Muscle Gain For Hard Gainers?

[Dangermouse]

I'm looking for advice regarding muscle gain.

I'm currently just over 12stone, and about 6ft tall. Despite having relatively good endurance, for the most part I lack upper body strength and look skinny even when standing next to other people my height and weight. I can afford to lay of cardio training for a bit, concentrate on weights and probably use weight gain powder (carbs, whey protein, creatine mix) and/or whey protein and carb mix.

I've also tried eating more in the past. Ironically, however, I eat more than most people I know and tend to eat good fresh food. I'm not looking to put on a great deal of weight, but possibly another stone or so just to help with strength and also to make me simply look better (because i'm a self-conscious twat). I've even tried eating junk food in the past, but just ended up with loss of fitness and bad heart-burn.

Has anybody got any tips on how to increase muslce mass?

[DLT]

I'm not sure you want to gain weight. 12 stone is fine for the marines and I seem to recall Artist saying that by week 32 everyone is built like a racing snake. I'm sure people will be able to give you tips but just remember that being bigger and more muscular may slow down your times. Will also make it harder going on things like pull ups more weight to lift

[ADDiction]

DLT has it spot on. You must ask yourself what you really want, if you heart is set on the bulking process I can pm you, but it will only prolong your journey into the RM.

Ultimately the bulking road will only improve your appearence, whereas circuits will increase the chances of obtaining your dream profession.

Gaining a stone is far from easy, it must be taken seriously, and it will take a reasonably long time. When really you should be using this time to prepare for RT.

[kiwilad]

I am in exactly the same postion as you mate. I'm 14 stone and 6 foot 1. I've tried all the weight gainer and heavy weight lifting stuff but to no avail. Recently I've come to a decision to just screw the weight training and being all self-conscious about how I look and just prepare as best I can for training. I'll take the redicule and jokes about being the skinny guy just so long as I pass training.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you fail the PRMC the first time? Feel free to PM if you don't want to post it on the thread. I'm just curious considering you have similar height/weight issues as myself.

All the best mate.

[xcj]

Gaining weight is probably harder than losing it. You said yourself you started eating fast food to try and gain weight which is (no offense intended) a stupid thing to do. If you do that, you put on the wrong type of fat. If you're hell bent on putting on weight, eat proper stuff in the right amounts and have a good exercise reigime to boot - that way you put on weight in the form of muscle mass, not fat.

Its not rocket science but people eating loads of junk is an attempt to put on weight is common but its counter productive especially if your trying to train to a high level

[Spence]

First of all, don't label yourself a "hard gainer"; by giving yourself a label like that you are immediatly limiting yourself. Remember, PMA!

It might often seem like an uphill struggle sometimes, and whilst changes will not happen over night, the process is actually quite simple. First you need a positive energy balance.

Energy Balance = Energy Intake - Energy Expenditure

Energy intake is made up of what you eat and drink. Energy expenditure is made up of several factors including resting metabolic rate (RMR), calorie cost of activity, thermic effect of food (TEF), and adaptive thermogenesis (the X factor).

If you have a positive energy balance (intake exceeds expenditure), you gain weight. If you are not gaining weight, quite simply eat more! However as we all know, simply eating more will add non-contractile tissue (fat) however if you combine the positive energy balance with an effective resistance programme, you will gain weight as muscle, which does contract and is therefore useful to us.

Make sure that when you do your weight training/resistance programme, you incorperate exercises that recruit the most amount of motor units and muscle fibres such as Deadlifts, Squats, Bench Press. If you also keep up with bodyweight exercises such as Press ups, Pull ups and Pistols then you will not only have another aspect to your training but you will also beable to maintain your ability to do those exercises (in preperation for the RMFA should you still wish to take that route).

Ensure you are reaching technical failure on the last rep of each set working within the region of 6-8 reps, starting with only two maybe three sets per exercise then gradually increasing the volume each work out. You will soon get a feel for what works best for your body and what you respond best to, so feel free to swap around reps and sets.

Ensure you are getting plenty of rest and plenty of sleep (Alwyn Cosgrove talks about "The Training Tap":

"Your body can't differentiate between stressors. Stress is like water from hundreds of taps flowing into a bathtub. Financial stress, relationships, health, and training stress are all different taps. When all the other taps are flowing full blast, turn down the training tap a little bit so your tub doesn't overflow").


If I've missed anything out or you have any more questions give me a shout.

Spence


Edit:
Just a thought but wasn't all of this covered in AJ's "Fat loss and muscle gain?" thread which is a sticky at the top of this page?

[Brian-]

I am in exactly the same postion as you mate. I'm 14 stone and 6 foot 1.

I'll take the redicule and jokes about being the skinny guy just so long as I pass training.

Er, are you sure you don't have one of those crazy mirrors from a funfair? Either that or everyone in New Zealand is f@#k fat!

[kiwilad]

Er, are you sure you don't have one of those crazy mirrors from a funfair? Either that or everyone in New Zealand is f@#k fat!

I wish mate. Admittedly I haven't been doing much running lately, I've only just recently got back into it. And those Beers and curries have done me no favours. So while I could lose a bit of weight around the belt, my limbs are skinny. Trust me, everytime I tell someone my height and weight, I always get the "you can't be serious" remark. But if you've seen me in person, well thats another story.

Anyway, sorry for the hijack. Back to the thread.

[fubar84]

Ignore what Spence said the real way to gain strength and size is this:

Firstly, use the money you should spend on food to subscribe to a quality magazine such as Mens Health or Mens Fitness (personal preferance). These have some amazing articles in them such as how you can do a total body workout in your 20 minute work coffee-break, using only an elastic band and ridiculous looking lunges.
If you manage to get this months Mens Fitness it has an interesting article on how to target your calf muscles with 50 different exercises.

Secondly take out a loan or re-mortgage your house so you can afford to buy a month's supply of creatine and whey protein. Once it has arrived simply follow the serving instructions on the tub. This ensures that you take 5-times the amount of protein your body can process per day, and you spend half of your time shitting. This is fine though, because shitting lots is healthy apparently.

Finally Purchase a quality set of weight-lifting gloves. If you've ever been to a gym you'll notice that all the 'pros' - even the ones that look deceptively unfit to your un-trained eye (don't be fooled!) use gloves. Most people go for leather but material is down to personal preferance.

Well that's it! Good luck with your training, I expect you to be posting some pics of your massive frame soon!

...Oh yeah at some point it's important (but I'm not sure it's essential) to actually lift some weights. When you go to the gym don't be confused by all of the equipment - most of it is there for show! All the best lifters stick to the benchpress and bicep curls, as these two exercises work your entire body (and make your willy bigger - bonus!) You'll see plenty of guys in your gym doing this so just follow their lead!

Good luck!

[Spence]

Fubar84... I love it! At first I was ready to hit the roof, then I read on and I have to hold my hands up to this one; I was wrong. But then thats what you get for not reading Mens Health and Mens Fitness!

You are spot on about Bench press and bicep curls, they are the only two exercises you will need. Period. Although to really get the most out of these you need to make sure you are doing your Bicep curls in the squat rack or power cage, and make sure you really swing your hips into it! As for the Bench Press, get one of your buddys to stand over you screaming "Unconventional!" whilst upright rowing the majority of the weight you are trying to do your partial ROM reps with.


Spence





Just to cover myself...never ever do any of those things I have just mentioned in this post...

[jammin87]

Part of me is pretty tempted to print the last two replies off and put it in the weights room at my gym.

[fubar84]

Haha good news! Not meaning to insult your intelligence I was wondering if I should put one of those winking smily faces at the end of my post so everyone knows i'm joking, as seems to be standard procedure on MFAT. Then i thought nah!

A personal favourite of mine are those people that turn up at the gym and go straight into a set of single arm preacher curls. Popeye syndrome.

At the minute I'm using a gym that belongs to the local infantry regt - 1 Lancs. When the PTI's doing his own training he has a habit of screaming out "LIGHT WEIGHTS!!!" when he's pushing out that final rep.

Now this might help him finish a set, but imagine trying to crack out a set of dips when your pissing yourself laughing!

[Dangermouse]

Cheers for the replies lads. When I said I'd like to put on a bit of weight/increase muslce mass, I didn't mean a lot. I'm probs not going on another PRMC for another 6months and aim to start RT next Summer sometime. I'm quite strong in my legs, so don't mind bulking up a little although by no means do I intend to be top heavy. I've put a lot of muscle on in the gym in the past. The phrase 'to put on weight' may not be the best to use as I know it is possible to loose weight and gain muslce, which is what I have done before. I might try some carbs/whey protein over the next month just for the extra boost and possibly start circuit training again - somethin I havent bene doing lately.

I've only said 'hard gainer' because thats what I am - I eat a shit load of food anyway but just have a fast metabolism. I can't simply increase my ccalorie intake, as I eat a lot anyway and would just become more agitated and hyperactive with the extra energy. Thinking about it, my priotity now should be to maintain the weight I am at the moment and worry about mym endurance and strength rather than my physique.

[Dangermouse]

I know the type fubar. Seen it so many time - little skinny 5ft fellas trying to do 40kgs on the tricep extension or bicep curls, throwing all thier weight down to do one set and neally falling over in the process, quickly followed by a crashing metal-on-metal sound when they loose control of the weights which come crashing down, then continuing with the second rep as if thats the natural way to do things. No where near as funny as the young lads who spend 10mins on the treadmill, try and do as many press ups as they can and give up after abou 12, pretending that its because they are injured, not just unfit, little realising that everyone is watching them every single day pretending to be injured. maybe im just pissed

[ADDiction]

No offence mouse, but what you just in reference to your metabolism was complete bullshit. If your claim of currently eating "shit loads" is correct, you should be gaining. Maybe you have weight issues, or maybe you are just completely exaggerating your calorie intake.