Weight gain advice

[cow-hugger]

Hey guys, i've been trying to gain weight for a few years now, but to no success. Im 20 years old, 178cm, 52kg and haven't put on weight for years and years. I feel like im letting down the vegan team considerably

At the moment im taking advice from the Thrive Fitness book for about 4 months now. This mainly uses free-weights and a bench.
Currently swimming about 3 times per week, roughly 2km at a time (this is primarily to gain some bredth in the shoulders).

I've completly cut whatever alcohol that i consumed out, and am now completly focused on putting on some bulk.

Techniques, diet and any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

[Talyn]

The best advice we can give you without seeing your regular diet plan would be simply to eat more. Adding weight training to your lifestyle is all good and well, but you've got to eat a whole lot more.

Being in Australia you have a mass of options. Find someone that stocks fry's stuff, sanitarium vege roasts and tofutti cuties and soon will have no problems with not being able to bulk up

[JP]

first, put down that Thrive book

second, adopt a see food diet. Eat anything vegan you see.

Jokes aside, you just need to consume a bit more calories than you burn - thats the start and end of it. The trouble of putting on weight could do with many things, but often simply from lack of apetite and routines to eat adequate amount of calories per day. Many think that they are eating a lot, but actually arent when you look into it.

[cow-hugger]

sounds good guys. I already eat like a horse anyway, just got a really fast metabolism.

[baldy]

sounds good guys. I already eat like a horse anyway, just got a really fast metabolism.

I doubt it, how about keeping a training and nutrition log? It feels like I eat like a horse, but when compared to other bulkers its clear I have a pretty small appetite (but bigger than talyns ).

[JP]

I doubt it, how about keeping a training and nutrition log? It feels like I eat like a horse, but when compared to other bulkers its clear I have a pretty small appetite (but bigger than talyns ).

maybe some bulkers, and then me on a fucking diet! Talyn did ok at vegan fitness week

Honestly, a lot of people blame fast metabolism and what not, but simply are not eating enough.

Maybe worth writing down next three days of eating and tally it all up?

[baldy]

Also your still pretty young, I was still growing at 20. Are you getting taller? Either way you need to eat more

[cow-hugger]

Also your still pretty young, I was still growing at 20. Are you getting taller? Either way you need to eat more

I dont think im growing, but i will prob start to when bulking up.

Thanks for the advice guys, ill just start eating huge amounts and keep a log of eating and training

[human vegetable]

cow-hugger, instead of focusing on mere quantity, go for caloric density. Being vegan, it is easy to stuff yourself silly with fruits and veggies without ingesting any substantial amount of calories. Therefore, consume foods that contain a lot of calories, e. g. nuts and seeds, legumes, soy products, grains. Make these the staples of your diet, and regard fruits and veggies as mere side dishes.

Use a blender and other means of food procession to speed up digestion.

Snack between meals - always have a bag of nuts or dried fruit with you (what the heck - take both)

In the weight room (and with strength training in general), focus on brief workouts which consist of few sets of basic compound exercises (horizontal and vertical push, horizontal and vertical pull, quad and hip dominant lower body). Working with free weights is the most common approach and will work fine if good form is a priority. But there are alternatives (machines, calisthenics) which may save small-jointed guys like you (and me) some cartilage.

Don't be fooled by the big guys buried under a shitload of iron - most of them have been robust types from the start, and merely chose an activity which allows them to capitalize on their natural talents. The same goes for competitive swimmers. Their sport didn't contribute an awful lot to their perfect v-tapers, that's just how they are built.

Any form of progressive resistance training with times under tension (TUTs) below 1 minute per set will get you close to your muscular size potential, given the right kind of caloric bang. Unfortunately, many men have unrealistic expectations about how much lean muscle they can pack on naturally, but that's a different story.

And, limit your cardio. A single set of overhead pressing (or divebomber pushups to failure) will do more for your shoulder width than half an hour in the pool. If you do cardio at all, go for low intensity steady state (more of an active recovery thing) and keep the length of each session under 45 minutes.

[cow-hugger]

so being 'focused' on bulk didn't really go to plan over summer (as the heat is killer in australia)

So i'm just wondering what the best bulk up excercises are. I feel a bit overwhelmed by all the routine thread links, and would like some help.
Super keen to get into it, and will start a training/food log soon.

thanks

[JP]

heavy squats.

[Mellos]

At that weight you don´t need any specialised routines.
Just include squats, deadlifts, pull ups, overhead press and benchpress, keep the amount of reps between 5 and 15, the amount of sets somewhere between 2 and 5 and try to reach muscle failure or come close to it (nobody grows by lifting easy weights).
That´s all.
Then again: eat.
Also take the advice that was already given and write down whatever you eat for some days to count the total of each days calories. Then you can tell us and we will tell you, if you really eat a lot

Train hard, eat, rest, sleep, repeat.
That´s all you need.

[xrodolfox]

I just saw this thread, so I'm late the party.

This caught my attention:

Currently swimming about 3 times per week, roughly 2km at a time (this is primarily to gain some bredth in the shoulders).

Whether swimming will "bulk" you up depends on the type of swimming you are doing.

MOST recreational swimmers get in the pool and swim 2km w/out stop, at a pace which is as fast as they can reasonably swim without stopping. The focus is on going the distance.

This sort of swimming will not succeed in muscle gain at all. In fact, this exercise is the most likely to cause swimming related repetitive injuries (if done in large quantities) besides being the most boring. This training is pointless for increasing speed or overall fitness. But it is great if you want to put on a layer of fat.

If you want to get muscle, work on technique. If you want to build strength/speed, do intervals.

[Anton]

http://stronglifts.com/about-stronglifts/

[etherspin]

I just saw this thread, so I'm late the party.

This caught my attention:

Currently swimming about 3 times per week, roughly 2km at a time (this is primarily to gain some bredth in the shoulders).

Whether swimming will "bulk" you up depends on the type of swimming you are doing.

MOST recreational swimmers get in the pool and swim 2km w/out stop, at a pace which is as fast as they can reasonably swim without stopping. The focus is on going the distance.

This sort of swimming will not succeed in muscle gain at all. In fact, this exercise is the most likely to cause swimming related repetitive injuries (if done in large quantities) besides being the most boring. This training is pointless for increasing speed or overall fitness. But it is great if you want to put on a layer of fat.

If you want to get muscle, work on technique. If you want to build strength/speed, do intervals.

cool , so how would you distribute 2km worth of swimming using interval method?