Having Trouble Gaining Mass

[JSB9477]

Hey everyone so my stats are 5'11" 150 lbs age 19, started lifting over the summer for the first time in my life, only gained like 5 lbs or so of lean mass which is terrible progress, although I have gotten a lot stronger than where I started. I haven't taken measurements of my arms, waist, etc. until recently but I know for a fact that I really haven't gained that much mass. I want to bulk up, but I have some questions.

1. Currently I lift M, Tu, Th, F and do abs/cardio W and Sa, rest on Su. Am I lifting too much and burning too many calories to not gain weight?

2. I am at college where my cafeteria is buffet style so keeping track of my calories is hard. And I have a high metabolism and I find it hard to eat more food than I can usually stomach (never been a big eater), although I am eating healthy every day. Any suggestions for this?

3. If I eat too much will I be gaining a lot of fat? Because I definitely don't want that lol (unless necessary)

Your response will be appreciated, I really do want to gain weight and then eventually cut down

[Gijsss]

lulz

[Cuiey]

Hey everyone so my stats are 5'11" 150 lbs age 19, started lifting over the summer for the first time in my life, only gained like 5 lbs or so of lean mass which is terrible progress, although I have gotten a lot stronger than where I started. I haven't taken measurements of my arms, waist, etc. until recently but I know for a fact that I really haven't gained that much mass. I want to bulk up, but I have some questions.

1. Currently I lift M, Tu, Th, F and do abs/cardio W and Sa, rest on Su. Am I lifting too much and burning too many calories to not gain weight?

2. I am at college where my cafeteria is buffet style so keeping track of my calories is hard. And I have a high metabolism and I find it hard to eat more food than I can usually stomach (never been a big eater), although I am eating healthy every day. Any suggestions for this?

3. If I eat too much will I be gaining a lot of fat? Because I definitely don't want that lol (unless necessary)

Your response will be appreciated, I really do want to gain weight and then eventually cut down

Without posting your routine its hard to say, however if you are wanting to build mass why are you doing cardio? Or do you need it for football or something?

If you find you can't eat as much, try some calorie dense foods like peanut butter etc. Or you could start taking a weight gainer.

You can not gain weight without a little bit of fat. You can't be afraid to put on fat if you want to gain weight. Put simply, you can not bulk up without taking in a calorie surplus. 5 lb of lean muscle mass is not terrible progress, for only a couple of months thats pretty decent. if you continue lifting throughout the years you will find putting on sometimes 1 lb of muscle is difficult.

[speX94]

http://muscleandbrawn.com/forums/pow...ing-story.html

and need pix

[JSB9477]

lol I think I get the idea now, great thread. I'll upload pics tomorrow

[Arathor]

Hey everyone so my stats are 5'11" 150 lbs age 19, started lifting over the summer for the first time in my life, only gained like 5 lbs or so of lean mass which is terrible progress, although I have gotten a lot stronger than where I started. I haven't taken measurements of my arms, waist, etc. until recently but I know for a fact that I really haven't gained that much mass. I want to bulk up, but I have some questions.

1. Currently I lift M, Tu, Th, F and do abs/cardio W and Sa, rest on Su. Am I lifting too much and burning too many calories to not gain weight?

2. I am at college where my cafeteria is buffet style so keeping track of my calories is hard. And I have a high metabolism and I find it hard to eat more food than I can usually stomach (never been a big eater), although I am eating healthy every day. Any suggestions for this?

3. If I eat too much will I be gaining a lot of fat? Because I definitely don't want that lol (unless necessary)

Your response will be appreciated, I really do want to gain weight and then eventually cut down

Well firstly, 5lbs in 2-3 months isn't bad considering that you weren't on a bulking diet.

1.) Don't do cardio. It's pointless and damaging to your gains. There are a lot of cardio fanboys who defend it to the death, but in the long term there's no point in doing it; it just burns a lot of calories that should be used for muscle repair/growth. Don't directly work abs either; your core gets worked in most exercises anyway, and you don't want to end up with an oversized core that's out of proportion. 3 rest days is optimum in my opinion.

2.) Just eat and eat and eat until you feel full, then eat a little more until you can't eat anything else. In time, your appetite will naturally increase as your body gets bigger and needs more fuel.

3.) It depends a lot on genetics, and how many calories over your maintenance you go. Eating so much that you will gain a significant amount of fat is something that you will never do by accident, so don't worry about it.

[Barbs385]

Hey everyone so my stats are 5'11" 150 lbs age 19, started lifting over the summer for the first time in my life, only gained like 5 lbs or so of lean mass which is terrible progress, although I have gotten a lot stronger than where I started. I haven't taken measurements of my arms, waist, etc. until recently but I know for a fact that I really haven't gained that much mass. I want to bulk up, but I have some questions.

1. Currently I lift M, Tu, Th, F and do abs/cardio W and Sa, rest on Su. Am I lifting too much and burning too many calories to not gain weight?

2. I am at college where my cafeteria is buffet style so keeping track of my calories is hard. And I have a high metabolism and I find it hard to eat more food than I can usually stomach (never been a big eater), although I am eating healthy every day. Any suggestions for this?

3. If I eat too much will I be gaining a lot of fat? Because I definitely don't want that lol (unless necessary)

Your response will be appreciated, I really do want to gain weight and then eventually cut down

You mentioned being concerned about gaining fat. Yes it is almost always necessary for anyone to gain "some" fat whilst trying to gain lean mass, you cannot hit two birds with one stone here.

However, you also stated you're willing to cut down eventually which is a smart idea.

Answer is, bulk and cut separately. Eat well into a calorie surplus till you have achieved your desired weight, try and fit your macros as well (1-1.5g protein per pound of body weight etc) and cut the cardio, possibly only do high intensity/ weighted ab work as well. Then, once you're ready to cut, cut the calories down, keep the high intensity and possibly add in some cardio if need be.

Take home message- nutrition is king

[JSB9477]

Thanks for all the tips guys, what I'm getting at is that I don't want to like get a gut going lol

[DdotT]

Hey everyone so my stats are 5'11" 150 lbs age 19, started lifting over the summer for the first time in my life, only gained like 5 lbs or so of lean mass which is terrible progress, although I have gotten a lot stronger than where I started. I haven't taken measurements of my arms, waist, etc. until recently but I know for a fact that I really haven't gained that much mass. I want to bulk up, but I have some questions.

1. Currently I lift M, Tu, Th, F and do abs/cardio W and Sa, rest on Su. Am I lifting too much and burning too many calories to not gain weight?

2. I am at college where my cafeteria is buffet style so keeping track of my calories is hard. And I have a high metabolism and I find it hard to eat more food than I can usually stomach (never been a big eater), although I am eating healthy every day. Any suggestions for this?

3. If I eat too much will I be gaining a lot of fat? Because I definitely don't want that lol (unless necessary)

Your response will be appreciated, I really do want to gain weight and then eventually cut down

1. Compounds.
2.You have a buffet, all you can eat, try downloading Myfitnesspal and entering the food and how many portions to track your calories.
3.Stop cardio - rely on compounds for some cardio atleast reduce it. - since you have fast metabolism
4. You can't help gaining some fat, thats why you have a 'cutting phase'. Save your cardio for then. Heavy resistance training requires alot of calories for repair, if you have a fast metabolism your fat gain should be minimal.

[DdotT]

Well firstly, 5lbs in 2-3 months isn't bad considering that you weren't on a bulking diet.

1.) Don't do cardio. It's pointless and damaging to your gains. There are a lot of cardio fanboys who defend it to the death, but in the long term there's no point in doing it; it just burns a lot of calories that should be used for muscle repair/growth. Don't directly work abs either; your core gets worked in most exercises anyway, and you don't want to end up with an oversized core that's out of proportion. 3 rest days is optimum in my opinion.

2.) Just eat and eat and eat until you feel full, then eat a little more until you can't eat anything else. In time, your appetite will naturally increase as your body gets bigger and needs more fuel.

3.) It depends a lot on genetics, and how many calories over your maintenance you go. Eating so much that you will gain a significant amount of fat is something that you will never do by accident, so don't worry about it.

''1.) Don't do cardio. It's pointless and damaging to your gains. There are a lot of cardio fanboys who defend it to the death, but in the long term there's no point in doing it; it just burns a lot of calories that should be used for muscle repair/growth. Don't directly work abs either; your core gets worked in most exercises anyway, and you don't want to end up with an oversized core that's out of proportion. 3 rest days is optimum in my opinio''

Just no, some cardio is beneficial, having a decent cardio vascular system helped when lifting. Its also pretty much a requirement for ectos trying to bulk.
Also the ab is not that clear cut, some people do some people don't. But its a muscle and you don't even know what exercises he does so to say stop is bad advice. It certainly doesn't get 'worked' anywhere near enough in most exercises.

[Arathor]

''1.) Don't do cardio. It's pointless and damaging to your gains. There are a lot of cardio fanboys who defend it to the death, but in the long term there's no point in doing it; it just burns a lot of calories that should be used for muscle repair/growth. Don't directly work abs either; your core gets worked in most exercises anyway, and you don't want to end up with an oversized core that's out of proportion. 3 rest days is optimum in my opinio''

Just no, some cardio is beneficial, having a decent cardio vascular system helped when lifting. Its also pretty much a requirement for ectos trying to bulk.
Also the ab is not that clear cut, some people do some people don't. But its a muscle and you don't even know what exercises he does so to say stop is bad advice. It certainly doesn't get 'worked' anywhere near enough in most exercises.

I'm an ecto and I'm bulking just fine without cardio.

I'm assuming he has a decent routine. Now that you mention it, he probably doesn't.

[Dodge4this]

cook own food
measure own food
calculate own food

150 lbs
you need some fat m8 ur skinny as ****

[JSB9477]

This is my current routine, what should i change?

Day 1 - Chest/Tris
Flat Press Bench 1x12 1x10 2x8
Incline DB Press 4x8
Incline Chest Fly 4x10
Machine Flys 4x10
Tricep Pushdown Machine 4x10
Rope Pulldown 4x10
Skullcrushers 4x10

Day 2 - Biceps/Back
Pullups 3x10
Bent Over Rows 4x10
Deadlifts 4x10
Lat Pulldown 4x10
Low Row 4x10
Hammer Curls 4x10
Preacher Curls 4x10
Back Extensions 2x10

Day 3 - Abs/Cardio (would obviously be cutting out cardio)
20 minutes of abs on mat
30 minutes on treadmill, alternating incline

Day 4 - Legs
Squats 4x10
Leg Press 4x10
Leg Extensions 4x10
Leg Curls 4x10
Standing Calf Machine 4x10
Calf Raises with 45lb weight 4x10

Day 5 - Shoulders (need improvement here)
BB Standing Military Press 4x10
DB Seated Military Press 4x10
Front Raises 4x10
Side Raises 4x10
Delt Raises (seated) 4x10

Day 6 - Abs/Cardio
Same as Day 3

Day 7 - Rest

what do you guys think?

[JSB9477]

bump

[GimmeTheJooce]

This is my current routine, what should i change?

Day 1 - Chest/Tris
Flat Press Bench 1x12 1x10 2x8
Incline DB Press 4x8
Incline Chest Fly 4x10
Machine Flys 4x10
Tricep Pushdown Machine 4x10
Rope Pulldown 4x10
Skullcrushers 4x10

Day 2 - Biceps/Back
Pullups 3x10
Bent Over Rows 4x10
Deadlifts 4x10
Lat Pulldown 4x10
Low Row 4x10
Hammer Curls 4x10
Preacher Curls 4x10
Back Extensions 2x10

Day 3 - Abs/Cardio (would obviously be cutting out cardio)
20 minutes of abs on mat
30 minutes on treadmill, alternating incline

Day 4 - Legs
Squats 4x10
Leg Press 4x10
Leg Extensions 4x10
Leg Curls 4x10
Standing Calf Machine 4x10
Calf Raises with 45lb weight 4x10

Day 5 - Shoulders (need improvement here)
BB Standing Military Press 4x10
DB Seated Military Press 4x10
Front Raises 4x10
Side Raises 4x10
Delt Raises (seated) 4x10

Day 6 - Abs/Cardio
Same as Day 3

Day 7 - Rest

what do you guys think?

It looks good, make sure you are getting 4 WORKING sets, I wouldn't count a warmup. This is advice I've taken from reading about Phil Heath..
Personally I would throw in weighted chin-ups and dips. Theyre awesome for you at the end of a workout.. plus you can make your own dip belt at home depot for like $12, I could post pics if you want.