Gaining weight to build muscle??

tierra85
tierra85 Posts: 300 Member
edited September 21 in Food and Nutrition
I have a friend that wants to build muscle and finally get a 6pack. He's thin but can't seem to get rid of that last layer of fat on his tummy. I guess hes trying to gain weight (??) but is having trouble eating his daily calories. As a girl i only really know about losing weight and gaining lean muscle. i've never wanted to bulk up. But i knew i could turn here to ask you guys for advice. Does anyone have any tips on this?? What he should be eating and doing to gain muscle mass??

Replies

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    eat, eat and eat more, lots of protein, and lift very heavy weights. heavy enough that he will only be able to complete 6 or so reps per set.
  • Kevster75
    Kevster75 Posts: 106
    Core training would really help him too... lots of it.
    But yeah as eric says, he shouldn't stop eating, and get the protein up, up, up!!
    (But he should avoid sugar carbs and saturated fats like crazy!)
  • Vipecap
    Vipecap Posts: 166 Member
    Pretty much what erickirb said, it is just eating a ton. If he is trying to bulk though, he needs to forget about the six pack for now. Those are only going to pop from having low body fat, and as you eat more for muscle you will inevitably gain some fat. There really isn't a specific formula other than eat a lot lol.
  • TateFTW
    TateFTW Posts: 658 Member
    Bodybuilders realized a long time ago that both building huge muscles and shredding fat are not conducive to one another. That's why there are two different phases, called bulking and cutting. When bulking you eat more then maintanence calories, with a focus on mass amounts of protein and long, heavy lifting sessions with more rest between sets and little to no cardio. The goal is purely to gain muscle. Once a sufficient amount of mass is gained, then everything shifts to cutting, which is eating below maintanence calories. Cutting is tough, because the goal is to keep the muscle mass gained from bulking, which is why bodybuilders are known for such intense diets. They can't do too much cardio, because cardio leads to loss of muscle mass (ever seen any bulky marathon runners? exactly), so the focus has to be on diet combined with special training techniques (less rest, circuit style training) to drop the fat. Bulking then cutting was developed by bodybuilders to prepare for contests.

    There are entire books devoted to this subject, but the most important thing in my opinion is to acknowledge that you have to focus on only one thing at a time, either bulking up or cutting the fat.
  • BOGmama2010
    BOGmama2010 Posts: 599 Member
    You can't cut and gain muscle at the same time. Tate said it perfectly! :D
  • dcturcotte
    dcturcotte Posts: 59
    That layer of fat your friend is having trouble losing is the hardest part for any of us to lose, I'm in the process right now and let me tell you that with a body type like mine you have to be 100% dedicated to it, until recently I actually thought it was impossible for me to have a 6 pack. All previous posts are very good posts. It's pretty well all been summed up, stay away from sugar and saturated fats. Another thing to try a steer clear of is fast digesting carbohydrates, (white bread, white pasta, beer). He needs to get his carbs from whole wheat products and vegetables. A lot of people try to go no carbs at all when they gain/lose/strengthen but I think it's a mistake. I wasn't getting enough carbs awhile ago and I was always tired and not growing at all, once I balanced my diet more I was spinning with energy and growing a lot faster.
  • christinafpdx
    christinafpdx Posts: 27
    "oats and squats"
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