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[3man75]

I'm joining the army(or least dead set to) and I need to more lounds on me before I can get a pass on my physicals.

Any quick gain weight ideas?

[nenjin]

Protein shakes, weight lifting (the muscle building kind.)

If you've got a high metabolism, good luck.

Why do you need to put on weight BEFORE going to the army though? Are you like, seriously underweight to the point you can't qualify? Because once you get in, 3 square meals and PT everyday is going to put the weight on you.

[Gervassen]

GOMAD.

A gallon of milk a day, in addition to your normal diet with exercise, will set you up as right as rain.

[3man75]

Yeagh Very high metabolism and I'm 109 pounds and every now again I hit 110 and need 111 at least. I'll see if I can get some weights I'm already doing protein shakes, push ups and crunches.

[Strife26]

You're not going to gain much weight with push ups and crunches. Best bet is going to be protein shakes and general weight lifting. Eat as heavily as possible. If worst comes to worst, you can always sew washers into your undergarments when you go to mepps. :p

[Gervassen]

Dips, now, I stand by those. As a bodyweight exercise, they're rather good.

But yeah, you optimally should be lifting weights.

[Tellemurius]

i gained crapton more weight by weightlifting since it just builds more mass than losing it. Also a steak and potato dinner everyday will get you straighten up.

[weenog]

I gained a lot of muscle weight in my legs by running (outright sprinting when possible) a quarter mile up a steep hill several times a night for a good long while.  Ate a couple of peanut butter or egg sandwiches on whole wheat bread after each set of runs, for protein.  Rested a couple of days a week for time to heal and rebuild.

I was 280 lb when I started and 350 when I stopped, and I didn't gain any waistline from it, my legs just got very powerful.  You don't weigh enough to break down your muscles that hard running like that, but if you load up a sturdy backpack or something similar with as much weight as you can bear, you should see some results.

When you stop feeling like you're going to die after each run, add more weight.

[nenjin]

I had a pretty high metabolism in high school, and I did 3 semesters of weight training without putting on an appreciable amount of muscle where I wanted it. (I was about 140 to 145 all through high school, even through those classes were I worked hard.) So it's not easy by any means. A few things like smoking didn't help, but I think it's mostly because I didn't stay committed to doing sets for muscle building and didn't do a weight gain regime.

Pushups and crunches are going to burn fat and ton your existing muscles before they build new muscle. I'm guessing at 110, you're probably down in the 3% to 5% body fat level. So you don't have much more to lose. That's not actually a good thing, below 3% body fat is dangerous. So you want to avoid sets with a lot of reps, because all that is going to do is get you in shape and drop what little fat you have left.

So yeah, stick with free weights, isolated (as in not whole body), anaerobic (not designed to get your heart rate up) exercises. Google the various exercises you can do with free weights for muscle building. If you've got a gym, squats will get you big for sure, in the thighs and calves. Dips are good too. Do stuff that works the shoulders, I'm told that's where skinny guys can really make up the difference. Don't worry about forearms and biceps. Do the exercises but don't expect fast results, or any results really, those take a long time to develop in my experience if you're as skinny as you sound. Bench press is nice and all, and pecs can really develop quickly if you work at them...but they're not really adding a lot of weight. 

You're going to want to go hard, pretty much your maximum weight for as many reps as you can maintain. Load up on calories. Rather than straight junk food, try to go for high calorie things like whole milk, breads, pastas, meats, nuts, any source of protein you can get. Eat until you're full, like, to the brim. Then go as hard as you can at the gym, and top it off with a protein bar. If you're going to hit it really, really hard, go 6 days a week and make sure you give your body 1 to 2 days between exercises. (Like, upper body monday, wednesday, friday. Lower body Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.) Give your body at least 1 full day of rest, or you can risk hurting yourself.

[3man75]

Are free weights like dumbells anf other lifting?
An what are dips?

An to whomever said that tie said thing they also make you take off your clothes including Your boxers...weird

Oh an thanks btw are bananas and apple protein?

[Vector]

No, they're carbs.  Fruit -> fructose -> sugar.

Eat stuff like meat, eggs, beans and brown rice together, milk, or peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat bread.

[alway]

I know just the "doctor" for you. Woman Gets Cement Injections In Butt: Oneal Ron Morris Charged With Practicing Medicine Without License
Or just find a fat person and ask them what diet they're on.

Seriously though, if you're trying to build it through muscle mass, yeah, protein is what you want for muscles, and I think carbs are typically good for the quick energy you need before exercise. I think the general rule here though comes down to quantity. You may end up building up body fat too, but from the sounds of things, that could be a good thing. So in general, just eat more. Additionally, from what I've heard from wrestlers over the years, you can temporarily shed a couple pounds by becoming dehydrated. So make sure you're fully hydrated when you need to be heavier.

[weenog]

As I understand it, 1 day isn't enough, the ideal time to rest after you've broken down your muscles enough to be effective is 48 hours.

You don't want to inflict a major injury, but you do want to hurt yourself, somewhat.  "No pain, no gain" isn't just a catch phrase; if it isn't hurting, it isn't working.  The way strength training works is you overwork your muscles, until micro-tears (tiny injuries) occur throughout the muscle tissue you're exercising.  Then you wait for your body to heal itself, and it reinforces the areas that failed to be stronger than they were before, hopefully ensuring that they won't fail again.  Then, you start over with breaking them down.

Protein and rest are absolutely critical, you can't skip either of them.  Protein is the raw material your muscles are made out of, without enough of it your body can't even heal the damage you're doing, let alone reinforce.  Getting enough rest is important for two reasons: One, your body rebuilding itself requires energy, which you might not have enough of if you're blowing it all on doing stuff; two, your muscles are in a weakened state after you break them down, and you don't want your deliberate tiny injuries to compound into one accidental very big one.  I've torn a major muscle completely before, and take my word for it, it is not fun, and recovery is no small feat.

Or just find a fat person and ask them what diet they're on.

I'm on the Eat Anything That Doesn't Eat Me First diet, plus a few supplements, mainly iron to manage a chronic anaemia problem.  Beginning this diet is very easy.  Go two weeks subsisting on nothing but water and Rolaids, then when you have access to food again, eat like you don't know where your next meal is coming from.  Make it a regular habit, as if there is a constant gnawing fear at the back of your mind that another period of starvation may come without warning at any time.

Building muscle when you eat like that is a simple affair.  As you gain weight from overeating, refuse to be one of those stereotypical fat people that sits around useless all day until their limbs atrophy, they can't move themselves, and they require a power scooter to get around.  Go on about your business as normal, and if you butt up against a physical challenge, don't quit until you overcome it.  You will be strength training frequently as a mindless, automatic thing, using your own body weight for resistance.

If you don't gain enough mass that way, then you can start using body building tactics.

[Knight of Fools]

As everyone else has been saying, the only way to gain weight is to eat more. Your change in weight is a simple formula: Calories Eaten minus Calories Burned = Weight Lost/Gained. Whole grains, dairy products, and starches tend to have the highest concentration of both calories and protein, so they're a good bet for most of your meals. Just don't neglect your fruits and veggies.

So if you're not eating more than you were before, you're not going to gain a cent. It's tough on skinny guys, because we have to force food down stomachs that are used to having a smaller amount of food in them. Besides fidgeting, which burns up to 400 calories a day, untrained stomachs are half the reason we're still skinny. You can try eating more often throughout the day, but if you can't remember to eat the snacks you carry around you're going to have to stretch your stomach.


As for building actual muscle, higher weights build mass and higher repetitions build tone. Normally you want to do both, but since you're going to have to gain so much weight you can work on toning yourself later. Load up your weights and work heavily on your upper body, especially your shoulders and arms. That's where you'll see the largest difference.

If your legs are skinny too, do sprints, squats, and work your calves. That'll add a few pounds, just remember that you'll have to eat even more calories if you're working both your upper and lower body. Until your stomach is better trained, you can try alternating upper and lower body workouts. Lower body stuff won't do you much good weight-wise if your legs are well filled, though.

That doesn't mean your cardiovascular system is something you want to ignore before going to Basic, especially if you're throwing on a couple dozen pounds beforehand. Run a few miles at least four times a week, and even better if you've got a dirt trail or hilly area to do it on. It may not help you gain much weight, but you can buy some weight straps you can put on your torso, arms, and legs to turn it into a multi-purpose workout. Endurance is important in Basic, but you'll really have to dig in to your Wheaties in order to keep your caloric intake high enough for weight gain. You may want to start running only after you've trained your gut a bit.

The best way to balance cardio and muscle gain is to exercise two times a day, giving yourself time to recover and take in a few more calories before starting on the next workout. Of course, you could also lift weights two times a day, or just run two times a day, but that's getting outside of the basics.


Also, fair warning: If you're still underweight when you get into Basic it's not a huge deal, but they will make you eat double rations until your body weight is up to par. It's bad enough that you have to eat yourself sick, but you're also the skinny guy that all the fat dudes hate with a passion because they're stuck with smaller portions. If you don't train your stomach now, they will train it for you.


One final bit of advice: Go Air Force. Seriously.

Eat Anything That Doesn't Eat Me First

This diet has the best acronym ever. EATDEM First!

[quinnr]

I've been doing the same thing for similar reasons, but less as of late then earlier in the year. The thing that seemed to help most was actually taking the time to count calories and actually pay attention to what you are eating. I thought I was eating a lot but it turned out after actually keeping logs of everything I ate I actually wasn't eating quite as much as I could have been.  The other advice in this thread also seems to be pretty solid.