I'm currently at 135 and would like to gain about 10lbs. No matter what I eat I can't seem to put on any pounds.

Can anyone recommend an appropriate and healthy weight gain supplement?

Thanks

are you eating clean AND hittin the weights? When i dont have time to make a meal i will make up a shake consisting of; whey protein, oats, cottage cheese, natural peanut butter and 1% milk. The store bought weight gainers are crap, most of them are loaded with sugar. The best advice is to EAT EAT EAT and EAT more and hit the gym and the weight will come

sounds like a plan for me. i need bigger pecs.

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Guilty as charged, eh? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT I'M AT HOME AND NOT PEEKING IN THE WINDOW AT YOUR SOAKING WET ASS RIGHT NOW? Sexyyyyyy! -Linds

I'd say eat really late at night, then go to bed. But that's not really a healthy appropriate way to gain weight.

Try this website, they seem to have good tips on gaining weight in a healthy way.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/healthy_...ing_gain.shtml

Hey man, I was in the same boat, I was 150 lbs in grade 12, currently at 189 but I've been summer cutting recently . . . .

Ok if I was to recommend a book, "From Scrawny to Brawny" is really good an in depth if you want to check that out, I own and will use it to bulk this winter, I really like the program

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159...Fencoding=UTF8

Other then that, when I made my initial gains, here's what's key EAT, EAT, EAT . . . every 2 hours, and make sure you get proteins, good fats (nuts, fish oil, etc) and carbs at every meal

And if you are really looking to gain . . . get a meal replacement shake instead of protein powder, it's portable and has more carbs and fat, however I don't recommend those for long term usage.

And most importantly lift heavy frickin' weight, you should be doing squats, deadlifts, bench, power moves that require alot of muscles.

Any more specific questiosn feel free to ask.

thanks paul, i'll be hitting the gym soon

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Guilty as charged, eh? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT I'M AT HOME AND NOT PEEKING IN THE WINDOW AT YOUR SOAKING WET ASS RIGHT NOW? Sexyyyyyy! -Linds

lol dude I know it's hard, when I was in uni, during the school year I usually dropped to 165, 'cause I was too lazy and poor to eat all the time, I was up around 200 recently, and it's so easy for me to cut, lol but next winter the goal is 210 . . . we'll see how that goes.

Thanks for all the good advice.

Seems like the consensus is to avoid powered weight gain supplements, huh?

Mgoose: Can you recommend any particular meal replacement shake?

Haha, i've been in your shoes many times in the past!

If you wanna gain weight, you're gonna have to LOVE eating and learn to cook for yourself.

Some general guidelines when trying to gain mass....

- Eat atleast 6 times a day (up until bedtime) to get all your daily nutrients in.... You are 135lbs, So i am guessing your RMR (resting metabolic rate - calories burned by doing squat) is around ~1600-1700 calories each day. In order to gain weight you must consume more calories... Generally, I believe 3-400 quality calories above RMR should provide lean mass gains. Some people may disagree, and alot of times overeat... I've been there. This also ensures that your body is always in an anabolic/muscle growing state.

- 40/40/20 macronutrient ratio. Calories should be based 40% carbs, 40% lean proteins, 20% dietary fats, generally. This macro ratio has worked well for many bodybuilders. You may need to fine tune to your specific needs although. It is also very important to watch what you are eating and at what times. Try to center your daily carbs pre and post-workout, while having the majority of dietary fat and slow releasing proteins in the evening.

- Lift weights 3-4 times a week. I feel weight training every other day has worked best for me in recovery, strength, and aesthetics.

Stay consistent though, b/c consistency and dedication is what brings results.

Motivation + Consistency + Nutirition + Adequate Rest (8hrs each night) = GROW

Theres so much more I could write, but do you have any questions in particular?

bae9900, DEFINITELY checkout www.bodybuilding.com

They have the greatest articles there from many experienced peeps!

hey vince, would you recommend the OCB (Old Country Buffet)? Hahahah

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Guilty as charged, eh? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT I'M AT HOME AND NOT PEEKING IN THE WINDOW AT YOUR SOAKING WET ASS RIGHT NOW? Sexyyyyyy! -Linds

Yeah they aren't the healthiest, but they can work well in the short term, when I lived at home it was the only way I could really get all the calories I needed to gain . . .

I used Myoplex 40 I think it was called, but now I'm with the other guys, as in I usually eat whole foods, as it's healthier

oh and another good idea for bulking is a 2:1 carb to protein drink immediatley before, during, and after your work out . . . I make my own with a scoop and half of protein powder and 2 scoops of gatorade powder, but it kinda tastes gross, you can buy commercial ones

And that's the one time it's good to have sugary carbs, as you'll need 'em when you finish working out, hence the gatorade

Yes, the post workout shake is of ut-most importance... Consume it RIGHT AFTER your workout. Just as mgoose said, stick to that 2:1 simple carb and fast acting protein ratio. They say fat-free chocolate milk works well too... but i'm not sure, considering milk is a casein.

Mine consists of... based on my weight.

-40g simple hi-glycemic carbs (cran juice or maltodextrin)
-30g whey protein isolate
-20g (1tbsp) Organic Honey
-5g L-glutamine
-5g BCAAs

I also take antioxidants Vitamin E & C (1g of each post workout)

LOL, i haven't been to a buffet in years

Eat more. All the time, even when you're not hungry. If need be, buy a mass gainer. If you leave the house for a few hours, take food with you.

You can try to make a science out of it but when it comes down to it, it's all about putting more calories in than you're expending.

Your body moves from "food storage mode" to "breaking down the body's energy reserves" roughly 3 hours after a meal. What does this mean? Make sure you eat a reasonable sized portion every 3 hours. NEVER BE IN A STATE WHERE YOU'RE FEELING HUNGRY. If you're driving home and start to feel hungry, stop at a fast-food joint and get something/anything to eat.

If you're going to be working out...
1) do not do cardio
2) keep your workouts to under an hour and pig out as soon as you get home.

When I was trying to gain weight, it took about 4000-4500 calories a day for me to gain about 1.5-2 lbs/week (but this was when I was very, very underweight).
I ate pretty much every 2 hours and made protein shakes to drink with/after meals.

Now it's a different story, though, I gain on anything over 1500/day.

There is a weight gain shake that works wonders. It is called N-Large 2

Drink it right after a work out then right before bed and I guarantee that you will pack on the pounds. You must drink it consistebtly though and work out as well.

I add a banana, honey, yogurt, sometimes icecream and other fruit and I put on 15 pounds in 10 days it was crazy, and it is good weight too if you work out; nice mass. Make sure that you drink plently of water as well and take vitamins because high concentration of protien is hard on your kidneys.

Love all the good tips in this thread

Gotta admit that I'm a bit overwhelmed by all this good advice.

Let me try to narrow this down:

1. When looking for a whey protein, is there a major difference between isolate and the regular whey concentrate? The isolate seems to be a bit more expensive. Can anyone recommend a specific brand that is easily available and not full of sugar?

2. Vince: Do you use a multivitamin or separate E and C vitamins?

3. What can you recommend in the way of BCAA's? I noticed there seem to be quite a lot of options out there. Is there a whey powder that combines BCAA's in a suitable dose?

I think that will get me started. Thanks for all the recommendations.

i have been using Optimum Nutrition's Whey for about a year now. It tastes good(choco mint) and is good quality. It also has 5 grams of BCAAs per serving.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/whey.html

That's what I use also, except the vanilla flavour, in Canada i can get a 10lb page for $90 at Popeye's

yeah thats where i get my stuff...well www.supplementscanada.com

Can anyone tell me what the difference between the different types of creatine are? Creatine monohydrate, creatine ethyl ester, tri creatine malate?

Maybe we should have a "Supplements" thread. Think so?

i've tried all three and the ethyl ester has worked best for me.

i'd rather not go into a long description of each of the three, maybe someone else could do that....but

creatine mono = the original, cheapest. 2 out of 5

tri creatine malate = i think its a blend of 3 different creatines. 3 out of 5.

creatine ethyl ester = latest development. supposedly the ester bond is supposed to help the creatine bybass the liver and go directly to the bloodstream and muscle cells. 4.5 out of 5.

i'm currently using this stuff called green bulge. No excess sugars or ingredients, just the straight stuff. Its actually a combo of magnesium creatine chelate and creatine ester. Check out the reviews on bodybuilding.com

I used green bulge for a bit but switched to Purple K and it works a lot better for me.

I say Creatine monohydrate, worked well for me and by far the most studied of them all, it has the science to back it up, and your not paying for fancy packaging and other stuff . . . just my $.02