Weight training and muscle mass, looking for answers.

[OwenWalker]

Ok, I am looking for a few unanswered questions so I'm sorry if the post gets a little long

I have just hit 17 this month and for the past 2-3 months I have been attempting to gain muscle mass via weight training because of the fact I'm 187 cm tall and only weigh 60kg so I am very skinny. However I have noticed progress in my body.

I'm not looking to gain an extremely muscular physique. Just increase my body mass and as I have a fast metabolism I believed I would have more progress gaining just muscle than a small amount of body fat, which would also not look as impressive.

For one I am interested in finding out when most male bodies decide to kick in with the testosterone and the body begins forming more muscle, i.e when your body naturally begins changing from boy to man. So around which average age does this happen?

I sometimes feel as though I am not getting enough protein in my diet to support the exercises I'm doing and that my body will not progress as well as it should. So would anyone be able to direct me to a high protein diet plan or just give me a little advice upon good things to stock the fridge with whilst keeping meals varied and not only eating one thing and still obtaining needed minerals.

Also would it be a good idea to invest in some protein powder for protein shakes after the workout?

Overall, I'm just wanting to feel better about my body and in the process become stronger and add a bit of weight.

Thanks for any help that you are able to give

Owen.

 

[stroutman81]

I'm not looking to gain an extremely muscular physique.

I don't think you have to worry about that.

Just increase my body mass and as I have a fast metabolism I believed I would have more progress gaining just muscle than a small amount of body fat, which would also not look as impressive.

Any gain in muscle is going to be accompanied by a gain in body fat.

F

or one I am interested in finding out when most male bodies decide to kick in with the testosterone and the body begins forming more muscle, i.e when your body naturally begins changing from boy to man. So around which average age does this happen?

Puberty.

I sometimes feel as though I am not getting enough protein in my diet to support the exercises I'm doing and that my body will not progress as well as it should.

It's important to note that you could be eating all protein and nothing else and not appreciable muscle if you're not consuming adequate amounts of calories. In very general terms, building muscle is a very intensive process, energetically speaking. Meaning, you need to supply the energy by way of eating enough if you're going to support tissue growth.

So would anyone be able to direct me to a high protein diet plan or just give me a little advice upon good things to stock the fridge with whilst keeping meals varied and not only eating one thing and still obtaining needed minerals.

1 - 1.5 grams of protein per pound would work in your case.

I'm sure this is covered in the stickies but good ideas for protein include chicken/turkey breast, lean ground beef, pork tenderloin, fish, low/no fat dairy, lean cuts of steak, eggs, protein powder, etc.

Also would it be a good idea to invest in some protein powder for protein shakes after the workout?

It would be a good idea assuming you're not getting adequate amounts of protein from whole foods. You don't *need* to consume a shake after training. Whole food sources are fine too. But from the sounds of it you're not getting enough as is, so a shake might help.

 

[OwenWalker]

Puberty.

That much is obvious. I was refering to what stage of puberty i.e after height growth etc

 

[blindside]

it varies depending on the person

 

[Ride_On]

Gaining muscle does not automatically have to mean gaining fat, btw. Often it's hard not to gain some, but if you go slow, which most people can't handle and hence fat gain is synonymous with muscle gain, it doesn't have to be that way.

What the first guy said otherwise is pretty much right on though. You have to eat slightly over maintenance - 15-20% is probably a good start, get sufficient protein, lift hard, and rest easy.

 

[stroutman81]

Gaining muscle does not automatically have to mean gaining fat, btw.

Yea, it pretty much does, actually. Granted, you're right in that many people become overzealous and try to fast forward hypertrophy by piling in more and more calories which doesn't work.

But even when things are dialed in optimally, meaning you're eating at a sweet spot where most of your excess energy is going towards hypertrophy... you're still going to gain some fat.

We don't partition 100% of our energy to muscle... though it would be nice. And of course, some people have much more favorable partitioning ratios than others.