12 Weeks to Put on Some Weight

[brikis98]

I'm talking about doing it in a healthy manner and and adding only muscle and not fat.

Sigh. You gain muscle MUCH more efficiently by allowing fat gain as well. Trying to bulk without any fat gain is EXTREMELY slow & impractical for the vast majority of people. This is why just about everyone - beginners and pros alike - tends to alternate bulk and cut cycles. Gaining some fat in this context is not unhealthy, especially since it is just part of a process of changing your body composition. And of course, people who would do something like GOMAD are usually underweight to begin with...

It's really not something I think a beginner can do in 12 weeks. It will take an extraordinary person with a lot of drive to force themselves to make the changes necessary to accomplish it. They would also need to have some decent experience in the gym. It's really not something a beginner can do on their own.

All it takes is eating a lot and following a decent lifting routine. Obviously, having a coach helps, but MANY people have used GOMAD + SS to put on a ton of weight quickly on their own.

 

[KoolDrew]

While I usually feel most people far overestimate how much muscle can be gained in a certain amount of time (which is more due to marketing, bodybuilding magazines, etc.) a decent amount of mass can be gained in only 12 weeks, especially for a complete beginner who is far from their genetic potential.

Also, as brikis98 mentioned, there's nothing wrong with gaining a little bit of fat on a bulk and in most cases (especially someone who is underweight) it will help the bulk work better. This doesn't mean eat everything in sight and gain 50 pounds because you're "bulking" though. Keep the weight increase reasonable, but at the same time don't be afraid of a little bit of fat gain.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I should have been a little more clear I suppose. I know it takes a large amount of calories to build muscle that will result in the gaining of some fat, but there's fat and there's FAT.

Beginners have a really hard time eating right which results in a dirty bulk and a fat ass.

 

[Daniel_Kemp]

 

[Daniel_Kemp]

Eating enough to gain weight is much harder than eating enough to maintain that weight. For example, the difference in BMR between a 160lbs male and a 185lbs male of the same height is around 200 calories. On the other hand, to add that 25lbs quickly, you might be eating 1000+ calories over maintenance. Therefore, the same diet that helps you add the weight will most likely not be the one you use when you are done bulking.


And as I said before, milk is most likely no worse than most of the other food you eat. Which, I guess, brings up a good question: what are you eating?

Anyways, I would bet a lot of money that if you did GOMAD for 6 months vs. almost any other bulking diet, you'd end up bigger & stronger as a result of GOMAD and your "health" - by whatever measures you wish to use - would be the same or better.

I'll try one more week of dieting. If my weight keeps going down, then I'll try adding milk to my diet.

Right now I'm eating organic chicken, some organic vegetables, organic eggs, and using organic butter.

Yea just go with the milk.

Don't try to do gallon-per-day right from the beginning.
Have a full glass with each meal for a day or two, then jump to 2 glasses with each meal. Then start working in more throughout the day.

GOMAD is great for reasons you already mentioned - you are trying to eat more but are feeling full. Well, once you get used to it, milk can be a lot easier than solid food to get down if you aren't particularly hungry

Also, even if mass amounts of milk aren't healthy for an extended period, don't let that stop you from using it short-term. It has a great balance of fat/protein for putting on muscle weight, and the calcium is good for you too.

I'll see what happens this week. If my weight still goes down, then I'll try adding milk to my diet.

I personally think it would be pretty hard for him to put on any "good" weight in only 12 weeks. Especially because you need to lift heavy weights to build muscle, and that's not something you can just go to the gym and start doing on day one, or even week 1 for that matter.

Anyhow, great ways to build mass are to work on your squats and deadlifts. Any excercise for your back and legs is going to make your whole body composition change. Don't be that guy at the gym that does biceps curls 3 days a week...

I'm doing squats in the gym. I'm just working on my technique with the bar right now.

 

[HomerX]

I'll try one more week of dieting. If my weight keeps going down, then I'll try adding milk to my diet.

Right now I'm eating organic chicken, some organic vegetables, organic eggs, and using organic butter.

I think its obvious that you aren´t eating enough... You want to put on some Weight, but instead you are loosing it..

You started exercising so you need more calories even to maintain your weight...

Do you eat carbs? Especially when you are bulking, there is really no reason to stay away from them. Your Protein intake is more than enough, but eating protein alone wont let your muscles grow... You diet sounds good for cutting down Body Fat but that isn´t your goal...

Lean meat, veggies etc have not a lot of calories, so you really need to eat a ton of them if you want to gain weight... Add more carbs to your diet and drink milk/protein shakes.

 

[coreyb]

you aren't going to gain weight eating clean like that

try half a gallon of whole milk a day, and red meat. LOTS of it. I eat at least a burger a day, gallon of milk, bacon, steak, eggs, veggies.

all it takes is like 6 months of eating like a monster then you can go back to your clean eating.

 

[skace]

It also looks like you kind of slouch in your pictures....

 

[Daniel_Kemp]

 

[Daniel_Kemp]

I think its obvious that you aren´t eating enough... You want to put on some Weight, but instead you are loosing it..

You started exercising so you need more calories even to maintain your weight...

Do you eat carbs? Especially when you are bulking, there is really no reason to stay away from them. Your Protein intake is more than enough, but eating protein alone wont let your muscles grow... You diet sounds good for cutting down Body Fat but that isn´t your goal...

Lean meat, veggies etc have not a lot of calories, so you really need to eat a ton of them if you want to gain weight... Add more carbs to your diet and drink milk/protein shakes.

I'm trying to limit my carbs, cause I want to try and be lean. I eat something with lots of carbs about every 4 days.

I've been eating about 1.5 lbs of ground beef a day for a few days. I think it's helping put on weight.

Thanks HomerX.

you aren't going to gain weight eating clean like that

try half a gallon of whole milk a day, and red meat. LOTS of it. I eat at least a burger a day, gallon of milk, bacon, steak, eggs, veggies.

all it takes is like 6 months of eating like a monster then you can go back to your clean eating.

I have been eating beef. I think that's helping, so I will keep eating beef.

Thanks coreyb.

It also looks like you kind of slouch in your pictures....

Yeah.

 

[KoolDrew]

I'm trying to limit my carbs, cause I want to try and be lean.

Staying lean is a matter of keeping the surplus reasonable, not by limiting a single macronutrient. In fact, due to insulin and it's role in muscle growth, it would not be advisable to try to limit carbs. Get adequate protein (1-1.5 g/lb), 0.4-0.5g per pound of BW in fat, and fill the rest with carbs (2-3 g/lb).

 

[Xcobra]

Dude how tall are you? You seriously need to eat more than that to gain weight. Trust me. I started lifting again about a month-and-a-half ago. I think I weighed ~150-153lbs. Within three weeks of lifting and eating like a pig, i gained about 14 lbs. I now weigh 170 lbs at just 5'9". It works, just keep eating and lifting.

 

[Daniel_Kemp]

Staying lean is a matter of keeping the surplus reasonable, not by limiting a single macronutrient. In fact, due to insulin and it's role in muscle growth, it would not be advisable to try to limit carbs. Get adequate protein (1-1.5 g/lb), 0.4-0.5g per pound of BW in fat, and fill the rest with carbs (2-3 g/lb).

I'm going one week at a time.

Right now I'm gaining weight on what I'm doing, and I'm noticing definition which is pretty cool.

If I do stop gaining weight with what I'm doing, then I'll think about carbs.

Thank you KoolDrew.

Dude how tall are you? You seriously need to eat more than that to gain weight. Trust me. I started lifting again about a month-and-a-half ago. I think I weighed ~150-153lbs. Within three weeks of lifting and eating like a pig, i gained about 14 lbs. I now weigh 170 lbs at just 5'9". It works, just keep eating and lifting.

I'm about 6'2''.

How much of the 14 lbs was fat, how much was muscle, and how much was water weight?

Thanks Xcobra.

 

[jlee]

I'm about 6'2''.

How much of the 14 lbs was fat, how much was muscle, and how much was water weight?

Thanks Xcobra.

I'm by no means a bodybuilder, but a friend of mine helped me prep for the academy a few years ago. You're bulking up - this is not the time to be concerned about "staying lean". Deal with that after you've put some weight on.

I'm glad you posted this thread, though - we got in a tussle with a 6'3" rugby player last night, and it reminded me that I really need to get my ass back to the gym.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Nothing wrong with a slow bulk. Alan Aragon calls it culking. It's described like a gradual recomp over a period of years.

 

[Daniel_Kemp]

 

[Daniel_Kemp]

I'm by no means a bodybuilder, but a friend of mine helped me prep for the academy a few years ago. You're bulking up - this is not the time to be concerned about "staying lean". Deal with that after you've put some weight on.

I'm glad you posted this thread, though - we got in a tussle with a 6'3" rugby player last night, and it reminded me that I really need to get my ass back to the gym.

My weight seems to be going up, so I'll stick with my current diet for now.

 

[Howard]

How tall are you? That's pretty skinny looking for 16x lbs.

EDIT: Why did you tag this thread with "earth emperor"?

 

[Daniel_Kemp]

How tall are you? That's pretty skinny looking for 16x lbs.

About 6'2''.

EDIT: Why did you tag this thread with "earth emperor"?

http://www.earthemperor.com/about/

 

[Daniel_Kemp]

 

[skace]

At least you are consistent with the thread.

 

[jlee]

Am I missing something, or are you right back where you started?

 

[Daniel_Kemp]

 

[Daniel_Kemp]

Am I missing something, or are you right back where you started?

I started working out, and I was trying to figure out a diet that worked for me, so my weight went down a bit.

 

[jlee]

I started working out, and I was trying to figure out a diet that worked for me, so my weight went down a bit.

You'd better hurry up or I'm going to catch you!