Ok, my MAX daily calories intake is 6000, on a normal day its 4500.

I try and make it to the Gym often as I can, and I eat alot at NIGHT, despite that im a 140lbs, 5'11" twig, I was thinking about some muscle builders at GNC....

Hydrocicut, Creatine, (which i hear just make your mucles retain water, which with a backgound in biology won't do anything).

What do you all suggest Weight Gainers?

Mcdonalds? No seriously make sure you research the facts on any enhancers that you take. A high protein diet is a great place to start, lots of natural healthy foods and lots of water can help. There is a lot to say for keeping it natural. :)

I have been working out for about 12 years now. I would suggest this :

Level 1 : Multi vitamins
Level 2 : Protein drinks, Power bars, etc.
Level 3 : Creatine, Amino Acids
Level 4 : Betagen (HMB & Creatine)
Level 5 : Nitrous Oxide

I personally use Betagen. It is a little easier to use (don't have to use those monstrous scoops like some of the creatine & protein stuff), & doesn't make the drink taste terrible. Tried Hydroxycut & Xenadrine didn't do too much for me. Nitrous Oxide did work, but made me pretty aggressive, decided it was a bit too much. Good luck.

Love your articles in RX Tuner.

I don't know if this is a healthy or acceptable way...but when I was a freshman in high school I was put in the advance power weight training class with all the senior varisty football players because of a scheduling conflict. I was a stick, and I needed to gain some weight to continue building muscle. Every other night an hour or two before bed I'd make a big milkshake with whole milk and regular ice cream (not low fat). I seemed to put on some weight rather quickly. It helped a lot when building muscle. I stopped after a a couple years when I was hired as beach patrol. The daily conditioning was all it took:-)

I've been keeping it natural for 18years and its gotten me to 140lbs and 5'11' nothing wrong with some vitamins.

The only "health" problem I have is high colesterol, at 265, but that's genetic, dad's had 3 bypasses.

Level 3, and Level 4 sound like a good way to do it quick.

So this is how you plan to bag the dimes :p
sadly, it works :D

Right now, this is how I am doing it.

I eat 7 meals a day. I don't gorge myself, it is inline with my daily calorie needs. This apparently stabalizes your bodies insulin and maximizes the amount of fat your body burns for energy. Some of these "meals" are protien shakes or bars. Basically every two to three hours I consume something, it's heavenly. I try to eat about 1.5g of protien for every lb of my body weight, so about 275 grams / day

I guess my diet is about 50% protien, 35% carbs, 15% fat (good fat)

As for suppliments, I take a multivitamen, L-glutamin and whey protien. I have often thought about creatin, but am not convinced yet. Although, I have a freind who took it for a couple cycles and he is a lot bigger than I am now.

Oh yeah, I have put on 16 pounds in the last 16 weeks. I think that is pretty good.

Does this thread have anything to do with this?
I get laid plenty, its just never to girls that look nearly as good as that

BTW, I think creatine basically helps you recover from a workout, easing the soreness. If that's true, it's not so much a muscle builder, it more of something that helps you work out more often -- which of course, builds muscle.

your metabolism must be insane to take in that many calories. I'm taking in 1800-2200 daily and gaining weight when going to the gym 4-6 days a week. i guess i need to stop lifting and do more cardio..

I have recently discovered that boxing is the ultimate cardio workout. It's a good workout and entertaining

I have recently discovered that boxing is the ultimate cardio workout. It's a good workout and entertaining
i'm thinking about starting kickboxing myself.. i get so bored just running or doing ellipticals.. it's hard to do more than half an hour and even with the difficulty cranked.. half an hour is only like 400-500 cals..

Polak, if you can wait a lil more time, wait until you are 20. From your pictures, I think you are kinda like me a late bloomer. I was really skinny at that age too, but then I'm asian anyway. My metabolism is really fast. I eat like I'm suppose to be 50 lbs heavier, but I only retain 160 lbs max. If I start lowering my calorie intake in just 2 weeks, I start losing weight. That's not good for me. Because of my schedule last sem, with school, work, and rx8club, I came down to 140 lbs by December. Good thing christmas was at a corner. I was 110 lbs at 5'9 when I was 18. Now, 5'11 at 160 lbs.

I say work out naturally and then work your way up. Those supplements are only good if you are educated enough about them. Take your time to research those supplements. What I took when I was 6 months on my workout was take Creatine Monohydrate supplements. It's good to ease the pain after relaxation. It's suppose to help retain moisture in your muscles so you don't develop fatigue easily or crystalize too hard that healing would take so long. Well, that's what I learned. I'm not a professional in the field.

Also, take a weight training class. I wish I took my class before I started out. Now my deltoids have tear up my skin leaving keloid lines that looks like someone scratched me real bad.

Do a normal training first, about 30% - 50% of the maximum weight a particular muscle can handle. And then move on to Strength training, at least 85% of max weight but 6 reps 2 sets only, 2 - 5 mins rest per set. After you've bulked up, you may try getting into Hypertrophy, 65% - 85% of max weight, 12 reps 2 sets, 2 mins rest per set.

oh, and lots of Protein in your diet! You need building blocks for your new found muscles :D

hypertrophy is what i do most of the time..
i do 2 sets of 12 with 85% and 2 sets of 10 with 90%.. it works very well.. my arms are getting especially huge and it's unbelievable how much you can increase the weight week to week..

Betagen is great but it's damn expensive too. HMB is the real deal and by combining it with creatine you'll see some amazing results. I played baseball in college and learned how to bulk up quick...creatine (Phosphagen HP by EAS) worked great but take time off in between buckets or your body will down-regulate its potency. A bucket every 3 months worked well for me. I've never had any luck with protein...just really bad gas. :( I think eating a lot of chicken, steak, fish, tuna and chile is the best way to go personally. Also 2 things...avoid cardiovascular workouts while taking creatine and DON'T go pee during your workouts. Good luck. Also you may wanna check out this website...

http://the-personal-trainer.com/MessageBoard/index.php

First of all drop the hydroxycut. Second, make sure you're getting in enough rest time. Most people your age don't give themselves enough rest time, and so have trouble putting on muscle or gaining strength.

As far as trying to fit in more calories, stop drinking water, start drinking milk. I was in the same boat my senior year of college. Between practice and powerlifting I was spending a good four hours in the gym a day. The only way I could keep from losing weight was to make giant peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and wash them down with lot of milk.

If you're interested in bodybuilding check out sites like www.testosterone.net (watch out for the roid talk and biotest ads) and the best all around site, in my opinion is www.drsquat.com a message board run by the legendary Fred Hatfield and with posts from guys like Rickey Dale Crain, etc.

Not any truth to the late bloomer thing, polish people and eastern europeans usually have very little hair, you'll notice alot of polish people have "baby faces".
Quite "well developed" elseware.... ANYWAY

Ok so to make sure I'm following, my choices are:
Betagen and Creatine
HMB and Creatine
Phosphagen HP by EAS and Creatine

between these what do others have to say?

You are doomed to be skinny! This is not completely a bad thing you know. I think it would be best to focus on tone and less on total weight. You are going to drive yourself nuts trying to put on weight, have a hard time keeping it once it is there, and overdo it on the way there.

This is of course my brains way of thinking as I am by no means an expert.

I weighed 155 in high school, am 6'. I now weigh 165 and about to be 30. I do tend to burn a lot of energy though. I am training for a marathon right now which involes 20+ miles a week of running and then some cross training.

My diet is pretty basic but I get the added bonus of pretty much eating what I want when I want and if I want.

Ok so to make sure I'm following, my choices are:
Betagen and Creatine
HMB and Creatine
Phosphagen HP by EAS and Creatine

between these what do others have to say?

No, I think you are getting confused about a few things. Betagen is creatine. Betagen is EAS' (a nutritional company) product name for the chemicals HMB & Creatine together. Luckily it has come down in price quite a bit. A few years ago it was about $100 for a 90 scoop supply (about 45 days), now it is about $60, even less online for the same amount. Take it with about 16-20 oz. of Gatorade (of the flavor you get...I usually buy orange or fruit punch) & it tastes like...pretty much Gatorade. EAS also has a product of only creatine, called Phosphagen (Elite). That is their product name for their creatine product. The scoops of that stuff is like 10X the size of the Betagen & does not taste good. But it works & is about 1/2 price of Betagen. When I take Betagen I notice that i am able to do more sets, get less fatigued during workouts. I haven't really been sore in about 6 years. You get to a point where it just is subconcious that you go workout.

I went from 5'9", 140 lbs. soph. year in college, benching about 90 lbs. to at my heaviest & lifting hardest about 215 lbs., maxing 405 lbs. Started to run into shoulder & elbow problems when going heavy (and getting old). Now I am about 190-195 lbs., still repping 275 lbs. but no longer lifting for single rep (max). I would recommend doing a heavy day on a body part 7 the next time you come back around going light & lots of reps. for a good overall look. If you are looking to pack on max size then ditch the light day. try to hit the same muscle group about twice a week. Good Luck.

Ok so to make sure I'm following, my choices are:
Betagen and Creatine
HMB and Creatine
Phosphagen HP by EAS and Creatine

between these what do others have to say?
Betagen = EAS's name for their creatine/HMB mix
Phosphagen = EAS's name for their creatine

Sometimes mother nature is cruel. I had a helluva time gaining weight in my late teens and early twenties. I graduated from HS at 6'2" and 160lbs. After my sophomore year of college I was 6'3" 195lbs. Early in my junior year the weight muscle started piling on for a couple differen reason...genetics, supplements, swicthed up my weight routine every 3 or 4 weeks. So after my senior year I was 6'3" 228lbs with 13% body fat. When I would go to the beach or anywhere without a shirt on I would get all sorts of looks.

But now, after 4 years at a desk job I'm still 6'3" (big surprise) but now I'm pushing 235lbs. I gauran-fugging-tee my body fat is at least 20%-25% too. So, as you see, mother nature is cruel. Be carefull what you wish for. :)

The problem I had (30 yrs ago) was too much cardio/aerobic work kept me lean.
When I backed off on the aerobic training (1 hr 3 x a week) and increased weight training (alternate days), I gained bulk.
It works for my body but, you should understand, what works for one person may not work for another.
Good Luck and stay off the juice...

A web site that may (or may not) be useful is T-Nation (http://www.t-nation.com)

Lots of great articles on nutrition and workout programs. I used this site (in it's previous life as Testosterone Magazine - t-mag.com) I gained about 25lbs of muscle over 2 years. I haven't been to the site for a while so I can't comment on it's current quality, but a quick check shows that there are a few writers that are still around that I respected.

Gaining weight is 80% nutrition. Supplements can be useful (creatine and a good multi-vitamin go far).

Good luck!

Lenny

Polak,

A good place to ask around is also bodybuilding.com it has a lot of very good info..

Unfortunately, I dont have a hyper metabolisim like some of you :P but if you want to build, N02 helps as does creatine, however, neither will do very much without the proper nutrition. Keep the protien intake high and get to the gym.

Bodybuilding.com's Message boards have enormus amounts of info, take the time to search through it all, their cyberstore also has some good prices (better than you can get at GNC).

I have been working out for about 12 years now. I would suggest this :

Level 1 : Multi vitamins
Level 2 : Protein drinks, Power bars, etc.
Level 3 : Creatine, Amino Acids
Level 4 : Betagen (HMB & Creatine)
Level 5 : Nitrous Oxide

I personally use Betagen. It is a little easier to use (don't have to use those monstrous scoops like some of the creatine & protein stuff), & doesn't make the drink taste terrible. Tried Hydroxycut & Xenadrine didn't do too much for me. Nitrous Oxide did work, but made me pretty aggressive, decided it was a bit too much. Good luck.

Love your articles in RX Tuner.

The lvl scale is pretty good. Make sure you dont' take creatine longer then 6 weeks, your body naturally makes it and you can screw up your internals if you use it longer. body thinks you don't need it so it will stop producing it. Also personally creatine makes my stomach feel sick and it never goes away throughout the cycle for me :/ but it does help with rebuilding and stamina.

Hydroxycut, don't use that either. I recall a few years ago there was two versions, canadian which had no ephedrine and then the american one which had ephedrine in it. Ephedrine is like speed, makes you trip out, didn't like that..

Only thing that ever worked for me for gaining size is low reps, max weight (you absolutley need a spot who WILL push you until you can't push anymore). Also eat properly, i never did for the longest time. But when I did I saw noticable results within 1 month(eat a lot of meat, natural protein) .

Oh ya, be consistent. That's the most difficult part if your busy, but remember. It can be a real pain in the ass getting there but once your there, you'll thank yourself later.


MrJynx

For quickly building muscle size and strength, take plain old Creatine powder. I've taken quite a few different natural supplements and the only where I could tell there was an obvious difference was with Creatine. Without getting into the mechanics, Creatine basically stores more energy in the muscle allowing a more intense and longer workout. IMO when taken properly it works amazingly well and it's pretty inexpensive ($10 - $20 for a month supply).

I noticed when I went to max out by adding weight to get down to 4 reps that I could continue adding weight and doing another 4 reps and so on. You will feel as strong as a bull. It takes about a week and a few workouts during the loading phase to notice a difference.

There are a ton of creatine "mega" variants out there. Most are extremely expensive and the one's I've tried haven't made a noticable difference. N02 is an example. Again, the most impotrant thing is to take it properly and consistently and it will work.

I usually use MRM brand but I've used GNC's house brand Creatine and it seems to work fine.

My .02.

There are worse things than being thin, believe me. :)

I'd stay away from all of the pseudo-pharmaceutical stuff. Eat healthy, normal food. If you train sufficiently you will become strong. You may not be heavily muscled but your strength-to-weight ratio will be great. As time goes on you will pick up more muscle. Men reach their maximum strength in their 40's. So, just give it time. Don't be in a hurry to gain weight, it happens on its own soon enough!

Juice!!!

swimming till you pass out works well i've found. I had no upper body strength in early high school, by the time i reached sophomore year o college i was really strong up top and pretty well toned. Breast stroke and butterfly will do wonders on your chest and shoulders i think.

^^^ yeah read this for some great ideas



http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0060746408.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Ok, my MAX daily calories intake is 6000, on a normal day its 4500.

I try and make it to the Gym often as I can, and I eat alot at NIGHT, despite that im a 140lbs, 5'11" twig, I was thinking about some muscle builders at GNC....

Hydrocicut, Creatine, (which i hear just make your mucles retain water, which with a backgound in biology won't do anything).

What do you all suggest Weight Gainers?


I am in the same boat. I am 5'10 and 125lbs... I eat all the time. Its hard to gain.

I've been keeping it natural for 18years and its gotten me to 140lbs and 5'11' nothing wrong with some vitamins.

The only "health" problem I have is high colesterol, at 265, but that's genetic, dad's had 3 bypasses.

Level 3, and Level 4 sound like a good way to do it quick.


If that's the case talk to your doctor about what to do....don't take chances.

I gained ~30 pounds last year following this guys advice
http://www.musclegaintips.com/

Oh btw, I didn't pay him any money. I just followed his general advice, and knew a few guys to help me learn how to lift weights properly (remember, proper form is better than more weight).

So, yeah, just follow that guys advice. Lift heavy weights. Eat a lot. Sleep a lot.

One more thing...
"What all-natural food has proven to increase your testosterone levels, AND improve your overall general health "
It's flax-seed oil.

Just a thought PoLak .....How about posting a Shirtless Pic for a Before Pic and then you can post more in 3 months here and we can see your results.

You want to get Ripped or just bulk up ..... remember if you bulk up and later in life decide to slow down or stop .... guess what happens to the Bulk ......

If I was you I would go for Lean Ripped Look

I don't know if this guy is close to you (I know he is in Jersey), but he trains a lot of the HS, college, & pro athletes. Seems to have a good workout routine & knows what he is doing. Might be good to get a few training sessions in.

http://www.defrancostraining.com/contact/contact.htm

There were periods where I had taken Creatine for months, no big deal. Depends on how hard you take your workouts. some people hit it hard for a month, then take a week off to rest. Try to hit the major body parts that you want to improve about twice a week.

Anyone remember the SNL skit with Emilio Estevez, Jay Mohr, David Spade, Adam Sandler and Chris Farley? "HOW MUCH YA BENCH!?"


Caller: "Steriod user number 2. How come your legs are so small?"
Farley: "Because generally I don't like kicking my victims into a coma. I like to hear their BONES break UNDER my FISTS!"

First of all, Muscles turning into fats is a myth. If you bulk up and in the future slow down, you lose muscle mass because it is no longer necessary to keep them that big. At the same time, you may have kept your eating habits the same way while living a sedentary life... that's what makes people fatten up.

eat six evenly spaced meals a day, for every pound you way, take at least a gram of protein (this will help you put on weight), work out till muscle fatigue, and don't just do arms. do LEGS also. i hate seeing people who do nothing but arms and never their legs so they look like Johnny Bravo.

if all else fails, eat Tuna, lots and lots of tuna or get some university's varsity football workout and do it. good luck. :D

Haha, I call them the bravos after Johnny bravo!!
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Meadows/4945/bravowavs/jbstand.jpg
He cracks me up.

Haha, I call them the bravos after Johnny bravo!!
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Meadows/4945/bravowavs/jbstand.jpg
He cracks me up.


Johnny Bravo is the coolest!!! :)

So, PoLaK, any results after 18 months? Did you pick a plan and stick with it?

I achieved my goal of running a full marathon (albeit ever so ugly or pitiful, I finished) and decided I wanted to get back into regular lifting.

I just read The New Rules of Lifting by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove and I'm structuring a new program for myself. Anyone else starting new programs now or soon (just in time for new-year's resolutions)?

Jesus this was a while ago, in short I had moderate gains over the summer, however it all went to hell when I started my freshman year of college... in New Orleans no less.

Pledge season kept me in shape for spring semester but lack of sleep prevented weight gain.

Wasn't till this fall that I attempted to get serious over it again, and with good results over the course of 2.5 months I’ve completed two lifting cycles, hypertrophy and then strength, and with the help of a N02 generator as well as Creatine, ester not monohydrate, i've gain 10lbs of muscle mass. Eating 6 or 7 meals a day has certainly helped as well.

Eat balanced meals and more of it if your still hungry. You don't need all the other stuff. Read any unbiased nutrition book and it will tell you the same thing. I'm 33 yrs old, 5'5" and weight 135. I ran 2 miles in 12:53 last month and can bench 225 four times. All natural.

Wasn't till this fall that I attempted to get serious over it again, and with good results over the course of 2.5 months I’ve completed two lifting cycles, hypertrophy and then strength, and with the help of a N02 generator as well as Creatine, ester not monohydrate, i've gain 10lbs of muscle mass. Eating 6 or 7 meals a day has certainly helped as well.Yeah, a while ago, but so long as any users search then threads never die - they just lie dormant. ;)

I've supplemented with MuscleTech products - mostly NitroTech ready-mix protein shakes. Got pretty good results the last couple of cycles, but lost some of it taking time off to train for the marathon (plus some time off all training completely). Anyway, time to rummage around, clean out my left-overs from last winter and consider new stuff. Hopefully some of the stuff is cheaper now. :hahano:

I went through this as a teenager, trying to gain weight and it was almost impossible no matter how much I ate or worked out. I finally just came to terms with being thin and realized I looked good the way I was. Now that I'm 32 and still have a 32" waist while eating whatever I want, my friends do all kinds of crazy shit and still manage to gain weight. It's a blessing, you just haven't realized it yet.

man, i hate thinking about exercise this much. i just do whatever feels good. granted, its probably a very inefficient way of <insert your goal here>, but i figure whatever I do (within reason) at the gym can't really be hurting (please do not reply with all the possible ways of hurting yourself at the gym). I lift whats heavy, run for as long as I can, stare at whats pretty, climb steps until I fall off, and generally use whatever machine I feel like. The only thing I avoid is working out the same muscle group two days in a row.

I'm the opposite of a Bravo, I have strong legs and puny arms/chest. Call me Ovarb

PoLaK, maybe you joined the wrong frat. At my alma mater we had one frat that had manditory lifting hours, instead of the standard study hours.

PoLaK, maybe you joined the wrong frat. At my alma mater we had one frat that had manditory lifting hours, instead of the standard study hours.Keg shell toss and catch, is a good work out, however draining the keg prior too is counter productive to weight gain (at least muscular), and as i said before you can't do much with lack of sleep.