Skinny guy wants to gain weight/muscle, but addicted to running

Willapp

I think it's something of a myth that running in the morning on an empty stomach is better for burning fat. The fact is that your body stores a lot of its energy reserves within your muscles, and if anything these are at their best when you're fully rested, so a large portion of the energy you use will come from reserves, and a small amount from fat.

Thats not to say that running first thing is any worse than afternoon/evening, but I don't know that it's that much better.

Whether you're losing muscle mass from this running really depends on your diet - providing you're getting enough calories, and most of them are decent quality (not all junk, sugary foods) then you shouldn't be losing muscle mass from only running 3 miles - that's about 5km isn't it? So probably 20 - 30 minutes work? Not really long enough to do any damage to your muscles.

Whether you can gain weight/build muscle doing this is again dependant on your diet - if you eat enough calories (again good ones), then you will put on weight providing you burn less calories than you eat. The running probably only burns a couple of hundred calories at most (I'm guessing), so you can easily make this up by eating a little extra.

Best thing is to start a weight training program - 3 or 4 days a week tops, about 1 hour sessions, lifting gradually heavier weights. Bump up your calorie intake by eating more meat, complex carbs and healthy fats, and you should see your weight increase.

I would also advise taking one or two days off per week - meaning NO running or weights. This will actually help you, because you need recovery time for muscle growth.

Snow Bunny

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chaldean

thank you so much for replying. Yes you are right, 3 miles of running is about 20 - 30 minutes of running. Doesn't sound too extreme I guess, but I do not really eat alot like I should be. Another reason why I am truely running this much as well is because I do really want to see some nice abs coming out soon. Would I have to be doing more then 3 miles a day to get that nice 6 pack in the future?

Thanks again for replying.

Willapp

It depends on your diet totally. Abs are all about the diet, though you do need to do SOME ab work in order to build the muscles up (sit-ups, crunches, reverse-crunches, planks).

Generally for good ab visibility, you need a high protein diet (to keep the muscle mass), and fairly low fat (though *healthy* fats are ok, just not the saturated stuff you get in fast food etc).

Running will help by burning some fat - how much you need to do really depends on how you balance your diet/exercise out. If you don't eat much, then not doing much cardio should be ok, but the more you eat, the more cardio you need to keep the fat off. (though I wouldn't recommend any more than 1 hour of cardio at a time, and no more than 5/6 sessions a week - rest is vital).

chancer

Boxing classes are excellent for developing abs... Trainers have you working them for atleast 20 mins at a time. It's great cardio and you also develope your 6 pack. For us skinny guys, it seems that the only weight we can gain is to gain musle mass. The bottom line is that we need to eat enough to support that muscle mass. So start a weight training program like Willapp said. And after two or three months, workout 4, and then 5 times a week.

I try to eat every 3 hours, so sometimes I'll take a meal replacement (Ensure or Riteaid Plus) or something that has a lot of good carbs, fats, protiens, and vitamins + minerals in the mornings and between meals. You have to try and stablize your matabolism / overload your body.

chaldean

Thanks for the replies guys. I have a delima. I am skinny, and the big bad guy in our gym tells me that if I dont eat fat foot then I will not gain any muscle weight. He tells me that my deit should be at least 30% and my body fat needs to be at least 14% or higher in order for a skinny guy like me to gain muscle. Is true? I kinda believe it because I have been working out for the plast 2.5 months constatly and I have been eating very healthy food (very strict of not eating fats, the only fat I get is from eggs, milk, and peanut butter) and I have yet to see a significant physical change. I mean, I have gotten ALOT stronger, but I still have pueny arms. What I'm I doing wrong? Should I pig out and eat anything I see? The guy also told me that running 5 days a week isn't the best thing for me either, citing that I will not gain any muscle by doing this. I am cut it down to 2 days a week (I miss running ) . I am not looking to be a body builder, but I just want to look cut. What does a skinny guy like me do?

Willapp

Ok, firstly this guy is spouting utter crap! You don't need lots of fat in your diet to gain muscle. However, *healthy* fats are important in your diet - those gained from nuts etc are ok (non-saturated fats). The most important element for muscle growth is protein - eggs, meat, peanut butter, cottage cheese etc are all good sources.

Running 5 days a week won't necessarily prevent you gaining muscle mass - it just means you're burning more calories than the average person, so you need to EAT lots more to make up for it. Gaining weight is simply about eating more calories than you burn - though they've gotta be healthy calories if you don't want to get fat! McDonalds etc are out, except as occasional treats.

Cutting running down to 2 times a week might be useful though to start building more muscle, but once you see results, there is no reason why you can't run more, providing you keep upping your diet to compensate.

What weight work are you doing? How many times are you lifting per week? I'm betting that your lack of results is simply down to: not enough protein in your diet (get a supplement if necessary - they DO work), and not doing the right weight work in the gym.

chaldean

Ok since you have brougth these foods up, is it ok to eat 2 eggs a day, everyday? Isn't that bad for cholestrol? How many eggs should I be eating per week? I do eat lots of peanut butter. Is it ok to drink 2 glasses of 0.5% milk a day, or is that too much? I never was told what exactly I should and shouldn't be eating. I had questions about;
- pasta
- homemade yogurt, where we use vitamin D milk (very fatning, but does that fat get distroyed when the yogurt is made by boiling the milk?)

What else should I be eating?

I do consume a good amount of protien per day, that is one thing I know I'm doing right - I have big bags of protien powder shakes, and I take at least 2 shakes per day, sometimes 3, and each shake has 50g of protien (not even including another 8-9g of protien from milk). I also think I'm working out right as well. I work out 4 days a week, bis/tris day one, chese/abs day two, bis/tris/abs day three, back/sholdier day four. I do 10-12 reps, each exersice 4-5 times. I work out hard with my friend, and I do push myself. I guess I know for a fact the reason I haven't seen a big change is because I dont as much as I should. I just can't do it. I mean I can pig out for a day or two, but thats it. Sometimes I dont know what to eat. I have completly given up fast food, so I have been eating less overall since I started working out. Akhh dont know what to do.