercise as “something that you just do” like brushing your teeth.

Yes, that would be great but I fear without a goal to focus on, he will probably quit before it becomes a long-term habit. As you probably know, when you involve a habit with a long-term goal, it not only makes the habit more meaningful, but you’ll also dump 100x more effort into it rather than (like brushing your teeth) just “going through the motions” to get it over with. I’m also low-key hopeful that muscle-building will increase his appetite and help him put on 30 pounds of lean mass. He’s been toothpick-shaped his entire life and I can’t help but see his body type as sickly (even though he’s very healthy and much healthier than me).

You get him professional help for his eating disorder…

I’m 8 years older than him and he’s always been very underweight his whole life since as long as I can remember. Here is a timestamped youtube screenshot of how my brother approximately looks (very tall and skinny but not sufficient to suspect eating disorder). If it were an eating disorder, then at some point in life he would have been a normal healthy weight but he’s always been shaped like a toothpick. 😣

Like, you need to get him to eat, not exercise.

How exactly? Should I just frame it in a clever way so he thinks of it as “non-meal eating” or similar? (i.e. if I tell him to eat 500-600 calories before and after his workout, with at least 40g of protein each) I also thought about framing it as FOMO (fear of missing out) and that he’s leaving gains on the table if he isn’t in a daily 200 calorie surplus, which makes it sound not that difficult to eat an extra 200 calories per day.

In metric: he is around 1.82m and 65 kilos which puts him at a bmi of 19.7, which is at the lower end of a healthy range.

Here is a timestamped youtube screenshot of how my brother approximately looks (very tall and skinny but not sufficient to suspect eating disorder) since I should have provided an image in my OP rather than give his height/weight.

As a beginner doing anything is better than doing nothing, so why not just be supportive and offer to help/explain stuff but don’t give unprompted advice. There is so much you can already achieve with some weights at home and he doesn’t have to go full gymbro to see meaningful changes for health and fitness

I agree and I hope to just give him encouragement and let him know that I’m very knowledgeable and will happily share info with him about any topic as it relates to hypertrophy or muscle protein synthesis. However, I’m not sure if I should get his hopes up that he will gain any muscle or strength, given his lack of insight into eating more everyday. He might be self-conscious about his thinness and I don’t want to make him feel bad about being underweight even though that’s the #1 thing that will hold him back from seeing any benefits such as strength or gaining muscle.

Post covid i have discovered that ive lost all willpower/discipline when it comes to dieting.

Will-power is a myth. Discipline is a long conversation but habits are 100x more important than discipline. It’s really not that hard to start a new habit (if you make make the habit visible, obvious, easy, satisfying, and attractive).

Is a whey powder like Gold Standard something I should be taking to supplement my exercising?

yes! I was recommended some of a particular brand and I bought twelve 5lb tubs when it went on sale for $40 about a year ago during amazon prime days. You should absolutely take the whey within 1 hour of working out because that hits optimal muscle protein synthesis timing. (or take it to replace breakfast since you’re trying to lose weight)

I’m mid-40s and went from 380 to 240 in the past 24 months. I also somehow became significantly stronger during those 24 months which I would have believed to be impossible when losing weight with not much motivation to gain muscle. I only became motivated about 6-7 weeks ago after noticing that my current muscle hypertrophy protocols are working. 💪

This is a test comment only (I’ve been inactive for 2 years and wish to come back and participate). I’m a huge enthusiast of fitness and I’m currently on a PPL program but wishing to downgrade because my brain can’t handle the intensity (CNS fatigue or maybe some other reason) while still maintaining the same level of focus on other aspects of my life and daily responsibilities.