Hello all, I'm a 17 year old male about to be turning 18 in October. I haven't been able to gain any weight for the last couple of years. I've tried to put on muscle and it added a couple of pounds but I still hover around 120-125 no matter what I do. I eat breakfast and usually a big dinner that's all. I probably should be eating a third meal but I never get around to knowing what is actually considered a meal or a snack. I do feel hungry when dinner comes around and I eat quite a lot but it just seems to go right through me. I had a period 2 years ago where I was just eating fast food almost everyday and I still barely gained weight. I have a serious problem here because I would really hate to be stuck with this weight forever. I'm not sure if I still have some growing to do and maybe I'll just fill out more by luck of the draw or what. I'm kind of at a loss and it's a problem that has bothered me for a long time so I'm asking here. Hopefully to get some solid advice on what I should do or if something is wrong with me.

I'm 5"8-5"9 and I know I'm underweight. I've been slowly getting heavier as the years went because my bones were getting bigger or heavier I think. I've tried to build muscle and it helps a bit but I'm still in need of something more. I've gotten up to 127 a couple days ago by doing the usual work out I do and drinking whey protein with my breakfast and when I was working out. Somehow I lost that weight and now I'm back where I started and I didn't do anything different, so I'm confused. I know I'm like 20 pounds underweight. Which seems like an insane amount for me to try and get. I don't starve myself but I do tend to go to the bathroom within a couple hours of eating a big meal. I'll list some measurements and information to hopefully give you a general idea.

It's possible I measured incorrectly so take the numbers within an inch or two or maybe off completely.
Age:18 (in one month)
Sex: Male
Height: 5"8-5"9
Weight: 120 pounds roughly
Chest: 33.5 inches
Waist: 28 inches
Hips: 31 inches
Forearm: 10 inches
Wrist: 6 inches

I'm not sure if anymore measurements are needed. If so I'll take some more.


So basically, I've been building my upper body mostly and I've seen results but it doesn't mean much on a skinny frame like mine at this point. I started with 15 pound dumbbells because I wasn't really into weight lifting. After a month or so I'm at around 30 pound dumbbells. It's tough but I can do about 10 curls before I lose form.I just got these new dumbbells so its probably going to take me a while until I can do a lot more. A workout for me usually is this. I know its not an extreme workout because I don't go to the gym. At least not yet with my 12 inch biceps :S.

Monday- 100 situps, 50 pushups, 10 pull ups whenever I'm bored.
Tuesday- Rest
Wednesday- weight lifting and about 50 pull ups through out the day
Thursday- Rest
Friday-Resistance bands for about 30 minutes(I'm not sure the purpose of these but I feel like something is working with them)
Saturday- Rest
Sunday- 100 situps, 50 pushups, 10 pull ups (rinse repeat)

I know this isn't a great workout but its all I have access to right now. Push ups,Sit ups,Pull ups, dumbbell weights and some other stuff that probably wouldn't do much for me unless I was over weight.

Hopefully someone has some insight or has experienced this before. I would say I have a fast metabolism I think. Here is a picture of me. Not sure if I'm allowed to post this but I'm seriously in need of other peoples thoughts.

Thanks for reading :)

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7582/img2621v.th.jpg

Diet. It is ALL about your diet. To get bigger you have to eat bigger. High protein foods are what is needed. Fish, tuna, eggs, chicken, peanuts and such. You also don't want to eat a big meal, ever. Keep it to 5-7 medium meals a day, including snacks such as fruit. If you are hungry, snack on peanuts rather than chips or other fatty foods. I only really drink two things (besides alcohol, which I know you don't drink), and that is milk and water. Keep your drinking to a LOT of milk!

Push ups will NOT help you get bigger and they aren't made to get you bigger. If you want some answers I can help you but I am not sure if you post here anymore or not. Post back and I can give you a few helpful tips to gaining some muscle weight.

You will have to at least go to the gym or use your school gym. Everyone starts small so don't be concerned about being the small guy at the club. If you are doing your thing you will not even by concerned with what others look like or are doing.

Do weights every other day. Push ups and chin ups are for days off. No wonder you're not getting the result you're looking for.

I'd appreciate any help you can give.

Go to a gym and use free weights and machines. I used to be skinny. For people like me with fast metabolism, the only way to gain weight is to eat every 2 hours. Working out, not only does it make your muscles bigger but it makes you eat like a pig taken if you work out hard.

Here is my workout plan.

Monday - back, biceps, forearms
Tuesday - cycling
Wednesday - chest, triceps, shoulders,
Thursday - Jogging
Friday - Legs and abs
Saturday- Rest
Sunday - Rest.

But yah that worked well for me. Create your own work out plan but you need to get a gym membership!

Thanks none12345. There is a local gym nearby, I'm not sure how great it is but it looks like I'll need to join up.

Np dave. Yup check out the gym. It doesn't have to be extremely good. Usually a descent gym will have all sizes of dumb bells and a few machines would do. When you have money for those fancy gyms, than switch to those. You can pretty much work out everything with just dumbbells.

Here is what I suggest, and by no means am I trying to lessen what None told you... everyone has their own "workout" plan that works for them, so it is a trial and error thing figuring out what works best for you:

Forget the days thing. Just do it in rotations:
Day 1: Biceps
Day 2: Legs
Day 3: Chest and Triceps
Day 4: REST (I mean complete rest... don't so much as open a heavy door)
Day 5: Back
Day 6: REST (do some light walking or jogging)
Day 7: Shoulders and Traps

This is a rotation and it works best because when working out you have to do different things each week. If you work your same muscles the same day every week they will get used to it. The key is to trick your muscles into shock. You get bigger on your days of rest... i.e. you don't gain muscle while you are working out. So make sure you get rest to allow your muscles to grow. Keep the cardio light, as your goal is to gain weight. For awhile I wouldn't worry about cardio and just worry about packing on as much weight as possible.

Start light as you are a beginner. You will have to ensure yourself plenty sleep at night and keep yourself hydrated at all times. Water and milk, drink NOTHING else! The ideal workout should be around 45 minutes. Anything more is just wasted effort. It doesn't take an hour or two of lifting to get your muscles to the point of failure.

Thanks for help kctiger. I think I'm going to follow this workout plan if I can. I don't know what exercises need to be done for legs and traps/shoulders but I'm sure I can Google it or ask someone. I'm assuming what can be done using a weight would be?

As for starting light what exactly do you mean? Dumbbell wise or just weights in general. I started with 15 pound dumbbell sadly. Which with my current weight actually was pretty decent in the beginning but now I can do about 50 reps maybe more before I lose form so I guess that's bad. I do have a 30 pound dumbbell I just bought for home. I can do about 7-10 curls before I lose form or use my back for help. On dumbfly flys I can't use the 30 pounds just yet. I can do the 15 pounds and use the 30 pounds going up straight and down but not a full fly. Any idea on weight sizes?

Thanks for the help everyone. I really appreciate it.

Starting light: DO NOT overwork yourself. There is a huge misperception that working out constantly will get you bigger. You have to give your muscles time to grow and rest after working out. Thus, if you are still in major pain after a workout, take the day off.

Your traps are a major part of your shoulder area. It is key to work at least most of your upper body to get the full effect otherwise you can begin to look a bit unorthodox.

If you can do more than 12 reps, you got to go heavier.

Shoulders - shrugs, shoulder raises

Legs - leg extension, lunges, squats, leg curls, calves extensions, thigh abductors.

The ideal weight should be one that you can do 6-10 reps for getting bigger.

Remember to get big, you should always push yourself to heavier weights but just like KC said, start light until you're more familiar with working out.

There are a lot of great answers here, and I apologize if I had overlooked something.

I wouldn't suggest working out while gaining weight, usually the simplest and most accepted way for getting big is 'Bulking' then ' Cutting '. Though it can be done in other ways, I'm not entirely sure what a good plan would be for perusing those ways..

So if you have 10 - 12 months of free time I would suggest bulking first, then cutting with stronglifts 5x5 you can Google it.

Although ' Eating more ' sounds like a great way for gains, I would suggest Eating more but in two meals. This method activates the starvation process in your body and causes it to cling on to everything you give it, though make sure everything your giving it to cling to is good wholesome foods, and not just cakes and sugar...

The way to do it would be, skipping breakfast and maybe having a piece of toast or some light carbs for energy to tie you over until the afternoon. Once lunch comes.. Eat a nice heavy share, but remember to chew ;). After a nice lunch, try not to burn it all off by running 15 miles, maybe hang out and watch a movie ? Or perhaps read a book.. The second meal of the day should be a late dinner, eat well and serve up some second portions if you feel the need.. then sleep; sleeping is also an important part of this diet, it idles the system to a minimal caloric burn.

Make sure to include some good foods in your diet, 10 cheeseburgers does not qualify as basic nutrition :).

If you can, take flax seed or fish oil along with a multivitamin to ensure you're getting everything you need every day.


Sumo wrestlers actually use this method to bulk up months before competitions. And it's really one of the fastest ways to bulk

so, twice a day, heavy lunch, heavy dinner, sleep, remember to take your vitamins, and drink plenty of water.

I'm doing the P90X workout and taking ISO mass extreme gainer twice a day. Which is about 1200 calories and 140 grams of protein. Once in the morning after some whole wheat ceral and once after workout. On day 12 of 90 on P90X.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave605

I'm doing the P90X workout and taking ISO mass extreme gainer twice a day. Which is about 1200 calories and 140 grams of protein. Once in the morning after some whole wheat ceral and once after workout. On day 12 of 90 on P90X.

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Sounds pretty solid I guess? 140 grams of protein for your weight class is pretty decent; I always figured the rule of thumb was 0.8 grams per lb of body weight.

I would say keep doing what you're doing. Pound out the work outs, and down the Muscle mass shakes along with the daily protein intake; I can't imagine you not seeing results after 3 months.

Good luck bud.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kctiger

Diet. It is ALL about your diet. To get bigger you have to eat bigger. High protein foods are what is needed. Fish, tuna, eggs, chicken, peanuts and such. You also don't want to eat a big meal, ever. Keep it to 5-7 medium meals a day, including snacks such as fruit. If you are hungry, snack on peanuts rather than chips or other fatty foods. I only really drink two things (besides alcohol, which I know you don't drink), and that is milk and water. Keep your drinking to a LOT of milk!

Push ups will NOT help you get bigger and they aren't made to get you bigger. If you want some answers I can help you but I am not sure if you post here anymore or not. Post back and I can give you a few helpful tips to gaining some muscle weight.

You will have to at least go to the gym or use your school gym. Everyone starts off small so don't be concerned about being the small guy at the club. If you are doing your thing you will not even by concerned with what others look like or are doing.

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This ^

Although I am a girl, I am very small as well, I am only about 90 pounds.
What my doctor told me is that I have a very fast matablism, but as you get older it gets slower so in time I'll gain weight.

Maybe the same applys for you :].

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CrayonScribbles

Although I am a girl, I am very small as well, i am only about 90 pounds.
What my doctor told me is that I have a very fast matablism, but as you get older it gets slower so in time I'll gain weight.

Maybe the same applys for you :].

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Yup,

A faster metabolism causes you to digest food faster and convert it to energy quick. If you eat a lot of smaller meals you will speed your metabolism up.

If you are not gaining weight then you need to look at your diet. Your diet is the only thing that will get you to gain weight. PERIOD.

Look at getting weight-gainer protein shakes, eat lots of veggies, drink lots of water and work your butt off. There are no excuses. MM'kay, the day you start complaining and start acting is the day you start succeeding.

Hi.
I don't know if you have got this worked out. But, my son was in the same boat as you and I wouls suggest consulting a doctor about your thyroid. The thyroid controls your metabolism and what you are saying sounds a lot like hyperthyroidism.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mlv2011

Hi.
I don't know if you have got this worked out. But, my son was in the exact same boat as you and I wouls suggest consulting a doctor about your thyroid. The thyroid controls your metabolism and what you are saying sounds alot like hyperthyroidism.

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