How would you help your friend?

[Sinuosette]

Hi all,

I'd like to help out a friend and I hope maybe someone here had a similar experience and can share some advice

A little bit of background: this friend of mine has exactly the opposite issue as me. He is super skinny and would like to gain some weight and muscles. He's normally playing squash several times a week, but he keeps losing weight, rather than gaining some.

He doesn't normally skip meals, though my guess is that he probably needs a different kind of food/exercise combination than the one he's using now. His main issue is that right now he can't buy weights or shift to super expensive eating options.

I told him I'd try to ask the amazing NF community, and maybe one day I will even convince him to sign up

If this was your friend, what advice would you give him?

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

1. Eat lots of protien (I mean lots).

2. Find Heavy Things.

3. Pick them up.

4. Put them down.

5. Goto step 2.

6. Find different ways to pick them up and put them down.

[cianalas]

It might be unrelated, since I shifted my workout model at about the same time, but drinking around half a gallon of milk a day, and adding yogurt to my diet seemed to help.

It sounds like he'll need to stick to bodyweight workouts for now, the Batman Bodyweight Workout is a good model for a workout he can do. If he wants to create his own, low-ish reps, trying to constantly increase difficulty, and a minute or two between sets should help. Basically, he should cut out the cardio aspect as much as possible until he starts gaining weight. This doesn't mean he has to quit playing squash, just cut down to one or two days a week 'till he starts seeing some progress.

[Bacon]

1. Eat lots <strike> of protien</strike> (I mean lots).

2. Find Heavy Things.

3. Pick them up.

4. Put them down.

5. Goto step 2.

6. Find different ways to pick them up and put them down.

Fixed it for you

Protien is surely the mostl important part, but if you're just looking to put on some mass fat is good too.

[rtalencar]

Fixed it for you

Protien is surely the mostl important part, but if you're just looking to put on some mass fat is good too.

Although protein is tremendously important, it is very difficult to build substantial muscle mass without a high intake of carbs as well. Also it's damn near impossible if he's at a calorie deficit. Is your friend on a specific diet?

Whole milk is great, so is chocolate milk.

Chicken wings by the truckload also work well.

Sweet potatoes, potatoes, rice, that sort of thing with your protein.

PBnJ is good

Add nuts and avocado butter and oil and such to increase calorie intake

If your buddy is trying to bulk but is losing weight. By FAR the most important thing he needs to do is increase calorie intake to stop weight loss. That calorie intake should consist of a solid amount of protein and carbs, but you really need to stop weight loss before you can begin to worry about mass gains.

[Erick the Red]

I had a friend that would bike for miles, swim for miles, run for miles, and then do a few pushups and complain that he didn't have big muscles. He was exercising in a way that told his muscles he needed them lean and tough. Even with extra calories, he needs to follow some of the techniques called out in this thread. And this is coming from me, a classic endurance athlete (but at least I know why I don't have the sexy big chest muscles).

[thatgirljj]

First I'd ask him to stop by his doctor and get a little bloodwork done just to make sure his thyroid is ticking along and he's not dealing with any anemia or anything. If he's skinny, and continuing to lose weight despite eating as much as he can afford, I'd do a quick double check to make sure there's nothing medical going on before doing anything else. He could have the best eating and exercise plan in the world and it's not going to do him any good if his hormones are messed up.

Beyond that, there are a lot of inexpensive healthy carb options he could be powering up his meals with. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, root veggies, rice, beans. If there's no health stuff going on, he should be eating plenty of real food, as much as he can afford, and you can build out more calories for the money by adding carbs than by chowing down more and more steak. And if you're in France, cheese & olives at least for the healthy fats.

-jj

[blindasutsutsu]

Hi all,

I'd like to help out a friend and I hope maybe someone here had a similar experience and can share some advice

A little bit of background: this friend of mine has exactly the opposite issue as me. He is super skinny and would like to gain some weight and muscles. He's normally playing squash several times a week, but he keeps losing weight, rather than gaining some.

He doesn't normally skip meals, though my guess is that he probably needs a different kind of food/exercise combination than the one he's using now. His main issue is that right now he can't buy weights or shift to super expensive eating options.

I told him I'd try to ask the amazing NF community, and maybe one day I will even convince him to sign up

If this was your friend, what advice would you give him?

So I had this problem in college...(if you want to call it a problem) and adjusting his diet and routine would be the best way to do it. As many have said milk is a great way to do so (There was a time I was drinking 3 gallons of whole milk a week) but not the only way. When I started lifting I upped my calorie intake significantly and made sure I was always eating more calories than I was expending that day. (Depending on your friends activity this could range anywhere from 2500-4000 calories) Someone noted lifting heavy things and consuming protein which I also agree with (he should have protein immediately following a workout) I would go with his bodyweight in grams of protein. Yes its a lot but it worked for me.

Recap:

1. Lift Heavy Things (this doesn't have to be weights, as there is natural weight on him and in the environment around us!)

2. Consume More Calories than he Uses (500 extra calories would be good)

3. Protein Following physical activity and lots of it (Protein Shakes with whole milk is what i did)

4. Track everything from activity and what he eats to ensure he is taking in more than he is expending, Calorie counting isn't just for those that are trying to lose weight. There were days I thought I was good on my calorie intake that I was 500-1000 calories deficient.

Hope we helped!