In response to a couple of requests I got in the What's up with Yao? thread... At the age of 20, I was 6' tall, weighed 127 lbs, and was unsuccessful at putting on weight (high metabolism). So I visited a dietician named Keith Klein who checked my body fat and recommened a specific diet and workout scheme. He emphasized that I must stick close to it for a long time to get results. After 3 months, I gained 30 lbs of muscle. Here's the system I used: Diet: Low fat, high calorie. As a thin guy with a high metabolism, I burned off carbs and calories very quickly - so quickly, that I would then burn off any fat on my body (that's the order in which your body burns things off: carbs, calories, then fat). Also, I would eat six meals a day (yes, six!). I would begin the day with a bowl of cereal, banana and toast BEFORE breakfast. Between breakfast and lunch, I would eat two tuna sandwiches, yogurt and banana. I would eat that again a couple of hours after dinner. For my breakfast, lunch and dinner meals, I would eat anything I wanted just as long as it was a full meal and it was low on fat. Also, I drank nothing but fat-free milk with everything I ate (okay, sometimes I drank water). Now, that's a LOT of food and calorie intake, and if you don't work out, the calories that aren't burned off are gonna turn into fat really quick, so here's the workout scheme. Workout: Almost entirely weightlifting. Exercises like jogging and stairmaster (aerobic excercise) are intended to help people LOSE weight, not gain. I would start with a 5 minute bicycle just to get my cardiovascular rate up. Then I would hit the machine weights (freeweights are for more intense bodybuilder type people, but that's not me). I worked out for three days straight, then took a day off. Then workout for three days. Then a day off.... etc. On workout day one, I would work out back & biceps. Day two: chest and triceps. Day three - abs and legs. For specific exercises do some research on the web. On each workout day, I would do at least 4 different exercises. For each exercise I would do at least three sets of 10 (I recommend continuing till muscular failure). After my workout, I would jog in place again for 5 minutes as a 'cool-down'. I hated it. I was forcing myself to eat, and eat, and eat over and over at times when I wasn't hungry. I drank milk till I was sick of it. I ate tuna (I hate tuna). I was a skinny guy in a gym struggling to lift light weight while I was surrounded by 'the beautiful people' who all were stronger and bigger than me. My body was so sore at first, I was walking like Frankenstein. But I stuck with it, and after two months, I started showing definition in my lats (upper arms). Cool! I was finally getting some inspiration!. The next month was even better! I'm no body builder, but I was putting on muscle!. I'm not gonna guarantee that this system will work for everybody. I highly suggest that you find a nutritionist who has gone from thin to fat and can help you through it. I also recommend that you are emotionally prepared to be miserable through the ordeal for 2 months (at least). You must stick with the diet and exercise program both for a long time to achieve your goal. I hope this helps! -- droxford
Thats not a bad plan. I just got a personal trainer and am doing about the same thing. Except, I can only work out three times a week. Fine by me. I used to work out about five times a week. I am pretty damn skinny as well (5 foot 9 - 150 lbs). He told me to forget about cardio completely. Except for warming up for five minutes before each of my sessions. Now he is going to start me on some weight gainer protein shake thingy. I bet it tastes nasty. Anyone know if creatine is safe to take? I know our bodies produce it naturally, but still...
A good protein shake is at Smoothie King. I get one every day. Power Punch Plus with Protein. Costs $4.80. Tastes good and gives you about 40 grams of protein. I highly recommend it.
I tried a Weider weight gain shake for a while (before my 'master plan'). The chocolate flavor didn't taste too bad (vanilla was nasty), but the texture of both was pretty unpleasant. Also, I didn't put on the weight (though there were probably other factors: I wasn't eating right, working out right, etc.) When I did my 'master plan', I did not use any supplements of any kind. I don't know squat about creatine. Tip: If you're not sore as hell from your workouts, you need to work out harder (do more reps until your muscles fail) BTW - I'm not a health & Fitness nut, or a personaly trainer or anything. Just a normal guy who used to be skinny. Stay at it, man. Don't get discouraged! -- droxford
I worked out pretty damn hard at the YMCA. At least that's what I used to think. This personal trainer I go to is the second coming of the Anti-Christ! I only started last week, but feel as I've worked out harder this past week then the last three years combined. I love it though! I am tired of being skinny damnit! I wannabe big and tough. That way I can kick all of your asses!
yeah its not really gay when you are skinny as hell like me and you try everything to gain weight and it doesnt work. you guys ever thought about people with high metabolisms. well think about how much money it costs to gain weight. it sux
Sounds like a good plan but I don't see anything that you couldn't have done or figured out on your own. The prevailing themes to everyone wanting to gain muscle mass while adding weight: 1.) Eat several times a day to provide your muscles the fuel they need to recover and build from workout sessions. These periods should be spaced out throughout the day and one should probably not go more than 3 hours between meals. 2.) Eat more protein in your diet and increase your caloric intake which typically involves supplementing with protein shakes. Typical rule of thumb is 1 gram of protein per 1 pound of body weight. 3.) Cardio is for weight loss while heavy weight lifting is for building muscle mass. Like you said, if you don't want to lose weight, then focus more on the weight lifting. Emphasize all the muscle groups separately dividing them on different days. It doesn't seem like there is anything there specific to people with high metabolism. I guess the only one thing is different muscle builders sometimes still have high carbohydrates(some do...some don't) in their diet but increased protein is a must. I guess the problem your going to run into is if you ever burn out and stop the plan given your propensity for a high metabolism rate...that muscle mass will probably turn to flab and melt away. I have had several periods of successful weight training under this type of plan. But, I tend to burnout after a year and all that work reverses itself for the most part.
If you want to gain weight, you have to eat carbs. Your body can only absorb so much protein and has no real way to store it. So most people who buy protein shakes are wasting their money. The body uses carbs, fat, and protein in that order for energy. If you want to gain muscle mass, you have make sure you eat enough carbs and fat so your body never use the protein for fuel.
Yea...but I didn't say anything about cutting out carbs. That would be equivalent to an Atkins diet. I was just saying that some emphasize more carbs and others less carbs. Protein shakes are not a waste of money. If your seriously working out in the gym like we are talking about, then your body and muscles are using that protein.
You just want to get the attention away from you . I agree with YoYao, though...show us if it worked, droxford!
Ok I'll address a couple things here... Rockets03....Creatine is, was, and always will be safe to take as long as you drink enough water after you take it. Just take the recommended amount after you have your creatine. But I feel creatine doesn't really help a ton unless you are into really heavy lifting programs, because I have never noticed a significant energy difference except when I was taking this expensive crap but it wasn't worth the price for me to stay on it. Droxford...lats are in your back. latissimus dorsi are the 2 long muscles that make up most of the side of your back. not trying to be a dick, just wanted to let you know. upper arms that you are talking about is probably delts. Also to everyone who is looking to gain weight here is the supplement that worked for me. I gained 10 lbs in 2 weeks on it. It's called 1-AD from Ergopharm. It's similar to andro in the sense that increases testosterone levels, except this stuff works a lot better and doesn't have damaging side effects. But I will warn you I did lose my sex drive. However, if you combine 1-AD with this stuff called tribulus terrestris, which has no side effects except increasing sex drive, then you can limit the sexual side effects. I ran out of tribulus terrestris and when I stopped taking it and I almost immediately noticed the hit on my sex drive. Anyhow...I noticed great results on this stuff, but had to stop early because of the sexual side effects that my gf didn't like. Go to this site... http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com they have great info about any supplement out there. The guy who runs the site is friendly too so you can email him with any questions.
Well its funny...when I was gaining the weight I only knew because I was checking myself on the scale. It really didn't look like I was putting on a ton of weight fast. I am 5'10 and I went from 165 to 175. Right now I am around 173. When I started working out around Feb. I weighed about 155. Just for reference.
