Gaining weight

[ShotokanKid]

I'm a 14 year old male and I'm kind of skinny. Rencently, another older black belt called me weak and skinny (not that he meant to hurt me, it's just the way he talks) Anyways, I've been trying to gain weight and muscles without much success. Any tips?

[Hudson]

Firstly, understand that gaining quality muscle and keeping fit is hard, is not an overnight process, and lots of people won't understand why you put so much effort into things like that.

 

But it's well worth it, a good physique shown to be key to longevity and overall health, and will only ever help with MA training.

 

The first rule you need to set up is "I will eat, eat, and then eat some more." To gain muscle, you'll need to take in lots of protein, but overall you need to take in more calories then you use. If you're skinny body fat shouldn't be a real problem with you "bulking" as you'll hear it called, which just means gaining muscle mass.

 

You'll want to take in protein every few hours to be safe, totalling at LEAST 1g per lean pound of body weight (Current weight minus weight from body fat), ideally you could take in anywhere from 300-400g of protein.

 

A great way to get that protein, although not necessary, is to drink protein shakes. You can make your own or buy the powder, or even drink the pre-made stuff. I personally use a lot of liquid egg whites (Your grocer should carry them) in everything I drink (Including plain glasses of milk, juice, you can even drink a glass of egg whites alone, it's like a safe way of being like Rocky). They don't have an overpowering taste (I can't taste them at all) and they're not gooey or sticky.

 

As far as protein in solid food (You'll want that!), chicken and tuna are the leaders. They're both relatively cheap meats that pack lots of protein. Other fish are also good, so if you want to be fancy and eat lots of grouper or what have you, that's fine. Turkey tends to be a little less nutritious, but the last option is hamburger. Hamburger is usually fatty and not a great source of protein.

 

But that doesn't mean you should be a carnivore, eating pasta and bread (Not the white stuff) will do you good as well. And so will your fruits and vegetables! They have essential nutrients your body needs, so don't slack off on them.

 

That's pretty much it for nutrition, which will be about 75% of the deciding factor on how you gain muscle.

 

Next comes working out. I'm not going to get into that, if you want a good beginner routine you can look it up through my profile in posts I've made, it was for another person looking for a good starting routine. I might edit it into this post if I find it myself. Just make sure you train with full intensity, never cheat on an exercise, don't use too much weight (You aren't gonna impress with a beginners bench press anyway), and don't train every day (At least not with the routine I suggest)

 

Lastly, you need to sleep. Get plenty of sleep. You don't grow when you're awake, you grow when you're asleep. I'm talking 8-10 hours if not more.

 

So, as a little review: Priority one. Eat Big. Eat alot, eat at least 6 small meals a day (The big 3 meals are out - split them up.), take in lots of calories, train HARD, get a good overall routine, and sleep well.

 

EDIT: The post was too large to c/p (At least to keep this thread tidy), so heres a direct link. http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=206813&highlight=#206813