Can't gain weight, Not one pound

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Forest Ninja

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Nov 5, 2014
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Teenage Wasteland
I'm trying to gain mass, more specifically lean muscle mass, but mass in general. I can't seem to gain a f*cking pound! I'm not sure if its my diet, body, or something else. So here's what's going onGot back into the gym in September, went from 141 to 162 in about 6 weeks, but I haven't gained a pound in 3-4 weeks. I'm hovering around 161-164. Its pretty shitty.

I currently do 2 alternating days for my workout plan. Day A is arm day, it consists of full upper body (chest, arms, back) it takes about 2 hours to complete, and is high intensity
training. Day B is leg and ab day, slower pace and only takes about an hour to complete. I go to the gym 6 days a week with Sunday being a rest day.

My diet consists of high protein, high carb, with some fats present. I eat eggs, toast, oatmeal, greek yogurt, and whey protein in the morning. I snack throughout the day, and for lunch I usually have a large cheese pizza or a 3/4lb hamburger from Wendy's. Dinner is usually a large meal consisting of potatoes, rice, beans, and either chicken or beef. Lots of soups too, chicken noodle, beef stew, chili, etc. Sandwiches, some junk food.I eat a lot of snacks. Realistically I'd estimate my caloric intake to be 2000-4000 a day.

I get plenty of sleep and outside of the gym I try to stay sedentary as much as possible. No point in burning calories I don't have to burn. I can't seem to gain any more weight. It's kind of killing my motivation because I don't know what's wrong. I feel like I physically can't eat any more either, I eat to the point where it's uncomfortable most of the time. I can't even gain a pound of fat. My weight WILL NOT go up. I'm literally stuffing my face as I type this in hopes that when I go to the gym tomorrow I won't be at 159.

Anyone have any ideas or solutions as to why I'm not gaining? No one seems to know that I've asked. Most say its just a metabolic obstacle and I need to eat even more. I feel like I can't get enough calories in my body. tl:dr I can't gain a pound to save my life.
 
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"Realistically I'd estimate my caloric intake to be 2000-4000 a day."

You are probably way underestimating what you are eating, 99% of the people who say they can't gain weight/muscle and say they are eating lots are actually eating way less calories than they think.

How tall are you? Assuming 5'8-6'0, 160lbs is not that heavy and you should be able to gain mass. I'm assuming you are a naturally lean guy with a small appetite. All I can suggest is to eat more calorie dense food, peanut butter, chocolate, baked goods etc.. I could easily eat 3000 cals in one sitting of junk. I'm not saying eat junk food all the time, but if you are having trouble getting in enough calories then some 'unclean' food every now and then isn't going to hurt and will help bring up your calories. 2000 calories is pretty low for an active young male, I would say you are gonna wanna hit 3000-3500 cals everyday, if you notice some fat gain after a while maybe scale it back but it shouldn't be too much.
 
Hit the nail on the head. I'm 5'10" and honestly I HATE eating. It makes me gag most of the time, still force it down though. I'm trying to eat dense food. I guess next on the menu is brownies, ice cream, and chips. Still eating as we speak.
I still think it might be something other than straight intake though. Am I on a plateau or do i really just need to keep stuffing my face more and more?
 
Forest Ninja said:
I'm trying to gain mass, more specifically lean muscle mass, but mass in general. I can't seem to gain a f*cking pound! I'm not sure if its my diet, body, or something else. So here's what's going on Got back into the gym in September, went from 141 to 162 in about 6 weeks, but I haven't gained a pound in 3-4 weeks. I'm hovering around 161-164. Its pretty shitty.

I currently do 2 alternating days for my workout plan. Day A is arm day, it consists of full upper body (chest, arms, back) it takes about 2 hours to complete, and is high intensity
training. Day B is leg and ab day, slower pace and only takes about an hour to complete. I go to the gym 6 days a week with Sunday being a rest day.

My diet consists of high protein, high carb, with some fats present. I eat eggs, toast, oatmeal, greek yogurt, and whey protein in the morning. I snack throughout the day, and for lunch I usually have a large cheese pizza or a 3/4lb hamburger from Wendy's. Dinner is usually a large meal consisting of potatoes, rice, beans, and either chicken or beef. Lots of soups too, chicken noodle, beef stew, chili, etc. Sandwiches, some junk food.I eat a lot of snacks. Realistically I'd estimate my caloric intake to be 2000-4000 a day.

I get plenty of sleep and outside of the gym I try to stay sedentary as much as possible. No point in burning calories I don't have to burn. I can't seem to gain any more weight. It's kind of killing my motivation because I don't know what's wrong. I feel like I physically can't eat any more either, I eat to the point where it's uncomfortable most of the time. I can't even gain a pound of fat. My weight WILL NOT go up. I'm literally stuffing my face as I type this in hopes that when I go to the gym tomorrow I won't be at 159.

Anyone have any ideas or solutions as to why I'm not gaining? No one seems to know that I've asked. Most say its just a metabolic obstacle and I need to eat even more. I feel like I can't get enough calories in my body. tl:dr I can't gain a pound to save my life.
Click to expand...

21lbs are pretty good gains for 6 weeks, although I would expect not all of that to be lean body mass.. What may be happening in the last 3-4 weeks is some adjustment of body fat% (lowering) and some increase in lean mass (raising), but not showing as weight increase due to gaining of one (lean mass) but losing of another (body fat)..!!

Continual increases as you have previously experienced are not sustainable over the long term.. Once the initial effects of training and increased nutrition have been obtained, you might expect gains to slow to something like 1-2kg/year of lean mass (muscle)... Its slow, most people get pissed off and give up, or go on AAS..!! Unfortunately the same thing happens with AAS after the initial huge gains, you plateau to increases of 1-2kgs/year unless you keep increasing the dose..!! Again most people get pissed off and give up..!!

I might suggest training day A might not be optimal for growth (Chest, shoulders, traps, biceps, triceps in one day)..??? You are probably not hitting all muscle groups optimally..!!
And if anything 2 hours is too long in gym... You are over-training on that day without sufficient rest..!! You need a rest day on maybe Wednesday, as well as Sunday..!!

Don't eat shit all the time just to get the calories, you may end up a fat blob.. Try high protein high, carb days, with essential fats, then high protein, high fat no carb days...!!
If you want calories, drink some olive oil, with a protein meal, low carbs.. Essential fats have 9 Cals/gram... protein 4, carbs 4.. Carbs can increase body fat%, essential fats provide energy when carbs are not included..!!

Stick with it, train correctly, eat good food most of the time, and REST..!! You will grow over the longer term, if everything < is correct... If not your doing something wrong..!!
Its a slow process be patient..!!
 
Alright, I'm upping my food intake significantly to see what that does as I fear I may loose weight if I don't.
Should I split up my A/B Day and put what on B day?
So far I've put back on B Day
A Day:
Chest
Bi
Tri
Shoulders
B Day:
Legs
Abs
Back

Is six days a week really too much?? I can take Wednesday off but I'd hate to do that if I didn't have to. I try to force myself to rest as much as possible and I don't do any cardio.
I'm sticking with it definitely it's just annoying how the last few weeks have been, and at 19 I feel like I'm probably too young to attempt a cycle. It probably wouldn't do me much good either. As I read an article on here about genetic potential vs anabolics. I feel like I'm not at my peak yet.

Peanut Butter, Potato, and Lasagna time.
 
I would do 4 days a week especially on a limited diet. Back and triceps, chest and biceps, shoulders and traps, legs...

I train 5 days a week on cycle, 2 hours in the gym and 6 times a week is way too much
 
I'm on a fair amount of aas and train five days a week. Definitely need rest as the body grows when we rest not in the gym. Carb cycling as GF mentioned is a good diet strategy and works well for me.
 
Could check out soylent. People make their own recipes, some very high calorie and with less sugar and processed crap. Junk food and fried food can tax your body and liver. Lots of fatty fish with spinach, broccoli, etc. would be healthy.. Probably not fish every day.

Squats are supposed to be great for building mass and core strength. I haven't gotten into squatting enough to see a big difference. Maybe you do this already. I'm planning to position other workouts around squats, and not because I think they are fun. I think most people do not enjoy working their legs to the point of where they are giving out.. it's at least a bit awkward (or I'm a puss). Have a cage, so whatever. Fall, fail, puke, pass out. lol

Plenty of sites to help count calories. Soylent is straightforward.

If your routine hasn't changed for 10 weeks and you're at a plateau, it may be worth trying some different things.
 
Forest Ninja said:
So I should cut back to 5 days a week? Maybe 4?
I definitely get enough sleep so that's a plus.
Also spend maybe an 1-1.5 hours in the gym at most?
Click to expand...

4 days a week like this

Back and triceps
Chest and biceps
Shoulders and abs
Legs.

Do 3-4 exersizes for the first muscle group and 2-3 for the second group

Diet should consist of

Chicken
Beef
Lamb
Turkey is excellent
Rice
Pasta
Good cheese
Nuts and seeds
Low salt
Tuna
Fruit and veg

Try to limit what you get from shakes and focus on real food
 
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Forest Ninja said:
I'm trying to gain mass, more specifically lean muscle mass, but mass in general. I can't seem to gain a f*cking pound! I'm not sure if its my diet, body, or something else. So here's what's going onGot back into the gym in September, went from 141 to 162 in about 6 weeks, but I haven't gained a pound in 3-4 weeks. I'm hovering around 161-164. Its pretty shitty.
Click to expand...

That's not a very good attitude honestly. You gained 20lbs or so in 6 weeks, just sounds like you plateaued.

Forest Ninja said:
I currently do 2 alternating days for my workout plan. Day A is arm day, it consists of full upper body (chest, arms, back) it takes about 2 hours to complete, and is high intensity
training. Day B is leg and ab day, slower pace and only takes about an hour to complete. I go to the gym 6 days a week with Sunday being a rest day.
Click to expand...

Like others have said six days is too much, you're overtraining. It sounds like and need a better routine. When I was at my strongest and heaviest I was training two days a week. Not saying that's what you should do, but a lot of people seem to forget that you grow/get stronger outside of the gym. There's plenty of good programs out there depending on your goals.

Forest Ninja said:
Realistically I'd estimate my caloric intake to be 2000-4000 a day.
Click to expand...

2000-4000 is a huge difference. I would suggest finding a website you can calculate the calories of the food your eating.

Forest Ninja said:
I get plenty of sleep and outside of the gym I try to stay sedentary as much as possible. No point in burning calories I don't have to burn.
Click to expand...

You don't need to stay sedentary outside of the gym to gain weight and get strong. I used to think like that too but there's really no point in limiting other activities unless you're running 20 miles everyday or something. You should still be doing some cardio tho as it will keep you healthy and improve your endurance.

Forest Ninja said:
I can't seem to gain any more weight. It's kind of killing my motivation because I don't know what's wrong. I feel like I physically can't eat any more either, I eat to the point where it's uncomfortable most of the time. I can't even gain a pound of fat. My weight WILL NOT go up. I'm literally stuffing my face as I type this in hopes that when I go to the gym tomorrow I won't be at 159.
Click to expand...

Again, you're overtraining. Six days in a row is burning you out and not allowing your body to recover, therefore not gaining weight. These things take time and patience. It's unrealistic to think you're going to keep gaining at the rate that you did since you started back up. Other than that, when I was at my heaviest (5 7 and about 180), I was pretty much force feeding myself and puking in my mouth at times. Some "dirty" foods are good in moderation if you're a hard gainer, but your base should still be healthy with plenty of protein, carbs, good fats and fruit/veggies. It also may sound boring, but I found it good to have the same daily "base" foods everyday so you know how much calories your getting. You don't want your diet all over the place.

Also, are you taking protein and any supplements? One thing that really helped me gain was when I was making my own weight gainer...

8 whole eggs
2 cups of milk
3 scoops of whey protein
1 cup of vanilla ice cream

I would blend that all up and divide it by 3 shakes that I would have over the day. Some people cringe at raw eggs but I've been using them in my shakes for years and have never gotten sick.
 
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nuttynutskin said:
Also, are you taking protein and any supplements? One thing that really helped me gain was when I was making my own weight gainer...

8 whole eggs
2 cups of milk
3 scoops of whey protein
1 cup of vanilla ice cream

I would blend that all up and divide it by 3 shakes that I would have over the day. Some people cringe at raw eggs but I've been using them in my shakes for years and have never gotten sick.
Click to expand...

Gastrointestinal physiologists discovered that about 94 percent of egg protein is digested when cooked, compared to between 55 and 64 percent of the protein from raw eggs. Consequently, if you are consuming eggs primarily for their protein content, then hard boiling and eating them is more efficient than consuming them raw.
 
Forest Ninja said:
I'm trying to gain mass, more specifically lean muscle mass, but mass in general. I can't seem to gain a f*cking pound! I'm not sure if its my diet, body, or something else. So here's what's going onGot back into the gym in September, went from 141 to 162 in about 6 weeks, but I haven't gained a pound in 3-4 weeks. I'm hovering around 161-164. Its pretty shitty.

I currently do 2 alternating days for my workout plan. Day A is arm day, it consists of full upper body (chest, arms, back) it takes about 2 hours to complete, and is high intensity
training. Day B is leg and ab day, slower pace and only takes about an hour to complete. I go to the gym 6 days a week with Sunday being a rest day.

My diet consists of high protein, high carb, with some fats present. I eat eggs, toast, oatmeal, greek yogurt, and whey protein in the morning. I snack throughout the day, and for lunch I usually have a large cheese pizza or a 3/4lb hamburger from Wendy's. Dinner is usually a large meal consisting of potatoes, rice, beans, and either chicken or beef. Lots of soups too, chicken noodle, beef stew, chili, etc. Sandwiches, some junk food.I eat a lot of snacks. Realistically I'd estimate my caloric intake to be 2000-4000 a day.

I get plenty of sleep and outside of the gym I try to stay sedentary as much as possible. No point in burning calories I don't have to burn. I can't seem to gain any more weight. It's kind of killing my motivation because I don't know what's wrong. I feel like I physically can't eat any more either, I eat to the point where it's uncomfortable most of the time. I can't even gain a pound of fat. My weight WILL NOT go up. I'm literally stuffing my face as I type this in hopes that when I go to the gym tomorrow I won't be at 159.

Anyone have any ideas or solutions as to why I'm not gaining? No one seems to know that I've asked. Most say its just a metabolic obstacle and I need to eat even more. I feel like I can't get enough calories in my body. tl:dr I can't gain a pound to save my life.
Click to expand...

I agree with lifter... you could also try less reps, bigger weight. Also you should update your diet every time you gain few pounds ;)
 
nolys said:
4 days a week like this

Back and triceps
Chest and biceps
Shoulders and abs
Legs.

Do 3-4 exersizes for the first muscle group and 2-3 for the second group

Diet should consist of

Chicken
Beef
Lamb
Turkey is excellent
Rice
Pasta
Good cheese
Nuts and seeds
Low salt
Tuna
Fruit and veg

Try to limit what you get from shakes and focus on real food
Click to expand...

This is what he needs to do. 4x8-10 each exercise
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Genetic Freak said:
Gastrointestinal physiologists discovered that about 94 percent of egg protein is digested when cooked, compared to between 55 and 64 percent of the protein from raw eggs. Consequently, if you are consuming eggs primarily for their protein content, then hard boiling and eating them is more efficient than consuming them raw.
Click to expand...

To add to that, pasteurization is sufficient to neutralize avidin and have better bioavailability with a "raw" product, while also having greater safety than raw eggs against contamination and little chance of denatured protein resulting from higher temps of cooking. To be clear, I'm referring to liquid pasteurized eggs, generally sold in cartons at the grocers.
 
Genetic Freak said:
Gastrointestinal physiologists discovered that about 94 percent of egg protein is digested when cooked, compared to between 55 and 64 percent of the protein from raw eggs. Consequently, if you are consuming eggs primarily for their protein content, then hard boiling and eating them is more efficient than consuming them raw.
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware of that. I basically just got tired of choking down 8 scrambled eggs. It's much easier for me to just throw them in the blender with my shake. Different strokes I guess.
 
What a lot of people seem to be forgetting is that you need vitamins and minerals to digest/uptake all the nutrients properly, if you chug down 250 g's of protein every day but no vitamins whatsoever your body will not efficiently convert it to muscle
 
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