I am truly determined to gain weight

[punch]

All my life I have been a skinny guy, my freshman year in highschool I was about 5-6 (105-110), my sophmore/junior year I spurted up to 6'0-6'1 and now I am 6'2 going into my senior year, the problem is, I am 130-135 pounds.

I am a pretty athletic guy, I play a multitude of sports, but tennis and basketball remain my favorites. I feel the thing that is holding me back is my strength, compared to other guys I am weaker, and I feel weaker against them, especially in basketball, compared to others I know im more athletic than most of them, but strength is another thing. In tennis, sure I can crack groundies and serves, but my stamina is different, as a match goes on I feel considerably weaker and have to dig very deep to keep producing shots.

In the past I have tried to gain weight multiple times, whether it was weight training, eating more or using protein powders, however when I do this stuff for a couple weeks with no results, I feel defeated and give up. I remember at a physical a year or two ago, and I will quote my doctor "you have a superhuman metabolism" (in a joking matter, but my metabolism rate is very fast) which I know contributes to the problem.

I guess I just wanted to share this, and if anyone knows any ways that I can gain some lean muscle, their tactics for gaining weight etc. run it by me.
I know there are other topics on gaining weight, but I felt I would let you know my specific situation.

Sorry for the long post, but thanks for reading and thoughts and ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Midlife crisis]

Get back in the gym, do an overall body conditioning/weightlifting routine, use protein powders and stuff only as a supplement and make sure your diet is otherwise nutritional and balanced, and most importantly, don't give up. Without the use of anabolic type drugs, you can at most hope to gain 10 pounds a YEAR in muscle mass, especially since you are the body type that you are. Eating more will put fat on you, which won't help, and eating more protein than you need means you will just excrete it, which is literally flushing money down the toilet.

 

[SydneyJim]

you sound like me, i was 6'1 140 going into Rice, now i'm 6'1 about 160 but i look about 170+/-5

 

[ramseszerg]

u need weight gainers, not just protein powder.

 

[Mr.Federer]

Hit the gym and the crank up the weights! And remember, steroids are bad!

 

[hifi heretic]

Over the years I've known quite a few people like yourself who want desparately to gain weight. The problem, quite often, is that many of these people - in their zeal to add pounds of muscle - do way too much. They lift weights too many days a week, they do too many sets per body part, and they end up over-trainining which leads to stalled progress, and - in some cases - outright regression. A symptom is constantly feeling run-down, tired, etc..

I'd recommend that you lift weights no more than 3-4 days/ week, and that each workout not last more than 30-45 minutes! Furthermore, I'd limit the larger muscle groups (Legs, Chest, Back, Shoulders, etc.) to no more than 5-6 total sets. Here's a quick workout with a 2 days on, 2 days off pattern:

Day 1: Chest, Back, Shoulders
Day 2: Legs, Arms
Day 3: OFF (No weightlifting!)
Day 4: OFF (No weightlifting!)

..And repeat. Remember, the OFF days are as important as the days you lift.

As for the specific excercises,.. I'd only recommend that you do the heavier ones first (ex., squats before extensions, bench-presses before flies, etc..) AND that you continue to do a certain excercise for no longer than a few months! By constantly changing, you avoid the body acclimating to whatever it is you've been doing. The body builds muscle as a way to adapt to a new workload. ..If you regularly present it with new exercises, it will continue to develop and you'll avoid progress stalling. Example: For a few months do flat bench-presses (No more than 3 sets of 6-8, not including warmup!), then for a few months do incline benches instead.

Be sure to include Squats and - if you have excellent instruction - dead-lifts. I wouldn't expend too much energy on building big biceps or triceps. Contrary to popular belief, these muscles grow more as a result of other "multiple muscle group" excercises (like squats, bench-presses, deadlifts, etc..) than they do from direct excercises.

Be sure to eat many smallish meals per day with care given to including a variety of fruits and vegetables. Don't go nuts on ice-cream and other fatty foods as they'll do little to add quality weight and instead will leave you feeling lousy.

Lastly, take care NOT to seek too much advice from the "muscle-heads" that you may find at the gym. Many of these guys have mesomorph body types (i.e., have naturally thick/ muscular builds) that seem to grow no matter what these guys do. They often do far more than necessary and if someone who is less blessed genetically were to duplicate their regimens, they would immediately be over-training. ..If you're naturally skinny, you need to give your body PLENTY of time b/w workouts to let your body re-build.

Anyway, this is all just one man's opinion, I'm sure you'll read others..

 

[ramseszerg]

excellent advice hh..

 

[Rickson]

All my life I have been a skinny guy, my freshman year in highschool I was about 5-6 (105-110), my sophmore/junior year I spurted up to 6'0-6'1 and now I am 6'2 going into my senior year, the problem is, I am 130-135 pounds.

I am a pretty athletic guy, I play a multitude of sports, but tennis and basketball remain my favorites. I feel the thing that is holding me back is my strength, compared to other guys I am weaker, and I feel weaker against them, especially in basketball, compared to others I know im more athletic than most of them, but strength is another thing. In tennis, sure I can crack groundies and serves, but my stamina is different, as a match goes on I feel considerably weaker and have to dig very deep to keep producing shots.

In the past I have tried to gain weight multiple times, whether it was weight training, eating more or using protein powders, however when I do this stuff for a couple weeks with no results, I feel defeated and give up. I remember at a physical a year or two ago, and I will quote my doctor "you have a superhuman metabolism" (in a joking matter, but my metabolism rate is very fast) which I know contributes to the problem.

I guess I just wanted to share this, and if anyone knows any ways that I can gain some lean muscle, their tactics for gaining weight etc. run it by me.
I know there are other topics on gaining weight, but I felt I would let you know my specific situation.

Sorry for the long post, but thanks for reading and thoughts and ideas would be greatly appreciated.

The grass always looks greener on the other side, but you've got it made. Forget about intentional weight gain and focus on strength gain instead. I used to weigh 140 lbs. and could bench press 245 lbs. at the time. I was able to improve the bench to 345 lbs., but that was at a bodyweight of 190 lbs.. The weight gain didn't make me stronger, I just happened to get fat and I have no doubt that I would have reached the 315 lb. bench or higher at the same 140 lb. bw, but I just happened to do it while being a chunky guy. Gain strength, not weight because being light will help you jump high and run fast.

 

[hifi heretic]

Gain strength, not weight because being light will help you jump high and run fast.

While I'd agree one should not be overly preoccupied with weight gain, there is certainly a case to be made that a young man who is 6'2" and 130lbs. might do well - particularly in basketball - to gain 10-15lbs of quality weight. ..If punch has any hopes of playing college hoops, he will absolutely need to pack on a good deal more than this! Improving strength alone won't do it - he'll need more body mass. ..This obviously is less of an issue in tennis.

As for your remarks about your bench-pressing 315+ at 140lbs... I would not serve this up a reasonable goal for Punch (or even most people). Benching well over 2x body-weight requires a degree of pre-disposition that most people do not have. Indeed, he shouldn't obsess on poundages whatsoever, instead he should simply focus on making steady progress. If Punch adds 10-25lbs, and a commensurate increase in strength, he will markedly improve his B-ball competitiveness without necessarily hurting his agility on the tennis court.

 

[punch]

particularly in basketball - to gain 10-15lbs of quality weight.

yes exactly hifi, and there are many other things more weight/strength can come in handy for.

thanks for your tips everyone, i have some new ideas, just now need to put it into action.