Too skinny, anything I should be doing?

grandvizier1006 · Jul 28, 2015

i am trying to exercise, but it's not going so well. I weigh only 119 pounds at age 20. That may have to do with the fact that I have always been underweight for my age--my birthweight was 2 pounds, 4 ounces!

What sort of exercises and foods would bulk me up? There's tons of stuff out there about weight loss, but I have the opposite problem. It's very discouraging to go to the gym, and despite my best efforts and desire to lift as much as I can, everybody else there is stronger than I am and seems to have gotten results. My lack of results discourages me, but it might be my fault since I don't think I work out enough, nor is there anyone there to tell me what or how to do things. So I could be doing everything wrong without even knowing it.

seekingsolace · Jul 28, 2015

Are you eating enough good fats and protein? Olive oil, nuts, meat, oily fish, pulses etc.

grandvizier1006 · Jul 28, 2015

seekingsolace said:
Are you eating enough good fats and protein? Olive oil, nuts, meat, oily fish, pulses etc.

Not sure. I feel like I could eat tons and nothing would come of it. It's a bit of a family genetics thing--I could eat tons of junk food and not get fat from it, I swear. Red meat doesn't seem to work, either, and there's been a bit of a hiatus of that in the house due to my dad's issues (he normally loved making steak and whatnot). In its place I've had fish a lot lately, but it's mainly been TV-dinner style stuff.

I think exercise would work well, but I guess I'm just not doing something right.

Cloture · Jul 28, 2015

If someone starts out with more muscle mass in the first place, they will naturally progress more quickly.

10 x 2 = 20
100 x 2 = 200

You are in the camp of a person who has 10 and you're comparing yourself to those who start at 100.

Remember that weight lifting burns a lot of calories, so you'll have keep replenishing. When Michael Phelps was performing at the Olympics, he ate 12,000 calories a day just to maintain his weight. Now I'm not tell you to eat that much, but if you do strenuous weight lifting, you will need to make up for it with food.

Listen to seekingsolace about what sorts of things you need to be eating. Also, don't overlook the benefit of having 5 pounds or so of "fat" on your frame. It can help a lot.

grandvizier1006 · Jul 28, 2015

Ok. But what is meant by "pulses", exactly?

Cloture · Jul 28, 2015

A pulse rep is what you'd think of as bouncing. You hold a certain pose and then pop your muscles back and forth a few inches. It was developed as a fat-burning technique, so I really don't think you need to be doing it.

Shodan · Jul 28, 2015

grandvizier1006 said:
Not sure. I feel like I could eat tons and nothing would come of it. It's a bit of a family genetics thing--I could eat tons of junk food and not get fat from it, I swear. Red meat doesn't seem to work, either, and there's been a bit of a hiatus of that in the house due to my dad's issues (he normally loved making steak and whatnot). In its place I've had fish a lot lately, but it's mainly been TV-dinner style stuff.

I think exercise would work well, but I guess I'm just not doing something right.

Try the old "breathing squat and pullovers" routine. Peary Rader, who used to publish Iron Man magazine, used to say it could put ten pounds on a broomstick.

- 3-5 mins easy full body warmup - elliptical trainer, walking, arm circles, etc.
- 1 set of 5 in the squat - light, as a specific warm-up.
- 1 set of 20 squats - pick a weight you can get 10 reps with, and do 20. Take three deep in-and-out breaths between every rep. Perfect form on every rep - EVERY REP. Pause as long as you need to between reps, but keep going to 20. Head up, back flat, never bounce at the bottom, and go deep enough that the tops of your thighs are about parallel to the floor.
- Once you get to 20, instantly, with no rest, lie across a bench and to 15-20 straight arm pullovers with a light dumbbell. Breathe in as you lower the weight and out as you raise it.
- When you are done with this breathing squat/pullover superset, walk around gently until you stop gasping. Take your time.
- Then 2 sets of 8-10 in the bench press
- 2 sets of 8-12 in the one-arm dumbbell row, each arm
- 1 set of 12 in the military press
- 1 set to failure in chin ups, palms towards you.
- 1 set of 20 in the barbell curl. Use a straight bar, no cheating - nothing should move but your forearms.
- 1 set of crunch-style situps, 25-30. Go up sloooooowly.

That's it. If you feel like you need to do more, work the squat harder.

Do the routine three non-consecutive days a week (Mon-Wed-Fri or Tues-Thurs-Sat).

Add an egg and a cup of milk (or yogurt if that goes down better) to every meal. Don't waste your money on protein powder - you don't need it and it won't help. Everyone will try to sell it to you - ignore them. If you can afford it, creatine is the only supplement with any science behind it. Everything else is snake oil.

Regards,
Shodan

grandvizier1006 · Jul 28, 2015

Shodan said:
Try the old "breathing squat and pullovers" routine. Peary Rader, who used to publish Iron Man magazine, used to say it could put ten pounds on a broomstick.

- 3-5 mins easy full body warmup - elliptical trainer, walking, arm circles, etc.
- 1 set of 5 in the squat - light, as a specific warm-up.
- 1 set of 20 squats - pick a weight you can get 10 reps with, and do 20. Take three deep in-and-out breaths between every rep. Perfect form on every rep - EVERY REP. Pause as long as you need to between reps, but keep going to 20. Head up, back flat, never bounce at the bottom, and go deep enough that the tops of your thighs are about parallel to the floor.
- Once you get to 20, instantly, with no rest, lie across a bench and to 15-20 straight arm pullovers with a light dumbbell. Breathe in as you lower the weight and out as you raise it.
- When you are done with this breathing squat/pullover superset, walk around gently until you stop gasping. Take your time.
- Then 2 sets of 8-10 in the bench press
- 2 sets of 8-12 in the one-arm dumbbell row, each arm
- 1 set of 12 in the military press
- 1 set to failure in chin ups, palms towards you.
- 1 set of 20 in the barbell curl. Use a straight bar, no cheating - nothing should move but your forearms.
- 1 set of crunch-style situps, 25-30. Go up sloooooowly.

That's it. If you feel like you need to do more, work the squat harder.

Do the routine three non-consecutive days a week (Mon-Wed-Fri or Tues-Thurs-Sat).

Add an egg and a cup of milk (or yogurt if that goes down better) to every meal. Don't waste your money on protein powder - you don't need it and it won't help. Everyone will try to sell it to you - ignore them. If you can afford it, creatine is the only supplement with any science behind it. Everything else is snake oil.

Regards,
Shodan

That seems really strenuous. I don't know if I'd even be capable of that. I worked out just my legs yesterday, so I don't know when I could even do this.

Shodan · Jul 28, 2015

grandvizier1006 said:
That seems really strenuous. I don't know if I'd even be capable of that. I worked out just my legs yesterday, so I don't know when I could even do this.

Yes, it is.

If 3 times a week is too much - you are still exhausted on Wednesday from Monday, do the routine twice a week, and drop all the other exercises except the squat and pullover, bench press, and rows.

If you are a hardgainer, less is more. The temptation is always to do more sets but easier sets. That's the opposite of what you need. Short, intense bouts of near-maximal effort, interspersed with completely adequate rest periods, is the way to go for gaining muscle mass.

Do not do the routines the magazines tell you that the bodybuilding champions do. Because

Magazines exaggerate. When someone squats 405 once as a limit rep becomes "Joe Muscles does five sets of 12 with 500".
Those guys are all on enough anabolics to stock a pharmacy.
They are the genetic super-elite. They will grow no matter what they do, and sometimes in spite of what they do. Someone with 17" arms before they first touched a weight is not someone whose advice on how to grow is going to be very useful.

Regards,
Shodan

bhsmte · Jul 28, 2015

grandvizier1006 said:
That seems really strenuous. I don't know if I'd even be capable of that. I worked out just my legs yesterday, so I don't know when I could even do this.

How old are you?
Have you ever worked out with weights much?
What is the natural body type of your parents and siblings?
How many calories to you consume each day, broken down by; fats, proteins and carbohydrates?

Answers to those questions will help clarify things.

grandvizier1006 · Jul 28, 2015

bhsmte said:
How old are you?
Have you ever worked out with weights much?
What is the natural body type of your parents and siblings?
How many calories to you consume each day, broken down by; fats, proteins and carbohydrates?

Answers to those questions will help clarify things.

20.
I've done it on and off for several years, but I think my main problem is not committing enough. I lost whatever muscle I gained, I guess, or I didn't stick with it enough.
My dad and brother worked out and all they got was this "dad bod"--bigger and stronger but you could easily just assume they got fatter instead of more muscular. my brother has it worse--it just looks like he gained weight and fat along with the muscle. They did get results, though, and I'm guessing they just don't have the ability to get that bodybuilder's physique. Very disappointing for me because I kind of want to at least not have these "man boobs" from working out, although if I can grow all my muscles at once then that wouldn't happen.
As for diet, I'll eat whatever comes my way but probably don't eat enough. I keep oversleeping and missing breakfast, getting just adequate meals. But if I ate more, I think, I wouldn't gain much weight. I could binge on junk food for a while and I could still be thin.

bhsmte · Jul 28, 2015

grandvizier1006 said:
20.
I've done it on and off for several years, but I think my main problem is not committing enough. I lost whatever muscle I gained, I guess, or I didn't stick with it enough.
My dad and brother worked out and all they got was this "dad bod"--bigger and stronger but you could easily just assume they got fatter instead of more muscular. my brother has it worse--it just looks like he gained weight and fat along with the muscle. They did get results, though, and I'm guessing they just don't have the ability to get that bodybuilder's physique. Very disappointing for me because I kind of want to at least not have these "man boobs" from working out, although if I can grow all my muscles at once then that wouldn't happen.
As for diet, I'll eat whatever comes my way but probably don't eat enough. I keep oversleeping and missing breakfast, getting just adequate meals. But if I ate more, I think, I wouldn't gain much weight. I could binge on junk food for a while and I could still be thin.

This is more what I was interested in knowing, to determine what your natural body type is. Which of the three, best represents your natural body type?

https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/what-body-type-are-you.html

grandvizier1006 · Jul 28, 2015

bhsmte said:
This is more what I was interested in knowing, to determine what your natural body type is. Which of the three, best represents your natural body type?

https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/what-body-type-are-you.html

I think i'm somewhere between an echo and mesomoprh. I have the thinness of the euro but the waist of the meal. Also, I'm not particularly tall.

bhsmte · Jul 29, 2015

grandvizier1006 said:
20.
I've done it on and off for several years, but I think my main problem is not committing enough. I lost whatever muscle I gained, I guess, or I didn't stick with it enough.
My dad and brother worked out and all they got was this "dad bod"--bigger and stronger but you could easily just assume they got fatter instead of more muscular. my brother has it worse--it just looks like he gained weight and fat along with the muscle. They did get results, though, and I'm guessing they just don't have the ability to get that bodybuilder's physique. Very disappointing for me because I kind of want to at least not have these "man boobs" from working out, although if I can grow all my muscles at once then that wouldn't happen.
As for diet, I'll eat whatever comes my way but probably don't eat enough. I keep oversleeping and missing breakfast, getting just adequate meals. But if I ate more, I think, I wouldn't gain much weight. I could binge on junk food for a while and I could still be thin.

Very few, have the genetic ability to acquire a body builders physique.

Here is the good news though. You body will indeed adapt to the stress you place on it. If you perform an adequate weight routine 3 times a week for 6 months or so, you will indeed gain muscle. If you keep up with the routine, change things up a bit and keep making it more difficult, you will continue to gain muscle, because it must, to adapt to the stress being placed on it.

Now, in regards to gaining fat like you state, your body will add fat when your are consuming more calories than it needs to maintain the current body weight and the current energy expenditure. Eating too much sugar and processed foods can also play a role, which tend to cause more issues with readily storing fat in adipose tissue.

Stay away from refined sugars and processed foods and also perform aerobic activities besides weight lifting and you should see results.

grandvizier1006 · Jul 29, 2015

bhsmte said:
Very few, have the genetic ability to acquire a body builders physique.

Here is the good news though. You body will indeed adapt to the stress you place on it. If you perform an adequate weight routine 3 times a week for 6 months or so, you will indeed gain muscle. If you keep up with the routine, change things up a bit and keep making it more difficult, you will continue to gain muscle, because it must, to adapt to the stress being placed on it.

Now, in regards to gaining fat like you state, your body will add fat when your are consuming more calories than it needs to maintain the current body weight and the current energy expenditure. Eating too much sugar and processed foods can also play a role, which tend to cause more issues with readily storing fat in adipose tissue.

Stay away from refined sugars and processed foods and also perform aerobic activities besides weight lifting and you should see results.

Ok, thanks for the tips!

NerdWellness · Jul 29, 2015

I would recommend you to eats more healthy fats and more complex carbs.You could also try using whey protein.

HonestTruth · Jul 29, 2015

check your BMI:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm

this will determine if you really are under weight

bhsmte · Jul 30, 2015

HonestTruth said:
check your BMI:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm

this will determine if you really are under weight

BMI is a good indicator, but body fat measurements are the gold standard.

grandvizier1006 · Jul 30, 2015

Ok, according to the BMI calculator I'm technically at a normal weight. I'm on the light end, though.

bhsmte · Jul 30, 2015

grandvizier1006 said:
Ok, according to the BMI calculator I'm technically at a normal weight. I'm on the light end, though.

If you want to get a good gauge on lean muscle mass, have your body fat measured by someone qualified to do so.

Too skinny, anything I should be doing?

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