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Want to gain weight...

Discussion in 'Physical & Sexual Health' started by bkwrm175, Jan 2, 2010.

  1. bkwrm175

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    Hey guys,

    I'm hoping to start going to the gym (again) on a fairly regular basis starting soon, and I was looking for some advice.

    I'm about 5'8, and weigh just under 110 pounds. My body fat based on an estimate from a website is about 8.3%, which is about what it was when I started going to the gym last time. I went for 6 months 3x a week, with a personal trainer, and gained something like 2 pounds, so I'm looking for some fresh ideas.

    Any suggestion for adding mass? I like swimming, but I'm not sure if that would be a good bulking exercise.

    Any suggestions about what too look for in a protein powder?

    Thanks everyone!
     
  2. Mister Gaga

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    I wish I could help, but I'm a dead loss when it comes to sports/bodybuilding.

    Anyway, I'm (at least I hope) starting the gym soon, and I'm asking myself the same questions as you.

    If anyone could help, that would be much appreciated =)
     
  3. Camman3

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    I was really hoping this thread would have grown by now with some fruitful answers - I'd like to see some answers, too.

    From my own perspective (been gymming for over a year now): Swimming does build a lot of muscle - look at any swimmer and you will see how strong their shoulders are, especially. Though, for the purpose of putting on weight, I don't think swimming is your best option, because swimming, running and cycling are used mainly as cardio exercises. They are used with low-fat diets in order to shed fat and lose weight - you don't need that because you already have less than 10% body fat.

    For bulking up, you need to train all the different body parts with weights. Make sure you train at least every muscle group each week.

    With regards to your diet: If your diet is wrong, you could potentially undo all your hard work at gym. Make sure that you eat 5-6 smaller meals a day rather than 3 big meals in order to increase your metabolism. Also, you need to make sure your daily Kilojoule/Calorie intake is GREATER than your Kilojoule/Calorie loss.

    We had to do a project at school (which was so conveniant for me, because I had to do this anyway), where we had to record our daily KJ intake and usage. It helped me to see how much food I needed to eat to have KJ intake > KJ usage.

    I would recommend you make a Calorie diary or something, just for one week, to get a rough idea. It's quite a mission, but it's definitely worth it. After that, you could try work out a specific diet that will boost your KJ intake past your usual KJ usage, or you could just work with a rough estimate.

    Here is a good site to help you with your diary: It programmes, based on your age, weight and height, roughly how many Kilojoules you use everyday as normal bodily functions. Then, beneath that, there's a section which will allow you to calculate the amount of Kilojoules used depending on your activities through the day, whether it's sitting, running (low, medium and high intensity), swimming etc.

    The only thing you need to add to this (which the site doesn't calculate) is sleeping. Roughly every hour you sleep burns 200 KJs.

    Here is the site: http://firstyear.chem.usyd.edu.au/calculators/food_energy.shtml

    This site is a converter: (http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/units-converter/energy/calculator/-kcal]-to-kilojoule-[kJ]/) it will help you convert KJs to Calories or vice versa (and other measurements, if you use them).

    If you want to change KJs ---> Calories, make sure that you use the options "kilojoule [kJ]" and "calorie (nutritional)".

    And as for protein powders... well I don't know much about that. Perhaps you should set up a meeting time with a consultant from a protein powder company. I would not recommend USN, though. That;s for intense weight-lifters, it would appear. For the average teenager trying to bulk up a bit, I don't think USN products will do any good.

    Unfortunately I don't know much about the "creatine" debate, but you can use a search engine to check up on articles on that. The powder I use has 0.1g of creatine, so I think it's harmless. My protein powder has a full vitamin complex and plenty of protein and carbohydrates. They say you can use it as a meal replacement, but you should not do that very often (I use it as a snack in between my 6 smaller meals).

    That's all I can add from my own experience, though I can go into more detail on certain topics if you want, such as particular exercises for different muscle groups and that. I hope this helps!
     
    #3 Camman3, Jan 6, 2010
    Last edited: Jan 6, 2010
  4. Andromeda

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    Why? Just why?

    Perfect body to me.
     
  5. Emberstone

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    eat clean foods with carbs for energy, and protein from clean sources such as chicken and fish, as protein is basically what muscle is.

    but also remeber that muscle is denser than fat, so a pound of muscle is more compact, so if your looking for size, just remeber that.

    since you are 110ish pounds, shoot for 220 grams of clean protien. 2to 1 protein to pounds is a common way to do it.

    also, just remeber, a protein shake can be benificial after your work out and before you go to bed *depending on the type and its rate of absorbtion*, but it is a waste to drink them anytime else. you only need them as a quick boost right after you workout when your muscles are working to rebuild, and before bed when you want to keep a steady stream of nutrients to your body as you sleep so you dont run out.
     
  6. malachite

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    swimming is great because it is a total body work out, you work arms, legs, and abs when doing laps.
    When doing laps don't kick off the side of the pool for momentum, let you body do the work.

    Eat lean meats like chicken the protein will help build muscle, but the low fat content will keep you from gaining fat weight instead of muscle weight. Eat lots of veggies: spinach, carrots, and tomatoes.