Lifestyle change, diet?

[graymic]

Hello all,
been looking around for a while on the forums haven't registered until today, interesting forums but I remain somewhat skeptical as i'm sure a lot of you did at the beginning hehe, I say I feel skeptical because nothing has worked for me to current.

Ok well usually during the week I get up around 7Am to leave by 7:40 for work get home go straight to playing guitar, completing any work on the pc (so quite lazy - plus im a web developer) eat dinner then go to bed a few hours later. Midweek I usually go to bed 00:00 each night and weekends around 3:00AM 4:00AM (yes my sleep is screwed up - although generally don't feel bad at waking up) Anyway I usually have a bacon sandwich for breakfast and when at work one sandwich for lunch.

Oh yes you guessed it, im a skinny runt and need a life style change, now what I gathered there are several factors in my life I can change, (hours of sleep, amount of food), however my current job being a webdeveloper and still a student aiming to be a pilot I spend a lot of required time on the PC. I haven't really got a work out plan but I do manage to do a lot of walking/running when I can.

Anyway I am just under 11 stone for being 6 foot that is quite a bad thing and I have little to no meat on my arms, You cannot see my ribs at all which I guess is good but I really want to aim to be in a much higher weight category, I know it is impossible for me to reach weight levels such as yourself and I will never be 200lbs or muscle, just won't happen (genes aren't good enough); however I would like to gain a few stones if possible,

Any tips and advice all?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bryan Haycock]

It really is that simple graymic.

Your problem isn't so much genetics as time management. Here are a few things to think about.

1) If you are an adult, muscles will only grow if you lift weights.
2) You can maximize the rate that muscle grows by planning your weight lifting according to simple principles.
3) You can maximize the rate that muscle grows by planning your food intake according to simple principles.
4) Do both #2 and #3 for best results
5) Leave nothing to chance. Do not eat whatever is available simply because you didn't bring any food with you. Never leave for work without taking your food with you. Plan your meals, prepare a head of time, take it with you to work in small lunch box/cooler. Buy small plastic containers and cook and store meats in the fridge for a few days at a time.
6) Buy a simple whey protein powder to drink 1 hour before and imediately after your workouts.
7) Get off the computer and get some sleep!

-bryan

 

[Lol]

graymic,

What Bryan says works! I tried it and gained ~ 40lb in just over a year.

Calculate how many cals you'll need to gain weight. Then measure out your cals for a few weeks so you become familiar with the quantities of protein, fat and carbs that are required. You will be surprised/amazed at how much you will need to eat to consistently gain weight. Also, as you gain weight, your cal requirement will continue to increase, so you'll need to up your daily intake every so often if you want to continue to make gains.

 

[electric]

Bryan said it all. You need to lift weights and eat above maintenance. You can do that in an optimized way or poorly but both will give you better results than not lifting weights and eating at or below maintenance. There is no way your gain muscle without lifting weights so that is a pre-requisite.
I'll just add in my personal experience: I used to lift weights and never gain weight nor muscle even though I was sure I was eating above maintenance. So I decided to really count the calories I was ingesting using something like www.fitday.com . Long story short I was eating less then I thought and when I started eating really above maintenance the weight went up and so did the lean mass.
So, all this is to say: do what Bryan said. Lift weights, preferably in an optimized way like HST, eat above maintenance also ideally in an optimum way, counting calories, keeping protein high, using timed protein shakes and you'll grow. That simple.