Weight gain?

Ngalbrai

Hi,
I ride 40k a day as my commute. I have a pretty good diet. Despite feeling fit I am getting a bit sick of comments about being "thin". I have historically found that if I up my eating beyond what I feel I need I basically end up feeling horribly bloated and bunged up and end up just going to the bathroom more rather than gaining weight (too much information, sorry…). I am 5'7" and 65kg

So, I was wondering about the various whey protien powders avaiable. I know generally these are recommended as part of a muscle building regime, with just the cardio exercise involved in daily cycling would whey protien help with energy levels and some general weight gain?

If so, from a metabolic point of view when is the best time to take it during the day? If cycling at 7.00AM and say 6.00pm?

Thanks.

TheGreatGatsby

If you want to build lan muscle whilst doing that much cardio your best bet is to start on a weight training programme. Things like Whey protein will help but only in the building/maintaining of the muscle you're bulking. Creatine is a good bulker. Most body builders will bulk and cut ie eat tons and push big weights to build as much muslce bullk as possible, this is maintained for a 4-6 month cycle and then they start cutting ie GRADUALLY dropping the cals in, move to high reps of lower weight sand up the cardio. It does take time though.

When I was trying to bulk whilst doing that amount of cardio I had to eat to a strict regime and train my body to handle the amount of food. Its calorie counting but in a much different way. Where as now I'm watching calories in take to lose weight, bulking requires watching them to gain getting the %'s of protein fat and cabrs right etc. EAT MORE FAT! of both good and bad. thats where I failed I couldn't understand how that works but it does. Fat is your friend when bulking but make sure its from things like Mackerel, nuts, seeds, flaxseed oil, avocados etc. they are the best caveats to building muscle.

Check out www.myprotein.co.uk for some great products with whey protein and some good articles on gradual weight gain for lean muscle. They'll explain it better than me and go into things like BCAA (branch chain amino acids) and whole protein sources.

Good luck!

Gats

ut_och_cykla

If you feel well and don't get lots of colds etc you're probabaly ok weight wise. But if you really want to gain weight using a 'gainer' (carbs & protein combined) might help
However you'd probabaly do better eating an extra slice of bread and lean meat/fish a day with a glass of full fat milk.
if you want muscles you need to use them. your legs are 'adapted ' to cycling. Biceps /chest/back muscles etc will need more 'use' to develop. Start with pull ups on a bar, press ups, cruches etc. adn see how you go. SAve gym stuff for the winter...

LingfieldXC

I'm currently on a weight gain. I am 5'8" and a little bit and 9 and 3/4 stone. I am moving boats for sailing and need to be 11st. I have allways done mtbing and have started swimming regularly. I eat a lot without putting on weight. I just started drinking energy drinks when swimming meaning I burn less fat doing cardio. This means that all amino acids are put towards muscle building rather than as an energy source. Seems to be working as have gained a bit. I think I might also start taking supplement.
I also do pressups and situps every eivening.
I have also doubled my daily liquid intake.

CrookedCucumber

From the perspective of a middle-aged man, I can't help thinking that if you tend to be thin without undereating, you should jolly well make the most of it

Most likely it won't last, and you'll end up like most middle-aged men who care about their fitness: dieting and training like a lunatic just to avoid turning into Jabba the Hut.

Skindog

May sound obvious - but EAT, Eat and Eat more...

Used to be in a similar situation years ago, went on a bodybuilding trip which worked wonders, trouble is the hardest part of the whole regime was eating, actually force feeding yourself. Was on a 5k caloire a day diet, not nice but worked..

CARBS is your friend when bulking, decent complex ones rice, pasta, wholemeal bread etc.. Not shite sugar loaded carb foods..

For protein powders i found Alli-In-One to be extremely cheap, still got 4 tubs from when I stopped BB..

z000m

before i reached middle age i could eat pies and cakes all day long, but then i slowed down a bit and my weight caught up with me, took ages to put things right.

CrookedCucumber

z000m wrote:

before i reached middle age i could eat pies and cakes all day long, but then i slowed down a bit and my weight caught up with me, took ages to put things right.

Quite. That's why advice like `Eat, eat, eat' makes me profoundly uncomfortable.

I can't see why anybody who pursues an endurance sport should want to gain weight, even lean weight. Provided you eat properly and in the right balance, your muscles will develop in a way that is compatible with the exercise demands placed on them. Beyond that, any weight increase will hurt on the hills.

If you're naturally very thin, and you're training hard and eating sensibly, then offer up a prayer of thanks for being made that way It almost certainly won't last, so enjoy it while you can.

azzerb

I wouldn't worry too much, you don't sound that thin for your height. I'm 5'11 and about 5-7kg heavier that you.

If you're happy how you look and it's functional, stay with it. Otherwise, try to build up lean muscle. Pull ups and chin ups will add a bit of bulk to you, press ups, crunches, squats etc etc. If you can, do a workout every 48 hours, though don't push too much if you can't sustain this, oh and don't do more often that 48 hours either, you're body is still in peak hormone production during this time to put muscle on and you want to put quality training in, not half hearted efforts.

Hey, you could even train to do planches even if you're up for a stupid challenge! lol

buddha

Ngalbrai wrote:

... I am getting a bit sick of comments about being "thin"....

They must be jealous. Like others have said, enjoy it while you can !!
Though I would email you 10kg of my surplus for starters ... If only such things were possible

andrewgturnbull

Hi there.

As azzerb menitioned you don't sound execesively thin. I'm 5'11" and 69kg, and happy with that.

The truth is that over the last 10 years the rest of the general population has got fatter - anyone making comments to you is just jealous.

Weight is just a function of your lifestyle: Do the training you want to do, pick healthy foods, eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full.

Whatever weight you end up is the weight you should be!

Cheers, Andy

Ngalbrai

I think those of you that have made the comment about jealousy are definately right, I'm 32 and have noticed that my friends are all getting a bit squishy, so if I can stay a lean, mean, cycling, diving and salsa'ing machine into my 50's then I guess i should count my blessings!

I think as per suggestions I will work in some pullups/pressups shoulder raises and crunches, used to do all that lot with a much shorter commute and felt more balanced strength/tone wise, have yet to summon the inclination with longer commute but your comments have helped and will hopefully galvanise me into some further action!

So, starting from 0, mixing it up with a daily commute what do you recon i aught to start on reps and days wise and what I should then work towards reaching as say a 3 month goal realistically? i have a fair idea but some second opinions will help...

azzerb

It's all down to you, I personally only do press ups/chin ups/pull ups/curls and bench press once a week, so i maintain my current muscle build. Though i train every 48 hours, doing intervals on the bike, then i do straight leg raises, bent leg raises, crunches, planks, weighted inclined sit ups and weighted reverse and normal crunch at the same time.

I'd recomend doing press ups, planks, pull ups/chin ups, crunches every 3 days. Do each set to the point where you can't do any more 3 times. So you could work it as a circuit and do it 3 times. If you did it in that order, it might be better as it gives your arms a chance to recover while you're working on your stomach. The thing which you might notice is that if you're pushing yourself really hard, you're going to be really achy the next day, but also you'll be gaining more lean mass, so cutting down your fat %.

Maybe next winter join your local gym, and start working out more if you enjoy it?