having hard time gaining

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brilynn2292
brilynn2292 Posts: 2
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I am 22, 115 pounds, 5ft 3 inch tall. I would like to be at 125. I just don't know what exactly i should be coming and exercising. Any information will help. Thanks
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  • brilynn2292
    brilynn2292 Posts: 2
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    brilynn2292 wrote: »
    I am 22, 115 pounds, 5ft 3 inch tall. I would like to be at 125. I just don't know what exactly i should be eating and exercising. Any information will help. Thanks

  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Well, assuming you'll want to be adding lean body mass and not 10 lbs of fat...

    You would need a calorie surplus, and a beginner lifting routine focused on progressive overload.

    Do you have any experience lifting?
    Do you track your intake at all?
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Whatever you're eating, eat more.
  • MonaLisaLianne
    MonaLisaLianne Posts: 377 Member
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    Come over here so I can slap you. ;)
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Do you do any resistance training currently? If so, for how long and what does your routine look like?

    Also, echo'ing lolbro's assumption re wanting to gain LBM and not just fat.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    daymonalisa wrote: »
    Come over here so I can slap you. ;)


    that's not helpful.

    This is the gaining section- and yes- it can be hard to gain. it's harder than you think- and it's a mentally taxing activity.

    So get out if you don't have anything helpful to add.



    Secondly OP.
    Resistence training is a must.

    So get on a program if you are not.

    And on top of that- eat more of what you are eating now- if you are having a hard time eating more- and or high calorie- low filling foods is the answer (candy bars- doughnuts- burgers- five guys- white castle- soda- ice cream- snickers!!!!- gummy bears- bagels- pizza- beer- cheese cake- oreos crushed in to your ice cream- milk)

    etc etc- eat more- that's the only answer to "hard gainers" is eat more.

    it's not the answer you always want to hear- but it's the only answer that will get you results.
  • Platypusman82
    Platypusman82 Posts: 14 Member
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    I also have a hard time gaining weight. I feel your pain. The tried and true method is certainly eating more(but not crap), and continuing to mix up your lifting routine to shock your body. My main problem is digestion. I can't handle too many of the protein shakes or weight gainers. They tear up my stomach. Well technically the pain I get is in my intestinal area. Once I get that pain I tend to not eat the rest of the day, because I'm simply not hungry at all. So I find that forcing myself to eat may help. Time will tell. I was 175-185 for the longest time, and lifted a lot. Then all of the sudden I noticed that I'm 162. The only real change in lifestyle was less sleep.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Platypusman82 wrote: »
    I also have a hard time gaining weight. I feel your pain. The tried and true method is certainly eating more(but not crap), and continuing to mix up your lifting routine to shock your body. My main problem is digestion. I can't handle too many of the protein shakes or weight gainers. They tear up my stomach. Well technically the pain I get is in my intestinal area. Once I get that pain I tend to not eat the rest of the day, because I'm simply not hungry at all. So I find that forcing myself to eat may help. Time will tell. I was 175-185 for the longest time, and lifted a lot. Then all of the sudden I noticed that I'm 162. The only real change in lifestyle was less sleep.

    Mixing up your routine does not shock your body and is not actually a good idea in general. You just need a good well rounded routine that includes progressive loading to provide adequate stimulus for hypertrophy.
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
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    Platypusman82 wrote: »
    I was 175-185 for the longest time, and lifted a lot. Then all of the sudden I noticed that I'm 162. The only real change in lifestyle was less sleep.
    The weight loss came after you started sleeping less?

  • Platypusman82
    Platypusman82 Posts: 14 Member
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    Yes I have always eaten as much as I can handle, and lifted heavy. Im in the gym 6 days a week. about halfway through this year I started getting a lot less sleep. It was terrible at first, but my body got used to it. Seems my body adjusted by dropping 20 pounds and keeping me here. Right now if I wanted to get to 170 it would require a lot of help in the kitchen. Rest and sleep are hard to come by so I'll have to offset it by eating extra.
  • Platypusman82
    Platypusman82 Posts: 14 Member
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    Routines cause me to plateau. I find that for myself I need to mix up a routine after about 60 days.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Platypusman82 wrote: »
    Routines cause me to plateau. I find that for myself I need to mix up a routine after about 60 days.

    Plateau in what way? What routines are you doing?

  • Platypusman82
    Platypusman82 Posts: 14 Member
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    Plateau meaning I look in the mirror and see the same body. I was in the habit of lifting every morning. M-Sat. Leg day, chest day, etc. Pretty regular, but I still don't or didn't like what I saw in the mirror. So I tried new workouts, new rep counts, more isolation, less isolation, etc.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Platypusman82 wrote: »
    Plateau meaning I look in the mirror and see the same body. I was in the habit of lifting every morning. M-Sat. Leg day, chest day, etc. Pretty regular, but I still don't or didn't like what I saw in the mirror. So I tried new workouts, new rep counts, more isolation, less isolation, etc.

    I wonder how much you expect to see after less than 60 days. Did you stick with a program that had progressive overload built into it (in the hypertrophy rep range) for any reasonable amount of time.

    Muscle needs additional stimulus to grow (and adequate calories and protein) - adding weight (and reps, within reason), does that. Your body does not get shocked.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    Platypusman82 wrote: »
    Plateau meaning I look in the mirror and see the same body. I was in the habit of lifting every morning. M-Sat. Leg day, chest day, etc. Pretty regular, but I still don't or didn't like what I saw in the mirror. So I tried new workouts, new rep counts, more isolation, less isolation, etc.


    First- For starters any good program will have you running for at least 12 weeks.

    Secondly- there is no such thing as "shocking" your body to encourage more growth.

    Thirdly- at some point you're great gains and big changes WILL stop- and it will become a 6 month progress to add or subtract a pound- or a 6 month process to add 5 pounds to your squat.

    Everyone stops having great changes and great gains- that's why there are are advanced lifting programs.
  • Kevalicious99
    Kevalicious99 Posts: 1,131 Member
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    I had the same issue .. and in fact am still trying to gain. I talked to my personal trainer .. he said "high calorie dense foods". Like .. peanuts, avocado, add olive oil to your food (just about any oil) .. just Google high calorie foods, there is a huge list. And eat those things .. just do not eat crap .. that will not do you any benefit. Good luck. It is possible to gain .. all about eating more calories than you are burning. Just the opposite of what most people are doing here.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Kevalicious99 wrote: »
    I had the same issue .. and in fact am still trying to gain. I talked to my personal trainer .. he said "high calorie dense foods". Like .. peanuts, avocado, add olive oil to your food (just about any oil) .. just Google high calorie foods, there is a huge list. And eat those things .. just do not eat crap .. that will not do you any benefit. Good luck. It is possible to gain .. all about eating more calories than you are burning. Just the opposite of what most people are doing here.

    Not sure why anyone would want to eat feces anyway.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Platypusman82 wrote: »
    Plateau meaning I look in the mirror and see the same body. I was in the habit of lifting every morning. M-Sat. Leg day, chest day, etc. Pretty regular, but I still don't or didn't like what I saw in the mirror. So I tried new workouts, new rep counts, more isolation, less isolation, etc.

    You'll see even less progress program hopping...
  • Platypusman82
    Platypusman82 Posts: 14 Member
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    Well I've been doing shoulder presses for 10 years. I still see no improvement. ha. So it was time to try doing other things for shoulders. Etc. I was pretty consistent until this year. Well I should say last year now. In 2014 I was trying new things. None worked, so I guess back to the basics again. My body loses weight fast. I was lifting routinely and eating a moderate amount. Then I went to basic training and lost 27 pounds over the first 3 weeks. 27 pounds! Took 2 years to put it back on. I'm going to be tracking more closely in 2015 and see what happens.

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