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Originally Posted by djsFlames
Does anybody have any suggestions for muscle mass/weight gain?
I'm a slimmer guy who's pretty well toned, and do upper body strength training routines (that were suggested online) fairly regularly now and am running around at work almost everyday. But with my metabolism, gaining that muscle mass is tough, and I'm not quite the size I'm looking to get to. I'm trying these protein supplements that are aimed at mass gain, with about 800-1000 calories/serving when mixed in a glass of milk. Also am eating plenty of natural proteins in ham, chicken, beef etc, but bulking up is difficult. Any tips from those who've found some success in doing this? Would be interested to hear from others.
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It is quite easy to make a homemade gainer shake that isnt loaded with all the refined sugar that the prepackaged ones are- scoop of protein, whole milk, oats, bananas, and some peanut butter. You can blend the oats first to turn it into a powder.
Anyway, ectomorphs with a fast metabolism will have a considerably higher BMR than others, but getting getting a caloric intake of your BMR + exercise expenditures + 500 or so should see you put on muscle mass. This of course must be accompanied by a solid work out plan that includes upper and lower body. With your goals, perhaps a work out plan that really includes the basic compound exercises is ideal- heavy lifting in the 6-10 rep range. As mentioned above, avoiding cardio at first may be ideal.
Either way, a caloric surplus is the key to putting on mass- and certainly you don't need to be stingy on carbs. A 35% protein, 45% carbs, 20% fats may be the sort of ratio you are looking for- while those in a leaning out phase would certianly want to lower the carbs considerably.
The last thing to consider is that progress can be slow, but monitoring your results is a great idea- is the amount you can lift increasing over time, is your own body weight increasing etc. Most importantly, you cant be afraid to put on a little body fat at first. If see too much coming on, perhaps scale back the calories or introduce cardio.