Skinny and need more pounds!!

[COMountainGuy]

I had an extremely rigorous 2010 that involved missing lunch about half of the time. By the end of it, I liked the look and the feeling of weightlessness. I had veins popping out everywhere.

I am well over 6' tall and have a large frame. I once weighed 245 and did deadlift sets with 405. So I have some muscle memory.

I just gained 30 pounds in two months. I'd say that 10 pounds is fat to be honest. Not worried because I can shed weight like water off a ducks back.

This was my strategy:
1) Ate lots of protein. Plenty of protein powder, milk, nuts, meat, and eggs.
2) Did creatine about 1/2 hour before workouts.
3) Lifted every other day. Leg day is either squats or dead lifts....these build size fast. Upper body work out is compound exercises such as chin ups, dips, bench, overhead press, and rows. These build size fast.

It was not hard though I've been, more or less, sore since I started lifting again. I had taken several years off. I really concentrated on gaining size and strength. I will soon start doing more cardio and that will hurt my size and strength...which is why I have delayed cardio.

I am considering finding a partner and being somewhat muscular will give me multitudes of more options. I don't have the drive for risky, adrenaline adventures that I used to.

 

[conntom]

watch fathead the movie.

You have efficient fat cells.

I'm 6'3 225 but came out of high school much lighter.

Protein and working out helps but you have to work out in a way that builds muscle for a skinny body type. It's not the easiest workout or life style.

Eat many small meals - protein, eggs, whole milk, chicken, marbled steak. High weights, small reps with muscle repair time between workouts. Cycle on and off like 2 weeks work out, 1 week rest. When working out alternate muscle groups every other day.

I added a lot of muscle to my skinny frame and the girls like it. It's just a pain to do and don;t throw off your blood chemistry or sacrifice long term health for some shallow short term gain.

Good luck.

 

[conntom]

Is the OP a vegetarian?

Forget it then. Very unhealthy diet and things like soy and whole wheat have a very high GI index number. You also tend to be depressed and lose muscle tone on those vegan diets.

Eat like a human!

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

Is the OP a vegetarian?

Forget it then. Very unhealthy diet and things like soy and whole wheat have a very high GI index number. You also tend to be depressed and lose muscle tone on those vegan diets.

Eat like a human!

Well, he didn't say he was a vegan.
He didn't what he's eating, for that matter ... apart from saying he's a vegetarian.
And are soy and whole wheat (which he may not be eating in great quantity anyway) that high in terms of GI index?
My impression has been that they're not.
And in any case, there have been successful bodybuilders who have been vegetarians.
(I'm sure, though, that they've had a fundamentally different body type.)

 

[conntom]

They are high on the GI index....scary that we have been sold a bunch of lies ...

Steroids and vegetarian just might work.

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

And are soy and whole wheat (which he may not be eating in great quantity anyway) that high in terms of GI index?
My impression has been that they're not.

They are high on the GI index....scary that we have been sold a bunch of lies ...

Food: Soy Milk (reduced fat)
Glycemic Index: 44
Glycemic Index Rating: Low

Food: Soy Beans
Glycemic Index: 18
Glycemic Index Rating: Low

Food: Whole wheat bread:
Glycemic Index: 49
Glycemic Index Rating: Low (being under 55)

Steroids and vegetarian just might work.

You are being too absolutist in your thinking. One can get a high intake of fat and protein on a vegetarian diet. (I don't, however, deny that it's easier to do so on an omnivore's diet.)
Some people ... a minority ... do require some intake of animal protein to get full nutrition.

 

[helgaleena]

As a former vegetarian, I do not take kindly to those who go the vegan route or the raw food route without understanding that there is such a thing as too much fiber. It's rare for most people to get to that point, but these stranger diets can do so.

Cooking food makes it more digestible. It turns soluble fiber to starches and starches to sugars and so on. If your problem is glycemic, raw sweets are just as bad as boiled sweets. Raw potatoes are full of vitamin C, but you can't use the calories very well. What is indigestible will give you gas.

Eggs, brewers yeast, mushrooms and whey if you can digest whey, are all great for nourishing you if you are building muscle. So are whole grains, and don't add excess bran.

And for goodness sakes, a bit of liver will do you a world of good.

 

[Redwyvre]

According to the Mayo Clinic Body Mass Index if you are 67 inches tall you should weigh at least 121 pounds. So adding a few pounds would make sense, but don't go over 153 pounds.
I can tell you from my own experience it is probably going to be difficult to bulk up. I'm 6 feet tall and from age 18 to 44 I weighed 145 pounds which is near the low end of normal BMI for my height. I tried everything to 'get bigger' and nothing worked. Only time I gained weight was one summer in my early 20's I worked on a construction crew and we ate at Burger King or McDonald's for lunch everyday. I didn't like getting a spare tire so I started packing my own lunch.
Anyway's, it isn't easy, but it is possible to love and accept your body and enjoy being skinny guy. If you look around you'll find plenty of hot men who'll appreciate everything about you.
Enjoy it while you can because at some point your testosterone level will start to decline and you'll find it will be really easy to gain weight. Trust me on this.
Btw I think you look just fine.

 

[likes2seemore]

don't worry, you'll know when you get to thin...you organs will start to fail.happened to a girlfriend of mine.

 

[mxaxuxrxixzxixox]

thanks to everyone - im eating like a monster the last months. lets see what the results will be!

 

[SR_Dee_Zasther]

It's not quite as simple as just consuming a protein shake, unfortunately. Gaining weight can be a challenge, especially for ectomorphs ("hard gainers") like yourself with high metabolisms. Despite it being a challenge, the solution is relatively straight-forward. It's all up to you, your self-control, and your determination. If you set your mind to it, you can do it!

There are 3 parts to building muscle and adding weight (I'm guessing you don't want to add fat ).

1. Whole Foods (and Supplements to well, supplement the whole foods--not replace them)
2. Exercise
3. Rest (Sleep)

I'll try to share my nutition, training, and biochemistry experience in a succinct but informative way. I'll start at the bottom of the above list and work my way up.

Sleep

For a young man like yourself, you should aim for 7-9 hours of sleep every night. Ideally you would go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, but it's more important to get the full amount of rest. So, if you happen to stay up late one night, it's not the end of the world. Your body will not repair tissues and add mass without sleep! It's one of, if not, the most important part of the 3 listed above. Along with this, avoid caffeine and other stimulants just before bed time as they can restrict blood flow to the brain (by up to 40%) and make it more difficult to fall sleep.

Exercise

Without a stimulus, your body will have no impetus to grow and add mass. The human body is a very efficient machine that adapts so that it only uses just what it needs and no more (the minimum required with no wasted resources). You mentioned you workout, which is fantastic. Keep that up! Many people who aim to add muscle mass utilize some form of strength training. If it's not possible to access a gym, body weight exercises can be just as effective as weights. For you, I'd aim for somewhere between 3 and 5 high intensity workouts a week. The point of exercise to gain weight is to cause microtears in the muscle fibers. When the body goes to repair the fibers, it doesn't just repair them to the point they were at before, but it strengthens them in an effort to prevent microtears in the future. Again, without rest (sleep), your body won't repair itself!

Whole Foods

The best fuel for your body is whole, natural foods. Having the self control to put down the processed foods and eat whole foods will help greatly in your effort to gain weight. Processed foods are broken down as simple sugars (simple carbs) and fat--both of which are bad. Whole foods contain necessary and beneficial amino acids (that are used to make protein), healthy fats, and complex carbs (healthy carbs). As Countryguy63 mentioned, to gain weight, you need to consume more calories than you burn. For an active, high calorie burning, young man like yourself, that takes quite a bit of calories. The hardest part of gaining weight is eating regularly and frequently enough! When looking at the calories consumed, there are 3 main macronutrients you need to care about: protein, carbohydrates, and fats. For you, I'd recommend a calorie ratio of 30% protein, 50% carbohydrates, and 20% fat. What this means is that 30% of the calories you consume should come from whole protein sources (meats, fish, legumes, etc.), 50% from whole carbohydrate sources (whole grains, wheat, etc.), and 20% from healthy fats (unsaturated fats like olive oil or omega fatty acids--avoid saturated and trans fats). For you, I would recommend aiming to consume around 2500 calories a day. This means you should aim to consume 750 calories (188 grams) of protein, 1250 calories (313 grams of carbohydrates), and 500 calories (56 grams) of fat in a single day. The most difficult macronutrient to get in sufficient amounts is protein. That's where a protein supplement can help bridge the gap. However, you should never rely on supplements as your main nutrient source. They are called "supplements" for a reason! For example, eat chicken and beef as your whole protein source, and then consume a protein shake to help you get up to 188 grams of protein.

EDIT: I think you might have mentioned you were a vegetarian. In that case, whole protein sources can include soy and other legume (bean) sources.

I hope this brief (but hopefully thorough enough) overview was helpful. Feel free to ask me any more questions as well. You can find some great articles over at Bodybuilding.com too. Cheers!

^This
When it gets down to it, you have to eat enough calories. Following the above advice is a great way to add lean mass. You are entirely too skinny, but once you actually start eating regularly and eating enough, you'll throw on a good 10-15 lbs in no time before things start to slow down. There's no "Just do this one thing" solution to changing your body; it's a reflection of the environment and lifestyle you surround yourself with, and to get the body you want, you have to create the environment and lifestyle necessary to attain that body. TO put things in perspective, I'm 5'6" and around 165 lbs, so you have a lot of room to grow.

 

[tallguy441]

Skinny is sexy!

 

[Powerlifterhorse]

Vitol Russian Bear 5000 Weight Gainer at Bodybuilding.com: Lowest Prices for Russian Bear 5000 Weight Gainer try this, even if you dont eat, you will get bigger (judt try to keep hitting the weighst hard)