Sport How come I'm so skinny?

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lukefiveoh

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I'm 6'1" 132 pounds and 24 years old. I've been the same size exact size and weight for about 8 years. I started working out about a year and a half ago, but haven't gained a single pound. I can definetly see improvements in my strength though. Nothing huge, but improvement.

I try and eat very healthy. I have lots of salad, yogurt, fruit, and bread. I always make sure to get a lot of protein with meat and a protein supplement. All I drink is water and fruit juice (usually orange juice). I haven't had a soda in 6 years 4 months.

Why haven't I gained any weight? I want to gain more muscle. Sometimes it seems like I would be better off if I ate poorly so I could gain fat then I could turn that into muscle.

The reason I need to gain more muscle is that I'm leaving for the Navy's Officer Candidate School soon and I heard that guys like me who are real skinny have a hard time because we're so skinny. Something about always being hungry while there and not getting fed enough food.
 
Count calories mate and you'll see whether you eat enough or not. Try to eat at least 1000 kcal more than you should and take it from there
 
As fitlife says, most likely you're skinny because you don't eat enough, dude. Eat more. How do you know how much is more?

. Add 1000 calories every 1-2 weeks until you find a range at which you are gaining as much weight as you like (without adding noticeable amounts of fat).

Also, either stop being a ****y in the gym, or learn to do it right, because as a beginner training for 1.5 years you should have at least doubled your strength on every major lift.
 
You are the same guy who started the thread about doing 300 situps. So I will say the same thing here and I did there. You gotta broaden your lifting horizon. There are other lifts out there. You do in fact have legs, work them out! Lunges and squats, then rows, presses, dips, pullups for upper. That's just a start, there's tons of variation on all exercises. Combine these with surplus eating, and you'll gain weight. You just have to be disciplined, and track what you eat, and work hard.
 
As someone who was 125lbs at 22 years old it's very simple, if you're not gaining weight you're not eating enough. Take the time to figure out how many calories you are currently consuming and then begin to add more calories during the day. At one point I was consuming almost 6000 calories a day. :)
 
Ok, I'm going to figure out how many calories I usually eat. I went to a web site and entered all my info and it looks like I need about 3100 calories. So, adding 1000 would be around 4000 calories a day. I'll check out FitDay, it looks cool.

And for doubling my strength. I've more than doubled my strength. When I started out I could barely do 5 sit ups. I'm serious. I just never worked on that before. And my arms have gotten a lot stronger too. Way more than double the strength. I just haven't gained any weight. I feel like I've hit a brick wall with getting stronger and I think it's because I haven't gained weight.

Thanks a lot for the help guys. It would be amazing if I even gained 5 pounds! Can't wait to see if this works :)
 
I don't think you're hearing me. Situps and curls ain't gonna get you jack****. You gotta do bigger lifts to grow all over. My bad if it seems harsh, it's just true.
 
MarkMyWords said:
I don't think you're hearing me. Situps and curls ain't gonna get you jack****. You gotta do bigger lifts to grow all over. My bad if it seems harsh, it's just true.
Click to expand...

Oh, no...I completely understand what you're saying. I'm going to start doing some other things too. I have a weight bench that I used to use a little bit and will start using as part of my regular routine.

My goal isn't to grow real big, I just need to get stronger. Those two probably go hand in hand though. What I'm trying to say is I don't care what I look like, I just need to get stronger.

Forgive me if I sound real ignorant on this stuff. It's because I am. I'm trying to read all I can about this stuff. I really really appreciate everyone's comments so far.
 
Fair enough. I'm not tryin to be an ass, just trying to let you know how much you will benefit from other lifts. Getting stronger and bigger do go hand in hand to an extent, but you can get stronger without getting bigger. A big component of getting stronger is simply your central nervous system becoming more efficient at firing muscles. The more you do lifts, the better your CNS is at triggering muscle response to perform the lift. Think squats, deads, rows, presses, pulls, lunges...make it happen man! You will get stronger.
 
Let me save you some time on the workout research front: .

I also like Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe, but you'd have to pay for that. Mark's the guy who recommends drinking a gallon of milk a day, which btw I would definitely be doing if I were you, unless lactose intolerant / allergic to milk proteins.

Re: strength, that's good. But I said major lifts. How have your squat, bench press, deadlift, power clean and overhead press come along? ^_^
 
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You can't make something out of nothing*. Even if you were doing all the right lifts, you have to eat more

*the exception, of course is making love out of nothing at all:jump1:
 
Problems with milk? get raw milk from a health food store. No raw milk? get the supplement lactase and drink regular whole milk. Squaaaaat!!!! Starting strength is the greatest. No point in weight lifting if you don't squat.
 
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