Coming at the 'weight game' from the other side of the fence

[WetCoastLife]

With motivation and tips from RobotRogue, i am starting my weight gain workout plan this weekend. I am one of those oddities at the opposite end of the scale wanting to gain weight instead of loose it.

Currently, i am 6'2" and weight fluctuates around 140-150lbs and changes throughout the day by up to 10lbs (unless my scale sucks and lies to me). I am referred to as a bean pole, "turn sideways and disappear" thinness and I can eat till the cows come home and usually loose weight instead of gain it.

My goal is to get up to around 170-180lbs of healthy muscle mass and have been reviewing tips for skinny folk to identify the best way to gain it. I used to be at that weight 10+ years ago but due to a bad back injury, over the years i have become less active and this year that is going to change. I walk my dog alot and play soccer in summer, other than that, my fitness has taken a back seat to work and family life...

The only thing i need to be careful is to not aggravate my back injury and hopefully all will go well and my back will benefit from this too.

Any tips, tricks, additional motivation will be/is greatly appreciated and i look forward to posting my status updates and hopefully it can help other peeps in my situation.

[Robotrogue]

GOMAD.

Welcome aboard. Hopefully Steve can help ya somehow, because my ideas have no basis aside from logic.

The fact that you can consume 6000+ calories a day and not gain any weight is the hardest part.

I still think that 'slowing down' your metabolism by weaning yourself down to 3 meals a day @2500 calories, going at that for a few months so your body/metabolism adjust to that new intake, and then start consuming more calories in those 3 meals a day - might work. But I'm no expert.

As for exercise that won't *bork* your back, but instead make it healthier, you'll start that program Saturday, just take it easy and try to develop core strength. From what I know about the body, as your core strength increases, so will your back's ability to tolerate more weight/different exercises, which will in turn help you possibly get past the injury. The logic is there, but I haven't the slightest idea if that is the case.

Hopefully Steve "Nerdfitness" Kamb can set ya straight onto the path to a healthy back, and more muscle mass.

[PORKLE]

lol @ GOMAD

I was going to go with "squats and milk" but GOMAD is catchier

[SuperOstrich]

If you do try GOMAD, prepare for epic farts. I got up to about 1/3rd of a gallon of whole milk a day and I couldn't live with myself, I can't even imagine what a gallon would do to my intestines.

[Steve]

Welcome to the boards!

And don't worry, you're not alone...I'm trying to put on weight as well. Currently up 4 pounds in the past 2.5 weeks...whole milk, almonds, oatmeal, brown rice, and lots of chicken

One thing I realized that after I started counting my calories, that I was severely overestimating how many calories I was actually eating in the past.

Once I started lifting heavy (3 days a week) and cut way back on cardio (going for walks or sprints on off days) and eating 3500-4000 calories per day, I finally started putting on weight (18 pounds in 30 days, eep!)

This time around, I'm keeping my calories between the 3000-3500 range, and going for slower gain but mostly muscle.

-Steve

[WetCoastLife]

Thanks for the feedback.

Started work out on Saturday but didn't push too hard yet as i want to get my body back into the workout routine. Consumed around 2+ liters of 2% milk each day so far and so far, so good. My appetite was already noticeably increased on Sunday.

As for GOMAD farts, i already consume a lot of milk and yogurt daily and never really affected me (or at least never attributed large dairy intake = epic farting) and i guess with any workout, gotta make some sacrifices...hopefully my family and work will understand....

I will get a "before" pick done this week and posted and plan to start ramping up the work outs over next 2 weeks. Just need to make sure my back is on the bandwagon, and so far, it is agreeable.