Multi-sport Athlete:How can I keep gaining lbs?

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Do not count exercise calories "burned". That is, and always will be, inaccurate bs marketed to people buying treadmills. Every person is different - the only way to determine how efficiently your body burns calories is with a V02 test. I wish MFP would get rid of that feature because it's horribly generalized and makes no sense. Those who subtract "burned calories" will 100% mess up everything and wind up over or under eating, sometimes by as much as 300-400 calories.

Activity factors are the way to go unless you feel like doing all that heart rate burn level crap, which is irrelevant since you want to gain weight anyway. Calculate your BMR, either with the Mifflin St. Jeor, or if you have a good measurement of BF (from calipers not from a scale) then use the Katch-McArdle. Google these and you will find calculators online. This will give you an accurate baseline of which you can multiply by an activity factor (in your case, it would be high) and find your TDEE. Eat above that, and boom, you'll gain weight.

I've done every test imaginable, V02 max, heart rate burn and burst levels, meaured HRV, etc. and let me tell you that the numbers were less than 100 calories off from the calculations I listed above. It's a waste of time and money, and honestly if you give a crap about your heart rate levels while working out you should worry more about getting your head out of your *kitten* and go do something harder.

Pizza and fast food. No kidding. I thought I couldn't gain weight till I started eating these along with my regular meals.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

drink a gallon of milk a day

Springfield1970 wrote: »

I tracked everything I ate meticulously, and exercise burns that I got from my heart rate monitor, I plotted everything on a graph, I worked out my maintenance with no exercise, and I cut, and my weight loss went EXACTLY to plan. The Garmin estimates were near perfect to my evidence.

I use these burn calculations to cut and bulk with extremely accurate results. The swimming, walking, running and cycling is spot on. Weight training is still a mystery to me but I'm treating it a circuit training and it works out about the same as swimming per hour.

DO take the time to calculate.

On the other hand, during a bulk, it's best to not muddy the waters with lots of numbers, cut the cardio right down, stop interfering with muscle repair and keep things simple.

I'd always advise to plot everything on a graph and average the weight and tape measurements out once a week from the seven readings.

When you get to my age, there's no room for just shooting in the dark.

I'm sure you did - but that just doesn't sound like ANY fun at all. Who wants a data entry job as a hobby? If you're looking for an IFBB pro card, then maybe it's worth it, but I'd rather just focus on training and hitting my macros instead! Sell your heart rate monitor and garmin and get yourself involved with a local weightlifting club, crossfit box, or strength and conditioning facility equipped with qualified coaches. I can guarantee you that you'll see better results, and give yourself a heightened sense of purpose, too!

isaiahcool wrote: »

Springfield1970 wrote: »

I tracked everything I ate meticulously, and exercise burns that I got from my heart rate monitor, I plotted everything on a graph, I worked out my maintenance with no exercise, and I cut, and my weight loss went EXACTLY to plan. The Garmin estimates were near perfect to my evidence.

I use these burn calculations to cut and bulk with extremely accurate results. The swimming, walking, running and cycling is spot on. Weight training is still a mystery to me but I'm treating it a circuit training and it works out about the same as swimming per hour.

DO take the time to calculate.

On the other hand, during a bulk, it's best to not muddy the waters with lots of numbers, cut the cardio right down, stop interfering with muscle repair and keep things simple.

I'd always advise to plot everything on a graph and average the weight and tape measurements out once a week from the seven readings.

When you get to my age, there's no room for just shooting in the dark.

I'm sure you did - but that just doesn't sound like ANY fun at all. Who wants a data entry job as a hobby? If you're looking for an IFBB pro card, then maybe it's worth it, but I'd rather just focus on training and hitting my macros instead! Sell your heart rate monitor and garmin and get yourself involved with a local weightlifting club, crossfit box, or strength and conditioning facility equipped with qualified coaches. I can guarantee you that you'll see better results, and give yourself a heightened sense of purpose, too!

Hey it only takes 5-10 minutes a day now to calculate my numbers and I really enjoy it. It's the engineer in me, I just like to do things properly. I also plot out my triathlon training programme for the year, and train in 6 different heart rate zones, it's called periodization, and it's just a given that you'd do that if you were half serious about your training. If I want to join my training buddies on the British Team next year to represent my country then a bit of planning and research is necessary.

The great thing about all my hard work and experience is I get to impart useful and tried and tested advice to others. I've been weight lifting for about 20 years now, and have tailored my lifting to the specific sports I perform. Joining another gym or crossfit box (there it is LOL) is unnecessary. Funny suggestion! My results are correlated to my training and planning, and I quite often find myself giving advice TO coaches nowadays.