I can't gain weight!!!

[Stevelegh]

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone has some advice on weight gain. I'm new to bodybuilding with my goal to bulk up, then lose bodyfat. So far I've made some gains and my overall bodyshape has improved, but I can't seem to gain any weight.

I'm eating clean 6 times a day, supplementing with protein and creatine and taking in around 4000 calories a day. I'm also hanging onto my old vice of drinking wine every night, so I'm thinking I should be getting fat, but no can do.

My workouts are 3 times a week with 5 x 200m sprints warmup on the rower followed by weights and stretches after.

Initially, I started at around 196lb, then when up to 204lb. after 6 weeks I've found myself at 193lb.

I was wondering whether to supplement with more protein, or if I'm just experiencing a normal response to taking up excercise.

If anyone has any thoughts, I'd appreciate it.

Cheers

[baretta]

Prolly the first question folks are gonna ask is, "what exactly does your diet look like?" What are you eating?

Secondly, have you been watching you body fat %? That's what counts (at least for me)... adding muscle. Being an ecto (hard gainer) myself, I don't sweat minor fluctuations in body fat. As long as that lean body mass is going up!

[namtrag]

I hate you

[bodyhard]

I have your exact same problem, gaining weight is really difficult for me and although eating is the best thing for us (I am an ecto like you) there is only so much you can eat before it starts coming up your throat. Last year I finaly made it to 200lbs at 10% BF my abs were still there and I gain it rather slowly but never the less I got there.

With that said here are some things you need to consider.

Besides the obvious that you need to EAT EAT and EAT

1) You need to sleep, sleep is very important when you are an Ecto besides you grow while you sleep NOT in the gym

2) You need to train less NOT more, Give your worked muscle at least 24-48 hours before hitting it again. Ectos burn calories even sitting down.

3)You need to hit all compound movements heavy, with more rest in between sets and more rest in between exercises. Low volume high intensity

4) Keep the Cardio to a minimum if you are going to do any cardio at all.

5) Supplement your diet with MRPS to add those extra calories

[Stevelegh]

Firstly, sorry Namtrag, I didn't mean to offend........

Hi Baretta,

My food intake is very clean on the whole. To Give an example:

Breakfast: Muesli, coffee, protein shake.

Mid morning: Apple, nuts, banana.

Lunch: Chicken sanwich.

Mid afternoon: Bean soup.

Evening: Normal meal (usually, steak or chicken with oven baked sweet potato or potato wedges with lots of salad).

Bottle of wine (!!!!!)

Before bed: Protein shake.

Cheers

[bodyhard]

Firstly, sorry Namtrag, I didn't mean to offend........

Hi Baretta,

My food intake is very clean on the whole. To Give an example:

Breakfast: Muesli, coffee, protein shake.

Mid morning: Apple, nuts, banana.

Lunch: Chicken sanwich.

Mid afternoon: Bean soup.

Evening: Normal meal (usually, steak or chicken with oven baked sweet potato or potato wedges with lots of salad).

Bottle of wine (!!!!!)

Before bed: Protein shake.

Cheers

That is not enough to gain, you need to tweak that some more

[namtrag]

Firstly, sorry Namtrag, I didn't mean to offend........

Hi Baretta,

My food intake is very clean on the whole. To Give an example:

Breakfast: Muesli, coffee, protein shake.

Mid morning: Apple, nuts, banana.

Lunch: Chicken sanwich.

Mid afternoon: Bean soup.

Evening: Normal meal (usually, steak or chicken with oven baked sweet potato or potato wedges with lots of salad).

Bottle of wine (!!!!!)

Before bed: Protein shake.

Cheers

Just teasing, it's hard being on either end of the weight gain/loss issue. Each side has it's unique problems.

I agree with BH, that is not enough food. No way it's 4000 calories

Start a free fitday account and log everything, you will be surprised how little that is.

[jimbop99]

I hate you

Thanks for the chuckle!

[Oncebitten]

I hate you

HA!

[ntrllftr]

Bottle of wine (!!!!!)

Cheers

Dude every night???

That is not enough to gain, you need to tweak that some more

A lot more. You need carbs with your Breakfast, mid morning and lunch brown rice or potatoes. You will never gain any weight with your current diet.
Cut out some of the cardio as well untill you start to gain weight.

[Stevelegh]

3)You need to hit all compound movements heavy, with more rest in between sets and more rest in between exercises. Low volume high intensity

5) Supplement your diet with MRPS to add those extra calories

I like the sound of that! I'm doing 3 sets of 12 to 15 at the moment. BORING!

Time to jack up the weight and drop the reps!

What's MRPS?

[bodyhard]

I like the sound of that! I'm doing 3 sets of 12 to 15 at the moment. BORING!

Time to jack up the weight and drop the reps!

What's MRPS?

MRP= Meal replacements. I hate to called them that as I prefer to called them MAO Meal Add Ons. I use MRP's to add more meals to my daily food intake as trying to add a whole meal is just too much when I am already eating 8 meals a day 3 hours apart.

[Stevelegh]

Dude every night???

Hey! I've cut down a lot. It was four beers, two bottles of wine and a few whiskeys before bed.

Oh yeah, I didn't make it to bed............

A bottle of wine just gets me a bit tiddly, so in the scheme of things, I'm actually now being a good boy.

I am English by the way. That probably explains a lot........

[namtrag]

It seems like everyone from the British Isles can drink like a fish and not gain weight because of it.

[baretta]

... I prefer to called them MAO Meal Add Ons...

New term... I like it! They come in handy when you're so full you can hardly swallow spit!

[bodyhard]

New term... I like it! They come in handy when you're so full you can hardly swallow spit!

Yeah man I forced them down, after eating full meals it feels like the food is right up in my throat, so adding a "MAO" is the easiest way for me to get the xtra calories I need.

[xMichaelx]

That is not enough to gain, you need to tweak that some more

Agreed -- you eat way less than me and I'm forcing myself to eat 3000 cals per day.

Check out http://www.fitday.com/ to keep track of what you're eating and make sure you're getting enough cals.

[Stevelegh]

Oh, we have our share of fatties.

Joking aside, it is a real problem over here and I have been known as someone who can 'put 'em away'.

Funny thing is, the government thought they would be able to curb our 'binge drinking' culture by giving 24 hour licences to serve liquer in the hope that we'd become more like our European neighbours and moderate our drinking over a longer period of time. A bit like the french drinking wine at corner street cafes.

Instead we have drunks falling out of bars all hours of the day and night at the weekend.

Right, I've made notes. Take in carbs for breakfast and lunch, cut the drinking and get on the meal replacements.

Thank you for all your help.

I promise the next post, I'll be a new man and post some pics to prove it. You won't see a wine glass anywhere near me. Ha!

Cheers

[FitIron]

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone has some advice on weight gain. I'm new to bodybuilding with my goal to bulk up, then lose bodyfat. So far I've made some gains and my overall bodyshape has improved, but I can't seem to gain any weight.

I'm eating clean 6 times a day, supplementing with protein and creatine and taking in around 4000 calories a day. I'm also hanging onto my old vice of drinking wine every night, so I'm thinking I should be getting fat, but no can do.

My workouts are 3 times a week with 5 x 200m sprints warmup on the rower followed by weights and stretches after.

Initially, I started at around 196lb, then when up to 204lb. after 6 weeks I've found myself at 193lb.

I was wondering whether to supplement with more protein, or if I'm just experiencing a normal response to taking up excercise.

If anyone has any thoughts, I'd appreciate it.

Cheers

My suggestions to gain lean mass.....

Lifting....Can you make it to the gym 4 days a week instead of 3????

If so, try something like....

4 day workout

DAY ONE

Back / Chest


Incline Barbell Press 4 sets

Incline Dumbbell Fly 3 sets

Cable Crossovers 3 sets



Close Grip Pulldowns 4 sets

Seated Rolls 3 sets

Bentover Barbell Rows ( underhand grip ) 3 sets



DAY TWO

Legs / Shoulders


Leg Press 3 sets

Leg Extentions 4 sets

Front Squats ( on smith machine, high reps here ) 3 sets...15 reps each

Leg Curls 3 sets

Seated calf raise 3 sets...15-20 reps per set

Seated Dumbbell Presses 3 sets

Standing Lateral Dumbbell Raise 3 sets

Seated Military machine press 3 sets



DAY THREE


Biceps / Triceps

Standing barbell curls 3 sets

Seated alternating dumbbell curls 3 sets

Preacher Curls w/ EZ bar 3 sets

Alternating Hammer curls 2 sets, both to failure.

Tricep Pressdown w/straight bar 3 sets

Skull Crushers 3 sets

Reverse Grip Tricep Pull/Push downs 4 sets




Core

Machine Crunch 3 sets

Incline Reverse Leg raises 3 sets...all to failure.

Incline setsups 3 sets



Meal Outline:

Meal 1

7-10 eggs, ( 2 whole, the rest white )
1 cup of oatmeal


Meal 2

8 oz lean meat
sweet potato
steamed veggies
raw almonds

Meal 4

8 oz lean meat
cup cooked brown rice
raw almonds or 2 tablespoons of Peanut butter

Meal 5

8oz lean meat
steamed veggies



Pre and Post workout...

Whey Protein shakes..


Approach:

For maximum hypertrophy the best rep ranges are about 7-10. This can very of course from person to person.

Also, this is just a general outlined, it can be tweaked in a way that suits you best.

The lean meats mentioned can be chicken, steak, lean burger, tuna, or fish.

Eating a baked potato just before or after a workout is fine. I'd use the red potato instead of regular bakes. The reds have more antioxidents which help increase your bodies nitrogen production.

The above total calorie will equal out to about 3800-4000 calories.
Be careful not to fall into the BULKING trap. It does not matter how much food you put in your gut, your body will not grow any muscle faster ( without synthetic support ) by over eating. You'll simply get fat!!!

Again, this is just a suggestion......Take from it what you will....

That said, there are a proliferation of theories around this subject. Some have merit, some do not. BB.COM is an awesome resource tool, but at times there can be a good amount of bull-**** to cypher through...LOL.

Best of Luck to you!!!!!!!

[bodyhard]

My suggestions to gain lean mass.....

Lifting....Can you make it to the gym 4 days a week instead of 3????

If so, try something like....

4 day workout

DAY ONE

Back / Chest


Incline Barbell Press 4 sets

Incline Dumbbell Fly 3 sets

Cable Crossovers 3 sets



Close Grip Pulldowns 4 sets

Seated Rolls 3 sets

Bentover Barbell Rows ( underhand grip ) 3 sets



DAY TWO

Legs / Shoulders


Leg Press 3 sets

Leg Extentions 4 sets

Front Squats ( on smith machine, high reps here ) 3 sets...15 reps each

Leg Curls 3 sets

Seated calf raise 3 sets...15-20 reps per set

Seated Dumbbell Presses 3 sets

Standing Lateral Dumbbell Raise 3 sets

Seated Military machine press 3 sets



DAY THREE


Biceps / Triceps

Standing barbell curls 3 sets

Seated alternating dumbbell curls 3 sets

Preacher Curls w/ EZ bar 3 sets

Alternating Hammer curls 2 sets, both to failure.

Tricep Pressdown w/straight bar 3 sets

Skull Crushers 3 sets

Reverse Grip Tricep Pull/Push downs 4 sets




Core

Machine Crunch 3 sets

Incline Reverse Leg raises 3 sets...all to failure.

Incline setsups 3 sets

Dude no disrepect but that is NOT a mas building routine at all.

You are missing some serious compound movements and you are adding some less critical machines.

Also a whole workout for bicep and triceps??

[Stevelegh]

Thanks FitIron,

Looking at your avatar, that's where I want to be eventually.

I think I've established from everyones comments that my current regime is maintaining things work / food / weight ratio, but I need to lift more for gains and eat more to support gains.

I'll start my adding weight with lower reps and adding to the diet, treading carefully. As you say, I don't want to create a situation where I just get fat.

Regarding the program, thank you for that. I will look to doing this, although my current situation allows me only so much free time, which I've had to 'steal' from the usual duties of work, kids and general homelife. A long story, but my hitting the gym 3 times a week was part of a deal with my wife. Who knew I needed four?

When she sees the gains, she'll come around to me spending an extra hour at the gym!

Thank you everyone for your help.

[FitIron]

Thanks FitIron,

Looking at your avatar, that's where I want to be eventually.

I think I've established from everyones comments that my current regime is maintaining things work / food / weight ratio, but I need to lift more for gains and eat more to support gains.

I'll start my adding weight with lower reps and adding to the diet, treading carefully. As you say, I don't want to create a situation where I just get fat.

Regarding the program, thank you for that. I will look to doing this, although my current situation allows me only so much free time, which I've had to 'steal' from the usual duties of work, kids and general homelife. A long story, but my hitting the gym 3 times a week was part of a deal with my wife. Who knew I needed four?

When she sees the gains, she'll come around to me spending an extra hour at the gym!

Thank you everyone for your help.

Well, I did miss adding a couple of compound exercises. I hit send before I was ready...

Add incline and flat bench to chest...

Military presses to shoulders and regular barbell squats to legs.

Other than that, just take from it what you need.

Again all of this is subjective.

However, in nine mouths I went from 194lbs down to 172, ( losing fat ) then build back up to 183lbs with a bf% of 11 percent...

I have started cutting and am down to 177lbs and 8%bf....

[ntrllftr]

Hey! I've cut down a lot. It was four beers, two bottles of wine and a few whiskeys before bed.

Oh yeah, I didn't make it to bed............

A bottle of wine just gets me a bit tiddly, so in the scheme of things, I'm actually now being a good boy.

I am English by the way. That probably explains a lot........

Don't get me wrong I like to kick back and suck em down as well. Just if you want to be serious about lifting it has to be a little bit more in moderation.

Just my opinion.

I do commend you on cutting back. I know how hard that can be to achieve.

[Stevelegh]

Don't get me wrong I like to kick back and suck em down as well. Just if you want to be serious about lifting it has to be a little bit more in moderation.

Just my opinion.

I do commend you on cutting back. I know how hard that can be to achieve.

I gave up completely for November and after the first few days it wasn't any trouble. Thing is with me, it's all or nothing.

Do you have Pringles in the US? Like the ad says: 'Once you pop you can't stop'

That about sums up my drinking......

You are totally right though. Keep the cork in and the weights out!

I think I'll use that on future posts for self motivation.

Thanks

[PeteB]

A bottle of wine just gets me a bit tiddly, so in the scheme of things, I'm actually now being a good boy.

Unfortunately, alcohol works against building muscle for a variety of reasons, and if you consume enough, it can inhibit muscle growth completely. Not feeling tipsy does not change the amount of alcohol the body has to metabolize.

Alcohol is metabolized before other food, and it can preempt the absorbtion of nutrients a person needs to build muscle, at the same time it lowers testosterone levels, and unlike other carbs which convert to blood sugar, alcohol converts directly to a fatty acid.

Please don't take this as a sermon against drinking, given my personal history, and how much fun I had in my 20's and 30's, that would make me a pretty big hypocrite. (Besides, I live in Wisconsin )

I am just suggesting that if you consume 4-5 oz of alcohol in whatever form before your sleep/rest time, you may not grow any muscle at all, and extra food may mostly be converted to fat. Sort-of sucks, but there it is...

http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/bigalcohol.htm

If you do a search in the articles section, there is a lot more.

[namtrag]

Look at the end of the "my son" thread. My son started at 160 in September and is at 180 right now, he gave me his typical meals and I posted them in that thread near the bottom.

He always thought he was a hard gainer until I told him to eat more. he was underestimating his intake, much like you.

[Gunn27]

Continue drinking like you do, and you will soon have the testosterone output of Margaret Thatcher. Then you can forget about adding muscle, though fat gain will be a breeze. I'm Scottish, and all too familair with the "culture" you speak of.

I agree with everyone so far who says you are not eating enough, i'd be surprised if your list equals 2000 calories, never mind 4k. Listen to Bodyhard, he has accomplished what you are trying to achieve and can help, IMO.

[Stevelegh]

Advice taken my friends.

First night off the sauce!

Lets see where I get to now.

I'm also going to start stuffing my face with plenty of good proteins and some carbs.

I'll report back soon.

Thanks chaps.

[TDetroit]

I hate you

roflmao

I get this a lot myself.
I found that I could cheat to gain weight with peanut butter. it's got fat, but it's the good kind. at the end of the day though, fat is fat. lot's of protein and good fats. that whould help.

the rest of the diet is also important. if you really want just wieght, Mcdonald's can help you out. I assume you are not going that route. but point is the rest of the diet has to be correct. at your weight, target 250 grams protein (up to 300), and try to keep the carbs down to 350 or less. (that will be real tough) Get salmon, it's fatty fish.

I dunno. 4000 cals, for how long? is it maybe just a delayed gain? I had that. I was at 3600 cals for a month before the weight started to move.

At the end, it was 3 pb&j per day that got me the last 5 lbs.

try also, changing up the rower. split it into 2 or 3 peices and do them mixed in with the lifting. this will burn more fat (and thus lose weight) but i am thinking maybe the cardio is breaking down muscle because it is all together. the repetitive motion increase endurance strength, but reduces flinch fiber size.

I dunno otherwise.

[Leaf_Longbottom]

Unfortunately, alcohol works against building muscle for a variety of reasons, and if you consume enough, it can inhibit muscle growth completely. Not feeling tipsy does not change the amount of alcohol the body has to metabolize.

Alcohol is metabolized before other food, and it can preempt the absorbtion of nutrients a person needs to build muscle, at the same time it lowers testosterone levels, and unlike other carbs which convert to blood sugar, alcohol converts directly to a fatty acid.

Please don't take this as a sermon against drinking, given my personal history, and how much fun I had in my 20's and 30's, that would make me a pretty big hypocrite. (Besides, I live in Wisconsin )

I am just suggesting that if you consume 4-5 oz of alcohol in whatever form before your sleep/rest time, you may not grow any muscle at all, and extra food may mostly be converted to fat. Sort-of sucks, but there it is...

http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/bigalcohol.htm

If you do a search in the articles section, there is a lot more.

Damn...you beat me to it...I was going to comment on metabolizing alcohol.

Your liver is busy doing that instead of synthesizing protien.