GaryRuns Member

There are a lot of videos on YouTube showing you how to do caliper measurements. And you can pick up a set of calipers for probably less than $10US on Amazon. The accuracy can vary pretty significantly based on how many locations you measure at and how consistently/accurately you perform the measurements. And some of the…

Loose skin wouldn't cause a problem and would probably even make it easier to perform the measurements, as you're measuring the subcutaneous fat attached to that skin where you're folding it. But it is problematic to do measurements yourself like this for some of the locations required and does require some…

There are plenty of things in the human species that may be counter to survival of the species on an individual level. That's what evolution is all about. Nature causing variations and seeing which variations benefit survival. Sure, generally, most people are prone toward gaining weight because of our evolution. But, there…

It's not blatantly obvious ho to set your diary to public so most people have it private, the default. Mine is set to public so you can see it.

Are you gaining weight at 2800 cals/day? Then it's enough. If you're not gaining weight then it's not enough. I know that's not particularly helpful but you have to remember that all the calculators and formulas and websites and recommendations some individual may give are you are estimates of what your caloric intake…

I understand why someone would want to get on gear, but damn, if you can't even figure out your nutrition you really have no business loading up on drugs. If you're going to go that route, and you aren't interested in learning how to do it as safely and effectively as possible, I'd find a coach who does know how to do…

I could be wrong, but I think you're off by a decimal place. Let's say you're 180lbs. If your target is to gain at a rate of 0.05% per week that's 180x0.05%=180x0.0005=0.09. Maybe you could try and gain less than a tenth of a pound per week, but that's awfully slow. If your target was 200lbs that'd take you about 4 years…

At some point, if you're looking to increase lean mass, you need some type of objective measurement to know that you're progressively increasing the difficulty of your workout. I suppose if you're doing the same workout week to week, and are completely honest and self aware, you can just use RPE and not worry about reps,…

Read the hard gainer thread that @AnnPT77 linked to above. In summary the best approach is to consume items that are highly calorie dense and that you can digest quickly. Take in as much of your calories as a liquid as you can because liquids are easy to digest and, generally, you don't feel as satiated after consuming…

If you're new to lifting, or were when you started anyway, and weren't sub-10% body fat, you absolutely should have been able to gain muscle, calorie deficit or not. I'd make sure you're using a well designed, progressive, lifting program. Here's a good thread with lots of different programs…

What you want to do is commonly referred to as body recomp. There have been some great threads on how to accomplish that in this forum. I'd recommend searching MFP for the term "body recomp" and browsing the results.

I'm unaware of any scientific research that shows that your body cares where a calorie comes from and thus stores it differently. I find it hard to believe that would be the case. I'd definitely have to see some science showing that. The scientific consensus is that where your body preferentially stores fat is determined…

I have no idea how things with women's clothing work, but my covid shutdown time lead me to try my hand at tailoring. It really isn't that complicated, for men's clothing anyway. Some very attainable skills with a seam ripper and a sewing machine and the results are pretty amazing. Also, if you just don't have the time, or…

Do you typically have any problems with dairy? If not then I'd recommend a high quality, unflavored, whey isolate.

It's best to use an average over a longer period of time, like a week. Your day-to-day weight can vary significantly based on a lot of things unrelated to gaining/losing fat or muscle mass. For example, salt intake, which affects water retention, waste in your digestive tract, undigested food in your stomach, etc. My…

Nutrition is pretty straightforward for building muscle. Get about 0.7-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. For you that would mean aiming to get 130 grams of protein per day. It's probably best to spread that out over a few meals, but it's a minor detail. The important thing is to get enough. After that you…

There's a large thread for "hard gainers" like yourself with lots of foods you can eat to help: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1

Well, she's a female so if she were at 10% she'd be competing in some physique category and probably ravenously hungry 24/7, and not particularly healthy. Add about 8-10% to those numbers and I'll agree.

It seems like common sense that if you take it and it makes you sick stop taking it. There are people that have reported less severe symptoms when taking it, particularly gastric issues, so it's not completely uncommon, but it's certainly rare according to the research that's been done for decades.

No, no you shouldn't cycle creatine. There is no scientific evidence, that I'm aware of, that you accomplish anything by cycling creatine, as opposed to just taking the typical daily dose of 5g. The only somewhat related methodology is to take 10-20g a day for a week or two in order to saturate your body with creatine more…

Fats. Nuts, nut butters, cooking oils, avocados, fatty fish, etc. Saturated fats like those in beef, pork, and chicken also have a good amount of calories but may come with health risks if consumed in excess. Fats are way more calorie dense anyway. 9 calories per gram versus 4.

Plenty of research out there says that it's possible to gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously, IF you eat sufficient protein, don't diet too aggressively, aren't very low in bf% already, and use a well designed, progressive, lifting program consistently.

The only thing that matters for fat loss is being in a calorie deficit, everything else is just a strategy to maintain that, for example, foods or eating strategies that may help with satiety. Just monitor your average weight to insure you're in a calorie deficit and adjust calorie intake as necessary.

It definitely looks like you've gained some muscle mass. Good job! It's relatively easy when you first start resistance training to just pick up some weights and start doing things you see on youtube and make progress. That possibility rapidly decays as your body gets more and more accustomed to resistance training. That…

I do Pull-Push-Legs the first three days of the week, rest on Thursday, then do Upper-Lower for Friday Saturday, rest again on Sunday.

Most of the science-based folks I've listened to lately are starting to say that they think you absolutely can gain lean mass (aka muscle) while in a calorie deficit, especially if you're at 15%+ body fat (male), IF you follow the simple rules:* Eating at least 1.0 gram of protein, per pound of lean body mass, per day *…

The trick is finding out what specific food, or type of food, is causing your digestion issues, eliminating that and adding foods that don't cause you any problems. Here's a thread on calorie-dense foods for people who have trouble gaining weight:…

This is basically what people refer to as a recomp. It is possible, especially if you're not at a very low body fat percentage. @sardelsa was our resident expert for doing exactly what you want to do, but she hasn't been around these parts in quite some time :cry:. Anyway, as far as macros go, keep your protein up around…

I'm at 186 as of this morning. Up 18lbs from the bottom of my cut where I was approx. 8-9% bf. I probably need to start a cut. I'm getting "fluffy" and can no longer see my abs without flexing. BUT, I've been making steady gains on my lifts and that makes me reluctant to start a cut. And, as a lot of people who lift for…

To some degree, prior to the pandemic, I attempted to control my facial expressions when I lifted. When the pandemic hit and the gyms here eventually opened up with mask requirements that all went out the window. Why bother when nobody can see most of your face anyway? Now that masks are once again off I really have to be…