Weight Gain 101

[abear]

PART 1

This is for all Ectomorphs. Yea you. The thin, skinny, tall, flat chested, rapid metabolism, nervous, can’t sit still Ectomorph. You want to gain weight?

If you’re not gaining weight, you’re not eating enough. You need to determine how many calories you’re taking in. Weigh yourself on day 1 first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Keep track of all the calories you eat for 14 days. On day 15 weigh yourself again, if your weight has not changed by plus or minus 2 pounds this will work. Add up the calories for each day and divide by 14. The number you come out with is how many calories you need to eat each day to maintain your current bodyweight. Now to start gaining weight you need to add 300-500 calories to this number. Go 7 days then weigh
yourself again. Slowly up the calories until you see an increase in weight.

Only try to gain 1-2 pounds a week. More than this on a consistent basis will lead to more increases in fat than muscle. Check your progress every 4 weeks with skinfold calipers and a cloth tape measure. If you’re desperately thin, a 10-pound increase consisting of 5 pounds of fat & 5 pounds of muscle is ok. A 2:1 ratio of muscle to fat would be ideal. Dont be afraid of increases in fat. As long as it’s not settling solely around your waist you’re ok.

There are 8 basic components of nutrition.

Calories – besides what was mentioned earlier, you should be eating at least 6 times a day every 2-3 hours. A rough example would be 7:00am, 10:00am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, and 10pm.

Protein – 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. popular choices are chicken, turkey, eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, milk, whey, lean cuts of red meat, fish

Carbs – up to 2.5 grams per pound of bodyweight. popular choices are whole grain brown rice, sweet potatoes, veggies, beans, whole grain breads and cereals, yams.

Fats – 20-30% of total caloric intake. good fats can be found in fish, olive oil, nuts, seeds, natty pb.

Water – 1 gallon a day.

Fiber – 20-35 grams daily.

Vitamins & Minerals – this is easily covered with a daily multi-vitamin/mineral.


Supplements besides a multi-vitamin:

If you cant eat enough calories or meals you should consider using a weight gainer or high calorie MRP.

If you can’t eat enough protein you should consider using a protein powder.

Now don’t get your priorities out of whack. Don’t believe the baloney in the muscle magazines about supplements. Get the 8 basics of nutrition down pat.


After your workouts get in some fast acting carbs and whey


These ideas will not turn you into a 220 pound ripped ultra low bodyfat % hulking monster of muscular might. If you weigh less than 150 pounds you should successfully reach 170-180 pounds, but give it plenty of time. When you get to this point, where you go from there will depend on genetics.

 

[BeanMak]

Ok, So we just shun you or kill you then eat you?

weight gain

 

[oneiric]

thanks a lot for the post. i've always wanted to gain weight.

 

[Phoebe]

I could have used this 15 years ago.
Age has helped me attain my ideal weight.

 

[daughter of the king]

ur lucky ur trying to gain it not lose it! all the best wif trying tho!

 

[abear]

although being underweight does not have all problems that being overweight has, there are some ppl who are too thin and want to gain weight. unfortunately we are pretty much ignored. i'm trying to change that by giving advice that doesnt rely on quick fixes or pricey pills or supplements.

hopefully some will find this useful.

 

[Sleepyd]

hmm I need to gain weight, I starved myself a few times when I had issues..oh what memories...

Just look at my pictures in teh pictures section - you could grow beans up me I'm so thin..grrr..am eating now..lots yumm, and trying to buld self up by running and rowing

I said grace before

 

[abear]

Sleepyd, when i started working out i weighed a whopping 125lbs at 5% bodyfat. impressive, huh

best i ever got was 180lbs at 10% bodyfat.

 

[Rosebud]

Thanks so much for the advice...This is just want I was talking about w/my councelor the other day.

 

[abear]

Rosebud, i've have been asked many times to put together a weight gain program specifically for women. its a great idea and one i will pursue at a later time.

this program was put together for males aged 18-45. but some of these ideas can be modified, i'm sure. try and get some other opinions.

best of luck!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Woodsy]

abear, are you "massive member" from the Muscle Chemistry forums?
http://www.musclechemistry.com/showthread/t-12030.html

 

[abear]

yes, sure am

 

[Woodsy]

Those are some darn good posts, bro - thanks for sharing the info!

 

[abear]

thank you very much!!!

i hadnt been to mc in awhile. do you post over there?

 

[Woodsy]

No, this (cf) is the only board I spend any time at these days (and since I spend just about all day here, it's the only board I have time for!), though I scan posts from other boards periodically. I used to post at Elite Fitness, back when they were free.
I am always looking for exercise advice and especially bulking advice, since I'm too small.

 

[abear]

the first board i called home was fitness board but that shut down last year after getting hacked too many times.

i spend most of my "board" time on the mens health fitness board. this post is on 18 boards so i try to frequent them as much as i can.

i saw elite charges now. i thought i was doing something wrong at first. LOL

 

[abear]

PART 2

Nutrition was covered in part 1, this concerns training. This concerns the Ectomorph.

Most training programs you see are not meant for you:

No 3 on, 1 off, 2 on, 1 off or whatever training split

No training twice a day

No “I’m using Cutlers leg routine from flex cause I’m going to kick his butt in 6 months”

No drop sets, supersets, strip sets, descending sets, pre-exhaust sets

No chest shoulder workout consisting of flat bench for whole chest then incline bench for upper chest then decline bench for lower chest followed by flyes and crossovers then shoulder press for shoulders followed by front raises for front shoulder, side laterals for side shoulder then rear laterals for rear shoulder

No 2-hour training sessions

No training just arms and chest unless you want to look like a light bulb.

Pretty much all routines you see. Training programs for an Ectomorph have to be short and intense. Get in, workout, get out and then get plenty of rest and nutrients before next training session. Take at least 1 or 2 days off b/w workouts

These are the exercises you should concern yourself with: Squats, deadlifts, bench press, shoulder press, chin-ups, bent over rows, upright rows, cleans, hack squats, dips, stiff-arm pullover, stiff leg deadlift, dips

These are called compound movements because they hit more than one bodypart. Don’t waste time on isolation movements. These hit one bodypart and are useless for a beginning Ectomorph.

If your arms are less than 15 inches, don’t train them directly.

If your chest measures less than 40 inches, do presses and dips only.

If your calves are less than 14 inches, don’t train them directly.

I'm not saying that all this is useless, its just that ectos need to get their priorities straight. who do you think will grow the fastest: the guy squatting, deadlifting and pressing or the guy who never squats, hates deadlifts and trains his arms 3 days a week???

now once you have some size, add in the arm and calf work and more isolation movements to work the muscle more directly. dont put the cart before the horse. and remember this, presses and dips hit the triceps, rows and chins hit the biceps, deadlifts stress the forearms. theres your arm work.

Learn the mind-muscle connection. Don’t just lift the weight from point A to point B. Make the muscle work throughout the entire range of motion. Concentrate on the quality of each rep rather than on quantity of weight. If you can’t feel the muscle working and cramping as the set progresses, you’re probably using too much weight.

Your workouts should last between 45-90 minutes.

Realize that no matter how perfect your diet may be or what great super spectacular wonderful most efficient so called miracle muscle enhancing supplement you’re taking, you won’t grow unless you train correctly.

 

[great]

The first part sounds good, but not the second.

I'm hoping that I'll have more energy after I gain a little bit of weight and then I can take up running again without hyperventilating after running a quarter of a mile, or coming home and sleeping for two hours.

I just might try the diet...but after Thursday because I'm getting a free lunch that day and I don't know what that'll contain. =)

thanks for the advice. I'll post here if/when anything happens.

Those of you that think it's better to lose weight than gain weight, I'm sorry but I do not want to hear it. If I am ashamed of being skinny and you are ashamed of being fat, how is it that people come up to me and tell me I'm skinny but people don't come up to you and say you're fat? There are all kinds of programs and support groups for you. There is nothing for me. Friends are concerned about me and if I skip a meal they worry that I'm starving myself. I'm often not hungry. You don' tknow what it is to force yourself to eat, to chew and chew for like five minutes and it won't go down, and you swallow anyway and it comes back up. This was told me by a confidante that is trying to lose weight, who knows about my struggle to gain and has known me for many years. There was a time in her life when she had to gain weight as well, and she said that honestly, gaining weight was ten times harder than losing it because there is so much more pressure. Skinny is not beautiful. I don't want to be able to count my ribs. It would be nice to have some curves, look like a woman. It would be nice to be able to hear a funny joke without hyperventilating and having to sit down or lay down. Of course I am happy with the way God made me. My gaining weight is less of a big deal than it was last year. But its' still an issue.

That was just to anyone who thinks it's easy to gain weight. I'm sorry - I'm done ranting now!


And I don't know if the diet will work. If I don't have enough trypsin in my pancreas, how will the amount of food I eat affect that? But I'll see.

edit: It makes sense that the dietary plan was originally for men..I weigh less than 150 pounds, and 170 pounds would be an unthinkable weight for me. My long term goal at this point is 115..

 

[Rising_Suns]

Don't forget to mention that if you want to gain muscle, you need to be getting your protien in. this means atleast shooting for 150-200+ grams per day minimun. You can find that in steak, tuna, chicken, dairy, etc.

Also, b-12 increases your appetite so you can eat more.

Also, don't forget to workout the legs. If you do, your upper body will grow faster.

Realize that no matter how perfect your diet may be or what great super spectacular wonderful most efficient so called miracle muscle enhancing supplement you’re taking, you won’t grow unless you train correctly.

It also should be noted that no matter how great your training is, you won't grow unless you eat correctly either.

 

[great]

I've changed my mind - I'm not going to try this diet. I don't have the time or the means, and besides - doctors already know that the reason I can't gain is not because of the amount I eat. It's because of a lack of trypsin in my pancreas. Thanks for all your help anyway. Seems like a lot of people want to help but not too many people need it.


I also disgree with part of the diet. One gallon of water every day is not healthy. My uncle was told by his nutritionist to do that and he became very sick as a result, almost passing into a coma. I heard that half a gallon was the recommended dose. And don't forget that many fruits and vegetables are over seventy percent water. It seems like what you've set up is a standard for everyone, or what you consider it, abear. It will not help me to gain weight though - it will only make me sick.

I went to a particular nutritionist once. I hated her. She basically said "Alright, you need to be eating two pieces of toast with butter, scrambled eggs bacon and pancakes, for breakfast." I didn't even hear her say about lunch and supper - I was to shocked. Some mornings I can barely choke down half a piece of bread. People just do NOT understand. And they try to help when they don't even know what it's like. People are not the same. Your diet would eventually kill me, because part of the reason I am skinny is because my mother was. I have a slight frame. It's genetic. AND I have a pancreatic disorder. I get sick when I eat too much. I already eat as much as I can. No way can I do better than that.

I'm sorry if I sound frustrated. If I sound frustrated it's because I am.