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Need advice on gaining weight and strength!

M

milligramsmile

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 26, 2005
Messages
171
Hey guys, So ill be twenty in december and Im 6 ft tall, weighing in currently at like 135 pounds. I live a kinda hectic lifestyle, I just moved to Los Angeles and am busy working two jobs. I am looking to gain at least 20 pounds up to an additional 40 pounds. Any suggestions on what to eat, what kind of workouts to focus on? I usually eat as often as I can with my busy schedule, but I never seem to be able to put on weight. :( Its frustrating and im sick of being below average weight. The only drugs I use right now are marijuana and I occasionally drink of the weekends. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Thanks
 
How often do you smoke? I have read a few times that chronic chronic smoking does actually suppress your appetite quite a bit.
 
you need to eat a lot of food if you want to get bigger and stronger. meat and other foods with a lot of protein and calories. if you even feel slightly hungry through the day you aren't eating enough.

this isn't meant as an insult but if you aren't putting on weight (and you're that tall at 135) then you are under eating. people always try to say they are eating enough and they aren't. the body is pretty similar between people, its not like you have some magic metabolism. if you measured what you eat per day and compared it to somebody who weighs what you want yourself to weigh, you'd probably be surprised.

so maybe start by measuring your caloric intake each day and protein intake per day and let us know what its at. then increase it


goodluck!
 
Need advice on gaining weight, huh?


Well, I suppose you could ask n3oph7t3. She has a thread on how to do it without even trying :D jk jk jk

Seriously though, eat more.
 
i know you can get all the protein you need from food, but, lifestyle-wise, a big tub of protein powder has always helped me gain. i was still eating the same big meals, but it helped me shift my snacking from carbs to protein.
 
Increasing Metabolism

Interesting post! I believe that you should consider in controlling your metabolism to perform at your desired performance. You are in control of your body. Never forget that! I have a lot of friends struggling with the same concern that you have and just advised them to be in perfect control of their bodies. Of course nothing happens overnight. You should know what really works and throw out what doesn't. Me and my friends consulted a couple of times with Christopher Guerriero -- a health expert, and now enjoying MASSIVE RESULTS from his program. I am positive that he can help you out too. Good luck!
 
Try taking in 4000-5000 calories per day of good, clean food and drinks. It's not fun eating that much food, but not every aspect of healthy living is. Come back in a month and tell us you're not at least 5-10 pounds heavier.
 
Yeah, it's not fun to try and shovel in food when you're not hungry and just trying to gain weight. Personally I use daily exercise and that in itself will make me hungry. The exercise will add a bit of muscle mass, more muscles burn more calories and again you get hungry naturally. To offset the calorie loss from exercising it's not tough to eat beyond the calories you burn, ask anyone trying to lose weight. :\
 
im your height and i used to be about 145 when i was 16-17. skinny as fuck. im now 20 and now about 165-170 and gaining. its reallll tough to gain weight i know. but theres a few things to remember.

now, with our metabolism, eating 6 to 7 times a day doesnt really help us now does it, if our metabolism is already hyperspeed, keeping it that way doesnt allow for weight to stay. so cut that down to 4-5 meals a day.

EAT HEALTHY. try and eat nutritionally dense food. my favorites are tuna, any kind of cooked fish, oatmeal for fiber and carbs, fresh fruits for fiber and natural sugars, rice for carbs and fiber. stay away from alot of red meats. milk and eggs help too.

For exercise, dont go out everyday and do cardio. THE TRICK TO WEIGTH GAIN IS KEEPING A HIGHER CALORIE INTAKE LEVEL THAN CALORIE USAGE LEVEL. if you do alot of cardio, youll stay a beanpole.

For muscle growth, lift 3 times a week tops. and lift weigth that is gonna strain your muscle, so maybe 3-8 reps a set tops. i personally only workout every third day. each workout, doesnt have to be long, but the goal is to feel as if youve worn the muscle out that your trying to build. my typical workout is always less than 30 minutes, and targets ONLY my large muscle groups (chest, shoulders, and back...my arms get worked out in the process of doing multi muscle workouts like presses, flys, deadlifts, etc.) I workout every third day to allow 48-72 hours for my muscles to repair the damage done by working out.

i do NOT keep track of calories or protein. i just try and keep a balanced mix of different healthy foods. i stay well fed and that is sufficient enough.

i could go on about little tidbits of info but this can all be done by you by researching the internet extensively as i have. i personally also have my own system which fits my schedule, my food likings, and the fact that i dont take supplements, so you may or may not want to follow my routine or guidelines.

overall i say that you do alot of internet research about
-your body type (an ectomorph if i had to guess)
-healthy eating habits( diet is 80% of a good body)
-lifting routines to get a general idea of what different exercises do(dont pay too much attention because most routines on the internet are geared towards muscleheads, not people who want to get a natural healthy looking physique.)

oh and btw, i smoke a ton of ganj and it doesnt affect anything musclewise. works great to relax after a workout. even arnold schwarzeneggar smoked weed after workouts hahaha.
 
^Actually a slightly higher level of reps (8-12) is considered the most beneficial for hypertrophy. But as a beginner taking time to perfect your form and increase you strength isn't too bad an idea. After a couple of months though start to adopt a slightly higher range at a weight that really challanges you.
 
Whey protein mixed with dextrose in a 1:2 ratio should bulk you up quickly. Add 3 of these shakes a day on top of what your eating. Drink one with breakfast, one after you workout, and one before you sleep mixed with milk. Also, you can put on a quick 10 pounds or so in a week by taking creatine monohydrate. It will be all water, and you'll loose it as soon as you stop taking the creatine, but it's a quick 10 pounds or so, at least for me.
 
There are some good replies in this thread, pay attention to them. As others have said, basically you need to eat as much healthy, calorie-dense food as possible. A Google search should bring up tons of useful info on the right foods to eat. You also need to lift as much as possible. Buy yourself a few dumbbells and a bench-press bar and weights, that is, if you can't make it to the gym often enough. I would start out trying to build-up your legs and back. Get into a routine that includes squats and the exercise where you hold the bar standing up, then bend down as far as possible and raise back up with your back muscles. Deadlifts are great too for working the legs and back simultaneously. On the days when your legs and back are sore as hell, let them rest and don't lift again until your barely sore or not sore at all. On these days, you can do some light training with your dumbbells, working your arms out.

A sure-fire way to gain weight is to use creatine while lifting. I recommend it because you are way uderweight for your height. The only thing is, if you stop taking the creatine, you are going to lose a lot of the weight you gained. Buy yourself a big tub of creatine at GNC, and see how it does you.

When all else fails, do pushups and sit-ups any chance you get. That way you'll be ready to do some serious lifting when you make it to the gym. Cardio will do you no good, but lifting is great exercise anyways. Make sure to stay stretched out. You wouldn't want to pull a muscle and not be able to work or work out.
 
lift heavy

and eat non stop throughout the day.

Think of how much worlds strongest men eat, they are eating non stop from waking up to going to bed.
 
Lots of guys I know have seen great gains with 5x5 starting strength or some derivative. I used it quite a bit to at first get range of motion and form before switching to 4x8-12 for hypertrophy.

http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/

Website is completely free, open (rego free) and very informative.

Diet will bit a huge factor, you'll need to start having breakfasts (if you aren't already) and really just start eating quality and quantity. You might be saying "oh I already eat heaps" but until you sit down and write down everything you eat for a week or two. You'd be surprised that it isn't really that much at all.

Gaining good weight is pretty tough.
 
Gaining weight is hard, I struggle with it myself. Use plenty of protein shakes, do not be afraid to take creatine and when you hit the gym do it hard, short and intense.

I have to force myself to eat, the protein shakes help me get nutrients when I am simply not hungry. Simple things like eating a granola bar or cottage cheese after you finish a meal help as well.
 
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