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Healthy weight gaining techniques
Varinn
Vancouver, BCRegistered User regular
Vancouver, BCRegistered User regular
Forewarning, im typing from a phone as i have no other easy means of internet right now.
Anyways, I've been dealing with this for a long time so i figure its long overdue I start putting serious considerations into my health. I'm 24, male, 6'3" tall and weigh in at a consistent 165lbs and I mean consistent! I've been the exact same weight for nearly 3 years, within 5 lbs. i'd like to start gaining some mass in a healthy manner but I understand a few things need to happen.
Firstly I am not very active. My hobbies have included cars and computers for years, only recently have I started rock climbing regularly and I no longer own a conputer. I have a major hate-on for gym's, so any activity suggestions should keep this in mind. I'm considering taking up jogging or bicycling in the mornings before work along with climbing to help strengthen my cardio and gain some extra endurance for on the rocks.
My diet is horrendous, but despite the amount of food I eat daily I do not gain extra weight because o my rediculously fast metabolism. On average I have a LARGE bowl of cereal in the mornings, a regular fast food meal for lunch and again some form of fast food for dinner (usually order 2 meals for myself). When out with friends for food I tend to order 2 meals per sitting though I only ever get water. I do however average one energy drink per day, a habit I'm finding hard to break.
I've tried those mass gainers in the past while attempting to convince myself lifting weights was a good solution to the problem im having. it never worked out and I promptly stopped going to the gym as I just didnt enjoy the environment or results.
What can I do to try and put on 20-30lbs healthily and keep my metabolism and general health in check, as well as my bank account?
Anyways, I've been dealing with this for a long time so i figure its long overdue I start putting serious considerations into my health. I'm 24, male, 6'3" tall and weigh in at a consistent 165lbs and I mean consistent! I've been the exact same weight for nearly 3 years, within 5 lbs. i'd like to start gaining some mass in a healthy manner but I understand a few things need to happen.
Firstly I am not very active. My hobbies have included cars and computers for years, only recently have I started rock climbing regularly and I no longer own a conputer. I have a major hate-on for gym's, so any activity suggestions should keep this in mind. I'm considering taking up jogging or bicycling in the mornings before work along with climbing to help strengthen my cardio and gain some extra endurance for on the rocks.
My diet is horrendous, but despite the amount of food I eat daily I do not gain extra weight because o my rediculously fast metabolism. On average I have a LARGE bowl of cereal in the mornings, a regular fast food meal for lunch and again some form of fast food for dinner (usually order 2 meals for myself). When out with friends for food I tend to order 2 meals per sitting though I only ever get water. I do however average one energy drink per day, a habit I'm finding hard to break.
I've tried those mass gainers in the past while attempting to convince myself lifting weights was a good solution to the problem im having. it never worked out and I promptly stopped going to the gym as I just didnt enjoy the environment or results.
What can I do to try and put on 20-30lbs healthily and keep my metabolism and general health in check, as well as my bank account?
Varinn on
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I doubt a drastic and immediate overhaul of my habits is realistic as most people tend to burn out when attempting to do the couch to marathoner in a week method. I will however gladly start taking the steps, with a little guidance.
Gaining 20-30 lbs without gaining muscle is, well, hard and probably not healthy. Rock climbing and activities such as those won't really help you gain weight but maintain or lose weight. Well, 20-30lbs is a lot to want to gain regardless. You may be at a healthy weight already, nevermind what the one-size-fits-all BMI index states. Is your goal not to look like a twig? Or to have some sort of mathematical ratio between your body portions?
Secondly, 20-30 pounds is goddamn insane in terms of climbing, and the impact on your climbing ability. Putting on maybe ten? Fifteen at a stretch? Would be doable and you'd see gains. I mean I'm taller than you and ideally, my climbing weight should be around 180 or so.
Even in terms climbing specific exercises I'm not sure if anything in particular would help you, if you want to build up the standard, I climb, look at me ladies, work on your campussing and overhanging routes. But you'll miss out on the leg and core strength you'll get from slab/crack climbing.
It sounds to me you have a body shape that is already good for the sport, go look at the bouldering championships on YouTube. Half of them have your frame.
If you are that desperate to gain weight look a protein supplements and resolve your energy drinks with lattes.
Satans..... hints.....
The first question is, are you healthy. If the answer is no, THEN what's your BMI? If it's outside the norms, your weight MAY be a factor. If you're climbing I'd say you're probably healthy enough. Also, there's the consistency of your weight. Unless you look like Christian Bale in The Machinist, you're probably fine.
I'm 5'7". I went into boot camp at 136 lbs and came out at 118. I was in the best fucking shape of my life.
Are you planning on competing in bodybuilding competitions? No? Then you don't need supplements. Vitamins are just an expensive way to change the color of your piss. What you do need is a balanced diet. Eat less fast food. It's not going to make you bulk up, but change your eating habits now or you'll regret it later.
Now if you're still set on bulking up, there's only one way to do it: lifting heavy weights. It will hurt. It should hurt. It had better hurt or you're not pushing your body hard enough. You just have to keep going, even when it hurts. On the other hand, you don't want muscle strain. You should feel sore after a workout and it should "burn" during. Sharp pain or loss of strength is bad. Also, pain should be in the muscles, not the joints. If you have joint pain, you shouldn't be doing that exercise. Build up the supporting muscles by doing compound exercises rather than isolating ones.
Hope this helps.
Also, it takes seriously hard work and dedication to get jacked by lifting weights, so you shouldn't worry that by lifting weights you'll accidentally become some super buff beef bro. There's a reason so many lifters turn to steroids to get ultrabuff-- you'd have to make working out your full-time job to get HHH big.
If you seriously want to healthily gain weight you should talk to your doctor about the recommended caloric intake for a person your size/age. If they're not comfortable with that, have them recommend you to a dietician. The figure you get (I imagine it'd be in the range of 2000 to 2500, but it's different for everybody) would be the amount you should eat to maintain your weight. Exceeding this value should be your key to gaining weight. I'm not a dietician, and it's been awhile since my last weight gain diet, but I think I remember trying to balance my dietary intake at something like 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat.
Finally to actually make use of the "extra" nutrition you're going to need to regularly do anaerobic exercise. I'd suggest taking 3 equally spaced days in the week to do lifting, then in the off days doing cardio, then have one break day. Off the top of my head, this seems like it would limit the amount of energy being stored as fat while generally reducing the amount of body fat which would allow most excess weight to come in the form of increased muscle mass.
I dont care about having that "im a hardcore climber" appearance and I'm just getting started with it still, my intentions are to look and feel healthy and have fun being outdoors. I've heard it a thousand times before from everyone who puts on weight much easier than me that they're excited for the day my metabolism drops and I end up becoming fat. I would rather they not have the satisfaction of being right.
General consensus seems to be:
Eat lots, eat healthy
Aim for a small weight gain if any
Do active things
This.
You can absolutely be healthy at your height and weight.
That's the idea.
My experience on weight gain is coming from weightlifting, but the diet part should still be relevant. As a dude who used to be 120lbs 5'10" and is now 170, here's what I did:
1. Lots of milk. I replaced about half the water I'd normally drink with milk, going through about 1/3 - 1/2 gallon a day. I'm sure even skim would work (I do 2%).
2. 1 Protein shake a day (this kinda goes with the lots of milk thing). After working out, I typically chug a protein shake, then a few minutes to an hour later eat my meal like normal. On days I don't work out, I chug a protein shake before I go to sleep. I usually do 1-2 cups milk, 1-2 scoops protein powder, 1-2 tablespoons peanut butter, and a little chocolate syrup. It's mostly healthy fats, lowish sugar, high protein, and 350-700 calories.
3. Keep some snacks around all the time. On my desk right now are 2 kinds of cereal, wheat thins, peanuts, and granola bars.
I kept my meals roughly the same as before trying to gain weight (maybe a little bigger). Those 3 things alone were enough get a caloric excess, and I gained anywhere from 1-2 lbs a week while following it. Even if you only switch out 2 glasses of water with milk and drink a protein shake every day, that's around 800 extra calories a day, which will get you over a pound gained per week.
So it's pretty easy, you just need to be a little smart with where you're getting your calories.
Shoot for 5 to 8 servings of vegetables and fruit per day. Have fish or chicken more often than beef or pork.
You really want to gain weight "healthily?" That. Means. Lifting. Weights. What the hell are you expecting some goddam magic beans or something? FYI, Cardio will DECREASE your weight. I assume you know this but considering your OP I can't be too sure. Seriously why hasn't somebody told the OP his expectations don't make sense?
Wrong. It's not "massive" effort, it's small but consistent effort and simple changes to habits. When I was around 16-17, I was 6' and like 140. I ate a TON of food but I couldn't gain weight 'cause my body just burned it off too easily. I felt like a little bitch because I was so skinny, so you know what I did? I started going to the gym 4-5 times a week and was eating around 200g+ of protein (whey protein powder is the key - dirt cheap for the amount of protein it has) every day. In 3 months or so I was like 165, and everyone I knew literally thought I was on steroids. I was also running cross country so that was pure muscle. It's like math: muscles worked + protein eaten = muscle added.
Get over your hate of gyms, then look at Youtube videos showing you how to do a proper exercise routine. There's an abundance of fitness info on these forums.
Unless you want to grow man-boobs this is basically your only option for gaining weight dude, but I can guarantee if you eat a shitload of protein (upwards of twice your body weight) and lift weights then you WILL gain mass.
I'll agree that the BMI concept is absolute bullshit. It's actually more healthy to weigh less and eat less. But if this is a body image thing, which I'm guessing it is, then you have to ask yourself if you really want to change, or if just want to pretend. Cuz you'll have to go to the gym and eat tons of protein.