Herrow Everyone.... is anyone here trying to gain weight? (M

There are actually quite a few people on here trying to gain weight...myself included. Feel free to add me if you wish.

First, you should know, gaining 18 lbs of lean tissue in 3 months is going to be super hard, verging on impossible without the use of some kind of anabolic supplement. The average lean tissue gain done through strict diet and exercise is 2 lbs of lean tissue per month, tripling that is not really reasonable. Now if you wanted to add fat mass as well, it's absolutely doable (not the worst idea if you have a marathon to train for actually).

Second, there's nothing that says that weighing more for long distance is a bad thing, it's all in the distribution of muscle mass gained. I.E. if you gain more type 2a muscle in the legs, you'll be a better runner, whether you add weight or not. But trying to prepare for a road race, and putting on a lot of bulk are sort of opposite ends of the muscle mass spectrum. Generally aerobic exercise doesn't add lean tissue, anaerobic exercise does.

First, you should know, gaining 18 lbs of lean tissue in 3 months is going to be super hard, verging on impossible without the use of some kind of anabolic supplement. The average lean tissue gain done through strict diet and exercise is 2 lbs of lean tissue per month, tripling that is not really reasonable. Now if you wanted to add fat mass as well, it's absolutely doable (not the worst idea if you have a marathon to train for actually).

Second, there's nothing that says that weighing more for long distance is a bad thing, it's all in the distribution of muscle mass gained. I.E. if you gain more type 2a muscle in the legs, you'll be a better runner, whether you add weight or not. But trying to prepare for a road race, and putting on a lot of bulk are sort of opposite ends of the muscle mass spectrum. Generally aerobic exercise doesn't add lean tissue, anaerobic exercise does.

shboss1673, yeah im definitely not trying to gain lean mass of 20 lbs in 3 months lol. im low in bf right now at 8% and wouldnt mind going up to 15% or even more. i know the running will take care of the fat. i can just imagine what would happen if i ran more than 5 miles 5 times per week at my BF i would probably die. i will continue to lift while training and true about aerobic/anaerobic. what are your goals in fitness?

Right now my only 2 goals are a sub 17 minute 5K (I can't run for much longer than 5 miles as I have a permanently cracked sessimoid bone in my foot, and it starts to KILL after about 5 miles), and to get my BF% down to about 7.5 or 8, it's at about 10 to 10.5 (depending on the method) right now. And my 5K time right now is about 20 minutes. I did a 16:09 5K in high school, and I'd like to be able to get back there some day, maybe even break 16 minutes if I'm feeling strong.

hey people, just started using the site. would like to get some motivation from people that are trying to gain muscle. im currently bulking for a couple months and if anyone else is in the same boat, add me! i will be training for a marathon starting march also. thanks guys and gals

currently:
157lbs
8% BF
bench>225
taking no supplements

goals by march 2011
175lbs
13-15%BF
bench>255

Winter bulker here!

Right now my only 2 goals are a sub 17 minute 5K (I can't run for much longer than 5 miles as I have a permanently cracked sessimoid bone in my foot, and it starts to KILL after about 5 miles), and to get my BF% down to about 7.5 or 8, it's at about 10 to 10.5 (depending on the method) right now. And my 5K time right now is about 20 minutes. I did a 16:09 5K in high school, and I'd like to be able to get back there some day, maybe even break 16 minutes if I'm feeling strong.

they both sound like great plans. what are you doing for training and and to loose the bf? i hope you do get it down to 17 minutes. when i run my first race im not even going to think about racing but mainly finishing lol.

Well, I need to train folks too (I'm a Personal Trainer) so I don't get all the training in I'd like (I don't talk about clients on here, even in the abstract, as it's not really the right forum to discuss it.) but when I do, I do 2 run days plus 2 HIIT days and 2Anaerobic resistance days, usually all of them are 2 to 3 days apart from each other (each type I mean). I'm working more towards BF right now, since it's hard to do both and retain muscle mass (doable, but you kind of need to focus on it alone if you do, I.E. work may suffer), So my plan is mostly food related (as body mass is ALL about diet, you can weight train all day, but eat the wrong foods in the wrong amount and you're swimming up stream). I do a bastardized body building routine. Based on the human metabolic cycle, it takes the body 2 to 3 days to recognize large shifts in calories, so basically, during that first 2 to 3 day span, if you deprive your body of calories in a very specific way (this is advanced stuff guys, not something to try right out of the gate, it's slightly risky and difficult, I don't recommend it for the new exerciser) you can tell your body to burn 2 to 3 times the amount of fat it normally would (up to about 1/2 a lb of fat extra can be burned this way depending on your TDEE. I do 32 hours without food, keeping very VERY hydrated. I only do this twice, as part of a 7 day refeeding program, then I go back to my normal 250 calorie deficit with exercise. That kind of program works but is difficult on the body and mind. If you really want to know more, look up competitive body building sites, they will explain the process in more depth. Some recommend light food, some say a 1 day fast, some do other things, I chose a 1 day fast because eating a couple hundred calories seems like a giant tease to me.

PLEASE note, I ONLY do this for 1 day, and I have very VERY solid science that has been backed up by studies and research. I'm not doing this on a whim.

I agree with SHBoss1673, that is a lot of lean muscle mass to gain in that time period. I had a lot of trouble gaining bulk despite eating a huge quantity of calories and training regually. However, even though I wasn't getting huge, I was ripped and very very strong for my weight. So, I was hitting strength goals but pure weight wasn't changing dramatically. I think a lot of this had to do with my genetics as I also had very low body fat until my late 20s.

SHBoss1673 can likely better comment on the relationship between building mass versus building strength.

It sounds like you have the perfect marathon running build already. Any particular reason why you want to get big? Why are you not starting your marathon training now?

I am going the opposite direction but I used to be on a college gymnastics team and was trying to go from155lbs to 170lbs back in the day. A lot of how easy it is going to be depends on your genetics.

One thing to keep in mind for your marathon training is that you will be much faster at 157lbs than 175lbs. I am actually loosing weight to speed up my triathlon times. You don't use your upper body to run, so any bulk you pack up there is just extra weight your legs have to carry. Just imagine strapping a 20lb weight to your chest and going for a run at your current weight.

I dropped 15 lbs and it made a huge difference in my run speeds.

Keep in mind Bodybuilding and marathon running have opposing objectives for your body. You can be good at one or the other but not both.

hey dave, well thanks to my genetics i am a born runner and also naturally skinny. did you ever make it to 170 back then? thanks for the tip, i will definitely be training legs for mass as well. i will try to bulk to 175 and then cut by eating healthier, running and lifting to hopefully 165, 170 before the marathon. and im thinking that i cant be great at either one but i can be mediocre at both lol. how often do you run?

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It's true, genetics do play a large roll in how much "bulk" you can put on. The amount of type 1 vs type 2 (a and b) muscle is pretty much set by your genes. You can grow one over the other depending on the type of training you do, to a point, but even with that said, some people have longer, leaner muscles than others, and are geared towards one type of exercise over another. It's the same type of reasoning why one person would be 5'8" and another would be 6'3" tall. The genes play a part.

that being the case, you can only do so much to your body. But within those constraints, it's a relatively simple formula. From 0 weight training (start of a brand new program) it takes about 6 weeks of heavy resistance to fully utilize all EXISTING muscle fiber bundles (I.E. activate the dormant muscle fibers) of a specific muscle (I.E. your bicep or pectoral muscle). Theoretically, it doesn't really matter which training regiment you use to get here (I.E. train to technical failure, or train to "near" failure, pyramid training...etc.) but once you fully utilize your existing muscle mass (you'll know because most people reach a strength plateau for a few weeks at this point), then the type of training becomes much more important. By that I mean, whether you want to bulk up, or lean down, or increase functional strength...etc.

for the first 6 weeks, you'll note size and definition improvements, but this isn't really muscle growth. Basically 2 things are happening (and remember, this is only for a new routine, not after a short layoff). First, your body will burn off any extra intramuscular fat in and around the muscle in question because it's quick to get at and your muscle will need that energy, this cuts up the muscle (a little, not really going to be very noticeable unless you were really fatty). Second (and this is the major one) your body needs glycogen at any active skeletal muscle site, when a muscle fiber bundle is dormant or partially dormant, the body won't keep it supplied with glycogen, but glycogen is bulky and heavy, this means that the muscle will "grow" in physical size, it's not really muscle that is growing, it's glycogen being deposited at the muscle site for quick energy release. The more muscle activated, the more glycogen stored. When your muscle fiber becomes 100% activated (or very close to it) then and only then will the body recognize the need to increase muscle mass to increase force output. That's where the plateau happens, and that's when new muscle mass starts building.

dunno if this is what you guys wanted to know, but there it is.

Lots of information in this topic! As for myself, I've done the "messy" bulk twice in my lifetime (from 110-140 lbs and from 150 lbs to 180 lbs). Both bulks took roughly 3-4 months (So about 10 lbs per month). Both times I added a LOT of fat along with muscle and generally felt badly about myself... both from a health and visual perspective. My pants stopped fitting, I found myself running out of breath, etc.

It took me nearly 6 months to drop from about 20% bodyfat to 10-11% where I am at now. This time I am cleaning up my bulk considerably... if that means adding 1 lb of lean mass per month then so be it!

that's about what most of us can expect. You can get up to 2 lbs or so if you work really hard, and are very strict with your diet. But unless you're working towards a competition, or have some other pressing reason to do that, why would you? It's no fun to be that strict. And the results, unfortunately, will go away rather quickly if you don't keep at it.