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Need help on gaining weight

Old 10-25-15, 07:09 PM
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Need help on gaining weight

Hi alls,
I'm 5ft8 and weigh 120lbs which is really skinny. I cycle to school mostly, it takes about 30 miles round trip. Recently I try to gain some weight and still bike to school at the same time but it doesn't work out well. Do you have any advices on what excersice to do or food I should eat? Thanks
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Old 10-25-15, 07:37 PM
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Be careful about gaining a lot of weight... Unless you're exercising and lifting weights most of the weight gain will be fat instead of muscle....The best way to gain quality weight in a form of lean muscle is to eat more calories then you burn and then lift weights.
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Old 10-25-15, 08:04 PM
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Yeah, I mean to gain muscle, not fat...
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Old 10-25-15, 08:17 PM
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Cycling 30 miles everyday and gaining muscle at the same time is not easy. You will need to eat a massive amount of food and also lift weights...Eating big and lifting weights and doing a lot of bodyweight exercises such as pull ups, push ups and dips is the only way to do it.
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Old 10-25-15, 08:20 PM
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Enjoy being skinny, and try to stay that way!!!!!!
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Old 10-26-15, 08:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Wolololo
Hi alls,
I'm 5ft8 and weigh 120lbs which is really skinny. I cycle to school mostly, it takes about 30 miles round trip. Recently I try to gain some weight and still bike to school at the same time but it doesn't work out well. Do you have any advices on what excersice to do or food I should eat? Thanks
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Old 10-26-15, 08:16 AM
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Yeah, time will take care of that. Don't worry about it.
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Old 10-26-15, 08:21 AM
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Me too, someone said one trick is to shove the food in your face in under 15min before your body realizes whats going on. Weight gainer, muscle shakes, protein shakes as well. Someone said to check with my doctor before doing shakes, doc seemed to think i wanted to do steroids or something she's like no dont do that but just blanket dont do that not me in particular don't drink protein shakes so forget them i think they just dont like it or think it's generally healthy to use them. Obviously lots of eggs, pasta, moyonaise, chocolate and anything else dieters try to avoid. revel in the empty calories. Avocado, mayonaise and peanut butter are all superfoods depending how you classify a super food. In this case they give much bang for the buck and the size.

Last edited by TheLibrarian; 10-26-15 at 08:25 AM.
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Old 10-26-15, 08:31 AM
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I couldn't gain weight either in high school and through my late 20's. The only thing that worked was intensive daily weight training and eating enough protein to build muscle.
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Old 10-26-15, 09:24 AM
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Originally Posted by Wolololo
Hi alls,
I'm 5ft8 and weigh 120lbs which is really skinny. I cycle to school mostly, it takes about 30 miles round trip. Recently I try to gain some weight and still bike to school at the same time but it doesn't work out well. Do you have any advices on what excersice to do or food I should eat? Thanks
How old are you?
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Old 10-26-15, 09:25 AM
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Originally Posted by chasm54
How old are you?
I'm 21
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Old 10-26-15, 10:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Wolololo
I'm 21
Then I wouldn't worry too much. At 21 I was 168 lbs at just over 6'3". Wish I was close to that weight now...

Seriously, the cycling isn't the problem unless you are eating too little to replace the calories burned. Some people are natural ectomorphs and find it difficult to bulk up. You may be one of them, but it doesn't make you unfit or unhealthy. As others have said, the only way to pack on muscle is to eat nutritionally dense foods, especially protein, and do resistance exercise - weights, or high-intensity whole-body workouts. But it takes time.
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Old 10-26-15, 04:56 PM
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Originally Posted by TheLibrarian
Me too, someone said one trick is to shove the food in your face in under 15min before your body realizes whats going on. Weight gainer, muscle shakes, protein shakes as well. Someone said to check with my doctor before doing shakes, doc seemed to think i wanted to do steroids or something she's like no dont do that but just blanket dont do that not me in particular don't drink protein shakes so forget them i think they just dont like it or think it's generally healthy to use them. Obviously lots of eggs, pasta, moyonaise, chocolate and anything else dieters try to avoid. revel in the empty calories. Avocado, mayonaise and peanut butter are all superfoods depending how you classify a super food. In this case they give much bang for the buck and the size.
Isn't fast-paced eating bad for your digestive system? I always drink protein shake after work out and commuting and it really helps.
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Old 10-26-15, 05:18 PM
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I wouldn't go overboard on the protein, you can only convert so much to muscle at a time. Around 1-2 grams of protein per kg of body weight is enough, err on the high side if you are doing resistance training at least 5 days a week. Note that nutritionally dense means protein, complex carbs, the right kind of fats, veggies, but not junk food.

The up side is that you should be able to recover from just about any amount of training volume provided you eat and sleep enough. A faster metabolism means faster recovery, and potentially faster lean muscle gain. Especially at your age, 30 miles a day on top of strength training is nothing, just eat and sleep more.
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Old 10-26-15, 05:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Wanderer
Enjoy being skinny, and try to stay that way!!!!!!
This

Originally Posted by ThermionicScott
Yeah, time will take care of that. Don't worry about it.
And most especially listen to this...your elders have been there and done that.
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Old 10-26-15, 05:41 PM
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I wasn't quite that slim, but was pretty slender at 21. In my experience, if you exercise less, drink more alcohol, and generally maintain a very unhealthy lifestyle, you can add 10 pounds a year in your twenties with no problem. But even without going to those lengths, most folks do find that a combination of changes in metabolism and lifestyle lead to additional pounds in the decade after their 21st.
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Old 10-26-15, 05:51 PM
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Lift heavy. Stick to 8-10 rep maximums. And the golden three are all you need to focus on: squats, bench, and pull-ups. Keep going heavier with the first two, and get weighted for the last one. Fix your mind around how to get better in just those three, and you'll figure out the other variations to help with them; deadlifts, dips, rows, lunges, leg extensions, etc.

For any other rider I wouldn't necessarily go that route, but at 120 and with a 30 mile commute, this would be the only route I'd take. Your commuting mileage will ensure you don't end up overly muscled. Keep flexible, and your cycling shouldn't suffer.

Couple that with your metabolism, and you'll be jacked real quick.
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Old 10-26-15, 06:02 PM
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If you really desperate about gaining a lot of mass then you could try doing the "old school 20 rep squat routine" plus GOMAD for a couple of weeks and see what happens.
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Old 10-26-15, 06:16 PM
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Originally Posted by OnyxTiger
Lift heavy. Stick to 8-10 rep maximums. And the golden three are all you need to focus on: squats, bench, and pull-ups. Keep going heavier with the first two, and get weighted for the last one. Fix your mind around how to get better in just those three, and you'll figure out the other variations to help with them; deadlifts, dips, rows, lunges, leg extensions, etc.

For any other rider I wouldn't necessarily go that route, but at 120 and with a 30 mile commute, this would be the only route I'd take. Your commuting mileage will ensure you don't end up overly muscled. Keep flexible, and your cycling shouldn't suffer.

Couple that with your metabolism, and you'll be jacked real quick.
Thanks. I will try to do those three everyday. What do you think about adding push-up into thethe workout?
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Old 10-26-15, 06:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Wolololo
Thanks. I will try to do those three everyday. What do you think about adding push-up into thethe workout?
Push-ups and other stuff like crunches are worthless, really. Steer that focus back onto the big multi-joint movements.
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There's no such thing as too far.. just lack of time
Originally Posted by noglider
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Old 10-26-15, 07:01 PM
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Push ups are great especially for beginners, but even if you're an advanced lifter you can still benefit from push ups. The biggest problem with regular push ups is that it doesn't take long before they become too easy. Another big problem is that most people don't have a clue how to make push ups more difficult, so they give up and conclude that push ups are useless.
There are many different ways of making push ups more challenging and difficult.

- push ups with feet elevated on the table or chair. More difficult then regular push ups.
- Push ups with weight on your back
- diamond push ups or narrow grip push ups
- Suspended push ups
- one hand push ups
- pike push ups
- handstand push ups

You can also superset push ups with other exercises to increase intensity. You can manipulate the number of reps, sets and rest times between sets to increase intensity. The possibilities are endless...If I had a choice between push ups and bench press I would choose push ups. They are much safer, less likely to cause injury and don't require and special equipment. Many people have used push ups to build great athletic physiques.. Heavy benching is almost guaranteed to screw up your shoulders as you get older.
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Old 10-26-15, 07:44 PM
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Originally Posted by wolfchild
Push ups are great especially for beginners, but even if you're an advanced lifter you can still benefit from push ups. The biggest problem with regular push ups is that it doesn't take long before they become too easy. Another big problem is that most people don't have a clue how to make push ups more difficult, so they give up and conclude that push ups are useless.
There are many different ways of making push ups more challenging and difficult.

- push ups with feet elevated on the table or chair. More difficult then regular push ups.
- Push ups with weight on your back
- diamond push ups or narrow grip push ups
- Suspended push ups
- one hand push ups
- pike push ups
- handstand push ups

You can also superset push ups with other exercises to increase intensity. You can manipulate the number of reps, sets and rest times between sets to increase intensity. The possibilities are endless...If I had a choice between push ups and bench press I would choose push ups. They are much safer, less likely to cause injury and don't require and special equipment. Many people have used push ups to build great athletic physiques.. Heavy benching is almost guaranteed to screw up your shoulders as you get older.
Thank you! What type of push up and reps do you recommend for a beginner like me?
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Old 10-26-15, 08:29 PM
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Originally Posted by chasm54
Seriously, the cycling isn't the problem unless you are eating too little to replace the calories burned. Some people are natural ectomorphs and find it difficult to bulk up. You may be one of them, but it doesn't make you unfit or unhealthy.
^^^This. As long as you are eating enough of a well balanced diet and are in good health, don't obsess over your skinniness.

I was 5' 7" and 115 lbs at age 18. Ate everything and anything I wanted at any time of the day. Tried all kinda ways to gain weight but nothing worked. Now at 55 I'm at my all time high... 130. Yeah, some people do hate us for it, but it's just our genes, and nothing we can do about it but accept it.

If being thin bothers you, there are ways to dress that helps disguise it.
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Old 10-26-15, 09:21 PM
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Maybe... you ought to consider losing a couple pounds.

Years (decades) ago.... I knew a girl in high school who was painfully thin. She tried everything to gain weight hoping she would develop a "figure". She believed she would never find a boy/man until she developed a more "girly" appearance. After graduation she convinced her mother to take her to the doctor in hopes she could be "cured" of her unattractive figureless skinniness.

The doctor suggested that since she seemed unable to gain weight.... they try a reduced calorie diet to she if she could lose weight. Sure enough two weeks later she returned to the doctor and had successfully lost two pounds. The doctor instructed her to return to her normal eating... and made her new appointment in two weeks. When she returned to the doctor she had happily gained back her two lost pounds.... PLUS two more. It was her first weight gain.... and she was thrilled. The doctor repeated the diet... normal eating intervals.

I ran into the young lady several (12?) years later. She had successfully gained 160 pounds. I understand that at one point... she had had a lovely figure. True story!

Last edited by Dave Cutter; 10-26-15 at 09:24 PM.
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Old 10-26-15, 09:29 PM
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Get married - problem solved - you're welcome.
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