Guide to GAINING Weight - for us skinny folk!

Hi,

I have read many posts asking how to gain weight, and so here we go.

Let me start by saying - skinny folk can only gain weight in one manner - dedicated hard work, and commitment. Without which you will fail.

Background info:
I'm currently 28, 5'8" and 147lbs in weight. (10stone 7).
Up until 2 years ago I was 8 stone in weight.
I am also male.

I understand the frustration of gaining weight, when everyone around is bigger. I used to eat 1kg of chocolate a day, large meals and cokes galore to gain weight.. no joy.

The reality is, if you have a fast metabolism, you will never gain fat.. your only hope is to gain muscle, and this is actually possible.

Method:
Unlike your big bulk mates, you will need a different tactic to gain muscle, here is a program I wrote after years of reading.

Exercises:
First thing you need to do is make sure you do not carry skinny fat. If you have a belly on your skinny body, you have to lose this first. Cardio exercises every day until you do.

Weight training.
To gain muscle you will need a strict regimé of muscle training and diet. Luckily skinny folk dont need to work out as much as bulky folk, as too much exercise is detrimental for high metabolisms.
Basically 3 x 1hour workouts a week. Each 1 hour workout you need to work on 2 of these muscle groups:
- arms (Biceps)
- arms (Triceps)
- Chest
- Back
- Legs x 2 (upper and lower)
Also every workout should end with stomach crunches.

Work on 2 muscle groups for 1 hour, then rest those groups until next week.

Microworkout.
Each workout should be planned in this way. I will give an example of using a leg lift.
You will need a session to find your starting weights.
Find the weights which exhaust you after 12, 10, 8, 6 and 4 lifts. Write these down, as these are your weights.
Then on each session lift those weights, in that order, that many times.. with a 2 minute rest between each set.
E.g.
12 x 50kg
10 x 40kg
8 x... etc
Then finish with your 12 lifts of the lowest weight.
Switch to muscle group 2, then 1 then 2 then 1... etc until you hit an hours workout. Then Stop! Stretch your muscles then go home (and ache! lol).
If you are not wasted after a workout, you have not pushed yourself enough!

Repeat 3 times a week, with 2 different muscle groups each day. Do not do cardio.. your high metabolism will just burn off muscle if you do. This regime is to gain mass, not tone up.

Diet
This is the key to success or failure.
The golden rule.. you must NEVER feel hungry. High metabolism = muscle breakdown everytime you feel hungry. Skinny folk carry little fat, and so they feed off muscle tissue when they are hungry.
So, you will probably need to eat 8 times a day.
What to eat.

Of course, you need greens and fruit and some fat (do not avoid fat).
But essentially you need high carbs and high protein. Eat protein in every meal, and carbs throughout the day, but not in the evening. Eat more carbs 30 - 45 mins b4 a workout, and lots of protein immediately after a workout.

Stick at this for 3 months, and you should start to see a difference.

Cheers

Rad

Reply 20

redluc

8

I like the way you neglected shoulders in your little workout plan.

Reply 21

Radnmad

OP

Essence™

I used to want to gain weight but I just can't be bothered, it's too much effort forcing yourself to eat when you're not even hungry. Anyone know any ways to improve appetite? That's the only problem I have, I don't actually mind working out (that's the easy bit!) but increasing calorie count is the most difficult part for me.

I found my appetite increased as I started to workout more regularly... your body needs to repair those muscles, so you start to crave food more.

:smile:

Reply 22

Radnmad

OP

redluc

I like the way you neglected shoulders in your little workout plan.

lol.. and shoulders.

cheers

wrote it off the cuff a little, if I get good replies I will post my actual workout and diet for folk to read.

Reply 23

Radnmad

OP

MagicNMedicine

I don't get why you need to "lose your belly" before starting to work out with weights??

Working out with weights burns off calories in any case, and as you start to add muscle your metabolism will speed up

Not for skinny folk. They already have high metabolisms. Cardio burns off fat, not weights. So to lose that fat later, one would need to lose weight in the future and to that would take cardio, which also burns off Type I muscle (slow reflex muscles built up using weights).

Also, when you are over 15% body fat, you form fat easier, and there is a danger when u increase your calories of adding to that skinny fat, and not adding muscle.

Rad

Reply 24

Radnmad

OP

fewasam

Why would people want to be arbitrarily gaining weight? All this weight gain malarkey strikes me as very odd. Someone fill me in.

People don't arbitrarily wish to gain weight, the readers of this thread want to gain muscle. Why? Because they perceive themselves as skinny, other people perceive them that way.. and they want to change it.

Here's one experience I know of that used to bug me. WHen I was skinny, everyone thought it their business to tell me I need to eat more, or gain weight.. even my boss at work. So frustrating.

Ironically, my boss and many folk around me were over weight, but it is beyond social acceptance to tell people you know they need to lose weight. Even though I was in fact healthy, and they werent.

I went to see an NHS nutritionist who told me my BMI was ok, my blood pressure was great, I had a healthy pulse etc. When I asked how to put on weight, she said this was a common question she received.
She suggested I join a gym, and learn how to eat healthily around a solid exercise regime, which I am doing.
I am far from built, and I am probably about average size now.. the comments have stopped, I dont mind taking my shirt off at the beach (even though the bright white scares the fish off) and I feel all around more comfortable.

Answered?

Rad

Reply 25

Radnmad

OP

fewasam

Surely the term "underweight" implies "unhealthily underweight"? I find it hard to believe that many people who live a normal healthy lifestyle with a normal healthy diet are unhealthily underweight.

Okay, weight gain for sport I can understand: boxers or sailors going up a weight class for instance. But just generally wanting to be heavier?

I never used the term underweight. I used the term 'skinny'.

I have never been under my suitable BMI, but I have always appeared very skinny, in the past.

This thread is to help people who want to change their appearance, not to cure the dangerously ill.

Rad :biggrin:

Reply 26

Radnmad

OP

lapsaJ

I can't even be bothered replying to most of that crap. And I am writing a program at the minute. :smile:

Some people just troll on any posts.

Rather than slating, why not offer constructive input. You alienate yourself in the manner of your replies.

I have not attacked anyone, or made myself out as a guru. I use this, and offer it to others who might need it. If you have better, post it.. but get off your high horse and provide input rather than negative drivel.

Rad :mad:

Reply 27

lapsaJ

4

Radnmad

Some people just troll on any posts.

Rather than slating, why not offer constructive input. You alienate yourself in the manner of your replies.

I have not attacked anyone, or made myself out as a guru. I use this, and offer it to others who might need it. If you have better, post it.. but get off your high horse and provide input rather than negative drivel.

Rad :mad:

I HAVE posted it.

See:

lapsaJ

If you're already skinny, there's no point getting even skinnier. On a bulk you will gain fat anyway so just bulk and get rid of it when you cut.

You abdominals are counted as muscles.

For a beginner simply do 3 sets of 6-8 reps. Nuff said.

5-6 small meals. Not 8. It's not that hardcore.

Reply 28

yo-sup-man

1

i anit skinnyy i and i never get told im skinny, i just want to be very bulked and muscle up bigggg

Reply 29

Helena224

My boyfriends 6ft 2 and only 9 1/2 stone. Appearance wise, i know that he is really skinny, but him being bulkier wouldnt make me any more or less attracted to him. I just was curious whether it is actually unhealthy to be too light if you are eating plenty enough? Also, he eats a lot of rubbish (i.e. freezer food) would this kind of food help gain weight or would other (healthier!) alternatives make him bulkier? :confused:

Helena xox

Reply 30

sb23

Radnmad, as you say 8 meals a day, could you give some examples of what (each) of these meals would consist of and how 'heavy' each of these meals should be?

sb

Reply 31

poltroon

If you exercise you will use up energy: therefore you should try to simulatenously eat as much as possible and move only when absolutely necessary.

Reply 32

la fille danse

17

Radnmad

Hi,

I have read many posts asking how to gain weight, and so here we go.

Let me start by saying - skinny folk can only gain weight in one manner - dedicated hard work, and commitment. Without which you will fail.

Background info:
I'm currently 28, 5'8" and 147lbs in weight. (10stone 7).
Up until 2 years ago I was 8 stone in weight.
I am also male.

You're not skinny then, you're right in the middle of the normal weight range.

Reply 33

squigaletta

but he was skinny wen he was 8st

Reply 34

Anonymous #2

So about me then. Im 5 foot 11, and weigh about 11 st 2/3 pounds. And im 20. Underweight?

Reply 35

redluc

8

Anonymous

So about me then. Im 5 foot 11, and weigh about 11 st 2/3 pounds. And im 20. Underweight?

Seems okish - bit skinny but nothing too major.

Reply 36

Tw!stEd

2

I'm 5'7 n 10 stone 5-8 (changes daily) and I quite like my body....

Reply 37

Chiraag

8

i am 5 foot 11, and weigh 7 and a half stone and i am male. I know its seriously underweight but no matter what i eat i cant put on any weight, ive been eating mcdonalds nearly everyday at lunch, ive started eating cake before i go to bed, ive tried pasta, chicken, pint of milk before bed, went to the gym for a year then put on about 4 pounds then i gave up.

What can i seriously do to put on weight?

Reply 38

Radnmad

OP

Chiraag

i am 5 foot 11, and weigh 7 and a half stone and i am male. I know its seriously underweight but no matter what i eat i cant put on any weight, ive been eating mcdonalds nearly everyday at lunch, ive started eating cake before i go to bed, ive tried pasta, chicken, pint of milk before bed, went to the gym for a year then put on about 4 pounds then i gave up.

What can i seriously do to put on weight?

I think I have already tried to answer that question.

It is not about eating a lot of calories, it is about eating the correct calories and then making sure they are channelled into bulk - through weight training. Seriously, nothing else works for us skinny folk.

I gained almost 1lb a day in my second month of this program.

Obviously slowed down, but so has my training as I am happy where I am at now, never wanted to get huge.

Rad

Reply 39

Radnmad

OP

more adventurous

You're not skinny then, you're right in the middle of the normal weight range.

I am now, yes. :biggrin:

2 years ago I was 8 stone, and 7 stone through most of my High School days.. skinny.

Rad

Guide to GAINING Weight - for us skinny folk!

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