Need to gain weight

[kbaktidy95@gmail.com]

I am currently going into my junior year of high school. I am about 140 pounds and trying to get to 150 by the end of the summer. i am doing 2 upper body lifts and 2 lower body lifts a week. How can I get erging into my workout, without compromising my weight gain.

[heptasyllabic]

Make sure you are replacing all of the calories you burn within about 60 minutes of your workout. For example, have a snack before a workout, drink some gatorade/etc during a workout, then post-workout get some carbs and protein into you. This works best if you can calculate the calories you burned during a workout which with an erg, you helpfully can. So eat as many calories as you burn off to prevent your body from destroying its own muscle. Then on top of this, eat all your daily caloric needs as based on your basal metabolic rate. This should at least prevent losing weight. Anything above and beyond bmr + workout replacement should help you gain weight. The lifting is good too, just give it time and make sure to refuel post-workout.

[Tristram]

I don't know your age specifically, but you will find that you are in a prime growing period and may naturally increase in weight as a function of maturity. I grew allot in my teens, but didn't get to my current mass untill my early 20's.

My suggestion would be to be careful with the weights. They are good at your age, but sometimes a guy gets ahead of himself and the result is injuries, some of them are lifelong. In other words, technique is more important than the amount of weight itself. I will list below the program I use for skiing and it may be of some value.

Eat what you want, but I would be inclined to start eating less sugar (table sugar, canned pop and junk food) and be more selective with your carbohydrates. At your age you can eat pretty much as you please. I would also suggest that you include saturated animal fats: whole milk or cream, butter, and the trimmings on steaks etc, as an important factor in muscle development and strength maintenance. I cannot eat a low fat or highly sugar oriented meal without consequences and that typically means feeling lousy, sluggish and fatigued. The bacon and eggs breakfast is a great way to get yourself started. It is important to note that I am not a nutrition specialist, but practice what I preach.

When I trained in school, we did a 3 day rotation. 2 days of weights and 1 day of running. The weights were not divided into legs or arms but full body days with various types of exercises. Day 3 was running if you could run, or ergometer if you could not. The running was typically 10k which worked out to about 40 minutes give or take, and ergometer time was about the same maybe longer in steady state. The weights build strength and mass, the running built a cardio base to work on when you hit the water.

Here is the program I use for ski season. I pack on 8-10 pounds which I tend to take off in the spring when I quit doing weights and hit the bike. I do this 3 times a week untill I begin skiing, and after 2 times. This year I added in the C2 and found the improvement to the stamina on the hill was noticeable.

Pick 3 arm, 3 leg, and 6-8 abdominal exercises that you like.

The structure is based on: arms, legs, stomach...rinse repeat tims 3. The location of the exercises in the program is based on experience and trial and error over several years.

First: take first arm and leg exercises (1 each) and alternate 3 sets 10 reps each.
eg: bench press (hand weights: start with 20 pounds each hand) and pair with squats on a back and forth wobble board or half buso.(use no weight untill you are used to balancing, then hold 10 pounds out front for the first 10, in one hand on each side for the other 2)

Bench, squat, bench, squat...(alternate 10 reps each no rest)

Follow this with your abdominals. Continuously from 1 exercise to the next, no rest up to 10 reps, although I find 6 each is best in my case.

Forward crunch, forward left, then right, side lifts, alternate planks etc.

Then return to your next arm/leg pair.

Second: next arm/leg pair. I do front pulldowns with 3 different hand positions (wide, narrow, and reverse) and leg exchanges (kind of like lunges but instead it's like a continuous motion on the spot)

start with maybe 30 pounds on the pulldown machine, and no weights on the leg exchanges, your body weight will suffice. Alternate back and forth (pulldowns, leg exchange) 10 reps each (each leg) no rest in between unless you need to catch your breath.

Next: abdominals again same as before

Third: next pair dumb bell curls and a combo of single leg squats (one foot behind on the bench and squat down) and bench step ups and or squat jumps.

Curls use 3 different hand positions and start with 20 pounds each hand. Legs, 1 legged squats first (10 each leg) bench step ups for set 2, 10 each leg, and then repeat the first exercise or 10 squat jumps. (no weights for leg exercises)

Alternate arms and legs as before.

Finish with your abdominal exercises.

This should take 20-30 minutes, going continuously and taking into account you may have to catch your breath on occassion.

The point of the lower weight is that it builds muscle while reducing injuries while allowing you to build useful practical strength. It will be much harder that a conventional leg and arm day, but will allow all of your bodies muscles to work together, which is what they normally will do. It will also improve balance, stamina and emphasizes core strength by exercising muscles across the body.

I have done this for 5 years now with excellent results, particularly with few if any injuries (I have been doing weight training of one form or another from age 15, now 42). By doing this followed by 1 day of 30-40 minutes erg, rest day, and after weights day 2, perhaps a slightly shorter (intervals), more intense erg day you will build mass, strength and fitness while reducing injuries inherent with heavier weights on your growing body.

Best of luck.

[luckylindy]

If you cannot gain weight, eat more. Unless you have a serious digestive disorder, you'll eventually start gaining weight if you keep cranking up your calories.