Hi guys, I'm a skinny dude and hope to gain some weight and muscles. For your info, I'm a beginner, never ever been to the gym or workout. But for the past few months, I've been starting to work out at my room using 10kg dumbbells and been doing that for like 4-5 months? And last month, I've start going to the gym and that has been around 1-2 months.... So, to sum up, I've been working out for like erm... 7 to 8 months. Now my question is, I only see slight improvements, I only see some shape of my muscles and just slightly big but still skinny overall. So i've been wondering, it takes how long to see huge improvements? I've also been eating a lot, trying to gain weight, but kinda failed... No matter how much I eat, I still can't gain weight. I have a very high metabolism, not just me, my whole family too, and I think it's the gene thing.

To cut short (for those who lazy to read up my story)
- It takes how long for you guys to train and get really hugh muscles and gain weight?
- How many days do you workout per week?

I see some people who are really skinny and suddenly they got pump up with big muscles. I wonder how they did that. Please help me people, Thanks for reading. Would really appreciate your help. People been teasing me for being super skinny and look like shit. I'm 27 btw but body size like those kids from high school.

What you did in the gym for the past 2 months?
How much is your "eating a lot" ... ?

Bench press, biceps and triceps (using dumbells), ABS (Sit ups), Leg (Using the machine), Shoulders (Using dumbells too). Most of my workouts are using dumbells. I'm using 35lbs which is around 15kg?

I eat almost 4 times per day. Eat lots of meat and veggies. 4 Eggs after every workouts.

How long you've been working out and when do you see improvements?

Deadlift, squat, chin-up, bench press, dip, calf raises, etc... Do all those and then go play with watever u want with dumbells.. Not over 1 hour..

4 times a day, let say 400 calories each on average.. only 1,600.. I assume you're somewhere 50kgs.. need at least 2,700 calories...

i only workout 1 month.. gained 5kgs+ mass..

u should read the stickies on how to gain weight, why aren't u growing..

This post has been edited by Amedion: Nov 30 2012, 03:26 PM

You will see improvements in direct correlation with the amount of work and food you put in.

You don't know how many calories your eating - mistake number one. It is a simple fact, you eat more calories than you burn a day and you gain weight (ideally mostly muscle). If you don't know then your wasting time. Learn about calories, how much you need, what surplus you want, foods and their calories, etc.

Mistake number 2 is you aren't following a proper beginner strength training program so you are not maximising the benefits of newbie gains. Don't make up your own workout program. You don't know anything compared to the people who have had decades of experience who put together routines.

Mistake 3 - You want results quickly. Even with doing everything right, it will take as long as it takes. If someone gets results in 2 months, it may take you 4 months. You just have to ensure you don't deviate from your path because if you aren't consistent then there will never be progress. Consistency is KEY!

Just 3 points matter and this NEVER changes whether you have lifted a day or you have lifted your whole life:
1) EAT EAT EAT (Eat properly according to your goals)
2) Train HARD (Again, dependant on your goals)
3) Rest enough - Sleeeeeeeeeeeep (Regardless of your goals)

Have fun reading the stickies and readjusting your food and training.

if you are doing it right, u`ll see improvement over 3 months.
not much but still an improvement.

when your friends start asking "you go to the gym?" thats a good sign.

eat too less..

Realistically, for a true beginner (3-6 months of training) MAYBE you could gain close to 1.5 kg of strictly lean mass every 2 weeks if you workout right, have rest and eat right.....if you're lucky. Most of the time gaining a kilo of lean muscle every 2 weeks is quite difficult. Those who gained more (e.g. 2 kg a week) are gaining both fat and muscle. The human body isn't really "engineered" to grow muscle that fast. After that, good luck trying to gain 3 kg in a month.

I have been working out for a year and I have plateaued at some points along the way (sometimes up to 2 months). The reason is mostly budget restrictions so I couldn't eat enough (I was in Politeknik) . I gained about 3 kg in my first month and gained 12 kg of lean mass in about a year (that's how long I've been training), and my BF% from the looks of it is still the same back when I was 47 kg (at 175 cm). Now I'm back home, I've got enough food, and a kilo every 2-3 weeks is quite easy, with proper adjustments of my training along the way.

Thanks for the tips, I've been reading alot before creating this thread actually, I follow most of the instrtuction and read articles about why I'm not growing, I also started to eat more after reading those articles. Hopefully I could see results after few more months.


Thanks ... I guess I need to start sleeping early. I sometimes only get to sleep 5-6 hours daily. Thanks for the sleeping advice.


After 3 months, I did see some improvements, but not what I really wanted, I expect more. I only see slight muscles shape and also just slightly bigger shoulders. But my chess and biceps seems to be almost the same.


Well, I guess so. But compare to my other friends who are quite chubby, I actually eat more than them. Maybe it's my metabolism rate, I hate this, I wish it could be slower sometimes.


Thanks for your info bro. May I know how much you weight now? Within in 1 year, how much weight you have gain?



Hopefully after few more months I could see more improvements. I've been working quite hard these days and hit to the gym if I have the time.
I really hope someone who have high metabolism rate could reply me here, really need you guys tips on gaining weight.

You need more food. Workout is 1 of the 3 basic thing needed in bodybuilding. Lets say that you have a very good workout routine (which I doubt it as per what you've wrote), you need to consume a lot of food. How much is a lot? You need to know your calorie intake.

You reach the needed calorie intake then you'll grow. Refer to my signature. First find you BMR, then find your TDEE@Calorie Maintenance then up it by 20% for your daily calorie intake.

After you establish a baseline, then find the food that you need to eat in order to meet the target calorie requirement. Then, I'll confirm you that you'll see gain.

Thanks man, will definately take your advice....

Well, you can do whatever you want but that advices come from a person who doesn't see improvement for almost a year. Workout but no knowledge about nutrition, just eat what I can.

I'm hovering between 58.x and 59 kg right now. Like I said I gained 12 kg in just over a year. I would've gained a bit more if it weren't for those little mistakes I made along the way, and if the budget restrictions hadn't been there. I make adjustments to my diet and training as I go along. I try to eat healthy calories, but I do eat pretty much anything I want. I just make sure all those calories are put to good use.

I have a high metabolism rate. I believe this gene comes from my father's side. Some of my uncles and aunts, my father, and my late grandfather have never been fat. At most some fat in the abs but that's it. Trust me, their lavish lifestyle and luxurious foods, they're supposed to get fat, like my other uncle (who doesn't seem to posses that gene). We are called ectomorphs. We need more stimulant to gain muscle mass (like hard exercise). We can get fat if we really try, but the fat can shed pretty quick. Like what happened to me when I tried bulking first and cutting later. I bulked for 2 months and gained 5 kg which I suspect mostly fat. I got sick (unrelated to bulking) for a week, drank plenty of fluids, but even with all the water weight the scale said I lost a kilo. Ectomorphs just lose fat (and possibly muscle) so fast, we need to stay on our toes.

Don't worry if you don't gain visually. If the scale says you've gained weight that means you're on the right tracks regardless if there's no visual change. Remember muscle is denser than fat, so it is logical that 10 kg of muscle would look smaller than 10 kg of fat.

don't stress yourself out thinking about gaining size and what not. you're not going to look ripped overnight. so quit checking yourself out in the mirror and what not.

instead, stress about following a program and eating consistently week after week. those 7-8 months you've spent is most likely time that you were in limbo, trying out different workouts, wondering what weights to use, what program to follow, what to eat, etc.

don't look for excuses or try to rationalize why you aren't seeing the results you had hoped for and not making weight because it will only hold you back and you may end up accepting it.

keep things simple now. if you follow the rules, the size will follow.

the food that you ate to get to 63kg + more food = more weight

Wow...it took me a year to gain 12 kg.
Although at the first 2-3 months when money was available I too gained 2 kg a month of muscle consistently.
Then all went down from there.

I agree with alien9, add more to your diet, and maybe you can look at your training program too, maybe there are little adjustments to be made here and there to overcome that plateau. From my experience it's mostly from the diet after a while. I just ate that little bit extra than before and I see my poundage slowly creep up again without changing my training routine. For the training bit ask the more experienced sifus here because I train body weight, while you may train free weight. They know a lot more about those than I do.

I'm having the some problem...especially I'm vegetarian. It is quite hard for me to gain weight like you guys who can consume meat.
Anyhow, I would like to share that thru consuming Serious Mass everyday and some workout at gym, I finally gained some weight from 53kg or 54kg to 58kg now...
But spent over hundred and close to thousand to get this weight...

Currently, I have one problem which is when I stop taking serious mass like usual, I found that I'm getting thinner back =.=lll which I can't figure out what is happening...

I take months to gain weight but days to loss it...sad man...

I would appreciate if anyone here can advice me on these matters...
thanks alot!

You stopped taking a supplement, but are you compensating that with more food? I think that is your problem. Supplements are merely to help you fill in your daily needs if you find it difficult to do so with your daily diet. If you're off it, you need to compensate with regular food. You're problem is simple, you're not consuming enough calories. It matters very little if your're a vegetarian or not. Vegetables do have protein, which may not be as effective, but they do build muscle. You just need to be smart when eating them.

There are vegetarian body builders out there, and although they won't get as big as meat eaters, they do get impressive physique and can get pretty big. You may want to consider including eggs and milk into your diet, if it doesn't conflict with your beliefs or anything.

Oh and although I'm not a vegetarian, we're on the same boat when it comes to weight loss. I can lose about 1 kg a week if I don't eat enough consistently. That has happened a few times, and has happened about 2 weeks ago when I had a fever and had little appetite for a week+. Even with all that water weight the scale showed that at the end of the week I lost about a kilo.

Stay positive, you can do it.

This post has been edited by tunertoobe: Dec 10 2012, 07:19 PM

you should have no issue putting on weight as you can indulge in healthy oils from nuts. believe you are allowed milk so go for whole milk or chocolate milk if you aren't lactose intolerant. if you are, you could try almond milk if it's available in malaysia.

don't forget to eat peanut butter too. some vegetarians eat eggs so, this could also be a viable source for your protein and some good cholesterol.

thanks for the advice, seriously i never think of this. when i stopped taking supplement for some period, i did not add in extra food to compensate it but even lesser food...no wonder my weight dropped...

I consume eggs and milk as well. In terms of eggs, normally how many per days should i eat? For milk, Datch Lady powder form milk considered milk? 1KG is about RM26-27...is there any other suggestion? Be frank, I'm still studying, supplement costs me RM360 per month as RM180 per pack plus bread, peanut jam,cheesdale, eggs, milk (i never consume) bla bla bla....these could cost me around rm450-500 per month without include daily normal meal...right?

I calculate the BRM and calories that I required to maintain my current weight is 2500 per day...wow it is alot, make sense?

thanks

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Added on December 11, 2012, 9:12 amyes, i do consume peanut butter, eggs but not really in milk...i will include these in my meal
thanks for the suggestion

This post has been edited by williams2011: Dec 11 2012, 09:12 AM