Trying to Gain weight?

scrawnybuilder

Hi All!
Hi my name is Sennen and I am new to MFP. I am using MFP in conjunctuion with a workout/nutrition program to try to gain some muscle mass. I understand the majority of MFP is geared towards nutrition and exercise for weight loss, so I was wondering if anybody has similar goals to mine. I am 22 years old, 5'9" and 138lbs. I don't neccesarily want to "bulk up" per say, but I'd like to gain something close to a pound per week, and get to around 155 by my birthday in June. Anybody else have similar goals/experiences? I just want to know if this is realistic and if so is it a healthy approach, gaining mass as quickly as possible?

SHBoss1673

If you're talking a pound per week muscle, that's just not gonna happen guy. That is, unless you use some kind of drugs (which I am COMPLETELY against by the way).

for the first few weeks to a month or so you may gain that kind of weight, but it actually won't be much muscle growth, it's more your body adjusting to the new workouts (adding glycogen to your body to compensate for the increased workouts).

A GOOD goal to shoot for is 2 lbs a month of muscle mass, and that's a pretty dramatic muscle gain. Now if you're talking about adding a little fat to the frame as well as muscle, well then yeah, I guess you could do 1 lb a week, but that's a slippery slope right there.

So IMHO your goal for your birthday in June should be somewhere around maybe 10 to 12 lbs total, with probably about 6 to 8 lbs of that being glycogen and water weight (to compensate for the increased muscle usage). After that, the gains will be far smaller. Maybe 3 lbs a month total with 1 to 2 of those pounds being dry muscle and the rest a glycogen mix.

scrawnybuilder

Yeah, the water weight and additional fat is fine at first, as long as I don't let it get out of hand. I'm around 7% body fat now with an extremely fast metabolism, so it won't hurt if I'm not just gaining lean muscle mass at first. I can always focus on just adding weight first, then cutting later. Thanks.

lucky1ns

Sounds like you bumped into the right guy!

I could show you how to get fat really quick but it doesnt sound like that is what you are after.

Good luck!

SHBoss1673

Yeah, the water weight and additional fat is fine at first, as long as I don't let it get out of hand. I'm around 7% body fat now with an extremely fast metabolism, so it won't hurt if I'm not just gaining lean muscle mass at first. I can always focus on just adding weight first, then cutting later. Thanks.

FYI, be very very careful with the "fast metabolism" vs "slow metabolism" concepts, generally there's no such thing unless you have thyroid issues or some kind of organ/blood problem. I've spoken with numerous doctors about this concept including an endocrinologist and the common theme from them was: "I've heard this before, and I don't know what it means, the term fast metabolism is something the weight loss industry has made up to explain faster than average weight loss" I'm summing up here but basically that's the gist of it.

You have what you feel to be a fast metabolism because you are probably what some doctors call "Jittery" or "Fidgety", I.E. you can't sit still. This is common with people who have a higher BMR and means you burn more calories at rest than most, add to that the idea that with so little body fat you have little insulation and that requires more energy to either cool or heat your body and you have the main difference between your metabolic rate and someone who considers their rate to be "slow".

Moral of this post? Watch out, as you add fat to your frame, your calorie needs will actually slow down a little. Oh and FYI... 7% body fat is something most people DREAM of (men that is, for women that's way low and dangerous), so IMHO I'd take it slow, trying to gain as little fat as possible, just give yourself a year to put on 12 to 15 lbs of muscle, I think you'll be SHOCKED at how good you'll look at that point!

Hope this helps.

-Banks