Being 17 years old, 6'1 and weighing in at an unhealthy 135lbs, I can't say I'm happy with my physical build. Whenever I see my clearly visible collarbone, it reminds me that I'm underweight. Whenever I see the outline of all my false ribs, it reminds me that I'm underweight. Whenever I see my own heart beating against my chest, it reminds me that I'm underweight. TipIt...I am underweight. In fact, I've been underweight ever since my preteen years- I've always had trouble gaining weight, and envied my friends who had normal looking arms and legs. I've weighed between 130-138 ever since my freshman year, and here I stand today in my senior year not even 5lbs heavier.

 

But this is the year where that's all going to change. Prom is one of, if not the most, the biggest events of a senior's year. Who will be taking who? What will they wear? While my peers are pondering, I will secretly be developing my body in to a lean, mean, muscle machine (or however close I can get to that status in time for prom). My goal is to gain 25lbs of muscle mass in time for prom, which will (hopefully) help me obtain my main objective, which is to ask the my friend to prom.

 

I've created a workout plan that I will be doing on the days where I don't have my weight training class, and taking breaks on the weekends. This is what my program looks like:

 

-Dumbbell Curls (20lbs in each hand)

-Military Press (20lbs in each hand)

-Dumbbell Hammer Curls (20lbs in each hand)

-Triceps Dumbbell Extensions (20lbs using both hands)

-Dumbbell Wrist Curls (20lbs in each hand)

-Standing Raises (30lbs in each hand)

-Sumo Deadlift (30lbs using both hands)

-Lunges (30lbs in each hand)

-Dumbbell Sqauts (30lbs in each hand)

-Back-Step Lunges (30lbs in each hand)

-Gluteus Maximus Kickbacks

-Reverse Crunches

-Bicycles (abs)

-Dumbbell Rows

 

I'm limited to two 20lbs and 30lbs dumbbells, so I'll have to manage with those until I have enough money to buy more suitable weights for each exercise (particularly squats and lunges).

 

It takes me approximately 50mins-1hr to go through an entire set of each exercise, and I plan on doing two sets one the days I do them.

 

Although if I work out alone my goal will never be achieved, which is where you come in Tip.It! I'm going on a high-calorie diet, so I'll need to consume a variety of food each day in order to obtain that. Problem is I have trouble managing what I eat and when, with me it's basically orange juice for breakfast, a potato chip or a few fries that I mooch from my friends at lunch, and whatever my dinner is. I have little time in the morning (about an hour) to get ready for school, so I'm going to try and go to bed and wake up earlier to create more time for myself. I'm definitely going to start packing my own lunch, and I'm going to eat whatever my parents feed me.

 

So what I need is suggestions and tips as to what would be a nutritional breakfast and lunch to keep me energized throughout the day, and that packs a good amount of calories.

 

At the end of each week (every Sunday night) I'll update this post on how much weight I've gained and my results from my workout routine.

 

Thanks for all your help everyone! Wish me the best!

 

Week 1 Results

 

[hide]Previous Weight: 135lbs

Current Weight: 137lbs

Weight Gained: 2lbs

 

Workout Results

 

November 29, 20009

 

Dumbbell Curls

-Weight: 20lbs (each hand)

-Repetitions: 15

-Sets: 2

 

Military Press

-Weight: 20lbs (each hand)

-Repetitions: 15

-Sets: 2

 

Dumbbell Hammer Curls

-Weight: 20lbs (each hand)

-Repetitions: 15

-Sets: 2

 

Triceps Dumbbell Extensions

-Weight: 20lbs

-Repetitions: 15

-Sets: 2

 

Dumbbell Wrist Curls

-Weight: 20lbs (for each hand)

-Repetitions: 25

-Sets: 2

 

Standing Raises

-Weight: 60lbs

-Repetitions: 30

-Sets: 2

 

Sumo Deadlift

-Weight: 30lbs

-Repetitions: 15

-Sets: 2

 

Lunges

-Weight: 60lbs

-Repetitions: 20

-Sets: 2

 

Dumbbell Sqauts

-Weight: 60lbs

-Repetitions: 20

-Sets: 2

 

Back-Step Lunges

-Weight: 60lbs

-Repetitions: 20

-Sets: 2

 

Gluteus Maximus Kickbacks

-Weight: N/A

-Repetitions: 20

-Sets: 2

 

Reverse Crunches

-Weight: N/A

-Repetitions: 20

-Sets: 2

 

Bicycles

-Weight: N/A

-Repetitions: 30

-Sets: 2

 

Dumbbell Rows

-Weight: 20lbs (each hand)

-Repetitions: 15

-Sets: 2

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

December 1, 2009

Dumbbell Curls

-Weight: 20lbs (each hand)

-Repetitions: 15

-Sets: 1

 

Military Press

-Weight: 20lbs (each hand)

-Repetitions: 15

-Sets: 1

 

Dumbbell Hammer Curls

-Weight: 20lbs (each hand)

-Repetitions: 15

-Sets: 1

 

Triceps Dumbbell Extensions

-Weight: 20lbs

-Repetitions: 15

-Sets: 1

 

Dumbbell Wrist Curls

-Weight: 20lbs (for each hand)

-Repetitions: 25

-Sets: 1

 

Standing Raises

-Weight: 60lbs

-Repetitions: 35

-Sets: 1

 

Sumo Deadlift

-Weight: 30lbs

-Repetitions: 20

-Sets: 1

 

Lunges

-Weight: 60lbs

-Repetitions: 20

-Sets: 1

 

Dumbbell Sqauts

-Weight: 60lbs

-Repetitions: 25

-Sets: 1

 

Back-Step Lunges

-Weight: 60lbs

-Repetitions: 30

-Sets: 1

 

Gluteus Maximus Kickbacks

-Weight: N/A

-Repetitions: 30

-Sets: 1

 

Reverse Crunches

-Weight: N/A

-Repetitions: 30

-Sets: 1

 

Bicycles

-Weight: N/A

-Repetitions: 50

-Sets: 1

 

Dumbbell Rows

-Weight: 20lbs (each hand)

-Repetitions: 20

-Sets: 1

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

December 4, 2009

Dumbbell Curls

-Weight: 20lbs (each hand)

-Repetitions: 15

-Sets: 1

 

Military Press

-Weight: 20lbs (each hand)

-Repetitions: 15

-Sets: 1

 

Dumbbell Hammer Curls

-Weight: 20lbs (each hand)

-Repetitions: 20

-Sets: 1

 

Triceps Dumbbell Extensions

-Weight: 30lbs

-Repetitions: 15

-Sets: 1

 

Dumbbell Wrist Curls

-Weight: 20lbs (for each hand)

-Repetitions: 25

-Sets: 1

 

Standing Raises

-Weight: 60lbs

-Repetitions: 40

-Sets: 1

 

Sumo Deadlift

-Weight: 30lbs

-Repetitions: 20

-Sets: 1

 

Lunges

-Weight: 60lbs

-Repetitions: 30

-Sets: 1

 

Dumbbell Sqauts

-Weight: 60lbs

-Repetitions: 30

-Sets: 1

 

Back-Step Lunges

-Weight: 60lbs

-Repetitions: 30

-Sets: 1

 

Gluteus Maximus Kickbacks

-Weight: N/A

-Repetitions: 30

-Sets: 1

 

Reverse Crunches

-Weight: N/A

-Repetitions: 30

-Sets: 1

 

Bicycles

-Weight: N/A

-Repetitions: 50

-Sets: 1

 

Dumbbell Rows

-Weight: 20lbs (each hand)

-Repetitions: 20

-Sets: 1

[/hide]

 

Weight: 137/160

wait, it takes you an hour to do a set of each exercise? and you plan on doing two sets? i'm missing something here...

wait, it takes you an hour to do a set of each exercise? and you plan on doing two sets? i'm missing something here...

 

 

I meant that when I do one set of each exercise it takes a total time of 50min-1hr.

well for breakfast you could try making a bunch of hardboiled eggs on the weekends and then eat those in the morning and for lunch the standard peanutbutter and jelly sandwich should help out along with some fruit/veggies or maybe a nutrition bar.

 

I dont know alot about nutrition but i have heard that peanut butter is supposed to be good for gaining weight in a healthy manner. also the eggs would be a good sorce of protine and since you precook them they would take little time to eat in the morning. Also if you can get access to an indoor swiming pool then swimming laps for like an hour once or twice a week would be good and if you wanted to step it up wear a t-shirt while u swim (i know the t-shirt sounds rediculious but trust me the drag from it works you so much freaking harder than normal swimming.) also if you know what frog crunches are those work your abs the best.

 

hope this helps =)

You'll probably want to drink some protein shakes. Buy a few different supplements and try them before buying a big barrel though, there's just way too much in those things.

Forget about protein shakes or whatever, just eat protein in your diet, and plenty of it, 40:40:20 (protein carb fat)

 

And for the love of god make sure you rest inbetween sessions

Forget about protein shakes or whatever, just eat protein in your diet, and plenty of it, 40:40:20 (protein carb fat)

 

And for the love of god make sure you rest inbetween sessions

This. If you want mass, you have to eat. Dairy foods and red meat are high in protien - my personal favorites for protien are lots of cheese, eggs, and milk.

 

In terms of exercises - try to find something heavier to do squats with. I don't work out as much anymore, but when I used to squatting large amounts of weight always killed my legs, but made me really hungry as well.

 

I was squatting not quite 200lbs, weighing about 170 at the time.

Firstly, having a goal to work towards is a fantastic thing and can be very motivating, but I feel obliged to say that you shouldn't worry too much about how other people view your body image. If, after how many months you have only gained 20lbs instead of 25 don't think that this makes you any less of a man. As long as you train as hard as you can you should be proud of however you look. You're tall and lean, which are good physical qualities, and unless you're going to your prom topless visible ribs/collarbones aren't a problem.

 

Your routine isn't bad for someone who I suspect is new to this kind of thing and given the equipment you have is probably the best you can manage. However if there's any possibility of you being able to squat with a proper bar and weights I'd take it. Simply put there is no single exercise that is a better promoter of weight gain than the deep barbell squat. It doesn't matter that it's mainly a leg exercise, lifting creates hormonal responses that promote mass gain throughout the body and the squat is particularly effective at this. If you can get access to this kind of equipment go for it and do a 5x5 program with squats/deadlifts/bench as the backbone with auxilliary exercises like the ones you're going to do now and again. This is most effective for weight gain.

 

In terms of diet, eat like it's your job. I think the figures are something like you need a daily caloric excess of 500 calories to gain 1lb of lean muscle mass per week if you're working out. You'll probably want to have a higher excess than this though to be on the safe side. Here's where I'll probably differ from a lot of advice you read...don't worry too much about what you're eating. In general, 'clean' foods like wholegrain pastas, brown bread, lean meats are better for you but when you're eating to gain a lot of weight quickly it's hard to stick to that. You have a similar bodytype to a lot of teenagers in that you can probably eat a lot and not gain weight. So you need to eat even more and this requires calorie dense foods as well as clean foods. I'm not saying you're diet should be 3 big macs a day, but you're not bodybuilding you're just trying to bulk so eating these kinds of food will not hurt this goal.

 

Anyway, enough rambling, some specifics. If you're serious, and I mean really serious about gaining weight then drink 1 gallon of whole milk a day. This seems massively excessive, and it is if you think of it as any kind of long term diet plan. But it's a short term thing designed to bulk you up faster than anything else. It works and it's relatively cheap compared to most foods. See this article: http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Nutrition,_Supplements_and_Cardio . I couldn't quite manage a gallon, and instead did something like 4 pints a day over the summer, maybe a little less, and put on 5kg alongside a heavy weights program.

 

Good luck

Thanks for the tips you guys! I bought a Whey Protein shake to aid me in my goal, and I'm trying to drink at least 36oz of water a day. I've been making my lunches for school everyday--usually a ham and lettuce sandwich with grapes or other fruit--, and I've been trying to eat whenever I can but there aren't many options in my house tbh >_< Ah well, I was extremely happy to have put on 2lbs in a week and I hope to reach 140 in time for Christmas

Great job :)

 

Do those squats :)

Seriously, listen to assassin. Starting Strength (Here) is probably your best bet for gaining muscle mass. Just look through the information in the Wikia.

Hahah, different to the usual person. Usually people set out to lose weight, but good on you =P

 

So you weigh around 62kg's. I way more than that and I'm 14 o.O And you're 6'1"? Get to work on those muscles =P

For food, use this site.

http://www.livestrong.com

 

Register, then go under the Daily Plate header, then My Plate. Search for the foods you ate and it will literally do everything for you. It will add up how much protein/carbs/fat you had and show it in a pie chart with percentages, add up the calories, cholesterol, etc. To put on lots of weight fast, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but 2500 - 3000 calories a day would be good

 

E: try to find a gym or something to work out at, without the ability to add weight you aren't going to see nearly as much an improvement as if you actually could.

 

Oh, and if you have trouble eating a lot of food, try a mass gainer.

Like this

http://www.livepurehealth.ca/store/product.php?productid=16393

 

530 calories and 17 grams of protein per 2 scoops daily, or double that for 4 scoops daily.

Please, for your own sake, introduce more exercises for your back and core muscles. Otherwise you will do yourself a long term injury.

Hi. First of all, welcome to the world of fitness! Second of all, I have some very important things I feel like I need to tell you.

1.) I must tell you that, from my experiences, your goal is unrealistic. I am a gym regular myself, and I personally do not ever bulk "muscle mass" but I have many friends who do. I have to tell you that gaining 25 pounds of muscle mass in something like, what, 6 months? Is an impossible feat. Now, mind you, I am just talking about pure, muscle tissue. I am not sure what the confines of your goal are, but if it is explicitly to add weight in the form of muscle tissue, even the most experienced of my friends are only adding MAYBE 2 pounds per month. However, I will admit that maybe an individual such as yourself with no starting muscle mass MIGHT be able to add mass faster. If you can do it, that is great! =D>

 

2.) My tip is NOT meant to discourage you, it is meant to PREVENT you from becoming discouraged. I would personally suggest a more re-inforcing form of measuring your progress. For instance, you should maybe take a picture of yourself the same day every week, or maybe buy a measuring tape and take your chest, bicep, etc on the same day every week. Monitoring your weight can be VERY DISCOURAGING because sometimes, your body just does strange things. If your body decides to make you urinate out 5 pounds of liquid on the previous day, you might have a week where you "lose" weight and feel like you had a bad week, even if you might have gained some muscle. Measurements don't lie. If you are working out frequently your muscles WILL grow and their size does not fluctuate much. The average person's weight can fluctuate + or - FIVE POUNDS in the course of a single day!

 

3.) Change the order of your home workout. You should work out in order of big muscle groups to small muscle groups. If you blast your biceps first, this will lessen the quality of your chest workout most likely. The order I use is: Abs, back, legs, shoulders, arms. Smaller muscle groups get fatigued quicker, and basically you will be using all of the muscles in your body to SOME extent. If your biceps are exhausted from doing curls, youll have difficulty holding your max weight for a good bench press to fully exhaust your chest.

 

4.) You say that you do your "home workout" on the days that you dont have "lifting class". This concerns me greatly! Do you know how muscles grow? You do a weightlifting routine, and in this workout you TEAR muscle fibres. When these fibers get repaired by your body, they will be bigger. If you are constantly weightlifting for 2,3,4 days in a row, you could be seriously preventing some nice growth from happening. 2 days in a row is fine sometimes, but if you are doing a full body strength training routine every day of the week, you are just approaching a serious injury.

 

BUT! IF you DO want to work out 4 days in a row, try to split your muscle groups into different days. Monday, do chest, shoulders, arms. Tuesday, do legs, abs, back. Wednesday, you can repeat your Monday routine...etc. This gives your muscles a nice time to repair healthily (and grow!)

 

5.) This is a great tip...many guys want to have enormous gains in their arms. Many girls love it when guys have huge arms...So what do guys do? Tons and tons of bicep curls. Let me inform you on a HUGE secret....do triceps! Your tricep muscle makes up a much larger portion of your arm than your bicep muscle. Gains in your tricep will make your arm way bigger than equivilent gains in your biceps. This doesnt mean you should do triceps INSTEAD of biceps, just dont make the common mistake of focusing biceps to make your arms grow. If one of your additional goals is to add size to your arms, focus your triceps.

 

A great way to work out your triceps: get two sturdy chairs. Place them back to back, and stand in between them. If you know what a "dip" is, then I dont need to say anymore than this. Dips are a great way to blast your tricep muscles...BUT make sure you do them slow and with very good form. If you feel a lot of muscular strain in a place other than your triceps, you are probably doing them wrong.

 

Any questions let me know

Get a pull up bar at your door and do 5 every time you walk into your room. A tip from Dogen (tricker) which I will hopefully employ myself. Handstands are also nice.

Hey man, noticed you haven't updated in awhile. Hope you keep up with this. The hardest part is keeping consistent past the first 4 weeks, after that you'll HATE the days you don't get to work out!

 

Just wondering how you were doin and hoping you still are keeping with your goal.

I think I'm worse then you. :???:

 

I'm 16, 6''2, and 140.....I need to gain weight!

Thanks for the advice and encouragement everyone! Just to let you know, I was on vacation for the entire Christmas break so I didn't have any opportunities to keep up with my weight training (I did pushups and bicycles when I could though). I'm going to post my results for this week as Week 2, so until then wish me the best :D

 

 

Hey bongo, been awhile since I checked in here and I was sad to see a lack of updates. How have you been doing?

 

I hope your lack of updates is just because you have been spending too much time working out to find time to write on the computer. :thumbsup:

 

Hope you haven't given up on your dreams/goals! It may seem hard at times but never give up, and never be afraid to get back on your program if you have fallen off.

I think I'm worse then you. :???:

 

I'm 16, 6''2, and 140.....I need to gain weight!

I'm worse, I'm 5'11 or 6' and weighing 135lb's. Then again, I'm built for distance running.

 

Its not all about the torso either. Remember to get some jogging time in, at least 30 minutes because muscles there are just as important.

I'm 20 years old, 5'8, 125 lbs. I'm underweight, and I love it haha

 

I started working out in October '08 and I weighed only 105 lbs and my max bench press was 55 lbs. I gained 20 lbs in about two months of lifting and my weight hasn't risen any more since then, however my strength continues to increase. I can now bench 135 lbs :D A surprising amount of people can't even bench their own bodyweight haha

 

You shouldn't be ashamed of being underweight, as long as you're in good shape. Chances are you're the only person who feels bad for being skinny. Ever notice how people have no problems in calling people like us skinny, however they would never think to call someone fat? Everybody assumes that skinny people don't have low self-esteem and that they aren't unhealthy. Most girls don't mind dating skinny guys either, however they have a problem with dating fat guys. So really you should just learn to accept the fact that you're skinny and not worry about it.

 

Also you should think about your goals-- do you primarily want to gain weight or do you primarily want to gain strength? With the exception of my best friend, everybody I know only cares about how they look, rather than how much they can lift. A lot of guys I lift with are ripped but are surprisingly weak. I can lift more than a friend of mine who weighs 175 lbs. My best friend basically started in the same position as me-- he weighed 90 lbs when he was a freshman in high school and could only lift the bar. By the time he was a senior in high school he weighed 150 lbs and could bench 300 lbs. I'd rather be underestimated than overestimated, what side do you choose? :P

 

For dieting I try and drink two weight-gainer shakes per day... one when I wake up and one before bed. I'll also substitute a meal for a shake if I'm lazy-- they're about 1000 calories each. It's important to eat a lot though so your body has the tools it needs to give you more muscle. I basically just eat until feel like I'm gonna vomit whenever I get hungry and try to avoid fast food (except Subway). I won't be gaining any more weight any time soon unless I start eating every 3 hours consistently every day, but like I said, as long as I'm getting stronger each week, I don't care about my weight.

 

And as for my workout, I workout Monday through Saturday and take a break on Sunday. I do one body part per day:

 

Monday (Chest):

Benchpress

Dumbbell Flys

Machines which focus on chest

 

Tuesday (Shoulders):

Military press

Seated dumbbell press (basically military press w/ dumbbells)

Side lateral raises w/ cables

 

Wednesday (Back):

Not sure the name of the exercise... there should be a bench where you can lay inclined on your stomach and arch your back down and up... I do that w/ a weight in my hand (currently a 50lb dumbbell)

Lat-bar pulldowns

Machines which focus on back

 

Thursday (Triceps):

Close-grip benchpress (hands should be no further than 6" apart)

Skull-crushers (lay on your back w/ a barbell perpendicular to your body and slowly lower the barbell until it's barely touching your forehead, then pull it back up)

Cable pushdowns

Machines which focus on triceps

 

Friday (Biceps):

Barbell and dumbbell curls

Machines which focus on biceps

 

Saturday (Legs):

Squats

Machines which focus on legs

 

NEVER SKIP A LEG OR BACK DAY! THEY ARE THE #1 AND #2 MOST IMPORTANT DAYS OF YOUR WORKOUT WEEK RESPECTIVELY!

 

Also, for each set, do 6 reps with the same weight each time. The weight should be about 80% of your max for that set. Do 4 sets per exercise. If you can do 6 reps for each set, it's time to increase the weight. Lower the weight if you can't finish the 3rd set. People trying to gain weight need fewer reps with higher weights, while people trying to lose weight need more reps with lighter weights.

 

For abs I basically just add them to a workout if I'm not feeling exhausted. I also combine abs with running/cardio, such that I run for a set amount (usually 1/2 mile), do a set of my ab workout, run another half mile, do another set, until I've run two miles and performed three sets of my ab workout.

 

For abs, one set consists of:

50 crunches

25 side-crunches

Lay down w/ legs 6" off the ground for a full minute

Side-planks for a full minute for each side

Plank for a full minute (basically just maintain pushup stance without doing a pushup)

 

Also for any of the above days, if I'm not doing abs/running, I don't end the day until I've gone to failure. . .

 

Chest: Start out trying to bench my max set, then lower the weight by 10 lbs and benching till I can't lift anymore, all the way down to just the bar. I don't take any breaks between a set. Do this fast before all the hot sorority girls at the gym see you struggling to lift 45 lbs off your chest lol

 

Shoulders: Same w/ military press

 

Back: Same concept but with the lat-pulldowns

 

Triceps: Same as bench but close-grip

 

Legs: Hop up and down stairs till you can't stand up lol

 

Biceps: Curls

 

Anyways, I don't really expect you to follow up on much of this post... just use it as food for thought. I'm pretty sure that the type of workout you use doesn't really matter as long as you are consistent and eat a lot of (healthy) food. Sure some workouts are more efficient/effective than others, but I'm pretty sure that compared to any other workout, the most effective one is negligibly more efficient. As long as you're consistently getting stronger and/or heavier, don't worry about changing anything (don't fix something that isn't broken :P). Best of luck in your weightlifting endeavors, most people quit after the second week. Don't be one of those people.

when you say your bench press #, are you including the bar or not?

 

i never do, but other people seem to find it normal to include it

when you say your bench press #, are you including the bar or not?

 

i never do, but other people seem to find it normal to include it

 

If you're talking to me, yeah I'm including the bar... 45 lbs on each side is my max (and the bar itself weighs 45 lbs too).

when you say your bench press #, are you including the bar or not?

 

i never do, but other people seem to find it normal to include it

 

You always include the bar. You are lifting the bar are you not? So why wouldn't you include it?

 

And I've never talked to anyone who thought it was a good idea working out 6 times a week :unsure: But if you're getting results, you're getting results