Gaining Weight (1 Viewer)

[Collin]

but the prob is...i can't gain anything
ive never been above 55!

You've just got a fast rest metabolic rate (BMR). Eat more, and if that doesn't do it.. you might have to seriously consider weight gaining supplements. The BMR of some people are simply too fast for them to be able to exceed over the effective caloric threshold required to promote hypertrophy.



Anyway, currently I'm on a 4 day split:
Chest/triceps
Back/biceps/forearms
Shoulders/traps
Legs

Thank God I don't have a real fast metabolic rate (and I'm Asian too). Currently at 83kg, 168cm.

 

[Collin]

Jkd- thats nearly identical.

Im goin

1. Back & Biceps
2. Chest & triceps
3. Shoulders & Forearms
4. Legs

Btw, what are you doing for traps?

Edit- Very fast metabolism here, Ectomorph by genes, so gaining weight is always a problem. I am taller then you by a few cms, but you have more then 20kgs on me.

Its fucked.

Good splits. Personally, I would move the forearms to the back & biceps day simply because I find most of the exercises which target the forearms tend to target the back alot too (i.e different versions of chinups/pullups) and biceps (different version of hammer curls etc.). Again, up to you dude.

At the moment, I'm kinda satisfied with my traps so I only do basically one exercise of 4 sets (warmup set, 12, 10, 6repstillfailureweight) for it for each workout. Generally either dumbell shrugs, barbell shrugs, Smith shrugs etc.

If you're finding extreme trouble gaining weight, and you're absolutely stuffing yourself full of protein/carbs and good fats, then consider weight gaining supplements. They're not cheap.. but for people who have massive trouble gaining weight no matter what they do.. this could be the only way out. Here's a tip for you, assuming you know the 6 meals+/day 'rule', then extend it to maybe 7-8. By that, I mean getting up at midnight/early morning to stuff yourself with food.. i.e sneak in extra meals during a night's sleep.

If you've got bling and you're not on any supplements, get a good multivitamin/mineral, and maybe try a creatine/glutamine combo and of course don't forget your protein whey. For your weight (I'm assuming around 60kg), you'll want around 170g+ or so of protein a day. Take the glutamine before bed, waking up, before workout and after workout (after workout is pretty important.. those catabolic agents are a bitch). Oh, and take some sugar after a workout.. it's needed to counter catabolism by the generation of an insulin spike.

Good luck.

 

[Collin]

I still haven't taken multivitamins, i know i should, but unfortunantly $'s are very limited. And same goes with L-Glutamine, that stuff is out of my budget. Whey, Creatine and food seriously adds up quickly.

Also, I have stopped taking dextrose with my creatine in my latest cycle (and lets not start the creatine cycling debate here), I simply can't find it here. Does anyone know if the Coopers Home Brew Dextrose has just been relabeled as something other than dextrose, or is the stuff they now use in the home brew stuff no longer dextrose?.

Hey man, good to hear from you. I hope you've made some good gains since we last talked. Multivitamins/minerals are extremely important.. simply because they aid our physiology and metabolism in an overall sense. For example, there's no point in stuffing ourselves full of good nutritious foods if we lack the enzymes to digest them into efficiency. Many builders even emphasis multi-vit/min to be the most important supplement, even above protein, creatine or glutamine.

If you're having financial troubles, just use your protein whey for only post workout.. and get all your other protein from foods. This isn't a bad idea, cause it also forces you to eat a hell of alot (to get that much of protein), which is of course good since high calorie = high anabolism.

Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to your Coopers Home Brew Dextrose question, sorry.

 

[Seraph]

i agree lots of people do that, but they are not the ones getting decent gains. they are usually the ones that you never see increase the weight they lift, or don't look much bigger after months in the gym.

Most muscles only take 48 hours to recover.

A 3 day split (ie. push/pull/legs, can be done twice a week - as long as you do the days in the right order).

6 day a week gym? explain...

 

[Collin]

If you're really low on cash, just go to Woolies and get a generic brand one.. around $12 for 2 months supply, pretty cheap and it's alot better than nothing.

 

[Collin]

The one that I've been trying to get my hands on is AnimalPak. I've never used it, but supposedly it's the best multi-vitamin/mineral out there for BBing. I don't think they have it here though, so I'd have to get it imported.. add the fact that it's already expensive shit, I don't think I can afford it. I've used a few from GNC, which is more suited for BBing.. and about $20-$30 for around 1-2 months supply. But again, if you're strapped for cash, just get some from Woolies, it's ALOT better than not using any at all.

 

[Big Willy]

Dextrose:

its called Coopers Brew Enhancer;

in regards to your insulin spike thing; dont do it all the time. U'll get fat. Only do it after a work out... If your taking creatine (if your taking the fancy ones like cell tech and AST HSC, you dont have to worry about this)

and multivitmins @ 20-30bux for 1~2 months supply is a pretty sweet deal i gotta say. Not that i take it; but i'm just comparing it to the cost of protein

 

[Collin]

Multi-vitamin/minerals in terms of cost/day is actually the cheapest out of protein, creatine and glutamine.. so I reckon everyone should be on it, even if it's just a generic brand.

I agree with the insulin spiking comment. The spike I advocated should only be done post-workout as to counter catabolic agents. It's practically the only time of the day one should be consuming a bit of sugar as to create a big insulin spike. Another OK time is when you first wake up, since the benefits are worth it and insulin sensitivity is known to be low in the mornings, hence gaining fat is less of an issue.

JKD- Previously I was on a 3 day split but really wanted to isolate legs more so made it 4 day and dedicated a day to legs. I tend to do a lot of hiking, biking and other things, so theres the reason. And previously I wasnt doing forearms at all.
What I had was

Back/Biceps
Chest/Tris
Legs/Shoulders.

Anyway, with forearms all I am doing is wrist curls and plate pinches so its not really conflicting with biceps/tris.

What I am having difficulty figuring out is back, I just never seem to be able to feel bent-over rows even though i keep checking my form.

Diet- No supplments mainly because I really cbf researching into all the different supplements at this stage. Just eat eat eat, wheneverwhatever I can, pasta, meat, bread, tuna... Although getting enough food whilst at Uni is hard. Also the fact that I am not "Anglo" means I have a diff diet. Neverttheless, Im just eating lol.

Gaining weight isn't hard, just sure does take its time but.

Edit- Shrugs for traps?? Just out of curiosity is there anything that isolates traps? I mean, everything I do for delts Cuban press, shoulder press and flyes I can feel them i my traps, but just curious, and I cant be fucked Googling it...

Oh right, I see what you mean with forearms. I've always viewed wrist curls and such as strengthening exercises (which I should actually do more of anyway since I suffered a MASSIVE wrists injury around Christmas), but to gain huge mass around the forearms, I do alot of hammer curls (and variations) and certain pullup variations. Usually after a back/biceps workout, my forearms feel completely pumped and I can't usually bring my forearms up more than 90 degrees.

Some people just have alot of trouble feeling back and lat exercises. Don't know why, as long as you're making good gains it shouldn't be much of a problem. The exercises for the traps IS shrugs i.e basic premise is to hold some heavy ass weights and just shrug. When you shrug like *i dunno*, what's isolated? Why, the traps of course. All the main exercises to build mass on the traps is based on shrugging heavy weights. Shrugs are to traps as the bench press is to chest or shoulder press to shoulders.

 

[Tommy_Lamp]

Hence the "(generally)" disclaimer.

 

[AntiHyper]

I need to gain some fat for winter.. i've lost so much from sports

 

[johnny~]

lol yeh mate i know how you feel. i weigh 60 now...... i was about 70 end of last yr begginng of this year when i was going to the gym every day and eating right but because of how busy yr 12 has been, i hardly do weight training around footy and athletics training and not eating nearly as much healthier more protein rich stuff as i was in january

 

[mr_speedy]

i find doing deads works the forearms pretty good.

 

[Seraph]

Well after further consultation it seem sthat 2 days a week is oaky for bulking , but it will obviously be slower , than someone going more times a week.

of coruse i have to eat more

 

[MuffinMan]

agreed more foods *looks around for food*

 

[mr_speedy]

i prefer cable flyes to free weight flyes, and yeah true what melbourian said, overhead dumbbell extensions are pretty much the same as skull crushers. yeah dips are the best exercise for tris, biggest mass builder. and if u do tris/chest on the same day, dips also work the chest as well.

 

[Collin]

Well after further consultation it seem sthat 2 days a week is oaky for bulking , but it will obviously be slower , than someone going more times a week.

of coruse i have to eat more

Very slow, and you'd plateau relatively quickly. To make a 2 days/wk bulking work, you'd also need to cram in alot of calories from the beginning, something which will induce even more fat gains since you're not actually lifting that much. That's one reason BBers tend to want to bulk up with hardcore, frequent training sessions (i.e bulk up hard and as fast as you can).. cause otherwise you won't gain much lean muscle mass before you start to get inundated with body fat gains too.

 

[Seraph]

well.. i am starting to eat alot more , but all im getting is a pregnant stomach, imagine skinny arms and a pregnant stomach

lmao

maybe i need some creatine or some crap like that, where can i buy this from?

 

[Collin]

You need to fix up your diet if all you're getting is more fat. Creatine, or any supplements should only be considered when your diet is spot-on.. remember they are exactly that; supplements (to your diet).

 

[Seraph]

its not that i have an ectomorph type build, and apparently fat doesnt distribute as easily or something like that

furthermore what do you guys eat just after your workout, i heard this is fairly important.. im at uni so i wonder what i could eat after i go to the gym, theres a whole variety of crap!1!

 

[Collin]

its not that i have an ectomorph type build, and apparently fat doesnt distribute as easily or something like that

furthermore what do you guys eat just after your workout, i heard this is fairly important.. im at uni so i wonder what i could eat after i go to the gym, theres a whole variety of crap!1!

Fast acting carbohydrates (sugar) & fast acting protein (usually a protein shake). This is important or else catabolic agents rip up your potential results and anabolism is sabotaged.