I need some serious help. Just so you know my physical stand point, I'm 17, 6'1", 175 pounds, and extremely toned. I'm pretty strong and am on the high school football team. I have a 4 day a week work out schedule and push to fail with almost every exercise. The problem: I'm not bulking! I have tried all sorts of protein powders, i've tried dozens of different work out schedules but nothing is working. I am slowly, ever so slowly getting stronger but i'm not bulking like I want to. I eat healthy and am very active. What do I need to do? Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Every day write down everything you consume. Sodas, juices, and all the food. Total the calories at the end of the day. Most people who can't gain, aren't eating enough. Try to eat 15 calories and 1 to 2 grams of protein for every pound of bodyweight.

Try to get 8 hours of sleep and drink 6-8 glasses of water a day.

I had a similar problem when I was in high school. I was 15 and my coach told me I needed to gain about 25lbs if I wanted to be competitive for the varsity spot the following season. I started eating as much as I could, and kept hitting the weights like crazy. Before I had minimal gains, but when I increased my caloric intake--I probably actually more than doubled it, I gained about 25-30lbs of muscle in 4-5 months. Course I was 15, so some of that came from the natural growth process, but I was definately more solid when I came back.

Take a read at www.johnberardi.com (http://www.johnberardi.com) in the 'Nutrition' area articles and look up a series of articles called 'Massive Eating'. I think you will find you are not eating enough. Also be careful about overtraining.

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum38/HTML/001747.html


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...gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?

I agree it's probably calories. Get a Fitday account if you don't have one already. I'd expect you'll need 20-25 calories per pound of bodyweight based on what you've described, but just go up slowly and adjust based on the results.

eat as much as possible. if you are playing football 5 days a week in addition to lifting, you are going through a LOT of calories. if you are a hard gainer it might be nearly impossible to gain weight during the season. just try to maintain as best you can until the season's over, then really concentrate on your weight gain [following the above suggestions].

I have spoken to a lot of people with the same problem, and they always tell me 'I eat so much but can't gain any weight.'

You know what? They aren't eating enough. They just think they are.

If you want to bulk up, you need to bear in mind a few things, and I'm talking from solid experience, as believe me I was extremely skinny when I was a kid - the doctor once asked my mother if I ate properly, as I looked ill and too thin - and I know how it worked for me.
You just can't bulk up and avoid putting on a few pounds around the belly, first. It doesn't work like that, if you're hoping to stay toned and muscular while 'bulking up,' forget it.

I think I weighed around 8st7lbs at 5'10" (around 100lbs) when I was 16, and now weigh around 200lbs and I'm pretty muscular, but because of my naturally small frame I have my fair share of love handles and a bit of a stomach!

What I did was pretty simple. At mealtimes, add something. A banana, anything as long as it's additional NO matter how full you are, and where you would drink one glass of liquids, fruit juice or whatever, always drink two. Try not to go longer than around three hours without at least a small snack. Essentially, you are aiming never to be hungry through the course of the day.

If you are a hardgainer this is DIFFICULT. It is psychologically difficult to eat when you aren't hungry. And you need to stick to it with regularity. I took it a step to far and ended up throwing up a lot because I forcefed myself. Not good, but it was affecting my life and it was the only thing that worked for me.

If you increase your calorie intake enough, you WILL gain weight. But it's a difficult thing to do, so be warned.

Eat more. =)

It has never failed that everyone I've ever encountered who can't gain or claimed to have hit their "genetic potential" were undereating for their goals and not realizing it.

Eat a meal every two hours. Eat by the clock. Eat even if you're not hungry. Take in plenty of clean carbs -- oats, brown rice, etc. -- and go for lean cuts of beef as a meat source, when you can.

Throw in some clean yet calorie-dense foods if you don't feel like eating so much volume. Natural peanut butter, raw nuts, dairy such as milk, yogurt, and cheese (if you tolerate dairy).

Hey everybody, thanks a ton! I totalled up my calorie intake and compared it to what I'm supposed to be eating. HOLY COW! I'm supposed to be eating an extra half of what I'm currently eating. I've started eating more and hopefully it'll help me out. Thanks alot!

Up your caloric and protein intake.
Dont give up on protein powders. You should eat about 1.5-2 grams of protein for every Lbs you weight. I highly suggest ON's 100% whey protein. no fat, no sugar, almost no carbs. ALL PROTEIN.