I want to gain muscle, but don't have....

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Hey all. I'm 16, and I've been wanting to gain muscle. I'm fairly skinny and eat a lot, but I have a high metabolism which puts no use to a lot of what I eat. Getting the mass into my body isn't a problem, it's just keeping it there. Anyway, the majour problem is that I don't have time to hit a gym and join one because I have to concentrate a lot on school, and the SAT's are coming up and I won't be done until october of next year. I was wondering really hot effective a couple hundred sit-ups and crunches and push-ups were, or if you really do need machinery and equipment in order to gain muscle. Thanks for any help!

If only helmsman were here

goddamit!

its not enough you do need the machines or atleast some free weights. sit ups and crunches will never give you a six pack and sit ups are actually bad for you. chin ups help till you get to the point where they are no longer hard to do, same with push ups. Its worth doing, but dont expect to gain any real size from it, for that you need added resistance.

I am pretty much like you. High metabolism. I started out doing like chance has mentioned... pull ups, sit ups. push ups, and free weights. Then I started going to the gym. I go to the gym 3 to 4 times a week. I used to be skinny…skinny….. couldn’t lift 80 pound bag of cement... Now I’m 10 pounds from benching 300. I was happy with myself and the muscle gain I got with just doing it at home (plus my brother has weights and a bench) my reason to hit the gym was so I could get strong. I’d suggest getting some weights.

Stop blaming metabolism for being skinny (or fat in some cases), I used to blame it too, but the difference between a fast and slow metabolism is very minor.Most skinny people are skinny because they simply do not eat that much, or they're growing up instead of out.

Originally Posted By: kmrobins

Most skinny people are skinny because they simply do not eat that much, or they're growing up instead of out.

I don't agree with that at all. Even now I eat ALL the time and I remain skinny (Granted maybe not as skinny as when I was younger, but non-the-less still skinny).

I haven't grown an inch since I was in 9th grade where I maxed out at 6'2" (I hit puberty Very early, I was 9 years old). I ate all the time, trying to gain wait but never could. The most I weighted in school was 145lbs. I've only gained 15-20 lbs since High School and most of that is muscle. And I still eat all the time!

So no, I don't agree with your statement.

Maybe you have worms..

I have to take exception, I eat well over 5000 calories a day, but alot of what I eat is meat, of fish, or chicken, and alot of my diet outside of that is pasta or snacks, maybe some fruit or candy bars or whatever I can grab on the go when Im working.
I have a high metabolism, but Im also very active. Im not into weights and lifting all the time, a light exercise program thats more about strength, I dont want size, size is pure shit when your a climber, its hinders sucking in to the wall and crawling up it, throws off balance when your on a ledge as wide as a dime is thick and trying to not fall off.
I do believe however that most skinny people are skinny because they do nothing about it. To get big it takes work, unless your just fat. That work comes through training diet and weight lifting and toning.
Im not think because I dont eat enough, Im think because its how my lifestyle leaves me.

i must have had worms too. lol  Quote:I do believe however that most skinny people are skinny because they do nothing about it. To get big it takes work, unless your just fat. That work comes through training diet and weight lifting and toning. I agree with that! if i hadn't started lifting i'd still be a skinny shit.

I'm curious then as to why you're skinny? Eating all the time does not mean you eat a lot at those meals, or that those meals contain a lot of energy. I used to think the same as you, until I actually measured my BMR (basal metabolic rate) and counted how many calories I consumed at day. I simply did not use that much energy, nor eat anywhere near as much as I believed.As for the difference between high and low metabolic rate not being that great, that's a fact, not an opinion. We're ignoring energy used by muscle mass here.

Perhaps when we talk about high metabolism, what we really mean is that we move around a lot. Certainly I, and many others, have noticed big changes with age. When I was in my teens I ate a lot and remained very skinny, but with age I've grown outwards and have had to keep pushing my food intake down. The problem is you are used to eating a certain amount, and the habit lags behind the change in need. Certainly it's been a big change for me, whether it's a change in metabolic rate or in activity.

If you're looking to have bulging muscles that are completely useless unless you're showing off at a beach, hit the weights. If you want to improve your physical and spiritual self, Get a book by Shi Yan Ming called the "Shaolin Workout." It's around $20 through Amazon.com. It will help your overall fitness level. Don't expect it to give you bulging muscles, for they are useless in the real world. How many times in our lives are we faced with having to lift a 500 lbs object? Close to Never. Improve your flexibility in mind and body. AMITUOFO, AMITUOFO, AMITUOFO!

i'm not specking for him.. but for me gaining muscles was good for me and my head. i feel stronger.. i am stranger.. if some ass wants to pick on me and push me in a locker ot trash i could push his ass threw it. would i do it? probably not. what’s the odds of that happing in college? i hope none lomao but knowing that i have it if i need it is a feeling i like. It’s gave me a confidence in myself too and i;m not near as shy as i was... i dk how much of that has to do with age and actually liking the people i hang around now.. i dk.. but.. i think it's why. my goal is to lift 300ibs and i'm close to there after that it will just be me up taining wut i got. i got to be honest tho i been looking at myself in the mirror and i liked myself weighing 170ibs better than now at 176ibs. my chest and shoulders are getting bigger than my head... i don't want to look like a little headed freak. (no offence to u body builders but .. big muscles and a little head is not wut i want.) Plus my top abs is doing some wired looking shit. I’m not really liking that either.

lifting 500? thats pretty much a never I agree, but being able to easily pick up a spare tire say, or maybe in cr's case lifting hay to feed horses or just the over all better physical health that helps to avoid injury, and confidence, the weights help.as i never red the book or tried the shit your speaking of I cant comment on it, but a better physical appearance is never a bad thing and weights can help you get there.For all I know following the book you mentioned will give you a better physical body, and just nto make you muscle bound and looking like a body builder?

Originally Posted By: kmrobinsI'm curious then as to why you're skinny? Eating all the time does not mean you eat a lot at those meals, or that those meals contain a lot of energy. Your guess is as good as mine. And I know its more than eatting a lot at meals. I eat all the time, between meals and at meals. I have done that since I was very young. Used to annoy my mother because 15-20 minutes after eatting dinner I used to look for a snack because I was hungry again. In school I used to have a candy bar or something to snack on between classes.Again as I am getting "older" I am noticing I am not starting to put on weight, so I have been watching how much I snack especially. I go to the gym now 5 days a week etc.

Well, you and CR would just have to understand a lil eastern phylosophy: You do not need weights of any kind to improve your body, mind, and soul, which in turn improves your confidence. It's something that most westerners don't understand, so I'm not going to try to convince you guys, but life essence is chi, and it can be achieved through 15 minutes of the right exercises per day. When you can master chi, which does take about as long as developing bulging muscles at a gym, you can take any sort of abuse without it affecting you.

but it doesnt gain you any weight or size or physical strength, correct? We are talking about two different goals, or am I misunderstanding what your saying?

Physical strength it does give you, more than lifting weights, actually, but I guess you're right, the young lad is looking to bulk up, not sit in a corner and meditate.

Wow, I sure had a lot to read up on...Well, yes, I am still only 16 and my father didn't really start growing until he was 16, and my doctor said that it's probably the same for me. He's a little of six feet tall, but I'm still around 5'9'. (Also, don't comment on whether or not I'm going to grow to six feet, I kind of want to keep the topic on building muscle).Anyway, I don't want these humongous rippling muscles that make me look abnormal, haha. But I don't like being as skinny as I am. I feel like if I gained some muscle it would make me be a lot less insecure and a lot more attractive, that's pretty much it. I mean it would also help with overall strength, throw a ball farther or pick things up easier. I guess what I could do is do push-ups and sit-ups, and crunches, until I realize they have become useless, and then try and find a friend to go hit the gym with -shrug-.

Also, about the Xiaolin physical strength buildup...if I'm not mistaken, that's derived from the Xiaolin (or Shaolin) monks of some mountainous region in China, no?

I remember watching some special on them. They're ridiculously strong. They can change the way their body works in order to concentrate the energy and force in certain parts, allowing for maximum strength and endurance. I saw this one guy keep his whole body up with just two index fingers. They even measured the heat in the various parts of one monks body, and as he began to prepare for training you could see how his concentration forced the heat to go towards certain parts of the body, although it's not heat it's just that those muscles are working harder and using more energy.

It was still amazing, though.