How to gain mass as a skinny guy

[BackInTheGame78]

the above is based on my experience. In my 40’s I put 18 lean lbs in about 5 months, I also stopped overtraining and was eating 6k/day.

Either you were taking some sort of PEDs or you have perfect genetics and naturally high GH, Test and IGF-1 levels that exists in like 0.5% of men.

99.5% of people that try that will gain much more fat than muscle.

 

[Pierce Manhammer]

Either you were taking some sort of PEDs or you have perfect genetics and naturally high GH, Test and IGF-1 levels that exists in like 0.5% of men.

99.5% of people that try that will gain much more fat than muscle.

My testosterone was hovering in the 500-600 range, no PEDs. Truly think of it: is putting on an ounce of muscle a day really that extraordinary?

It’s generally accepted you can put on 2lbs a month if you do it correctly much more if you are supplemented.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

My testosterone was hovering in the 500-600 range, no PEDs. Truly think of it: is putting on an ounce of muscle a day really that extraordinary?

It’s generally accepted you can put on 2lbs a month if you do it correctly much more if you are supplemented.

Yes it actually is extraordinary considering the upper limit for most people is 2lbs a month and often times less of they have been training a long time. And that's if you are doing everything near perfect, including sleep, which most people do not. So real world results are probably more like 1.25 lbs as the upper limit for most people when factoring that in.

You are significantly above average so what is possible for you versus what is possible for the vast majority of people are two different things. Especially for the length of time this stayed well above average. If we are talking about percentiles you would be in the 99% percentile in terms of human capabilities to add muscle. Perhaps you have some myostatin mutation that gives you more enzymes to carry out the muscle building process that is the limiting step in most people. That would be the reason that would make the most sense.

 

[BoostedArrow]

Yes it actually is extraordinary considering the upper limit for most people is 2lbs a month and often times less of they have been training a long time. And that's if you are doing everything near perfect, including sleep, which most people do not. So real world results are probably more like 1.25 lbs as the upper limit for most people when factoring that in.

You are significantly above average so what is possible for you versus what is possible for the vast majority of people are two different things. Especially for the length of time this stayed well above average. If we are talking about percentiles you would be in the 99% percentile in terms of human capabilities to add muscle. Perhaps you have some myostatin mutation that gives you more enzymes to carry out the muscle building process that is the limiting step in most people. That would be the reason that would make the most sense.

Yeah I agree. Me being skinny is probably part of my genetics. My mum told me my dad was the same when he was 18. As I said, my body looks great without a T-shirt, but some mass would be needed to also make it look good WITH a T-shirt.

There's def. a limit for what you can do in a certain amount of time. I've already mentioned my experience in "perfect conditions" when I was on vacation. The weight of 71 kg didn't stay unfortunately. But maybe I can do sth. about it. Otherwise I just have to accept it how it is.

OP if it hasn't been said, look into taking digestive enzymes to increase your digestive capacity.

Interesting, I'll def. do that.

So I downloaded MyFitnessPal yesterday and can give you now 2 days of data:

The App puts my goals at 2450 kcals, 306 g carbs, 82 g fat, 123 g proteins (50, 30, 20 %)

Yesterday I managed to get in 3010 kcals, 271g carbs, 105 g fats, 224 g proteins (37, 32, 31 %)

Today (so far, I'll probably eat later a small musli with some protein powder and that might boost me even more. I already ate dinner.)
196 g carbs, 178 g fat, 124 g protein (27, 57, 17 %)

The fat from today comes from a pumpkin soup and two sausages. Nothing to worry here.

It's quite easy to get protein I think, but it's harder to get sufficient carbs. Especially without taking in too much fat, don't wanna burry that sixpack.

I also think any of those protein products like shakes or so should also help triggering the right mechanisms in my body to actually put on the weight.

 

[Pierce Manhammer]

Yes it actually is extraordinary considering the upper limit for most people is 2lbs a month and often times less of they have been training a long time. And that's if you are doing everything near perfect, including sleep, which most people do not. So real world results are probably more like 1.25 lbs as the upper limit for most people when factoring that in.

You are significantly above average so what is possible for you versus what is possible for the vast majority of people are two different things. Especially for the length of time this stayed well above average. If we are talking about percentiles you would be in the 99% percentile in terms of human capabilities to add muscle. Perhaps you have some myostatin mutation that gives you more enzymes to carry out the muscle building process that is the limiting step in most people. That would be the reason that would make the most sense.

still at one and a quarter pounds a month he could reach his goal in six or seven months. Keep in mind that he has double or triple the T I did it at his age.

Frankly I was winging the numbers it was probably more like six months and I went from 184 to 200. The only difference was I was resting a hell of a lot more than I have been previously due to an injury that I was recovering from. I’d been overtraining badly.

I think frankly, that was the key.

I did, however stay spot on on my diet and did it for years about cooking supper meals for myself for the new ones my family was eating prepping food days in advance and container rising it and being Monk like

 

[EyeBRollin]

Today (so far, I'll probably eat later a small musli with some protein powder and that might boost me even more. I already ate dinner.)
196 g carbs, 178 g fat, 124 g protein (27, 57, 17 %)

The fat from today comes from a pumpkin soup and two sausages. Nothing to worry here.

It's quite easy to get protein I think, but it's harder to get sufficient carbs. Especially without taking in too much fat, don't wanna burry that sixpack.

I also think any of those protein products like shakes or so should also help triggering the right mechanisms in my body to actually put on the weight.

You need to stop worrying about carbs and your six pack. You claim to want to gain weight; the macros right now are fvcked up. Physiologically your impression is actually backwards. It will be the fat that increases the waistline, not the carbs. Up those carbs to 400g and reduce the fat to 100g.

Eat some more rice and beans. Stop being afraid of rice, man.

 

[EyeBRollin]

Let’s do a math exercise:

400g carbs = 1,600 calories
100g fat = 900 calories
200g protein = 800 calories

That’s 3,300 calories of approximately 27% fat, 50% carbs, 23% protein. If that won’t do the trick , add another 1,000 calories per day in the form +100g carbs, +25g fat, +50g protein. Any questions?

 

[BackInTheGame78]

You need to stop worrying about carbs and your six pack. You claim to want to gain weight; the macros right now are fvcked up. Physiologically your impression is actually backwards. It will be the fat that increases the waistline, not the carbs. Up those carbs to 400g and reduce the fat to 100g.

Eat some more rice and beans. Stop being afraid of rice, man.

I'm not sure I would up the carbs that high, but in general this is correct. Carbs are the main energy source for building muscle, which requires a lot of excess energy.

Most people up their protein content but are afraid of carbs which makes little sense as it would be like having 5000 bricks dumped in a huge pile at the job site for a building with no workers to create it.

The building blocks are important to have no doubt, but they need something to help turn them into something useful and that requires energy expenditure and the best source to get that from is carbs.

It's funny when people argue that the body doesn't "need" carbs to build muscle but all they are doing is conning themselves since the body will convert other things like fat or protein into carbs if need be...which makes little sense since it needs to spend time and energy doing that which takes away from the time it can be doing other things like building muscle, and it cannot utilize those things for what it should be used for since they are being turned into carbs.

Just eat the damn carbs, they exist for a reason. Stop trying to use a hammer to cut a piece of wood. Use a saw. Use the right tool for the job.

 

[IKO69]

I'm not sure I would up the carbs that high, but in general this is correct. Carbs are the main energy source for building muscle, which requires a lot of excess energy.

Most people up their protein content but are afraid of carbs which makes little sense as it would be like having 5000 bricks dumped in a huge pile at the job site for a building with no workers to create it.

The building blocks are important to have no doubt, but they need something to help turn them into something useful and that requires energy expenditure and the best source to get that from is carbs.

It's funny when people argue that the body doesn't "need" carbs to build muscle but all they are doing is conning themselves since the body will convert other things like fat or protein into carbs if need be...which makes little sense since it needs to spend time and energy doing that which takes away from the time it can be doing other things like building muscle, and it cannot utilize those things for what it should be used for since they are being turned into carbs.

Just eat the damn carbs, they exist for a reason. Stop trying to use a hammer to cut a piece of wood. Use a saw. Use the right tool for the job.

The whole keto thing made everything topsy turvy. A lot of people definitely do overdo the carbs (which is not good) and so a reduction is warranted. Not sure about the 0 or near zero on a regular basis. The first time I ever encountered someone who did this was a colleague of mine, he had worked in a different department but I corresponded with him on a weekly basis. He was an IFBB pro bodybuilder and so he had a very regimented diet. I would ask him about a lot out of curiosity and he would always tell me how as part of prep would be going 0 carb for days at a time or whatever it was. I would pass by his workspace from time to time and he looked like he was spacing out, always had this smart water bottle with him that he would add a liquid enhancer to. It was always a very concentrated color i'd say bro what the **** did you dump the entire thing of mio into that? And he nearly did, it was required to function. When I saw that that is when I knew eschewing carbs altogether is not good. We need them, of course we can differentiate between a good and bad carb. Lentils and Beans are certainly better than donuts.

 

[EyeBRollin]

I'm not sure I would up the carbs that high, but in general this is correct. Carbs are the main energy source for building muscle, which requires a lot of excess energy.

400g of carbs is only 1,600 calories. No adult male is going to gain quality mass eating less than 3,000 calories. This means the carbs are only 50% of the macros. I am starting to think people in this thread aren’t actually serious about gaining mass. If not from mostly carbs, where are the calories supposed to come from?

 

[EyeBRollin]

Lentils and Beans are certainly better than donuts.

Correct. Not even in the same stratosphere. It is not even possible to get fat off beans. We literally cannot digest enough of them for that to happen.

 

[Obee1]

The whole keto thing made everything topsy turvy. A lot of people definitely do overdo the carbs (which is not good) and so a reduction is warranted. Not sure about the 0 or near zero on a regular basis. The first time I ever encountered someone who did this was a colleague of mine, he had worked in a different department but I corresponded with him on a weekly basis. He was an IFBB pro bodybuilder and so he had a very regimented diet. I would ask him about a lot out of curiosity and he would always tell me how as part of prep would be going 0 carb for days at a time or whatever it was. I would pass by his workspace from time to time and he looked like he was spacing out, always had this smart water bottle with him that he would add a liquid enhancer to. It was always a very concentrated color i'd say bro what the **** did you dump the entire thing of mio into that? And he nearly did, it was required to function. When I saw that that is when I knew eschewing carbs altogether is not good. We need them, of course we can differentiate between a good and bad carb. Lentils and Beans are certainly better than donuts.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

400g of carbs is only 1,600 calories. No adult male is going to gain quality mass eating less than 3,000 calories. This means the carbs are only 50% of the macros. I am starting to think people in this thread aren’t actually serious about gaining mass. If not from mostly carbs, where are the calories supposed to come from?

Sure you can gain mass at under 3000 calories. Depending on how much you weigh, and what your TDEE is, the normal recommendation to go 500 calories over.

So if a person's TDEE is 2300 calories, adding 500 to that would be 2800. The less you weigh, the lower your TDEE usually will be in comparison to if you weighed more.

Any more than that and you risk adding the mass as fat rather than muscle.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

The whole keto thing made everything topsy turvy. A lot of people definitely do overdo the carbs (which is not good) and so a reduction is warranted. Not sure about the 0 or near zero on a regular basis. The first time I ever encountered someone who did this was a colleague of mine, he had worked in a different department but I corresponded with him on a weekly basis. He was an IFBB pro bodybuilder and so he had a very regimented diet. I would ask him about a lot out of curiosity and he would always tell me how as part of prep would be going 0 carb for days at a time or whatever it was. I would pass by his workspace from time to time and he looked like he was spacing out, always had this smart water bottle with him that he would add a liquid enhancer to. It was always a very concentrated color i'd say bro what the **** did you dump the entire thing of mio into that? And he nearly did, it was required to function. When I saw that that is when I knew eschewing carbs altogether is not good. We need them, of course we can differentiate between a good and bad carb. Lentils and Beans are certainly better than donuts.

Probably carb cycling or possibly before contests to get as much water out of the body as possible to get stage ready.

 

[BoostedArrow]

Let’s do a math exercise:

400g carbs = 1,600 calories
100g fat = 900 calories
200g protein = 800 calories

That’s 3,300 calories of approximately 27% fat, 50% carbs, 23% protein. If that won’t do the trick , add another 1,000 calories per day in the form +100g carbs, +25g fat, +50g protein. Any questions?

I don't think just more calories will work. My baseline is prob around 2000-2200 and to gain weight the app put the goal at 2500 kcals. Now I'd say I eat regularly around 2800-3000 kcals per day, so from an calories standpoint I should gain weight all the time. But I don't. Eating more when your body doesn't actually builds it into the body is not effective.

Even when I was n vacation where I shoveled pancakes with nutella (chocolate with a lot of fat, carbs and calories) for breakfast, a salad for lunch and a lot of meat (mostly steaks and entrecotes) for dinner on my plate, I didn't gain weight in the longterm.

More than 150 g protein probably also doesn't make sense when your body gets inefficient using that protein.
More carbs are def. a point to work on. The question is only from where?

Sure you can gain mass at under 3000 calories. Depending on how much you weigh, and what your TDEE is, the normal recommendation to go 500 calories over.

So if a person's TDEE is 2300 calories, adding 500 to that would be 2800. The less you weigh, the lower your TDEE usually will be in comparison to if you weighed more.

Any more than that and you risk adding the mass as fat rather than muscle.

I agree, more than 3100 kcals doesn't make sense for me.

The whole keto thing made everything topsy turvy. A lot of people definitely do overdo the carbs (which is not good) and so a reduction is warranted. Not sure about the 0 or near zero on a regular basis. The first time I ever encountered someone who did this was a colleague of mine, he had worked in a different department but I corresponded with him on a weekly basis. He was an IFBB pro bodybuilder and so he had a very regimented diet. I would ask him about a lot out of curiosity and he would always tell me how as part of prep would be going 0 carb for days at a time or whatever it was. I would pass by his workspace from time to time and he looked like he was spacing out, always had this smart water bottle with him that he would add a liquid enhancer to. It was always a very concentrated color i'd say bro what the **** did you dump the entire thing of mio into that? And he nearly did, it was required to function. When I saw that that is when I knew eschewing carbs altogether is not good. We need them, of course we can differentiate between a good and bad carb. Lentils and Beans are certainly better than donuts.

The brain needs carbs in the morning. Especially mine when I study at the university.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I don't think just more calories will work. My baseline is prob around 2000-2200 and to gain weight the app put the goal at 2500 kcals. Now I'd say I eat regularly around 2800-3000 kcals per day, so from an calories standpoint I should gain weight all the time. But I don't. Eating more when your body doesn't actually builds it into the body is not effective.

Even when I was n vacation where I shoveled pancakes with nutella (chocolate with a lot of fat, carbs and calories) for breakfast, a salad for lunch and a lot of meat (mostly steaks and entrecotes) for dinner on my plate, I didn't gain weight in the longterm.

More than 150 g protein probably also doesn't make sense when your body gets inefficient using that protein.
More carbs are def. a point to work on. The question is only from where?


I agree, more than 3100 kcals doesn't make sense for me.


The brain needs carbs in the morning. Especially mine when I study at the university.

Do you track your calories and use food scales to weigh your food and get accurate counts? If not you are simply guessing and guessing isn't really a viable means to know with any certainty.

You can't solve an issue when you have no idea what your starting point is. I'd highly recommend you start doing this if you don't.

 

[BoostedArrow]

Do you track your calories and use food scales to weigh your food and get accurate counts? If not you are simply guessing and guessing isn't really a viable means to know with any certainty.

You can't solve an issue when you have no idea what your starting point is. I'd highly recommend you start doing this if you don't.

Yeah I agree. Me being skinny is probably part of my genetics. My mum told me my dad was the same when he was 18. As I said, my body looks great without a T-shirt, but some mass would be needed to also make it look good WITH a T-shirt.

There's def. a limit for what you can do in a certain amount of time. I've already mentioned my experience in "perfect conditions" when I was on vacation. The weight of 71 kg didn't stay unfortunately. But maybe I can do sth. about it. Otherwise I just have to accept it how it is.


Interesting, I'll def. do that.

So I downloaded MyFitnessPal yesterday and can give you now 2 days of data:

The App puts my goals at 2450 kcals, 306 g carbs, 82 g fat, 123 g proteins (50, 30, 20 %)

Yesterday I managed to get in 3010 kcals, 271g carbs, 105 g fats, 224 g proteins (37, 32, 31 %)

Today (so far, I'll probably eat later a small musli with some protein powder and that might boost me even more. I already ate dinner.)
196 g carbs, 178 g fat, 124 g protein (27, 57, 17 %)

The fat from today comes from a pumpkin soup and two sausages. Nothing to worry here.

It's quite easy to get protein I think, but it's harder to get sufficient carbs. Especially without taking in too much fat, don't wanna burry that sixpack.

I also think any of those protein products like shakes or so should also help triggering the right mechanisms in my body to actually put on the weight.

I use the numbers from the app. Sometimes I can scan the barcode or ask my mum how big my portions are.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I use the numbers from the app. Sometimes I can scan the barcode or ask my mum how big my portions are.

That's not accurate tracking. You are simply guessing. Buy a $10 food scale and track in grams.

 

[Obee1]

I use the numbers from the app. Sometimes I can scan the barcode or ask my mum how big my portions are.

I think I may have identified another issue that is keeping you from making the gains you want. I've read a lot of solid advice in this thread some of which you may not of wanted to hear or are inconvenient. I'll ask you though; does your words below sound like those of a man committed to making a change?

"I guess I'll try increasing my protein intake"
" I don't have that much time to eat a lot before uni starts."
"I don't really want to give up boxing"
"I try to eat balanced:"
"I looked at creatine, but it's kinda useless, since it's just water in your muscles."
"But a bit mass would be nice,"
" so hopefully it'll work."
"Sometimes I can scan the barcode or ask my mum how big my portions are."
" I don't think just more calories will work. "
"Me being skinny is probably part of my genetics."
" I just have to accept it how it is."
"There's def. a limit for what you can do in a certain amount of time."

 

[BoostedArrow]

I think I may have identified another issue that is keeping you from making the gains you want. I've read a lot of solid advice in this thread some of which you may not of wanted to hear or are inconvenient. I'll ask you though; does your words below sound like those of a man committed to making a change?

You guys recommended getting MyFitnessPal to track calories. I did that immediately and have now 5 days of data.
You guys said I should do benchpresses with barbells instead of dumbbells. Now I started with them and do both.
Squats have been in my routine since the beginning of the year.
In the beginning a guy also said doing more sets/reps helps. I adjusted my workout for that.
I restarted using protein shakes since like a week or so. (according to the app MyFitnessPal that got recommended here my protein intake is sufficient. More so if I drink my protein shake. I'm also incorporating more carbs now.)

I'd say I did implement some of the things you guys said.
But you also need to understand that it shouldn't interfere with the other things I have to do. I can't eat a huge meal for lunch when I have to get back to studying for my exams in an engineering degree. Being bloated would suck out too much time I cannot afford rn.

I also mentionned multiple times that when I was on vacation where excercise/rest/food were in perfect conditions, but nothing sticked.

Creatine doesn't make sense to me rn, I watched a few YT-videos on them and it's a nice to have but it's not that effective long-term speaking.

I know all those things sound like excuses, but they're also factors one has to count in. Calling me not committed is just unfair, since I've been going to the gym regularly for well 2 years now and have been watching my diet so that it's healthy/balanced and with a sufficient protein intake. It's frustrating to me, but if I have to plan my whole day around measuring on the gramm precise the carbs/fats/proteins then that's too much effort. I also don't think it makes that much of a difference.