Help with Gaining Weight

Hello everyone, I'm having a hard time gaining weight along with martial arts. I do a mixed martial arts along with a kung fu style and I'm currently 6 feet tall, but only weigh about 180 lbs. I'm what you might call an endomorph..the type that burns lots of fuel during the day and has a hard time gaining weight. I'm just needing idea's on how to gain weight a little better?

I don't want to slack off on my training, and I understand the whole small meals 6 times a day for burning off fat calories and keeping the metabolism up and running...but I'm wondering if anyone has a good list of foods that helped them with growth or any tips on ways to gain a little more, I'm wanting to shoot for at least 20 to 30 lbs in a year. Any take on this anybody, please!?!

I would appreciate it.

How old are you?

__________________
Wolfgang says:

I could think of a million better things to do in Japan for a month besides jumping off of picnic tables. - x893

I'm currently 24 going on 25.

Damn I wish I was like you. Ok here's one solution: drink beer every night, lot's of it. Then have a big pizza or kebab at the end. Weight gain gaurenteed. That's my strategy anyway. Expect the weight to be in the form of a flabby mass around the gut though and perhaps not the best idea for martial arts training.

Seriously though..... yeah that's what I do.

Ok even more seriously though. Weight gain protein shakes maybe a good idea I have heard a lot of good things about "Muscle Milk" especially. Try differnt things out. Eggs are now your friend. They go great with absoulutely everything, even raw. If I can stomach two each morning after a hard workout then so can you. There's nothing better than sinking your teeth into a fried egg yolk on top of a chicken breast.

__________________
I like these calm little moments before the storm.

“	Originally Posted By: Wuchang I'm currently 24 going on 25.	”

Eat a sensible, balanced diet. Hit the weights hard at least 5 days a week, and none of this 'low weight, high-rep for definition' stuff, work your max on squats and bench at least once a week.

When you feel hungry, eat. If you can grab a nap after your mid-day meal, so much the better.

Most of all, wait. You are young. Keep eating, keep lifting, you'll put it on in time.

__________________
Wolfgang says:

I could think of a million better things to do in Japan for a month besides jumping off of picnic tables. - x893

'low-rep for definition' ??? lol I've never once heard of this method before...

WuChang.. Myself being 6'3" 160lbs, I had the same issue. What worked for me was VERY difficult to maintain. Over a period of 4 months I did a 5X5 routine while eating 6 meals a day with AS MANY snacks as I could.

I went up 14 lbs, however I got to the point of nearly vomiting everytime I would eat. Basically what I mean is, I had to force my body so much that it was starting to resist the treatment..

For skinny guys like us, time is of importance. If I were you, I would cycles a 5X5 routine, while steadily increasing your diet from normal now, to lots of food later.. Protein shakes are a way to supplement that, but I gained my weight without them. Food is a much better source of nutrition, though shakes take MUCH less time.

Eat some cottage cheese before bed everynight if you can stand it. It's a great source of slow digesting protein, therefore it will synthesize at a different rate during sleep..

The nap was a great idea.. You only grow when you sleep. So here it is, Heavy Weight, LOW REPS, lots of food, lots of rest.. and btw, I'm 26 now. and slowly but surely I'm keeping more weight. all while hovering at 6-7% body fat.

As for a list of foods.. Meat and potatoes. as I mentioned before, cottage cheese before bed, GET YOUR VITAMINS! B complex, dont get a cheap multivitamin, they're worthless.

A great set of supplements a close friend of mine had great results using were Animal Paks stacked with Animal Methoxy Stack. These basically have everything you need and cost about $65 a month if you order from www.affordablesupplements.com

30lbs in a year is a lofty goal. As I said, time is what will keep the weight on. Coming from a guy who tried the same thing you want to try.. 15lbs this year, and 15lbs next year will allow that weight time to stick.

“	I'm what you might call an endomorph	”

That would be ectomorph, not endomorph.
Protien supplement and good high protien diet and a good weight gaining weight lifting regimen. Muscle Milk is good stuff. I have witnessed the results first hand with one of my students. He was a natural 140 lber. and was fighting at 145. He did the above and is now adding bulk, is walking at 155 and cuts to 145 to fight. All his weight he has added is solid muscle and it has taken about 10 months or so to add 13 or so lbs. so Kinetsu's example of 15 lbs. a year is realistic.

Peace-
Cam

__________________
Rock On!
Cam
"Raise up your mind....."

Rice and poi......

__________________
It's all about the nitty gritty.......

Yeah I figured the ectomorph thing as soon as I reread my post, it's a typo. Thanks for pointing it out though.

Thanks for your guys/gals info. I'll try each of them, I've heard a lot about muscle milk too, so I'll look into trying it sometime this month. I figured that my pain problem is not eating consistantly, like, if I don't have some prepared to eat or quick to eat since I'm always on the go, I'll just skip a meal and eat the next one. Gaining weight is pretty tough for me though.

I have heard many times that WHEN you eat can play a big role as well. Eating something with high-protein within an hour of working out replenishes the nutrients burned while working out, giving the muscles more nourishment to build better. That's what I've heard and tried to do (5' 11" - finally up to 170ish), but really, food and drink taste SO good when your body really wants it - and shortly after a major workout...

__________________
"You remind me of a poem that I can't remember!" - Grandpa Simpson

It's all relative

dont eat within an hour of working out.. Protein synthesis is most important within 30 minutes AFTER a workout.. every 15-30 minutes after that, the ability to synthesize the protein goes down, until your body goes back to normal mode..

Right I meant after. Not before or after.

__________________
"You remind me of a poem that I can't remember!" - Grandpa Simpson

It's all relative

It's all about energy conversion. Keep in mind that your body balances caloric intake over days, not hours, so you have to maintain a fairly consistent diet for a long time. Though timing eating with workouts can help a bit ( I hate having a full stomach while exercising, I get that fake vomit feeling. )

My problem in high school ( as I've related here a few times ) was that I had a normal metabolism but not a normal appetite. I ate very little, felt full, and wouldn't eat much of anything else. It's a bit of a problem when you're 6'0" and 160 lbs ( especially since I have a wide, thick frame. ) Doing football, wrestling, track year-round I got some good exercise, but I was always fairly tired and lethargic at nights, over weekends, and I wasn't gaining any lean muscle mass that I thought I should due to growing. I finally figured I just wasn't taking in enough energy. I got some MET Rx Weight Gainers Fuel that had something like 17g protein, 30g complex carbs, and 800 calories per serving ( I think I had three a day, breakfast, lunch, and just before practice. ) Since it was such an energy dense food I didn't feel like I was overeating or anything. In three months I went up to 185, had a LOT more energy, put a couple inches on my legs and arms, and nothing on my waist.

If you want to gain weight, you have to eat more, simple as that. You're not going to assimilate matter out of the air onto your frame. What you need to research is how much to increase your intake. For me at the time, adding 2500 calories a day was nothing for a growing teenager with vigorous workouts 5 days a week. Most anyone else would've had a substantially increased waistline. So you're going to want to get extra protein to build muscle and extra carbs/sugar to fuel the rest of your body while working out. If you don't have a big appetite and want to avoid that "overfull" feeling, find energy dense foods and avoid that fluff stuff.

__________________
Always fear the man with nothing to lose
- J

Could check out a small book called "Super Squats", I did the diet and routine in it. Didn't gain the amount it claimed I would, but I did gain weight.

Better like milk and eggs though.

__________________
The nature and purpose of the Martial Way is universal. All selfish desires should be roasted in the tempering fires of hard training.