[Sleek]

I just started StrongLifts 5x5 this week and am really looking forward to gaining some muscle for the first time in my life.

After doing some more research though, it appeared obvious to me that I was underweight. Maybe some of you can relate: I'm 17 years old, 5'11, and weigh only ~145 lb. I don't get enough protein/calories into my diet, so in order to get some more muscle mass, I figured a protein/weight gain supplement would be a good idea.

So I found a great post by Virgle Kent on how he was able to get bigger and referred to a supplement.

Took a little peak around that supplement and it looked like it was just what I was looking for. The problem arose when I saw this on the website: "Warning: Not intended for use by persons under 18."

As I mentioned before, I'm only 17. Anybody with any experience in this field (doctors, weight lifters, etc.), please let me know if I can go ahead and purchase this item or if it would be silly for me to do so.

I'm leaning more towards getting the supplement, but the insights on this forum are so widespread and vast, I felt like it couldn't hurt to drop a post.

[reaper23]

grass fed whole milk.

[HoustonRookie]

Another good way to pack in healthy calories is to eat smoothies inbetween meals. About a month ago I started eating Breakfast - Smoothie - Lunch - Smoothie - Dinner. I've gone from 150 to 161 in about 4 weeks. Use Whole Milk as a base for the smoothie, throw in a banana and any other kind of fruit, and then scoop in some non-fat yogurt and a scoop of weigh protein. The smoothies taste great and you'll gain weight faster.

[polish rumble]

The first rule of gaining weight is that supplements cannot replace the everyday diet, that's why they are called supplements bcuz it's supposed to help your diet not replace it. My advice is simple, instead of throwing cash into chemicals, make a solid everyday diet consisted of natural products (tuna, chicken breast, rice, white cheese etc). If your diet is not on track, supplements won't change anything.

[MikeCF]

Every supplement company has to put that there. It's a cover your ass thing. They also always warn away pregnant or nursing mothers.

But unless you are drinking your gallon of milk a day, you don't need to fuss with supplements.

[Sleek]

(09-13-2012 01:41 PM)MikeCF Wrote:  

Every supplement company has to put that there. It's a cover your ass thing. They also always warn away pregnant or nursing mothers.

But unless you are drinking your gallon of milk a day, you don't need to fuss with supplements.

Hmm... part of the reason I liked the idea of the supplement was because whole milk doesn't taste good to me. But I really like the idea of a smoothie. Good suggestion, Houston.

[HiFlo]

LOL at muscletech masstech!!! That's the worst crap you can get, and way overpriced.

Just consume maltodextrin with whey protein for a simple, DIY weight gainer.

You can take 'shots' of olive oil, eat whole eggs, and other caloric dense foods to get your cals up.

[Sleek]

(09-13-2012 01:54 PM)HiFlo Wrote:  

LOL at muscletech masstech!!! That's the worst crap you can get, and way overpriced.

Just consume maltodextrin with whey protein for a simple, DIY weight gainer.

You can take 'shots' of olive oil, eat whole eggs, and other caloric dense foods to get your cals up.

Haha I don't know the first thing about supps, so I'm happy I asked.

[MikeCF]

(09-13-2012 01:51 PM)Sleek Wrote:  

Hmm... part of the reason I liked the idea of the supplement was because whole milk doesn't taste good to me. But I really like the idea of a smoothie. Good suggestion, Houston.

Perhaps you could dip some Oreos in your milk?

17 is still a kid but is old enough to start making adult decisions about your body.

"Unless ingesting something makes you actually vomit, then it tastes fine." - Motto of an adult who wants to gain muscle

[Menace]

I see no viable way for an ectomorph like myself to get extra calories but to use supplements, otherwise I will not comply with a high calorie diet. Why does the body see the calories and nutrients in a supplement differently than in whole foods? Supplements provide convenience, and convenience helps compliance. Without compliance there will be no weight gain, at least for me.

[Sleek]

(09-13-2012 02:07 PM)MikeCF Wrote:  

(09-13-2012 01:51 PM)Sleek Wrote:  

Hmm... part of the reason I liked the idea of the supplement was because whole milk doesn't taste good to me. But I really like the idea of a smoothie. Good suggestion, Houston.

Perhaps you could dip some Oreos in your milk?

17 is still a kid but is old enough to start making adult decisions about your body.

"Unless ingesting something makes you actually vomit, then it tastes fine." - Motto of an adult who wants to gain muscle

Sure, but at the same time, I'm not going to go out of my way to drink a gallon of milk a day if I don't like the taste. There isn't enough benefit in doing that. Especially if I do GOMAD, I may have to burn all that fat off when I reach my target weight.

[WanderingSoul]

MikeCF is right, drinking lots of whole milk is a great way to put on mass when combined with a 3/5x5 program like you are doing. I was able to put on about 10lbs of muscle in my first month of Starting Strength, combined with eating lots of food/milk. The only supplement you need is some solid protein powder. Possibly creatine later on, but your newbie gains are going to be so good if you eat right creatine won't be necessary.

If you can't stomach milk, get yourself some Muscle Milk, or a cheaper alternative. I drink this: http://www.amazon.com/CytoSport-Muscle-M...B000087HF8 it tastes great, but is a bit expensive. Basically a meal in a bottle. People will bitch and say it has too much fat, but you are using this as a MEAL, not just to get extra protein.

Spend some time over here: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/forumdispl...order=desc You will be able to learn a lot more on that forum about this subject.

[BIGINJAPAN]

Weight gainers usually have a lot of sugars in them.... Doesn't matter what stage of your life you are in you do not need the kind of sugar in weight gainers. Just up your protein intake with a high quality whey and increase healthy fats. Eat avacados, whole eggs, add olive oil and coconut oil to all your shakes.

This will keep you lean while you pack on muscles. If you are naturally really skinny it just takes time to pack muscle on but rest assured it will happen.

Also educate yourself on the different muscle fibers. Most people do not train properly and therefore will never achieve significant gains. For example the chest is made up of fast twitch muscle fibers (60%) but everyone does higher reps and only hits 40% of the chest. The abs are another perfect example they are like 95% fast twitch so you need to hit them with low reps that are powerful and explosive.

Knowing the difference between the different fibers will accelerate growth.

[fkexpat]

Peanut Butter is great. Healthy fats, lots of protein, zero prep.

[WanderingSoul]

(09-13-2012 02:33 PM)BIGINJAPAN Wrote:  

Weight gainers usually have a lot of sugars in them.... Doesn't matter what stage of your life you are in you do not need the kind of sugar in weight gainers. Just up your protein intake with a high quality whey and increase healthy fats. Eat avacados, whole eggs, add olive oil and coconut oil to all your shakes.

This will keep you lean while you pack on muscles. If you are naturally really skinny it just takes time to pack muscle on but rest assured it will happen.

Also educate yourself on the different muscle fibers. Most people do not train properly and therefore will never achieve significant gains. For example the chest is made up of fast twitch muscle fibers (60%) but everyone does higher reps and only hits 40% of the chest. The abs are another perfect example they are like 95% fast twitch so you need to hit them with low reps that are powerful and explosive.

Knowing the difference between the different fibers will accelerate growth.

He is 5"11' and 145lbs. He needs to BULK. He doesn't need to worry about his body fat if he is doing the Stronglifts routine. With being a novice lifter, and doing heavy compound lifts, his body is going to pack on muscle like crazy. I agree to stay away from anything super high in sugar, but right now he just needs to do heavy compound lifts and eat, his bodyfat won't be a concern.

As far as muscle fibers go, he really doesn't need to know any of this for a long time. All he needs to do to hit his abs at this point is SQUAT and DEADLIFT. That's it.

Sleek, just focus on following the Stronglifts or Starting Strength routine and EATING. Don't worry about any supplements other than protein. Don't worry about if you are hitting your abs fast twitch muscle fibers correctly, or anything like that. Eat, lift heavy, don't miss workouts, and sleep. This is all you need to do right now.

[Basil Ransom]

Do what I do:



Heavy cream smoothies.

I have one of these every morning:

8 ounces 'Manufacturing Cream,' about 960 calories, 0g sugar. I get it for $7 for a half gallon from Smart and Final.
~1/4 cup of full fat yogurt - 50 calories, ~3.5g sugar
4 oz. water
2 scoops of whey protein - ~44-50g protein
~1/4 cup of frozen blueberries - ~3g of sugar
Cinnamon for health and taste
Hope to add flax seed in the future

You're looking at around 1200 calories, in about a liter of fluid, with very little sugar, <5% by calories. Plus half the sugar is from berries, and the other half from yogurt. Sugar consumed with fat has a reduced glycemic effect as well. You can increase the smoothie by half, and get 1800 calories. This is easily my cheapest source of calories, and I'm still super hungry when lunch rolls around.

I vastly favor this over milk because the sugar content is much lower and the calorie content much higher. To get an equivalent calorie content from whole milk, you'd have to drink six or so cups of milk, which would include ~70g of sugar. You can also use half and half, an in-between solution, sugar-wise.

It's creamier, though not as sweet. The yogurt lends a nice smoothie texture to it, plus its bacterial cultures probably help too. When I drink a lot of milk, it seems like I get a little chubby. Not so with cream, which is sugarfree. And drinking a gallon of milk is much harder on my body then a cup or two of heavy cream. I drank 3/4 gallon of milk for two days and had a sore throat, and stopped.

I also blend just the cream first, to give it the consistency of whipped cream.

[BIGINJAPAN]

Why pack on fat if you don't need to ? And why not learn how to do something right at the start ?

I agree anything he does at this point will have a dramatic affect. But why not use all the knowledge some of us have from years and years of training and dieting so he can achieve goals quicker ? That is the whole goal of these forums, is take the trial and error of others and get goals accomplished quicker.

[WanderingSoul]

And read some Mark Rippetoe quotes:

Quote:

There are no shortcuts. The fact that a shortcut is important to you means that you are a pussy. Let me be clear here: if you'd rather take steroids than do your squats heavy and drink enough milk, then you are a fucking Pussy. I have no time or patience for fucking Pussies. Please tell everyone you know that I said this.

Quote:

"Yes, if you squat wrong it fucks things up. If you squat correctly, those same fucked-up things will unfuck themselves."

Quote:

"...what should my ideal body weight be for this program? Have you made a table for this, or what do you recommend?" - trainee

"Your ideal bodyweight as an ectomorph at 6' 0" will be 214.378 lbs. There. Happy? And if you lose or gain a pound, I will have you killed. It is important to be ideal.." - Rip

Quote:

There are few things graven in stone, except that you have to squat or you're a pussy.

[reaper23]

(09-13-2012 02:26 PM)Sleek Wrote:  

(09-13-2012 02:07 PM)MikeCF Wrote:  

(09-13-2012 01:51 PM)Sleek Wrote:  

Hmm... part of the reason I liked the idea of the supplement was because whole milk doesn't taste good to me. But I really like the idea of a smoothie. Good suggestion, Houston.

Perhaps you could dip some Oreos in your milk?

17 is still a kid but is old enough to start making adult decisions about your body.

"Unless ingesting something makes you actually vomit, then it tastes fine." - Motto of an adult who wants to gain muscle

Sure, but at the same time, I'm not going to go out of my way to drink a gallon of milk a day if I don't like the taste. There isn't enough benefit in doing that. Especially if I do GOMAD, I may have to burn all that fat off when I reach my target weight.

let us know if you find a way to add significant muscle mass without gaining some fat.

whole milk is the entire supplement industry's wet dream. the right kind of fats, sugars and proteins all in one drink.

its easy to measure too. did i drink my milk today?

grass fed whole milk. its really pretty simple.

[WanderingSoul]

(09-13-2012 02:55 PM)BIGINJAPAN Wrote:  

Why pack on fat if you don't need to ? And why not learn how to do something right at the start ?

I agree anything he does at this point will have a dramatic affect. But why not use all the knowledge some of us have from years and years of training and dieting so he can achieve goals quicker ? That is the whole goal of these forums, is take the trial and error of others and get goals accomplished quicker.

You shouldn't. However, with doing a 5x5 routine as a skinny novice, he won't pack on much fat at all. He will pack on a shit ton of muscle. I know, I was in a similar situation to him several years ago.

If he was looking to add 5lbs of muscle, that is one thing. But he needs to put on 30-50lbs of muscle. It is MUCH faster for him to bulk up, and then cut down, than it is for him to cleanly put on that much muscle. Doing heavy compound lifts wont allow him to get fat at this stage of his lifting career, as long as he isn't drowning himself in McDoanlds each night.

[Deif]

Weight gain supplement = eat more.

[reaper23]

(09-13-2012 02:59 PM)RioNomad Wrote:  

And read some

Quote:

There are few things graven in stone, except that you have to squat or you're a pussy.

amen

[MikeCF]

I take protein powder, vitamins, minerals, probiotics, greens....I'm very pro-supplement.

But if you are skinny, you don't need to "dial in" your nutrition.

You need to drink your milk like a man and stop crying about how bad it tastes.

If you're black or something and lactose intolerant, obviously find another way.

But if it's just taste...man the fuck up and drink it down.

[FretDancer]

(09-13-2012 03:06 PM)Deif Wrote:  

Weight gain supplement = eat more.

Yes. I'm really not sure how Weight gain supplements are supposed to work to gain weight, but for some people its very hard to gain weight. So just saying "eat more" isn't really much. In many cases, believe it or not, you could say "Easier said than done".

[Basil Ransom]

(09-13-2012 03:23 PM)FretDancer Wrote:  

(09-13-2012 03:06 PM)Deif Wrote:  

Weight gain supplement = eat more.

Yes. I'm really not sure how Weight gain supplements are supposed to work to gain weight, but for some people its very hard to gain weight. So just saying "eat more" isn't really much. In many cases, believe it or not, you could say "Easier said than done".

Yes and no. Eat more is the answer. Those who find that difficult may just be pussies. Or they legitimately have trouble stuffing more food down their throat without getting sick. Either way, there's workarounds like fatty cuts of meat and my heavy cream shake.

I was skinny. Still not huge, at a BMI of about 25. Skinny guys like to think they eat a lot, but I'm convinced many of them just binge eat. They'll eat a lot in one sitting, but if you counted their calories over the course of a few days, it wouldn't be that high. I never had consuming, frequent pangs of hunger in my skinny days, like I do now.

How many of these skinny guys could eat two pounds of good meat for dinner every night if given the chance? If you can't do that, you're not trying hard enough.