Gaining muscle?
Hi! I am 16 years old and am very puny!! I weigh like 112 lbs and am 5’9″….I naturally have a slender build, and that’s good for getting cut…I mean I have a set of six pack abs and I only do like 50 crunches a day….What I want is to get bulkier…I want bigger Pecs, Biceps, calves, and thighs…My goal weight is like 170 lbs by the time next october comes along…So about a year….Considering how underweight I am, I may be able to gain some quickly, but I have already increased my caloric intake from 2000-2100 all the way to 2800-3000 calories a day for the past wo months and have seen absolutely no results!!! I do not lift weights, but I do exercise regularly..Do you think weightlifting could be the missing link here?? And if not, what can I do?? I want to make the football team next year….
Oh and I also want bigger shoulders and a back
Ok people, I asked to gain wweight not if you thought I should gain weight..I am underwight and most guys my age weigh at LEASR 150 and that’s in muscle not like those fat kids…please answer the question that I asked
o no! dont try to gain weight! you sound perfect =]
you sound in perfect shape?
but remember your still young wait till like 18 hopefully you’ll have blowen out by then if not? do the weight!!!!
and add additional protien into your diet to gain abit more muscle! not to much!!!!!
U know I ruined my body being in your position by weightlifting but that doesn’t have to happen with today’s proper equipment and trainers. Listen to your body. U don’t have to live in pain to gain. Protein supplements. I used Weight On from The Vitamin Store. I gained 20 lbs in one month. I suggest halving the dose if you do it. It’s not free, and u don’t have to gain overnight. Get a back brace. You’ve only got one back, and mine’s quite sore right now. Thirty years later that is. For leg squats avoid free weights please. Plenty of alternatives.
Another reason to spread out the supplements is sometimes the ingredients are not as clear as one would like. Protein could be a very vague term. Good luck with this. Myself, I wish I’d taken up long distance running. Cheers.
If you gain 58 lbs in a year its going to likely be more than 50% fat. If you want to stay lean the entire time aim for like 20-30 lbs in a year and workout. (By the way I have been averaging 3 lbs a month but my body seems to burn off a lb every now and then).
If you want to gain weight do what I do. Reduce your cardio to about two sessions of 20 minutes a week (I do biking) and continue eating about the same calories and do the bodybuilding.com 3 day workout for mass. Its a great routine for starting an even build. If you don’t see gains within a week or two increase your calorie intake. Just make sure you’re eating balanced sources of calories (calories from carbs, protein, healthy fats, etc.) There are also gainer shakes for athlete (I use champion heavyweight gainer 900) you can use to supplement your meal plain instead of eating 24/7.
Do some research and try some stuff out, figure out what works for you. I’m still learning what works for me after an entire year.
By the way if you want big arms you need to work both biceps and triceps.
Also – 6 pack abs come like 25% size of abs and 75% from body fat percentage. I also did tons of crunches last summer and it did absolutely nothing. Now I do weighted crunches and see tons of results.
Do rowing and deadlift (I don’t plan on doing deadlifts until I gain enough build for a 2 or 3 days split) exercises for back and dips and benching/pushup type exercises for shoulders.
One last point to add. – If you’re really having that hard of a time gaining weight you should probably consult your physician to get some blood work done, a urine sample taken and your blood pressure checked I also read somewhere that you should consider getting hormone levels checked as well. You may have some type of thyroid problem. You should do this anyway before pumping massive amounts of nutrients into your system so that you know that your organs (I know kidneys should be checked) are working properly. I’m just now doing this though since I’m going to be taking a huge amount of protein and supplements for my first bulk this winter.
The best way to gain weight is to eat like a horse, but keep it clean. Not neccesarilly junk food or fast food, but high protein and carbs. Weightlifting is crucial to gaining weight, not so much cardio training. If you have access to a gym, do high weight, low reps to gain mass, not cut. Also, at health shops, you can pick up mass gainers which aid in gaining weight. These include high calorie intakes of up to 1000cal per shake and make it alot easier to get your daily calorie intake to 3000-4000 a day. Hope all goes well. – Tom