Weight Gain

I have always had trouble gaining any weight. I could gain 3-5 pounds, but stall out. It was annoying. That has changed. I gained 7 pounds in about 3 months. 4 of which were in the past month. Granted, there was a little fat gained, I'm sure most of it was muscle, due to my increases in strength.

How did I gain this weight? I'll tell you.

First, I ate a lot. No, I mean a lot. Some teenage guys think they eat a lot, but don't count calories. I counted my calories for a month once and found out I was only eating 2900-3200 calories a day. A calculator said I burned 3000-3500 a day. No wonder I couldn't gain weight, I thought I was eating more than I was burning, I was wrong. You claim you can't eat more? Just really eat a ton every meal! Some guys eat a ton on one meal, once I started eating a ton each meal, I noticed my gains came faster.

Sadly, some of us can't really eat enough to gain weight because we literally feel like barfing. Solution: drink 0.5-1 gallon of WHOLE milk everyday. This is what I do, because I now burn 3500-4000 calories a day. Drinking that much milk adds 1200-2400 calories to your daily intake. Pretty cool. A little fat gain will happen. Abs aren't even that cool, take a chill pill and drink your milk.

Oh, and don't you dare believe that you can have McDonalds, Buger King and Oreos and except to gain muscle. Eat healthy, eat a ton. Don't let eating healthy control your life. You don't need altra-organic food. You know what is healthy, now go eat a lot of it... oh, and make sure you're getting carbs, fat, protein and some micronutrients. Don't cut out any of them!

Second, I lifted. I lift 3 days a week. Full body workouts, big movements. Squats, dead lifts, overhead press, bench/weighted dips, rows and pull ups are ALL you need for gaining mass. I personally squat 2-3 days a week, deadlift 1-2 days a week, overhead press 1-2 days a week, dips 1-2 days a week, rows 2-3 days a week and pull ups 1 day a week. I mix up the reps and the weight... not the exercises. Stick to them! 

Thirdly, I cut back on conditioning and stress. Conditioning is important, but don't overkill it. My body couldn't handle hill sprints 2-3 days a week while working a manual labor job 30-35 hours a week. If you don't work a physically tasking job, sprints 2-3 days a week is fine. Maybe add in 3-7 hours of walking a week. I walk about 30, and gained weight.

For stress: just do what has to be done. Don't worry about what you can't control. 

Finally, I slept. When your work your body wicked hard, sleep is needed. Sadly, I could not always get 8 hours. College does that to ya. Try your best to get 7-9 hours. It helps you work, study and workout. Just make it a darn habit... sorry, but if you want better health and better gain, you're going to have to reduce your late night parties.