I am too skinny! Help!

[recluse]

listen to usfcon. there is no magic.

[asdasd123]

ok, it seems like everybody here is stressing protein but i am against it. depending on how much will power you have and how badly you want to have an appealing body you can choose one of two ways. what the majority here is saying - lift and eat protein shakes supplements to help the muscles regenerate and grow faster. the more serious you are about this, the more you workout (read every single day except sundays), the faster you will change. HOWEVER, protein has its price. Your muscle won't be "real" and I will explain what I mean in a second. if you stop working out and training, depending on your body type, your muscles will become saggy and loose shape incredibly fast (read within a week or a bit more), this depends on your metabolism.

i am 6,3 and used to weigh about 150 pounds. Now i weigh about 192 in seasonFor the past three years I have been on the rowing team and i think thats the best bet for you. You might think that I am biased just like every other person that promotes the sport/activity that they do but rowing will suck you in and it will become your lifestyle. Rowers and swimmers are the best all around atheletes in the world, with the strongest and most properly built bodies, higest endurance etc. (also can have sex the longest).
In any case, I train a lot because i am on the varisty team but you can join a club at first. In a matter of weeks or maybe 1.5 months depending on the intensity of your training you will have huge lats, wide chest, strong arms and your whole body will be very cut. Your strength will be real, not like the crap after protein, your muscles will actually have something to show for the hours you put in. You will feel amazing. its like getting a new life.
When i lift at the gym, I might look smaller then the jocks that play football but I lift at least as much as they do.
If you want to take supplements, i recommend buying the protein mix that contains the smallest % of protein, maybe 25-30 and the rest special acids and vitamins that help the muscles recover. This way, you will be able to train longer and more often every day.
If you are interested, I can send you the workout sheets that our team uses.

In any case, whatever you do you need to be serious about it. the more you workout, train, the more addictive it will become and soon it will be a habit. you will enjoy the way you look and feel and like the feelings of the endorphins.

the reason why i am talking about rowing, or a team sport in general, is because of team dynamics. if you manage to find someone to lift with its not the same. there is no pressure to compete, to strive to be better, faster, stronger.
if you trian on your own, i doubt you will ever reach your pain barier or limit, i am not even talking about surpassing it. to change dramatically you need to do that.

the bottom line is that there is no easy way. there is no substitute for hard work. you have to work your balls off and train every single day until you can barely stand. protein, steroids, shakes are all temporary substitutes.

GL man....its all in your hand. you can acomplish what you can trick your brain into percieving you can acomplish .....

[cky464]

i'm 6''3' and i've always been skinny as hell also. lately i took up lifting kettlebells in my home, but i got wrists problems so i just lift freeweights now.
i suggest drinking designer whey protein drink

and i'm taking a supplement called gecko rock climber. it's supposed to help, and i'm not sure if it has yet

[goran12ie]

try skinnyguy.net. You should eat 5 times a day-smaller meals, better spaced with high protein and work out 3 times a week, giving yourself plenty of time to recover-best way for you since you're a hard-gainer

[supersatch]

Originally Posted by duckmustard

don't go too nuts on the protein. You can't use more than 1 gram per pound of body weight each day. If you weigh 140, eating more than 140 grams of protein a day would be completely pointless. When you eat is a big deal, too. Right before you fall asleep you need to eat a LOT. Your body won't be able to burn that off very well as you sleep. Eat a lot of white carbs. The reason you can't put on any weight is because you burn more carbs than you take in. It doesn't really matter how many fat grams you get if you aren't getting enough carbs in the first place.

It's about 1 1/2 grams per pound. Double check what you eat. you could be getting most of that protein in your food anyway. This of course means regulating your diet.

Don't touch creatine. All that is is temporary swelling. it pushes water into your muscles but doesn't improve strength at all. Not to mention there are reports of people having major health problems due to it. I believe it has to do with all the B vitamins that it pumps into you.

As far as weights go. Start with bench press go with three sets of ten with HEAVY weight. You should need help finishing the last couple of your third set. Also do incline press to stack the upper chest, and decline press to cut underneath the pecks for that ripped man boob look

The biggest part of the weights thing is to work out your legs too. you will see improvements with your upper body too. do squats, leg extensions, leg curls, and calf raises.

This advice comes from me and my girlfriend. she's a personal trainer and we're both Marines. Go fo about a month or two and give me imput. Everyone is different. I can advise you from there.

By the way, before I joined the corps I was 6'3" 160lbs. I am now 6'3" 240lbs.

Good luck.

[Fixer8]

I don't think that your description of yourself makes you sound bad. You are what you are.

My other half is only 5'3 and was skinny. She recently bought a Lateral Thigh Trainer and she uses it for 15 minutes every day. The change in her shape is tremendous. She also eats loads of fruit and veg, rice, pasta, noodles, pulses etc.

I would suggest that you do things slowly without the use of Protein drinks or muscle mass drinks. Building yourself up too quickly is not good.

See a nutritionist and get some advice from a trainer.

Good Luck

[durden]

i would have said what others already said having taken exercise science classes...

simply, if you wish to gain weight, take more calories in than you will expend.

i.e - if you burn 1200 calories a day, double your intake (2400 calories) and you should slowly see weight come on. slimfast or instant breakfasts are an amazing booster. eat and drink those and youre good...

[popknot]

seroius dude ask the quack. at 6'3" you should be closer to 200 lbs. you might have a glandular prob such as a hyperactive thyroid (fast metabolism) or a malabsorbtion problem. ask the doc.

[justlookn]

Some great responses above. I train people for the police academy. I am also a physical fitness instructor. Be careful with the createin (sp). I had a recruit who started taking it and not really anything else. He also did not drink enough water. It shut down his kidneys. He lived and came back to graduate another academy class, but just be smart about it.

I am 5'10" 150 lbs. I also have tried everything to gain weight. I was eating a whole box of baby cereal a day plus regular meals. I did this for a year plus worked out. Never gained a pound. My whole family is over 6' tall and none are over 190 lbs. It could just be genetic.

As I said there are some great responses above, try them out, what do you have to loose. Good luck and stay hydrated!

[ddoubleez]

In addition to your shakes blend alot of walnuts in, that did it for me. I struggle to keep 175 at 6'2 but 10 years ago I was struggling to keep on 150, before the shakes and Deez nuts!

[tisbutascratch]

I'm a guy and I'm too skinny as well. I have a 6 pack, and im 140 lbs, 6 ft 2. I will be working out everyday when I join my gym in a month. My goal is to get to 170lbs. This thread is helpful. Thanks.

[zand_stein]

help im too skinny, i tried a lot of kind mof vitamins, but nothing happens i just wanna be in gooid built not too fat and not too skinny, i just wanna be sexy. i had south beach diet and evrything, and still non sense , i dunno wat to do now.

[senseimike2007]

creatine increases muscle endurance and has a minor increase to you one rep max for lifting, it will also add mass as this is a side effect of storing excess water in your muscles, when you stop taking the creatine the extra water mass is pissed out quickly. To gain muscle mass you need to do the following, eat, eats lots, eat untill you can't eat anymore, you should take in about 50% protein, 30% carbs, 20% fat in your diet, and lift, for mass you want to hit the 8-12 rep rang, by that I mean that you couldn't possibly make it too 13 reps if your life depended on it. avoid the trendy dumbbell work outs and hit the muscle builders, bench press, shoulder press, lat pull, squat, dead lift, curls. if you've got any energy left you can hit flys, leg extensions, incline bench press with dumbells. Mostly tho, eat untill you think you're going to explode. With your metabolism you'll burn most of what you eat off, so keepping lean durning this process will be easier for you than most, you might want to alternate this every 60 days, 60 days of hard lifting, then 2-3 weeks of lighter meals and cardio, keep lifting, but go into the 15-20 rep range.
creatine is a great supplement, use it together wih protein powder, both available from walmart in 5 gallon jugs for about $10 a piece.

[senseimike2007]

I don't know about that, I train kickboxers and cage fighters & I'm pretty sure they're in atleast as good as good a shape as any rower. But you're right in your advise, however he's looking for bulk and size "I am too skinny" not pure strength. your work out is similar to the ones I put my guys on when they're t the top of their weight class, but for someone simply looking to bulk up, protein and body building style workouts are the way to go.

>>to asdasd123

[msub]

Po, you're a "hardgainer". If you go to bodybuilding.com (a very famous site that every serious person I know at the gym knows about), do a search on "hardgainer" and you'll find a lot of good information on work out regimens and dieting.

Everyone is different when it comes to bulking (which is what you want to do), and it's mostly genetic. For some, gaining muscle is easy. For you, it's going to take a little more effort.

The main thing is to eat a lot. Everyone says eat a lot, but how much is a lot? I'm 5' 9", 166 lb and I'm trying to go up in weight. I try get in at least 3000 calories a day (45% protein/45% carbs/10% fat). With your fast metabolism, you may possibly need at least 4000 calories minimum to make your gym efforts worthwhile. If you don't eat enough, you'll be wasting your time lifting weights.

Some ideas that may be useful:

Eat five to six meals a day. This way you won't be stuffing yourself to death trying to get all those calories in three meals.

Eat a big breakfast.

Do compound exercises--bench press, dead lifts, and squats are THE mass building exercises you should be doing. Don't neglect isolation exercises, but focus on these three.

Use proper form on all your lifts, especially squats and deadlifts! There are photo instructions on bodybuilding.com, but the best way to learn is to have someone good walk you through it. Be wary though, a lot of arrogant guys at my gym squat wrongly (often with way more weight than they can handle).

Most people who get into bodybuilding (recreational or competative) get all those calories strictly from healthy foods (that are usually bland as hell). For what you're trying to accomplish, it probably won't hurt to eat a Big Mac every now and then.

Let your muscles get a few days to recover. With the exception of abs, most muscles need days of recovery time. Overworking muscles will delay growth.

Getting big is hard work. Dieting takes as much effort as lifting. The hardest part can be staying motivated and finding time. That slowed my progress lately since I'm an engineering student at UF, but if you work a 9-5 job, you'll probably have an easier time making it work.

Good luck to you.