# Help me put on weight (diet advice)



## Eddy

Ok well I have really had enough of only weighing 9 stone after being the same weight since about 15 or 16. I am now 21, go to the gym 3 days a week on average but still am skinny as hell and cant put any weight on.

Now I am sick of the "oh your so lucky" comments from people who put on weight everytime they eat a cake or whatever. I'm not lucky I frickin hate it.

Been browsing the web for the last 2 hours looking at advice and have picked up a fair bit of info but still have no real idea on what to eat. at the moment I eat crap and although I thought it was a lot I have just seen that I eat almost nothing in comparison to what I should be eating and not only that I am eating way too much crap. i drink LOTS of coke and eat a lot of crisps and easy crap throughout the day.

So what I am after really is more advice in the eating department and some suggestions of meals I can put together easily, things I cant take to work and things to snack on. I don't eat fish but other than that I'm pretty open minded. I have read to eat a lot of eggs and pasta and drink milk etc but it didn't really go into specifics and good easy meal idea's. So if you could reccommend either just some easy things or what to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks I'd appreciate it.

Also which protein or whey suppliments should I buy, I plan to pop to asda or tesco before hitting the gym today so if its something I can buy there that would be great but if not I'm happy to order online.

I'm really not after anyone telling me I should not force weight on myself or anything like that, I'm not happy right now so I am going to be trying to get my weight up as soon as poss so please refrain from telling me I'm an idiot or whatever.

Many thanks in advance, I'm off to bed now so if I dont thank your post its not because I don't appreciate it, I look forward to reading all the replies


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## johnbuck

Eddy said:


> Ok well I have really had enough of only weighing 9 stone after being the same weight since about 15 or 16. I am now 21, go to the gym 3 days a week on average but still am skinny as hell and cant put any weight on.
> 
> Now I am sick of the "oh your so lucky" comments from people who put on weight everytime they eat a cake or whatever. I'm not lucky I frickin hate it.
> 
> Been browsing the web for the last 2 hours looking at advice and have picked up a fair bit of info but still have no real idea on what to eat. at the moment I eat crap and although I thought it was a lot I have just seen that I eat almost nothing in comparison to what I should be eating and not only that I am eating way too much crap. i drink LOTS of coke and eat a lot of crisps and easy crap throughout the day.
> 
> So what I am after really is more advice in the eating department and some suggestions of meals I can put together easily, things I cant take to work and things to snack on. I don't eat fish but other than that I'm pretty open minded. I have read to eat a lot of eggs and pasta and drink milk etc but it didn't really go into specifics and good easy meal idea's. So if you could reccommend either just some easy things or what to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks I'd appreciate it.
> 
> Also which protein or whey suppliments should I buy, I plan to pop to asda or tesco before hitting the gym today so if its something I can buy there that would be great but if not I'm happy to order online.
> 
> I'm really not after anyone telling me I should not force weight on myself or anything like that, I'm not happy right now so I am going to be trying to get my weight up as soon as poss so please refrain from telling me I'm an idiot or whatever.
> 
> Many thanks in advance, I'm off to bed now so if I dont thank your post its not because I don't appreciate it, I look forward to reading all the replies


If you go onto the Maximuscle website you will find all sorts of information there, you don't need to buy their products, although I find them to be well produced and effective, but supplements are always a matter of personal choice and great debate. 
What you will find are meal planners and dietary/exercise advise to enable you to achieve whatever you are aiming for, whether that be fat loss or muscle gain. No point in anyone telling you what to eat because this is something that you need to decide for yourself depending on what you like and what your daily routine is.
Gaining weight in your case will come from adding muscle, unless you want to get fat of course!


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## Eddy

will have a quick look now, cheers John


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## HalfordsShopper

In my experience the easiest way to put on weight is to get married - lol. I used to be really skinny. When i was 21 i had a 30 inch waist, and used to take all kind of powdered high calorie supplements to try and beef up. i didn't put much weight on until i reached 26 and got married. I'm now 34 at struggle to get in my 34 inch pants - i guess i should really buy 36 inch.

I guess what i am trying to say is be careful, as u get older you will get bigger, and may end up getting too fat. I remember my housemate who was 10 years older than me saying the same when i was trying to gain weight. I ignored him but he was right.

Have u asked your doctor? You can get diet advice free on the NHS. Also make sure u keep up the exercise if u're gonna eat more.


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## nig63

Also try www. myprotien.co.uk . You can e-mail them with you goals and they will recommend what to take . They sell the best tasting protein i have tried .


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## J1ODY A

must be something with the name as I know an Ed whose about 9 stone & your age - he started going to the gym regular & taking whey protein shakes (3 times a day) & quickly put on half a stone whilst developing some muscle.

he had no staying power though so soon gave it up but he was getting results.

:thumb:

actually thinking about it I have another mate called Edd whose a fat f*ck so perhaps it's nothing to do with the name! 

:tumbleweed:


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## davies20

before you try all these suppliments just try what i did, HAVE breakfast in the morning before work, have a salad for 11's, have a decent sized dinner, normally lasagna for me, then a shake in the afternoon, then tea at 6 ish, again, a decent sized portion!

this is what i did and i put nearly 2 stone on, eating crap wont put weight on, just abuse your body! 

if you eat often like above, think you'll find it works 

p.s cheese and milk should do the trick too!


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## Serkie

Hey mate, from personal experience I recommend some Maximuscle - Progain Extreme to put on weight quickly and easily. It's not cheap (£40 a tub) but give one big tub a go for a month and see if the results are favourable.

Essentially my situation sounds similar to you. Over the past ten years I've gradually been loosing weight despite eating like a horse due to a medical condition (crohn's disease). I've tried lots including various diets etc to try and bulk up but to no avail. 

Spoke to a friend whose into weight training and he pointed me in the direction of Maximuscle. Spoke with one of their advisor and they recommended trying the Progain Extreme product for a month to see if it would help bulk up. 

Ideally your suppose to combine the drink with training however as a test I only drank the drink without any weight training initially and the weight went on at around a 1lb a week. I haven't changed my diet and still eat the same quantities only difference is that I drink a 500ml water based mixed drink in the evening and that's it.

Now that I was convinced that the drink worked I ordered 3 more tubs and intend to start a weight training program to start building up some muscle which in turn will increase my weight again.

All I'd say is like most things you get what you pay for therefore avoid the cheap stuff on the high street as in my experience these don't work and are very hard on your tummy. 

The Maximusle stuff is Amino acid based and is drunk mixed with water so is easy to drink and gentle on your guts.

All the best.

Serk


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## Amagoza

Speaking from experience I went through this same process when I was 21. I used to weigh about 9 stone, skinny and nothing of me. 30" waist on the jeans. I tried eating loads of carbs and protein but nothing worked. I used to eat junk food, sweets, all just got burned off.
I think it was just the fact of how active I was.
Now 35 and in a job sitting on my butt most of the day the weight went up to 13 stone a couple of years back. Now back to 12 stone and happy.

Essentially the bottom line is if you want to put on weight you need to consume more calories than you burn off. Olympic rowers in training can burn through 8000 calories per day which give you an idea of the amount of food you need to eat.

Probably the easiest way to get that amount of intake is supplementing a really good diet with protein drinks.

I don't think your mad for doing this as I did it but I would say I did it for confidence reasons nothing else. Didn't really make any difference.
The biggest difference was when I settled down with my (now wife). Confidence can come in many forms. There are some real ugly skinny guys out there with some beautiful girlfriends.
Take Lembit Opik he's dating Katie Green!! WTF! just goes to show.

Anyway, hope the weight gain is controlled and steady.
HTH


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## Omnic

Just eat much much more than you are used to and eat properly.
Not chips, mc donalds, etc **** food that you really don't need.

Eat lots of meat, bread, milk products, eggs and if you can those extra protein and carbohydrate products which in your case should be mixed with milk, not water (get extra calories etc..)

PS: I used to be skinny pete when I was like 10 years, now I'm in my 20's and not so
skinny and small boy :thumb::wave:


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## PaulN

Ill speak to the wife she never seems to have any problems! :doublesho

lol Only kidding shes in good shape. 

If your doing it on the cheap just keep eating...... More chicken, meats, bread and not forgetting fatty stuff.

If your doing it the pricey way the routes are endless but a supplement with adviced weight gain will get you going.

Do less cv and more high weight low rep at the gym too.....

Cheers

PaulN


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## Epoch

PaulN said:


> Ill speak to the wife she never seems to have any problems! :doublesho
> 
> Cheers
> 
> PaulN


Quoted as one day it may come in use :thumb:


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## Naddy37

ha ha, I was like that. I was 8.5stone right uptil I was about 32. Women at work hated me as I had the waist they wanted.

Overnight, the weight just seemed to stay on. Mind you, eating junk food and only lil a bit of excercise helped....

The weight will go on, you just might have to wait till you hit late twenties early thirties...


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## Eddy

ok well thanks for all the posts so far guys. So it seems pretty simple. Eat more than I burn off, and eat things like bread, pasta, eggs and chicken and drink milk with supplements two or three times a day. So recommend me some easy meals to make.

At the moment I eat crunchy nut as my daily cereal, this is ok right?

as for pasta, I normally have like a cheesy pasta bake, is this the right idea or are we talking more pasta carbonara or similar? I preferably want a few pasta idea's as I will get bored if its the same most days.

where i'm most struggling is the lunch and food to take to work ideas. I tent to go from now being hungry to being hungry really quick so I'd like something extremely simple yet sufficient for lunches. Also something I can throw together and take to work on my tea breaks. I normally take 1X cheese sandwich, I assume this is not going to cut it from now on.

And lastly a quick snack that I can pick at without and cooking or preparing, I have read that nuts are good, is this true? and any others food that you can just pick up and eat whenever you want?


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## PaulN

Epoch said:


> Ill speak to the wife she never seems to have any problems! :doublesho
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Epoch


Right back at ya......


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## lanciamug

Yup you've got it! Consistantly take in more cals than you use and you WILL put on weight. Maximuscle etc sell some good products BUT they are expensive and you can achieve good results without them. I will concur though, that the Maximuscle advice is well worth following, just substitute regular food for their products. Try to eat well and often. Sneak in milk shakes and healthy sandwiches between meals. Up you portion size, if you are too skinny then you can't be eating enough! Exercise, but do high intensity, short duration resistance work.

As with weight loss, don't be looking for quick results. Think in terms of months and years rather than days and weeks and you WILL see results IF you are consistant.

Good luck.

PS I like chicken breast, Tuna, Tinned Mackeral and low fat cheese in sandwiches. I carry them around and have them immediatly after exercise.


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## Eddy

Also its worth noting when I go to the gym I ALWAYS start with 15 mins running which is about 1.5-2 miles, should I cut out the cardiovascular stuff as this obviously burns calories?


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## TeZ

I was in the same situation as you and same age - I am 10 stone 3lbs

I used supps from Myprotien - http://www.myprotein.co.uk/your-goals/lean-muscle/

But you HAVE to be strict, its much harder than it seems. Work out wise, you need to do more static weight training than cardio.

Still do cardio but tone it down. Maybe get a 1-2-1 with a trainer atr your gym once a week to help you with a program?


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## davidrogers190

Im 22 and had exactly the same problem, possibly worse, when I was 18 i weighed under 8 stone - not attractive, I got obbsessed with putting on weight and now weight 11 and a half stone and im still trying to put it on, I found that eating 2 dinners a night helps and also milk, I drink possibly 2 pints a night. losing weight is not a problem for me if i have a bad day eating then i can lose 3 or 4 pounds very easily. Give that progain extreme a try as I found it helped me a little bit but you still need to eat shed loads


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## TeZ

^ same here the weight literally drops off me, I can loose over 5lbs on a motorbike track day, even tho I have still been eating.

some people would kill for that sort of metabolism, I hate it.


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## one_question

It looks like you're burning your food off too quickly, that's why you can't put weight on. Other than the gym what exercise do you do?

I used to be so skinny. Looking back now, it's no wonder. I was a breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper person with maybe a couple of mars bars crammed in. However, I used to go to the gym doing weights three times a week as well as doing 40 miles on the bike (at a fair rate - 18 mph+) twice a week. No wonder I couldn't put weight on.

The easiest way to gain weight (poor quality weight) is biscuits. They don't fill you up and are calorie laden. Once you crack it though and put weight on, you'll be then asking in five years how to get it off.

Basically you need good quality protein to build muscle mass plus plenty of carbohydrate to burn off - otherwise your body will use the protein as energy. 

G

Now where did I leave that pie?


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## muddy911

just wait mate, i was exaclty the same at your age, so was my dad

i filled out normally with age


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## mwbpsx

Guinness and lots of it :devil:


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## Eddy

muddy911 said:


> just wait mate, i was exaclty the same at your age, so was my dad
> 
> i filled out normally with age


I've waited long enough now, I'm 21 and its just not right and I'm not happy so I'm gonna get off my back side and get things sorted.

I don't get much exercise other than the gym but I dont stop when I'm at work i'm on the move and lifting things all night, so I guess I am pretty active. I went to tesco and spend about £40 on some real good food and have eaten a fair bit today. Gonna have a big dinner a little later and take a few extra sandwiches to work.


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## muddy911

Eddy said:


> I've waited long enough now, I'm 21 and its just not right and I'm not happy so I'm gonna get off my back side and get things sorted.
> 
> I don't get much exercise other than the gym but I dont stop when I'm at work i'm on the move and lifting things all night, so I guess I am pretty active. I went to tesco and spend about £40 on some real good food and have eaten a fair bit today. Gonna have a big dinner a little later and take a few extra sandwiches to work.


i was pretty skinny at 21, around 24 i started to fill out, no change in diet.


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## Blazebro

What you need is something called Weight Gainer. Essentially it's a Protein drink with high amount of carbohydrates in it. Carbohydrates are essentially suger. Your body burns the sugar and stores the protein as fat.


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## David

i was 9 stone 2 months ago at aged 21 > go to the gym, eat plenty of pasta, rice and always eat bread for the carbs

eat a portion of chicken/ham/meat upto an hour after workout so you feed the new muscle.

If you do that plus a shake morning/afternoon you will soon put on weight


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## DCR

i havent read through all the posts, so apologies if im repeating

some things to consider

your age could have a massive impact on whether you can put on weight. Pre23ish i could eat and drink whatever i wanted and never put on weight. This is generally due to your metabolism being very high i.e. whatever you eat just gets burned up straight away. It sounds like you have the same problem, so putting on "weight" i.e. fat and muscle will be difficult.

However, putting on lean muscle alone may not be as difficult.

Sounds like you are already using the gym, so all you need is to revise your food intake

Try Muscletalk.co.uk for a bulking diet

Try MyProtein.co.uk for some well priced protein powder (IMO stay away from Maximuscle as overpriced)

Basically you need 2 grams of protein per lb of weight YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE per day i.e. if you want to be 200lbs, then you eat at least 200 grams of protein per day

Shakes are good, but only for pre and post workout. 99% of your protein should be coming from whole food, not shakes.

Make sure you are eating "clean" as well. "Dirty" bulking (eating whatever you want) is great fun, but long-run, could be bad for your health. Make sure you get loads of low GI carbs, EFA's, vitamins, fibre etc etc

I used a bulking diet to move from 12.5 stone to about 15 stone now. It takes dedication to do it properly, and you have to bear in mind that you are re-tuning your bodys reaction to food, so you will end up more hungry ALL THE TIME

An example of what i eat during a typical day is given below to give you some ideas. Im not really bulking just now, so bear that in mind.

Post Run

200ml Innocent smoothie
100ml milk
2 scoops whey protein
1 teaspoon flax seed powder

All blended into a shake

Breakfast

Oatcake with honey
3 x EPA tabs (fish oils as i dont like fish too much)

Mid Morning

Oatcake stuffed with chicken

Lunch

baked tat with tuna/bolognaise/chilli
fruit

Mid Afternoon

Oatcake stuffed with chicken

Post workout

200ml milk
2 scoops protein
1 squirt of honey

Dinner

A variety of things, but will more than likely contain meat + veg/salad

I used to have a shake before bed as well, but dont do that anymore

If i get peckish, i would have a rice cake with Quark

If i was bulking, i would double up on the oatcakes and have another before bed (i like oatcakes)

Rough estimate per day on the above is about 3 chicken breasts + dinner, so potentially around 300 grams of protein per day

Add in a decent gym routine and you will grow muscle from that diet


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## David

some good advice mate, you must use the muscletalk forum a lot :lol:


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## Eddy

Another quick question, normally after a session at the gym I go in the sauna/steam room for 10 mins, am i still ok to do this or will I be undoing any of my hard work? I don't know if this burns calories or w/e? 

I have stopped my cardio completely by the way.


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## Phil1971

have you tried wedding cake.....


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## Eddy

Phil1971 said:


> have you tried wedding cake.....


once, at a wedding:tumbleweed: :wave:


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## mba

Eddy said:


> Another quick question, normally after a session at the gym I go in the sauna/steam room for 10 mins, am i still ok to do this or will I be undoing any of my hard work? I don't know if this burns calories or w/e?
> 
> *I have stopped my cardio completely by the way*.


I wouldnt stop it completely mate, maybe concentrate your gym sessions 80:20 in favour of weights/resistance work. Continuing your CV will give you a balanced workout and keep you "healthier". :thumb:


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## powelly

Don't stop cardio completley, it's a valuable part of a healthy triaining regime. By the sounds of it you just need to eat more and cut out the crap, high sugar foods, they have very little nutritional value, as has already been said, pasta, rice, chicken, potatoes, eggs, all these are your friend when trying to gain weight in the right places. Just another thought, have you been to the doctors and asked them, it maybe that you have an over active thyroid, I beleive this can cause weight loss issues.


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## squashy1990

Pah, DCR already beat me to it. I use muscletalk.co.uk relgiously, went from 8st6 at 17 to just short of 12st now almost 20. The place is full of advice, plenty of people to help sort you out a diet and you can get a really good exercise routine sorted too. Hours and hours worth of reading on that site!


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## H13BS M

the best thing for you too do bud is buy which i believe is one of the best proteins on the market,PHD PHARMA WHEY PROTEIN.You need to be having 5 protein shakes aday.Also 45 mins before you hit the gym, have a protein shake, then when you finished your workout having a double dose protein shake straight away.Also make sure you take one just before you go to bed, and as soon as you wake up.Then the one you take after your workout, have a banana with it.Then live off oats, porridge etc in the morning, as this will burn slowly, then eat small amounts of food i.e chicken and fish every 1hour 30 mins.Then for dinner have loads of veg lots of good carbs, and none of the bad.You you do this solid for 32 days you really see the difference drasticly i garentee if you stick to it you'll be 14 stone of muscle with a bodyfat of about 18%.your body needs to get into a cycle, and therefore it will change its matabilism.once it all kicks in, only you will decide how you would like your body to look.sticks to decnt proteins just like the one i suggested, its extrememly effective, and if you still wana add a bit of weight hit the weight gainers.But try to stick the good brands.i.e. nutrix, l.a.muscle Phd ...I really dont rate maximuscle though its way over priced for minimum affect.If your gona do it, do it properly!!And remember you will only EVER see results if you really stick to what you eat, how you eat, and when you eat, as time when to eat in the day is vital to when your body is gona burn fat!remeber gaining muscle is 10% working out 90% what you eat!!


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## colarado red

another one here for my protein much cheaper and far superior quality imo. also sign up for there forum food wise go for oats pasta cottage cheese is good source of protein and add some maltodextrin to your protein shake before training


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## STEALTH K3

Post is useless without pictures


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## squashy1990

please remember that things such as protein powder, creatine etc are SUPPLEMENTS! they are not a replacement for a good quality diet sure they do help but its much better to spend money on decent food rather than spending ridiculous ammounts on protein from maximuscle etc..


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## DCR

squashy1990 said:


> please remember that things such as protein powder, creatine etc are SUPPLEMENTS! they are not a replacement for a good quality diet sure they do help but its much better to spend money on decent food rather than spending ridiculous ammounts on protein from maximuscle etc..


here here

just to be 1000% clear

*NOBODY GETS BIG FROM SHAKES*

Did Arnold have 5 shakes a day ? did he heck

Shakes are no substitute for real food

As for the cardio question. I have had a love-hate relationship with cardio for many years. Ive recently found that running in the morning suits me just fine, and means i can train in the gym at night.

Personally i wouldnt run right before a weights session. The reason for this is that you end up burning off valuable glycogen by running. Glycogen is your bodys preferred fuel source for physical exersion, especially lifting weights. So if you run for 20 mins before weights, your body will use up all that glycogen, and you will have none left for weights.

However, if you run AFTER doing weights, then your body is more likely to use fat as a fuel source as there will be no glycogen left.

Some people may be reading this and thinking "What about catabolism ?" (where your body uses your muscle tissue as fuel). Unless you are competing or havent eaten for 2 days, catabolism isnt really a problem.

Some may argue that the run serves as a "warm up". Well i have been training for around 5 years now, and i never warm up. Never had an injury. If you train regularly, you dont need to warm up IMO


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## Rickyboy

Keep us updated mate on your weight gain - will be interesting to see how you get on. I'm attempting to gain weight just now too. I'm 25, 5ft 9, 10 and a half stone, GSOH and love nights in watching the telly... oops, this isnt a dating forum! 

Anyone know the recomended weight for my height/age?


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## STEALTH K3

My mate had a gym I use to go I was the same skinny as and use to struggle to eat and put on weight. I was on the understanding weight gain would put the weight on the idea of WG is once you have eaten all you can and no more thats when the WG comes in and funny enough he did don't sell me any because it would not have worked 
just by its self.


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## lanciamug

Rickyboy, 12 stone would be the top end of a healthy weight for your hieght. A little more would be OK, IF it was muscle!


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## Eddy

Just remembered about this thread, well here we are a few months on and still not getting anywhere. I have started having two bowls of cereal most days. Going to the gym 3 times a week and having 4 eggs with bread + beans on toast after every session. I must of doubled my food intake + all the weight gainer and protein shakes and still not a thing.

Probably just going to have to accept that nothings going to work. I wasn't expecting instant results but all these weeks and not even a single pound heavier shows ZERO progress.

ah well, more important things in life I guess 

This should probably be moved to the shiney new health & fitness section.


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## Rickyboy

When you say zero progress, do you literally mean not a single pound gained?


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## Eddy

Correct, not a thing 


EDIT:
And I realise I still probably don't eat enough compared to some people but if I have doubled my food intake ( which I believe I have) then surely I'd see some, even if little progress.

I'm out of ideas


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## Rickyboy

Bizarre... I'm no expert on this by any means but something ain't right.

You more active than usual? Are you focusing on cardio work exclusively at the gym?


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## Eddy

nope, well my job is relatively active but no more so than usual.

When I hit the gym I do occasionally do a 10-15 min run, and I always hit the sauna for 5-10 mins after a workout.


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## Rickyboy

The sauna will be burning calories will it not? As I said, don't take my advice on this - just trying to think of any reasons why you aren't gaining weight if you have doubled your food intake. Wait for someone with experience!


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## Eddy

yeah I know the sauna is bad for me (in my circumstances) but though all the food and working out would override 10 mins of sweating all the crap out.

I guess I could try a few weeks without the sauna.


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## nick-a6

Tesco have lucozade protein shakes and bars on offer at the moment


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## Eddy

Is two bowls of crunchy-nut enough for breakfast everyday? I need something that takes no time to prepare..


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## karl0308

get urself a 48 box of weetabix, I have all 48 in 7days now, I am in the same boat as you mate and a lad I went to school with who now is a body builder eats 7 for breakfast!!! I dont eat all 7 in the morning, I have 3-4 in morning and 3 in the evening. Have 4 in the morning and that over 500 calories!:thumb:


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## Blazebro

DCR said:


> here here
> 
> just to be 1000% clear
> 
> *NOBODY GETS BIG FROM SHAKES*
> 
> Did Arnold have 5 shakes a day ? did he heck
> 
> Shakes are no substitute for real food
> 
> As for the cardio question. I have had a love-hate relationship with cardio for many years. Ive recently found that running in the morning suits me just fine, and means i can train in the gym at night.
> 
> Personally i wouldnt run right before a weights session. The reason for this is that you end up burning off valuable glycogen by running. Glycogen is your bodys preferred fuel source for physical exersion, especially lifting weights. So if you run for 20 mins before weights, your body will use up all that glycogen, and you will have none left for weights.
> 
> However, if you run AFTER doing weights, then your body is more likely to use fat as a fuel source as there will be no glycogen left.
> 
> Some people may be reading this and thinking "What about catabolism ?" (where your body uses your muscle tissue as fuel). Unless you are competing or havent eaten for 2 days, catabolism isnt really a problem.
> 
> Some may argue that the run serves as a "warm up". Well i have been training for around 5 years now, and i never warm up. Never had an injury. If you train regularly, you dont need to warm up IMO


If you train at the end of the day, I'd agree with you, taining first thing in th morning, a warm up is a must. It loosens the muscles and makes them more flexible. You may never of had a problem, but i cirtainly wouldn't encourage not warming properly.

I always start with a 15min run, fine i might be using up Glycogen, but this is something your body will reproduce and it does it relatively quickly. The muscle can only store a cirtain amount. I don't feel I've ever suffered by doing this. Also lifting weights is completely different to aerobic activity.

I agree that Arnold may not have become big on shakes alone, but they play an integral part of training. Generally there are 3 types, Protein only, Meal Replacement Formulas and Weight gainers. I don't think anyone really substitutes meals with these but they cirtainly help reaching a goal.

I use this:

http://www.reflex-nutrition.com/en/whey-protein/protein1/instant-whey.php

IN the two months I've used it I lost 2" off my waist, can lift heavier weights more reliably and don't feel hungry anymore. Ihave 3 a day, 1 for breakfast, 1 mid afternoon (or after training) and one about 9pm. They work.


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## DCR

bit off topic, but... i dont agree

you try not having shakes

does it effect your results (provided you keep your cals and protein at a decent level), no it doesnt

the building of muscle is not reliant on protien shakes and never will be

i dont see the diff between training at the start of the day and the end with regards warming up

i go running before breakfast with no warm up, and no issues

similarly, i havent warmed up before a weight session and have never has an injury in 4 years....

also, why would you want your muscles more "flexible" before you lift ?


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## Blazebro

DCR said:


> bit off topic, but... i dont agree
> 
> you try not having shakes
> 
> does it effect your results (provided you keep your cals and protein at a decent level), no it doesnt
> 
> the building of muscle is not reliant on protien shakes and never will be
> 
> i dont see the diff between training at the start of the day and the end with regards warming up
> 
> i go running before breakfast with no warm up, and no issues
> 
> similarly, i havent warmed up before a weight session and have never has an injury in 4 years....
> 
> also, why would you want your muscles more "flexible" before you lift ?


!) Correct building of muscle is not dependant on shakes, never has and I don't think anyones said it was. However protein shakes offer a quick and easy way to feed your muscle quickly after a workout. Being a liquid the muscles also absorb the liquid much quicker. i have only taken these for just over 2/3 months now and noticed a difference as stated above. If you don't want to take them fine, knock yourself out the hard way.

2) Running is a warm up excercise.

3) Fine you haven't had an injury in (just) 4 years. I haven't had an injury in 16. For some of those I didn't warm up either. But it helps.

4) You truly don't have a clue do you? Muscles are made up of strands of fibres. Working out with weights when they are cold you are at a much greater risk of a pull/strain. When lifting weights your excerting pressure on a muscle causing the fibres to break anyway, and it's the repair which makes them bigger, not warming them your risking over stepping it.


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## DCR

Blazebro said:


> !) Correct building of muscle is not dependant on shakes, never has and I don't think anyones said it was. However protein shakes offer a quick and easy way to feed your muscle quickly after a workout. Being a liquid the muscles also absorb the liquid much quicker. i have only taken these for just over 2/3 months now and noticed a difference as stated above. If you don't want to take them fine, knock yourself out the hard way.
> 
> 2) Running is a warm up excercise.
> 
> 3) Fine you haven't had an injury in (just) 4 years. I haven't had an injury in 16. For some of those I didn't warm up either. But it helps.
> 
> 4) You truly don't have a clue do you? Muscles are made up of strands of fibres. Working out with weights when they are cold you are at a much greater risk of a pull/strain. When lifting weights your excerting pressure on a muscle causing the fibres to break anyway, and it's the repair which makes them bigger, not warming them your risking over stepping it.


maybe i dont have a clue, but these guys clearly do

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/325/7362/468?session=hq9ZbGqlAqdh6vZa41nfd4Gce6

as you can see, the study shows that a mere 5% (not significant) reduction in injury was seen after stretching

no clear evidence anywhere that stretching/warming up beforehand prevents injury

if you are going to slag people off, why not back up your opinion with some evidence


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## Blazebro

DCR said:


> maybe i dont have a clue, but these guys clearly do
> 
> http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/325/7362/468?session=hq9ZbGqlAqdh6vZa41nfd4Gce6
> 
> as you can see, the study shows that a mere 5% (not significant) reduction in injury was seen after stretching
> 
> no clear evidence anywhere that stretching/warming up beforehand prevents injury
> 
> if you are going to slag people off, why not back up your opinion with some evidence


Evidence, why is every sporting event that I've been to, whether it's rugby, cricket, football, snooker or ice hockey and even body builders, every single player is out on the pitch stretching and running about to warm up????? According to you it's all a waste of time and energy.

Instead of recommending something where there is clear evidence which points to it being beneficial, but you dismiss it on the grounds that "I don't do it and have never had a problem".

If you want studies, I'm sure if I google it I'll come up with more than 1 which gives clear evidence which shows it's benefits.

I'd sooner try and emulate the professionals, than take advice from a clueless amateur.


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## DCR

Blazebro said:


> Evidence, why is every sporting event that I've been to, whether it's rugby, cricket, football, snooker or ice hockey and even body builders, every single player is out on the pitch stretching and running about to warm up????? According to you it's all a waste of time and energy.
> 
> Instead of recommending something where there is clear evidence which points to it being beneficial, but you dismiss it on the grounds that "I don't do it and have never had a problem".
> 
> If you want studies, I'm sure if I google it I'll come up with more than 1 which gives clear evidence which shows it's benefits.
> 
> I'd sooner try and emulate the professionals, than take advice from a clueless amateur.


im sorry, but you are speaking about something different here

I was disputing your claim that warming up before lifting weights was beneficial. True that pro sportsmen warm up before engaging in cardio intensive sport, wasnt disputing that, but i dont believe that there is any need to warm up before weight training, and there is no conclusive evidence to support your hypothesis that there is.

Plus i havent dismissed based on just my opinion, i used some evidence to support my argument, somethng i notice you have failed to do


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## Tom_O

Eddy - maybe you're just not meant to be "huge". Why do you want to be bigger?

Anyway, a really effective way of getting massive, is to eat beautiful food all day long, watch films, play Playstation and live the married life LOL.


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## Blazebro

DCR said:


> Plus i havent dismissed based on just my opinion, i used some evidence to support my argument, somethng i notice you have failed to do


Oh FFS, you just can't help some people:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=benefits+of+warming+up+before+sport

I tell you what, I give in, I'll go with what you say, then sue you when they/I get injured (and the links about 'muscle soreness' not injury).


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## Bigpikle

OK guys - please chill out 

I've done a fair bit of reading of research on stretching & warming up, and TBH there are a LOT of contradictory reports. You have both linked to some good resources that anyone can read for themselves, so lets leave it here now...

Sadly there is a huge amount of work left to be done around how best to develop muscle and fitness. As an example, until recently people thought lactic acid CAUSED muscle fatigue (based on partial experimentation done in 1929) but it is now know lactic acid actually delays muscle fatigue and is beneficial and it is other reasons that muscles are exhausted. YET, still 90% of articles talk about lactic acid being bad and incorrectly reporting facts.


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## DCR

fair enough

just a difference in opinion after all

i like the Google link BTW


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## Eddy

wow forgot about this thread, well things are starting to look up, I stopped gyming for 3 months (whilst still paying £40 a month!!!) anyway, I haven't done anything drastic but I have stopped drinking shed loads of coke, maybe 3-4 cans a week now, I also eat porridge now, its gross but what can you do.

I am now 10 stone so I am up a stone after all this time, which is great. In the last few weeks what I have been doing is, when I get in from work at 6am, I get half a tub of cottage cheese, 3 scoops of my crappy protien stuff (which is getting replaced with good stuff shortly), 2 actimel things, a yogurt, 3 banans and an apple and a glass of full fat milk, sticking it all in the blender and having it as a shake, yes its disgusting. But the way I see it is, when I have all those ingrediants in front of me, I'm thinking there is no way in hell i could eat that much, but I can certainly drink that much so its an easy way of getting a lot of food in me.

A friend of mine who is massive, and I mean proplerly massive, tells me, back when he was really trying to gain, he was like me and couldn't eat hardly anything. So he would liquidise all his food, including chicken and other meats!!! I was gagging just with the thought of it and he was saying well, I couldn't eat 4 chicken breats, but liquidise it and I could drink it in a few gulps. Sick, but hey maybe I'll try it sometime...............ummm


SO I have started hitting the gym again last week. Cut out most of the running, I do a lot of rowing now which is sort of cardio but also good for building apparently, I will continue with having my shakes in the morning, I have also started eating a lot more rice and pasta dishes so we will see how it goes.

Still not happy but its progress at least.


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## Mixman

Good to hear things are progressing.


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