LawnChairSkank
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2009
- Messages
- 264
QFT, Just save the bud for after your workout. I eat like an animal after I smoke, but I could never see myself making it to the gym after I just burned one down.
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SIED Moderators: Genetic Freak | Serotonin101
I can't gain weight...
- Thread starter KeepJimMorrisonAli
- Start date
QFT, Just save the bud for after your workout. I eat like an animal after I smoke, but I could never see myself making it to the gym after I just burned one down.
I was also pretty skinny when I was younger. I was about 130lbs at 5'10 until I started lifting at 21. After 4 years or so (with a couple of big breaks in there) I'm 160lbs and a lot more cut.
Best way is just ensure you get 5 or 6 MEALS a day. If you find your having to force yourself to eat then your on the right track
Best way is just ensure you get 5 or 6 MEALS a day. If you find your having to force yourself to eat then your on the right track
Binge Artist
Bluelighter
Caloric surplus.
Chainer
Bluelighter
I almost made the same thread a while ago... Before I started working out and eating hard a year ago, I was 5'8 and about 125 to 130, couldn't even bench 110lbs. A year later I'm up to 145 and benching 185...
Hardest part is committing to the eating, IMO. Being in the gym becomes a need and not a want, once you get in the grove. Also, I'm a big fan of weed so I'm sure that hasn't helped but it certainly did not fuck with my ability to actually gain, though I feel like I'm hitting a wall now.
Hardest part is committing to the eating, IMO. Being in the gym becomes a need and not a want, once you get in the grove. Also, I'm a big fan of weed so I'm sure that hasn't helped but it certainly did not fuck with my ability to actually gain, though I feel like I'm hitting a wall now.
PARooolller
Bluelighter
I don't understand how people have a hard time eating...I find that eating 6 meals a day isn't enough...even when I was a skinny crackhead.
Dude, I had the same problem you did and i made a thread about it on a bodybuilding forum and the bros there made me realize that i i wasnt eating enough. If you eat enough food, you will gain weight. Thats science, period. Your body requires X amount of calories to function normally and to fuel your body throughout the day. If you consume more calories than your body uses, you will gain weight. Eat every 3 hours even if you are not hungry force yourself to eat something. I used to set the alarm for two in the morning and wake up to eat. The quality of the weight you gain will be up to you and if you are commited to training and exercising. If you are eating 4000 calories then that is a good starting point. After awhile if you are not getting the results you want, bump it to 5000, then 6000 and so on. You must understand that these have to be clean calories from nutritional foods, not fast food, pizza, donuts, etc. Your calories should be coming from Steak, Chicken, Fish, Brown Rice, Oats, Peanut Butter, Potatoes, Pasta, Eggs, etc. YOU NEED TO POUND THE CARBS!!!!! And eat 150-200% of your bodyweight in protein daily. Weight gainer shakes and protein are supplements that can be useful when you dont have time to eat, however they are not as good as real food. Nothing will put mass on you better than REAL FOOD! When you train, use a weight that you can only complete 8-10 reps with. Do four sets of each exercise and 3-4 exercises per muscle group. Heavy lifting will put mass on you, however form is just as important. Research and develop a workout plan and a training split for each body part per week. Here is an example.
Sun: Off
Mon: Back
Tues. Chest
Wed: Off
Thurs: Arms
Fri: Legs
Sat: Shoulders
You can switch it up however you like, just train each body part once a week. If you have a lagging area that wont grow, try hitting it twice a week. You need to join a gym for best results. Your home workouts arent gonna give you the results you want because you simply dont have enough iron. You will need heavier dumbbells before long and you cant grow but so much with that weight. But make due with what you have until you get your license so you can be sure u have a way to the gym. If you are commited to this program and really want to gain muscle, then you will. If you want it bad enough you gotta do what it takes even if it means eating until you are sick. I used to think i couldnt gain weight but then i started eating and have made huge progress. Someone told me once, "You eat like a bitch, you look like a bitch." This comment gave me the motivation i lacked to gain weight. Hope this helps bro. Good Luck
Sun: Off
Mon: Back
Tues. Chest
Wed: Off
Thurs: Arms
Fri: Legs
Sat: Shoulders
You can switch it up however you like, just train each body part once a week. If you have a lagging area that wont grow, try hitting it twice a week. You need to join a gym for best results. Your home workouts arent gonna give you the results you want because you simply dont have enough iron. You will need heavier dumbbells before long and you cant grow but so much with that weight. But make due with what you have until you get your license so you can be sure u have a way to the gym. If you are commited to this program and really want to gain muscle, then you will. If you want it bad enough you gotta do what it takes even if it means eating until you are sick. I used to think i couldnt gain weight but then i started eating and have made huge progress. Someone told me once, "You eat like a bitch, you look like a bitch." This comment gave me the motivation i lacked to gain weight. Hope this helps bro. Good Luck
250-400lbs of protein each day might be a little bit too much!
Not lbs of protein, i meant grams. If a person weighs 150lbs, then he needs to eat 225-300 grams of protein daily if he wants to gain muscle. The more protein, the better. You can get 60 grams from a weight gainer shake. Its not hard to do, and if he wants to gain, then i am giving him the same advice that worked for me.
Binge Artist
Bluelighter
What's the deal with all this talk about "clean eating" while bulking???
PARooolller
Bluelighter
What do you mean? If you eat shit food, you're going to experience shit gains...
You can argue all day that a "calorie is a calorie" but it really all comes down to macros---your diet's ratio balance of protein, carbs, and fats..and how all of that is incorporated to your individual body's needs to maintain its composition...Your body is a science- everyone is different--and you just gotta figure it out...
Let's do a test...For 90 days--on top of your training program--eat fast food, saturated fat, processed foods and sugars, and lets look at your gains...
Then for another 90 days, eat chicken, turkey, eggs, vegetables, and fish and we'll take a look at your gains...
You are what you eat nigga
cocamatic
Bluelighter
One thing that can help, though not for everyone, is to try having more variety in your diet. If you have the means and time, having a different type of meal can make you look forward to it as something new and different, maybe increasing appetite.
For me, monounstaturated oils seem to help when trying to gain weight. Nut flours make it easy to add tons of calories quickly. Another thing that helps is eating whole grains and starches. I donno how popular they're in BBing circles though... I would imagine low-carb approaches are the new rage. Except for when they want something without fiber so it'll spIke duh insulinz post workout bra! I say use both. Eat starchy stuff like yams, potatoes, corn and bananas and stuff like grape juice and whey after you work up a worthy sweat. Speaking of juice... drink more of it! And milk!
Also, while it's certainly not as simple as this... think of the day as catabolic and when you're sleeping as anabolic. Getting your rest, whatever that means for you, will help with rebuilding muscle from your workouts provided you have nutritional needs met and have a surplus of calories to work with.
For me, monounstaturated oils seem to help when trying to gain weight. Nut flours make it easy to add tons of calories quickly. Another thing that helps is eating whole grains and starches. I donno how popular they're in BBing circles though... I would imagine low-carb approaches are the new rage. Except for when they want something without fiber so it'll spIke duh insulinz post workout bra! I say use both. Eat starchy stuff like yams, potatoes, corn and bananas and stuff like grape juice and whey after you work up a worthy sweat. Speaking of juice... drink more of it! And milk!
Also, while it's certainly not as simple as this... think of the day as catabolic and when you're sleeping as anabolic. Getting your rest, whatever that means for you, will help with rebuilding muscle from your workouts provided you have nutritional needs met and have a surplus of calories to work with.
Z Y G G Y
Bluelighter
And what's wrong with Pizza as a caloric food? Has lots of fat, protein, carbs...good pizza is good stuff....just as good as pasta, lasagna, etc. I put extra cheese on mine and usually get the organic frozen kind.
RedLeader
Bluelight Crew
I have not read this thread completely, so I apologize in advance if I repeat anything which has already been said.
Part one of gaining weight is something that is often overlooked. Not only do you (obviously) want to eat more, but you want to eliminate anything from your life that acts to surpress your appetite. This means quitting stimulants and alcohol, sleeping regularly, fighting allergies, etc. Anything that might cause you to bypass parts of an intense eating schedule must be silenced away.
Part two is basically just shoving food down your throat. I'd suggest buying a mass-buiding formula from GNC or a similar store. Something, where you can get 800 calories in one shake. Try and eat 5-6 meals of food per day. Healthy food, but LOTS of it. And have shakes between these meals. If you're taking in 5000+ calories a day and not gaining weight, then you're not human.
Part one of gaining weight is something that is often overlooked. Not only do you (obviously) want to eat more, but you want to eliminate anything from your life that acts to surpress your appetite. This means quitting stimulants and alcohol, sleeping regularly, fighting allergies, etc. Anything that might cause you to bypass parts of an intense eating schedule must be silenced away.
Part two is basically just shoving food down your throat. I'd suggest buying a mass-buiding formula from GNC or a similar store. Something, where you can get 800 calories in one shake. Try and eat 5-6 meals of food per day. Healthy food, but LOTS of it. And have shakes between these meals. If you're taking in 5000+ calories a day and not gaining weight, then you're not human.
versd
Bluelight Crew
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2009
- Messages
- 1,055
i used to be a hard gainer, just stuff your face and lift hard and dont stop. i used to be around your height and weight, now up to around 180lbs
supplements like protein shakes and mass gainer help a lot if you find it hard to get enough calories into you daily.
supplements like protein shakes and mass gainer help a lot if you find it hard to get enough calories into you daily.
KeepJimMorrisonAli
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2009
- Messages
- 82
What do you mean? If you eat shit food, you're going to experience shit gains...
You can argue all day that a "calorie is a calorie" but it really all comes down to macros---your diet's ratio balance of protein, carbs, and fats..and how all of that is incorporated to your individual body's needs to maintain its composition...Your body is a science- everyone is different--and you just gotta figure it out...
Let's do a test...For 90 days--on top of your training program--eat fast food, saturated fat, processed foods and sugars, and lets look at your gains...
Then for another 90 days, eat chicken, turkey, eggs, vegetables, and fish and we'll take a look at your gains...
You are what you eat nigga
Guess I'm a pussy
Anyway.. Back to topic, I've been drinking shakes and eating right and working out. I've already gained weight, I'll post my progress every week.
RedLeader
Bluelight Crew
Good job with the weight gain! And remember, slow is okay. Weigh yourself once a week, not once a day. Your daily weight fluctuates due to a lot of factors. I've had days where I seriously ate like an elephant and weighed less than the day before. Even 0.5lbs per week, well that's 26lbs in a year. And that's a very slow pace. Just remember, if you're serious, then you're in it for the long run. Just as it might take over a year to bench your bodyweight for reps, it can take over a year to gain a few dozen pounds. Establish a routine, think about gains in terms of weeks and months, and not day-to-day, and you'll be coasting in no time.
Last edited:
aanallein
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2006
- Messages
- 6,205
^ the "weigh yourself once per week not once a day" thing makes no mathematical sense.
Your weight fluctuates daily. This is true. But if you weigh yourself weekly, you are bound to catch yourself at different points in fluctuation so you would get even less accurate results. Just weigh yourself around the same time ever day and track it in your workout log with the rest of your info (workout intensity, diet, reps, weight, whatever) and look at the trend. If you go from varying between 200-205 to varying between 205-210 then you can say you've got some solid gains. But to say you've gone from 200 on some arbitrary day to 210 on some other arbitrary gain is relatively meaningless.
Your weight fluctuates daily. This is true. But if you weigh yourself weekly, you are bound to catch yourself at different points in fluctuation so you would get even less accurate results. Just weigh yourself around the same time ever day and track it in your workout log with the rest of your info (workout intensity, diet, reps, weight, whatever) and look at the trend. If you go from varying between 200-205 to varying between 205-210 then you can say you've got some solid gains. But to say you've gone from 200 on some arbitrary day to 210 on some other arbitrary gain is relatively meaningless.
RedLeader
Bluelight Crew
^ I was thinking about it for him in terms of psychology, not mathematics.
Ya, ideally weighing yourself once a day and then doing a 7 day moving average would be the best way to chart it. And watching the moving average as the key daily statistic, instead of simply logging weight alone as the daily statisic. Or maybe not the best way, but this is the way I do it. What do you think of that?
Ya, ideally weighing yourself once a day and then doing a 7 day moving average would be the best way to chart it. And watching the moving average as the key daily statistic, instead of simply logging weight alone as the daily statisic. Or maybe not the best way, but this is the way I do it. What do you think of that?
Binge Artist
Bluelighter
^The problem of "fluctuating weight" from day to day represents a key problem of bodybuilding: That you simply cannot micro-manage and fine tune your goals, ESPECIALLY if you're a beginner.
I mean, everybody's different, right? Who's to say that just because you're gaining more than .621587 lbs/wk, you're gonna turn into a lard-ass? I think, no matter what rate you're bulking, you're eventually gonna need to cut.
I think the only real solid piece of advice for the OP is to just bust his ass in the gym, and eat high protein, high calorie, until he hits 20-25% body-fat (or maybe better, until he looks in the mirror and says, "you know, I should probably cut back"). Even if his diet and exercise weren't the "just perfect mixture" for building the most muscle while gaining the least fat, he will undoubtedly be more muscular than he is now.
Several years from now, if he is still in the iron game, he will have a much better idea of how to go about things.
I mean, everybody's different, right? Who's to say that just because you're gaining more than .621587 lbs/wk, you're gonna turn into a lard-ass? I think, no matter what rate you're bulking, you're eventually gonna need to cut.
I think the only real solid piece of advice for the OP is to just bust his ass in the gym, and eat high protein, high calorie, until he hits 20-25% body-fat (or maybe better, until he looks in the mirror and says, "you know, I should probably cut back"). Even if his diet and exercise weren't the "just perfect mixture" for building the most muscle while gaining the least fat, he will undoubtedly be more muscular than he is now.
Several years from now, if he is still in the iron game, he will have a much better idea of how to go about things.