37 year old male looking for advice

[Bxx3]

Hi all
I need to bulk up and add some mass. There's several reasons for this,

I've always wanted to add size as I've always been skinny
. My marriage has ended and it's something positive to focus on.
I've had health issues for the past 2 years and have dropped weight due to this and stress. I'm still due more surgery and have had symptoms similar to crohns. My weght dropped and im now dealing with a seton stitch in place. If I get ill again in the future then I'd like to be at a heavier weight..The subsequent weight loss leaves me like a bag of bones

I'm after any advice that will help and if any members have dealt with crohns, seton stitches or turning to the gym following a marriage ending. Advice from members who have started to train in their 30s, 40s and 50s would be appreciated too

My goal is to increase my size by 25-40 lb. Ideally as much muscle as possible but I understand I'll pick up fat too.
I'm skinny but my legs are skinnier and out of proportion for my small frame.

I'm considering a couple of work outs and I'm leaning more to one than the other.
The 2 workouts I'm looking at are

3 day full body work out Mon Wed Fri 5x5

5 day workout Mon-Fri
Mon Wed Fri Legs
Tue Chest shoulders
Thursday back

In the 5 day work out I'd look to train my triceps twice a week and biceps once a week

The 3 day 5x5 workout seems to get good review and results but I have concerns..
My legs are out of proportion..tiny thighs. I'm worried that if I'm training other body parts at the same frequency as my legs that they won't catch up.I. e every workout is chest, shoulders, back and legs etc

What I like about the 5 day work out is that I can potentially train legs 3 x week while training other body parts less often.
I would hope that the above would put more mass on my legs and bring them into balance more

I'm serious about giving this a go. I know I'm up against it with being underweight, close to 40 and having ongoing health issues but I'm determined to give this a serious effort

I'd appreciate any and all help and advice

If I need to post more details then let me know
Best wishes

[weiss1967]

being close to 40, on its own, has no effect on muscle growth. Muscle respond to training regardless of age.

From my personal experience, being fresh-out of marriage has positive effect on muscle building. You will eat healthier and more of a bodybuilding diet when you are alone. You will have quality down time (important for testosterone level), and quality rest. You can workout whenever you feel like, without anybody dragging you down with some bogus house chores etc.

Good luck

[Bxx3]

being close to 40, on its own, has no effect on muscle growth. Muscle respond to training regardless of age.

From my personal experience, being fresh-out of marriage has positive effect on muscle building. You will eat healthier and more of a bodybuilding diet when you are alone. You will have quality down time (important for testosterone level), and quality rest. You can workout whenever you feel like, without anybody dragging you down with some bogus house chores etc.

Good luck

Thanks Weiss

If you were training yourself, starting out and your thighs were severely lagging behind..
Would you train legs more often than other compound exercises?
Would that build more mass on the legs as a result?

I'm sorry if any of its obvious or obvious how little I know but I appreciate the help and advice

I feel that working my legs more often than other body parts would build more mass on my legs. I feel that if I lifted other compounds exercises with similar frequency that I could expect to make similar gains all over..I don't know if this is fact or fiction that I'm clinging to?

[Garage Rat]

First off i don't know about the medical condition you have but if your cleared by your doctor then move forward.
I would suggest eating a clean diet high in protein and be more concerned about gaining muscle than just bodyweight.
Excess fat/bodyweight wether just to have it really isn't beneficial for your overall health unless instructed to do so by a medical professional.
You are at a good starting point and it should be at least initially easy to gain some muscle from a long lay off.
Use big compound movements like bench press,squats,deadlift,power cleans,overhead press,barbell curls,bar dips or any movement that uses many muscle together.You can add more isolated movements within these but make the compound movements the ones you get stronger on with progressive resistance,get on a solid program and log your training and diet.
Also make sure you know how do do them correctly with technique.
Good luck to you!

[drkelly74]

I worked out regularly from about the age of 21 to 40, but my focus was cardio (lots of running and mountain/road cycling) with only about 2-3 days/wk of what I now consider pre-beginner level body building/weight training. My weight during the time fluctuated between about 177-184. At 40 yrs old I decided to see if I could put on some size. About two years later I had put on about 20-25 lbs. I eat a solid breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, and dinner with a focus on protein. I'm 43 now (A little over 3 yrs in) and have kind of stabilized with my weight now fluctuating between about 201-207 lbs. Some shirts that used to be loose on me are now tight. I don't know anything about your health problems, but hopefully my story will motivate you. I'm 6'2" just for reference regarding the weight numbers.

[Bxx3]

Thanks for the replies and that's some impressive gains drkelly

I do have concerns about the full body workouts and compound exercises. They are all proven mass making exercises.

We've all seen images or people that have neglected their lower body. They may have impressive physiques on the top half.
I'm looking to follow a similar flawed program but instead focus on my legs.

I've read about beginners gains and ideally I'd like a lot of this beginners gains to go to my thighs.

I'm worried that by exercising full body with compounds that my back, chest and shoulders will all gain mass. If it's possible I'd rather that mass gain wasn't split so much between my body and went more to.my lower half.
I don't know if this is flawed thinking..I'm only going by results from guys that have neglected lower half yet made good gains upper body.

I hope that with beginner gains I would get mass on my legs quicker and bring myself into more balance top& bottom.
Once my legs catch up I'd increase the intensity and frequency of my upper body..or that's the half arsed plan

I worry that if I train full body from the start that I will gain mass on my full body..thus keeping the imbalance in my legs and exhausting beginner gains. I'm concerned that I would take longer to balance my legs at a later date once my gains start to slow

Sorry if it's repetitive & I do appreciate the feedback

Thank you

[weiss1967]

Bxx3, I hear you about legs. I would have given you an advice, if I successfully build balanced physique myself. Legs are continuing being my lagging part, especially hams. I managed to add quite a bit to calves, but not so much to quads or hams. Apparently legs need higher reps routines, and perhaps aerobic training, like running, roller blades, bike etc. This is just my perception, pretty much all people I know who had great legs have had them built outside the weight room.

Compound exercises like squats, deads etc, build muscles ok, but not where I would like to see them. My glutes grew like mushrooms on rainy day, but that just made my legs look smaller, with bigger ass hanging over the same legs. I did add some definition, but I still can't get past 24" on my legs. For calves, apart from calf raises I started doing quite a bit of jump rope, which I should have done anyway for my boxing, and that worked amazingly well.