weight gainers?

[dandia89]

I'm just looking for some info on weight gainers. I've googled some stuff but I haven't really come to a consensus if it's really good or not for me. I've been working out for about 6 months and I've been trying my hardest to each as much as I can. The thing is I notice my strength increasing, but my body size isn't. I've been stuck at 145-150 since I started and I was wondering what you guys think on taking some weight gainers.

Currently, I'm trying to eat around 5-6 meals a day and I barely ever find myself hungry. I'm also taking 2 protein shakes during the day.

[TurboD]

I'm basically in the same boat as you.

150lbs for the last 4+ years

anyway, here is what I have tried:


1 massive 10lb (4.5kg) bucket of ISO GAINER

serving size: 3 scoops (179g)
26 total in tub.

calories = 691
calories from fat = 99
prot = 60g

I was taking 4 scoops per day along with 2 scoops of protein.

anyway, so I took that until I was done, i think it took me a month and a half.

Didn't raise my weight even 1lb of mass.


What did I do wrong?
As far as I can predict its because I simply don't eat enough food in a day. To gain weight I should be taking 4 scoops twice a day and 4-5 big meals.

In reality I only had 4 scoops once a day and 2-3 big meals a day.

-----------

Gaining weight with a body type like mine (and yours) is a big commitment and you really need to force down the food and spend a lot of money and be ready for your body to cash out the food as fast as your eating it.
My metabolism works so fast, that at one point I was having to finish the shake on the can cause my body was already trying to use eject the calories.



hopefully someone will post something a little more scientific or helpful, this is the best my 2c can do.

------------

If you still aren't gaining weight, try 4 scoops 3 times a day plus your regular meals.

I dunno?

I have similar metabolism to my parrot, he has probably 20 small meals through the day and probably 10 shits....
and doesn't gain a pound.

Sometimes you cannot help the fact that your body is extremely efficient in burning up calories and mucking excess food.

[wintonyk]

a little something to consider, 1 lb of muscle = 5000 calories.

I was in that same boat about 4 years ago. I sat at 6 ft tall and weighed 135 lbs. I couldn't do anything to gain weight. Then I changed my routine at the gym and eating habits. In about 8 months I grew to 165.

An example of a 4500 calorie day: (this takes into account estimated energy requirement of 3200 + surplus for muscle growth)

Meal 1 7 am
1 cup berries
2 cups rice milk (i'm lactose intolerant)
3 tbsp natural peanut butter
6 liquid egg whites (pasteurized of course)
1/2 cup of organic rolled oats or buckwheat
1 tbsp olive or canola oil

Snack 9 am
Apple + 1 oz raw almonds

Snack 11 am
2 ryvita crackers with 2 tbsp of almond or peanut butter

Lunch 1 pm
1 1/2 cup brown rice
6 oz chicken
2 cups of leafy greens
1 cup mixed vegetables (usually rainbow of peppers, carrots turnip mixed with the greens as a salad)
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 oz goat cheese
15 ml of Renee's Italian Dressing

Snack 2:30
1/2 cup brown rice

Snack 4:30
1 cup berries

Workout 5-6
Immediately following a glass of grape juice (simple sugars to replace muscle glycogen)

Dinner 6:30
1 1/2 cup brown rice or whole grain pasta
6 oz of lean protein
3 cups of veggies

Snack 8:30
Popcorn (no butter, i add chili powder for flavour)

Snack 10:30 (right before bed)
2 kiwi

Its a ton of food, but keep in mind if you don't bust your ass at the gym then you won't ever see results. You should feel that muscle fatigue/burn the following day or two after a workout (working in the 6-10 rep range).

As for the gainers, I have had shitty experience with em. I took a mass gainer when rickshawing last summer, my legs got massive and i had energy, but i developed asthma.

[blainer]

I'm not as knowledgeable as some of the other people that has posted however I'm an ectomorph as you and really enjoyed my chocolate Quickmass. A quick look on their website will give you all the info.
My own personal observations with taking this stuff during my bulking phase did get me a fair bit of mass. I was surprised in that I still kept lean as in no beer belly effects. Hope that helps

[gqmw]

I don't remember what kind my buddy took but it all went to his stomach...and now hes just flabby as hell haha.

[se7en]

wintonyk is right. You really need to eat a lot.

eat until it hurts sometimes...and if you are skinny, eat some junk too...burgers may build fat...but also decrease metabolism.

I used to be in the same boat...albeit not that bad...but I started at 175-180lbs at 6' I got up to as big as 245-250...but it got hard on the feet and lower back to be hauling my large ass around all day at the shop...

I am back down to 225-230 and happy.

The key is TONS of food....always be eating. In the beginning, eat anything you want...and lots of it. I hope you make a fair bit of money, because you are going to need it.

Oh, and one more thing....shrugs, dead lifts, and squats man. it really spurs muscle growth. I know they look like gay exercises but they work.

Try it for a couple weeks, and you'll see.

[dandia89]

that's the thing, I got layed off from my job this september so moneys been pretty tight. I appreciate all the replies, but I don't wanna risk getting a gut in it all, so I think i'll stick with just eating tons.

Oh and I definitely try to do everything in gym including squats,deadlifts and shrugs since day 1. i might take some time off heavy squats because i have insanely weak knees and last workout i did my max for squats and it killed

[lint]

1. read through this thread: http://forums.beyond.ca/st/271195/re...-meal-planner/
2. If your knees hurt squatting, you're doing them wrong
3. Deadlifts and squats look like gay exercises? WTF?

[dandia89]

I've gotten plenty of experienced people to watch my form during squats and I've been reading up on it tons and I can't see where I'm going wrong. The only way It won't hurt is if I dont go parallel which imo isn't worth it anyways.

[wintonyk]

Perfect Squat Technique

That is a good link on squatting. In the past for clients that get pain when doing squats I have noticed it has to do with the tracking of their knees. Either bowing out or pushing in. The knee should follow a fixed plane (up and down) without straying either in or out. The only other thing I can think of for the pain is tight IT band. That pain will usually be on the outside just below knee cap. That is usually a result of high stress put on by lots of running. For that go to a massage therapist and get your legs stripped. Or roll out it band on the foam roller.

[se7en]

Originally posted by lint
1. read through this thread: http://forums.beyond.ca/st/271195/re...-meal-planner/
2. If your knees hurt squatting, you're doing them wrong
3. Deadlifts and squats look like gay exercises? WTF?

I tell ya what...I'll spot you next time you do a squat, and lets see the looks on peoples faces who don't know anything about squats

[j.garner]

One thing that helped me to gain some weight was a shake i would make 1.5 cups milk 2scoops protien powder and 1 cup oats the oats really helped with weight gain.

[TimH]

www.bigguts.com Those are the experts on weight gain, just stay away from the gay content.

[lint]

Originally posted by se7en
I tell ya what...I'll spot you next time you do a squat, and lets see the looks on peoples faces who don't know anything about squats

Spotting the exercise and the exercise are different things. Straddling a guy's head to spot the bench is also gay.

[se7en]

yup..and not really the best way to do it...can get distracting to have a nut on the face while trying to do a heavy lift

[dandia89]

Originally posted by wintonyk
Perfect Squat Technique

That is a good link on squatting. In the past for clients that get pain when doing squats I have noticed it has to do with the tracking of their knees. Either bowing out or pushing in. The knee should follow a fixed plane (up and down) without straying either in or out. The only other thing I can think of for the pain is tight IT band. That pain will usually be on the outside just below knee cap. That is usually a result of high stress put on by lots of running. For that go to a massage therapist and get your legs stripped. Or roll out it band on the foam roller.

that's the pain i'm experiencing. before i even started working out I had this pain. I even got perscribed orthopedics just so it would help, but it hasnt been better. i explained this to my doctor and he said this is mostly a imbalance of the quads over the hamstrings.

[Troy]

I am an extreme ecto myself but I went from 145-170 in 6-7 months. I basically eat chicken,fish,red meat atleast 4-5 times a day with a 800ml glass of 2% milk with each meal along with a 1000 calorie protein shake in the morning and at night. I do a program called Madcow's 5x5 should google it and try that program out worked wonders for me.

[dandia89]

is 2% most beneficial during bulking? right now im taking skim milk and i prefer it rather than 2%. I can switch easily if it'll help in gains

[scboss]

i was in the same boat as you for a long ass time, my strength was going up but not my weight. This is what i did without getting fat
iso flex protien once per day w/2% (this protien is low calories but in one scoop it has 35 grams of protien)
Eat lots of yogurt
Eat lots of cottage cheese
Drink lots of water
Eat lots of natural protiens( not so much shakes)
Never let yourself be hungry EVER! this is key because if your hungry your body isnt healing
Dont skip on cardio either thinking u wont put on mass, just do low impact so your blood gets a good pump and nutrients are delivered
Try to do this as healthy as you can or it can backfire, some of my buddies did what these guys are saying and they got fat as shit when they stopped working out for only a month. Taking those heavy gainers can really mess up your metabolism if your not careful. I always eat and drink my shake within 15 min of my workouts and ive made some good gains. Im 6'2 and started at 163 now im a whooping 200 as of last week Im still lean and skinny to just solid cant wait til i hit 220


Btw dont take supplements in the end its better to just eat healthy because the main reason you Should work out is your health!

[wintonyk]

Originally posted by dandia89


that's the pain i'm experiencing. before i even started working out I had this pain. I even got perscribed orthopedics just so it would help, but it hasnt been better. i explained this to my doctor and he said this is mostly a imbalance of the quads over the hamstrings.

As I suggested, try the massage route (if you can afford) otherwise foam roller. That will help break that scar tissue.

As for the imbalance incorporate front, back and hack squats into your leg routine along with stuff like box jumps and no weight deep squats. Those should help you. Physio is the best to help. Doctors just say this is your problem takes some pain killers at least in my experience.