Looking to gain mass/weight

[benz660r]

Hi, everyone I'm new to the forums and looking for some advice on gaining some size. I'm currently 19 years old, 5ft 11 inches and 150 pounds. I have been only lifting for about a year now and was a runner previously for about four years but i stopped running when i started lifting. For some reason my body still acts as it did when i was running and no matter how much i seem to eat my weight gains don't seem to stay with me. I can gain a pound or two for about a day and then it falls back off. What do you guys suggest i take or do differently to help gain some size. My workout generally are about 90 minutes long 5 or 6 days a week, hitting the main muscles 2 times a week.

 

[JOHNJESSICA20]

Well here's a simple 10 rules to follow.Following these steps helped me at 155 and 6'1 now after 4 months up I'm up to 195.
1. OVER 5000 CALORIES PER DAY
2. 300 OR MORE GRAMS OF PROTEIN PER DAY
3. 400-500 CARBS
4. HIT ONLY 1 BODY PART PER DAY
5. LOWER WORK-OUT TIMES DOWN TO 45-50 MINUTES
6. DUE LOW IMPACT CARDIO IF YOU DO IT AT ALL
7. EAT 6-8 SMALL MEALS PER DAY AT LEAST EVERY 2-3 HOURS
8. DRINK A SLOW DIGESTING PROTEIN SHAKE BEFORE BED 50G'S PROTEIN AT LEAST
9. CHANGE TRAINING TECH. SENCE ITS NOT WORKING NOW,TRY HEAVY WEIGHT WITH LOW REPS 6-8 MAYBE
10. JUST EAT

 

[MyUsername]

Don't give suggestions that worked for you but may lead him to get fat.



OP, start off at 500 above maintaince and record everything you eat and post it on here. Alot of people say they eat alot but in reality it turns out to be only like 2500 kcals max.

Yes protein should be kept between 1-2g/lb of BW

Carbs I believe the same as, preferably i keep my carb intake at usually around 300g whilst protein closer to 500g.

I'd personally suggest to cut down gym time to less than an hour, more time doesn't equal more size..jsut an FYI. After 47 minutes catabolic hormones are increased whilst anabolic ones are decreased. Allowing this to happen over a long period of time will be counterproductive. However, it will not happen in one gym session so never cut a workout short if you had to spend a little extra time doing whatever, unless you're going well over 90 minutes.

I will add as well that you may want to cut back on the number of days you're hitting the gym possibly to 3-4 again, your body needs rest and I personally have noticed great gains just from taking one day off from my 7 days a week and ever better after deciding to go only 3 days a week. But to each his own.

 

[Rabidpanda25]

Well here's a simple 10 rules to follow.Following these steps helped me at 155 and 6'1 now after 4 months up I'm up to 195.
1. OVER 5000 CALORIES PER DAY
2. 300 OR MORE GRAMS OF PROTEIN PER DAY
3. 400-500 CARBS
4. HIT ONLY 1 BODY PART PER DAY
5. LOWER WORK-OUT TIMES DOWN TO 45-50 MINUTES
6. DUE LOW IMPACT CARDIO IF YOU DO IT AT ALL
7. EAT 6-8 SMALL MEALS PER DAY AT LEAST EVERY 2-3 HOURS
8. DRINK A SLOW DIGESTING PROTEIN SHAKE BEFORE BED 50G'S PROTEIN AT LEAST
9. CHANGE TRAINING TECH. SENCE ITS NOT WORKING NOW,TRY HEAVY WEIGHT WITH LOW REPS 6-8 MAYBE
10. JUST EAT

Lol, I think most people, even hardgainers, would turn into a freakin marshmallow by doing this. I do agree though, with eating plenty of protein. 1.5x body weight is sufficient for most people, and can easily be adjusted into your lifestyle. Eating frequent small meals is so so so important. I always have meal replacement bars on me, so that I never miss a meal. Also, if you haven't started splitting your training routine over multiple days, start doing it to see the best results. When I first started I did a full body routine 2 to 3 times a week. Then went to a 2 day split, upper and lower. Then 3 day split. Now I'm doing a pretty common 5 day split with 2 non consecutive rest days.

The most important thing is that it takes time and persistence. You'll have to listen to your body and adjust your diet, training, and lifestyle accordingly.

 

[Genetic79]

5000 cals???? Damn shame....

There is a methodical why to do anything, just take some planning. Ight we gonna have a quick nutrition break down lesson.

Ok your 5'11 150lbs at 19 years old..

A general concensus is to take your weight a multiply by 20. So that gives us 3000 kcals. Now depending on how long you workout we'll add 400 kcals. So we are at 3400 kcals.

Now a good lean bulking programs is 40/30/30 as in 40% pro-30% carb-30% fat. So your macro look like this for one day

Protein: 340 grams

Carbs:255 grams

Fats: 113 grams

Ight you got ya daily calorie intake and your macros, I would start by dividing them up into five meals. I would do it for ya but then that would be a free meal plan and we can't do that now can we. Just take each macro numder and divide by 5 and you'll get how much of each you should have per meal. My 2 cents.....

 

[benz660r]

thanks for the info so far... im changing the eating around to smaller portions with more calories and counting the macros which i never did. As for the gym part workouts have be cut to 45-60 min and is a 5 days a weeks once per week for each muscle group.... once in a while a muscle might get hit twice.

Would anyone recommend some kind of supplement other than protein, i already take blended and pure whey.

 

[Chub]

Would anyone recommend some kind of supplement other than protein, i already take blended and pure whey.

Food is the main supplement you need!

 

[Rodja]

He's going to need a higher percentage of his kcals to come from carbs. I was a runner in HS at about the same frame and had trouble adding mass until I started having well over 2.5g/lb of carbs with about 1.25g/lb of protein and .5g/lb of fats.

 

[timmmah]

Well here's a simple 10 rules to follow.Following these steps helped me at 155 and 6'1 now after 4 months up I'm up to 195.
1. OVER 5000 CALORIES PER DAY
2. 300 OR MORE GRAMS OF PROTEIN PER DAY
3. 400-500 CARBS
4. HIT ONLY 1 BODY PART PER DAY
5. LOWER WORK-OUT TIMES DOWN TO 45-50 MINUTES
6. DUE LOW IMPACT CARDIO IF YOU DO IT AT ALL
7. EAT 6-8 SMALL MEALS PER DAY AT LEAST EVERY 2-3 HOURS
8. DRINK A SLOW DIGESTING PROTEIN SHAKE BEFORE BED 50G'S PROTEIN AT LEAST
9. CHANGE TRAINING TECH. SENCE ITS NOT WORKING NOW,TRY HEAVY WEIGHT WITH LOW REPS 6-8 MAYBE
10. JUST EAT

This advice---Es good!!! :clap2:

 

[Genetic79]

I don't think he does....if he spreads that amount out for 5 meals that'll be 51 grams per meal. This and a good amount of EFA's will be enuff for excellent muscle growth. It'll keep hormones high with out making him feel drowsy or tired.

 

[JOHNJESSICA20]

Don't give suggestions that worked for you but may lead him to get fat.
OP, start off at 500 above maintaince and record everything you eat and post it on here. Alot of people say they eat alot but in reality it turns out to be only like 2500 kcals max.

Yes protein should be kept between 1-2g/lb of BW

Carbs I believe the same as, preferably i keep my carb intake at usually around 300g whilst protein closer to 500g.

I'd personally suggest to cut down gym time to less than an hour, more time doesn't equal more size..jsut an FYI. After 47 minutes catabolic hormones are increased whilst anabolic ones are decreased. Allowing this to happen over a long period of time will be counterproductive. However, it will not happen in one gym session so never cut a workout short if you had to spend a little extra time doing whatever, unless you're going well over 90 minutes.

I will add as well that you may want to cut back on the number of days you're hitting the gym possibly to 3-4 again, your body needs rest and I personally have noticed great gains just from taking one day off from my 7 days a week and ever better after deciding to go only 3 days a week. But to each his own.

Well bro like i said in my post (THIS IS WHAT WORKED FOR ME). You might not have the running back ground like he does,thing is i do I ran cross country threw high/college,a runners body act totally different compared to a non-runnner,It took that much calories and carbs for me to build any significant weight.But this only my opinon I'm no expert,jus my thoughts and what worked for me as a runner.

 

[planetfuzz]

5000 cals???? Damn shame....

There is a methodical why to do anything, just take some planning. Ight we gonna have a quick nutrition break down lesson.

Ok your 5'11 150lbs at 19 years old..

A general concensus is to take your weight a multiply by 20. So that gives us 3000 kcals. Now depending on how long you workout we'll add 400 kcals. So we are at 3400 kcals.

Now a good lean bulking programs is 40/30/30 as in 40% pro-30% carb-30% fat. So your macro look like this for one day

Protein: 340 grams

Carbs:255 grams

Fats: 113 grams

Ight you got ya daily calorie intake and your macros, I would start by dividing them up into five meals. I would do it for ya but then that would be a free meal plan and we can't do that now can we. Just take each macro numder and divide by 5 and you'll get how much of each you should have per meal. My 2 cents.....

I think I am actually going to try this. I have been trying to bulk lately but I've had the mindset that I need tons of carbs but it just leaves me feeling bloated and drowsy all the time. Around 50 grams of carbs per meal sounds way more doable than something like 80 or 90.

 

[rockinthe750]

Well bro like i said in my post (THIS IS WHAT WORKED FOR ME). You might not have the running back ground like he does,thing is i do I ran cross country threw high/college,a runners body act totally different compared to a non-runnner,It took that much calories and carbs for me to build any significant weight.But this only my opinon I'm no expert,jus my thoughts and what worked for me as a runner.

I'm the same way. I'm 22, 5'9" 155lbs and i used to run a lot and I've always been skinny. It's impossible for me to gain weight no matter how much I eat and especially since I started working out again 3 weeks ago. I've been doing 20 min of cardio before I workout everyday because that's what I'm used to but I think that's a big reason why I'm not gaining any weight because it's just raising my metabolism. Should I stop doing cardio or just limit it to maybe 1 day a week? I've been drinking Cytogainer shakes but they haven't been helping me put on any weight at all though so I need to figure something out too.

 

[planetfuzz]

I'm the same way. I'm 22, 5'9" 155lbs and i used to run a lot and I've always been skinny. It's impossible for me to gain weight no matter how much I eat and especially since I started working out again 3 weeks ago. I've been doing 20 min of cardio before I workout everyday because that's what I'm used to but I think that's a big reason why I'm not gaining any weight because it's just raising my metabolism. Should I stop doing cardio or just limit it to maybe 1 day a week? I've been drinking Cytogainer shakes but they haven't been helping me put on any weight at all though so I need to figure something out too.

If it is really hard for you to gain weight then I would not do cardio at all besides maybe a 5 min. warm up or a cool down. The less calories you burn the better. If you do want to do cardio though,do it on your days off from the gym and do sprints. Thats a great way to give your heart a workout but not burn mass amounts of calories. Sprint for 30 seconds,rest for 90. Repeat a couple of times. That is what has worked for me.