/r/gainit
EAT MORE FOOD AND READ THE RULES AND SIDEBAR BEFORE YOU POST!
READ THE FAQ for 'getting started'/'how to begin' questions
Information and discussion for people looking to put on lean weight. Please keep discussions relevant to gaining.
You don't have a "high metabolism"... You simply aren't eating enough!
BEFORE POSTING
Please read the FAQ and use the search function.
Please use the appropriate tag:
[Progress Post] - for Progress Posts
Currently, this subreddit is only accepting progress as top-level posts. Any other posts will be removed automatically, and efforts to get around this policy will result in a permanent ban.
Please Note: There are minimum account age & karma requirements. If you have a brand new account, you must build karma in other subs before posting or commenting here.
WHAT NOT TO POST
Racist, sexist, sexual, or homophobic comments, and general negative content.
Natty Policing. Do not blatantly accuse fellow redditors of steroid use. You will be banned. You may politely ask, but do not outright accuse.
Asking for medical advice. We are not a replacement for a doctor. If you have a special condition or need advice on an injury, consult your physician.
Achievements that will not lead to a constructive discussion should be posted in the weekly Success Sundays thread.
Don't ask "Should I Bulk or Cut?" There's literally a sub for this: /r/BulkOrCut. PLEASE DON'T ASK THIS QUESTION!
'Critique my Program' posts - instead see our FAQ for suggested routines.
"Can I just drink Olive/Peanut Oil?" - Knock yourself out. It's not a secret calorie hack. It acts as a lubricant laxative. Don't even ask.
Form Checks - Use Form Check Friday over at /r/weightroom.
Posts advertising products or services. NO SELF-PROMOTION.
Clickbait titles. Do not post titles that force people to open the thread to view the question. Temporary bans will be handed out.
Lazy "what foods exist?" type questions
Requests for shake recipes/reviews, or your own recipes. Please refer to the FAQ section covering shakes as well as searching previous threads via the Search Function for additional recipes.
Unhelpful comments. Please make an attempt to post helpful comments and stay on topic. Masturbation/Penis jokes will result in a ban. They are not funny. They’re overdone and unoriginal.
No being a dick, slurs, or personal attacks
No arguing in bad faith
This sub is for GAINING, not re-comping. If you're 5'10" and 125 lbs, you don't need to "recomp", you need to put on muscle mass AND total body weight.
Natty/ROM/sumo/arch/fed/FFMI policing is not tolerated here
The mods WILL delete any post or comment we feel is not a good fit, regardless of any sidebar or FAQ statements. A post doesn't have to violate a rule to suck, sometimes people get creative.
The mods WILL ban people who are more trouble than they're worth, regardless of any sidebar or FAQ statements. A user doesn't have to violate a rule to suck, sometimes people get creative.
No SARMs discussion whatsoever.
DO NOT message users offering goods or services! (e.g. personal training).
PROGRESS POST REQUIREMENTS:
You must include 'Progress Post' in the title.
Height, Age, Sex
Starting & Ending Weight
Diet & Lifting Routine
Time Period Elapsed
Please Note: There is a 4-month minimum for "Transformations"
Progress Check-In's must include 1 month of calorie & weight logs
SUGGESTED LINKS:
RELATED SUBREDDITS
/r/gainit
Hello gainit, this is my third progress post. My first and second ones can be found in this subreddit. I am making this post because I have learned even more from my second post and that I consider myself no longer a skeleton at this point in time.
I have decided to label the distinct parts since I know people are only interested in certain things. Therefore, below you will find in order: BACKSTORY, TRAINING, DIET, GOALS, THINGS I HAVE LEARNED, and MENTAL HEALTH (Possible trigger warnings for this one as I will be talking about anorexia and body dysmorphia)
Progress pictures can be found here:
Current Physique: https://imgur.com/a/last-gainit-update-bw-185lbs-mlYxSVQ
Starting Physique NSFW!!: https://imgur.com/a/100lbs-mJa34l7
BACKSTORY:
During COVID, I became much more obsessive with the way I looked and thought having a six pack would solve my problems. As time went on I started to hate myself more and more and began to starve myself. Leading to me not eating for a day or two. As a result, I dropped from 145 to 100.
TRAINING:
At the beginning I fucked around in the gym and did not really get anywhere. I tried different programs but I felt these didn't do a lot for me. I finally found BUILDING THE MONLITH because of u/mythicalstrength and got insane results from these program. If you are a beginner then I recommend this program. It is life changing. Next, I found SUPER SQUATS which is the hardest program I have ever ran and will ever run. If there are people interested in these programs than I will edit this post and include links to the program (SUPER SQUATS is a book that is worth the full price). I have done a program review for BUILDING THE MONOLITH that I would recommend yall to check out if you are still interested. As of now, I have been running u/gzcl JACK AND TANNED 2.O which is my favorite program to date. Other recommendations for programs that I have ran is BUILDING THE BEEFCAKE and STRONGER BY SCIENCE PROGRAM.
Lifts:
Bench Press: 240
Squat: 335
Deadlift: 375
DIET:
If you are bulking then I believe no food should be off limits unless it has significant negative influence on your health. I try to make sure I eat my fruits, veggies, and protein. The rest I don't care about. I do track my calories using Macrofactor which I 100% recommend but it is not necessary at all. I will admit I have not been super active in r/gainit but I used to be super active in the past. The biggest problem I see in this subreddit is people trying to eat clean 100% of the time. This is unrealistic. Your body does not want to change. It is okay to eat fatty high caloric foods to get your body to change. It is up to you to force your body to change. For me, it is forcing food down even when I am not hungry. I am lucky in that I no longer have to eat 3,500 to 4,00 calories anymore. This is an insane amount of calories and I event went to doctor to discuss it. Now I am eating around 3,100 to 3,300 calories. Biggest recommendation I have is to make sure you are eating enough to force your body to change. Using whatever food you have at your disposable.
GOALS:
I don't really have any big goals now. I feel pretty accomplished. I do want to compete in powerlifting so right now I am working on my big compound lifts.
THINGS I HAVE LEARNED:
I will keep this pretty simple. Do hard programs. Eat to recover programs. Eat ALOT to make sure you recover. Eat less if you find yourself getting fat.
Edit: Increase conditioning. If you are doing any of the programs I recommended then eat as much as you can.
MENTAL HEALTH:
It's okay to see a therapist. It is okay to ask for help. I wish I did it sooner. Again, you can see what happens if you let your mental health issues control you. Being 100lbs was a wakeup call to me and it took a lot of help to get where I am.
I know this is a very long post but I hope the information here will help others. I am not going to do a TLDR because the information in here can transform skeletons into meatfridges. Again big thanks to fitness people in gainit and r/weightroom
Welcome to the basic questions and discussions thread! This is a place to ask any questions that you may have -- moronic or otherwise and talk about how your going. Please keep these questions and discussions reasonably on-topic: things noted in the 'what not to post' section of the sidebar will be removed, and the moderation team may issue temporary user bans.Anyone may post a question, and the community as a whole is invited and encouraged to provide an answer. If your question is more specific to you, we recommend providing details. The more we know about your situation, the better answer we will be able to provide. Sometimes questions get submitted late enough in the day that they don't get much traction, so if your question didn't get answered in a previous thread, feel free to post it again.As always, please check the FAQ before posting. The FAQ is considered a comprehensive guide on how to gain lean mass and has more than enough information to get any beginner started today. Ask away!
I’ve wasted a year of lifting on the fact that I was deathly scared of gaining fat and was never eating in a surplus. Now I’ve reversed that mentality and am trying to do a slight surplus of 200cal. TDEE for me is 1700 I am 5”3 125 pounds . Current caloric goal is 1950. I am struggling with this so much and have been using apps to track my intake I can barely reach 1800 without feeling awful so now it’s making me realise is 1700 even my real TDEE because I swear I’d survive on 1300 per day before
What's holding you back from making the biggest gains? What could you be doing better? Where could you be trying harder? What new habits could you enact to make things easier for you? Be honest with yourself, what would make a difference?
I don't whether or not I should try to gain weight, or just stay what I'm at. Any advice?
I'm a 21 year old male, 5'11, and 137 LBS. I keep getting mixed opinions on my weight, and whether or not I need to gain some. Any advice? I'm hoping to make a final decision on what to do here.
FYI: I'm around 16-17% bodyfat.
I made about 25 breakfast burrito with eggs, chicken sausage, chorizo, hash browns, cheese, froze them and had them every morning for close to a month straight. Really good and efficient, but getting sick of them.
I'm looking for another breakfast meal that's high in calories and protein, and that I can reheat in a microwave if needed (office only has microwave).
I don't like cottage cheese or greek yog unfortunately. I don't mind sweeter fruit yogurts tho.
I'm a 20 year old male: 235lbs with a kind of skinny fat build. In about July / September of 2023 I entered a caloric surplus, an unhealthy one admittedly, and started seriously working out since November of last year and I have seen progress since then which I am proud of. However, I feel that I'm still too skinny / not big enough whenever I compare myself to what I want to become, that being a "bear / bear mode," see these images:
ExampleA
ExampleB
ExampleC
Myself
I haven't followed any programs other than sticking to a 5x5 for my workouts, and I mostly do compounds (deadlifts, barbell rows, and benching). I'm not too sure on what to do, and I'd really appreciate any advice, conversations, or suggestions on what to do. Thank you.
So basically my weight increased by 1.5 kg within 10 days, all of it being muscle mass according to my dietician's scale. I'm quite underweight (therefore have a very low body fat %) and actually have to gain some weight, but due to some problems regarding my relationship with food, I find it a bit difficult. Anyway, I actually have been maintaining my weight for like 5 months. I've a very active job, where I literally walk all day long. Apart from my job, I'm also quite active in my free time. I'm 100% sure that I burn more calories a day than I eat (I track my calories). Somehow I don't lose weight, which I'm cool with. I just don't really understand why I suddenly gained 1.5 kg of muscle mass. I didn't change my exercise routine (I mostly do cardio), I didn't eat more, I didn't eat more protein than usual. Could anyone please explain to me how this could happen and if I need to increase my calories, because I'm a bit scared my metabolism slowed down or something like that. Thanks :)
Welcome to the basic questions and discussions thread! This is a place to ask any questions that you may have -- moronic or otherwise and talk about how your going. Please keep these questions and discussions reasonably on-topic: things noted in the 'what not to post' section of the sidebar will be removed, and the moderation team may issue temporary user bans.Anyone may post a question, and the community as a whole is invited and encouraged to provide an answer. If your question is more specific to you, we recommend providing details. The more we know about your situation, the better answer we will be able to provide. Sometimes questions get submitted late enough in the day that they don't get much traction, so if your question didn't get answered in a previous thread, feel free to post it again.As always, please check the FAQ before posting. The FAQ is considered a comprehensive guide on how to gain lean mass and has more than enough information to get any beginner started today. Ask away!
Ask food related questions here. Discuss recipes. Share eating hacks. DON'T DRINK OLIVE OIL!!!
Essentially I'm trying to bulk right now but my digestion just doesn't seem to be what it used to be. I think it's a combination of me getting a little older (I'm only 30) but also I moved into a more sedentary job in November.
One thing I plan on starting is a 10 minute brisk walk after each meal because I used to do it a few years back after watching Stan Efferdings videos on it, but what are other things I could do that aren't just 'drink your calories' or 'eat more smaller meals'?
The reason I say that is because my diet already consists of 50% almost liquid calories (overnight protein oats mainly which are very easy for me to consume, plus a protein shake) and the other part is actual food though that comprises maybe a third/quarter and it's mashed potato, greens, and beef. I found that pork was too fatty and I just really mentally didn't want to eat it even after only having half a portion but beef I can eat much more easily. I used to be able to eat 4000 calories a day without even trying but now I just can barely get down 3000 on purpose, and while it's easier now with actually eating the food, I'm finding that even when my last meal was 2-3 hours before the gym, I still feel so bloated and full from it that it just sucks.
I just want to ask a hypothetical because im just not understanding the Boring But big beef cake plan.
So say my 1rm is 83.5Kg for bench press
What would my top set bench press weights be and what would my FSL bench press weights be? Its to my understanding I must do 5 sets of 10 for both so 100 all together. Can someone please break it down to me please
Have a question that is training or programming related? Ask it here! Want someone to help you revising or customising a program? Ask here! Want to show off a program you designed? Why are you designing your own programs? Read the bloody FAQ!.
40 - M - 87kg
I've been lifting for about 3 years... but really only following linear progression progs for about 2...
Recently jumped on SBS hypertrophy and decided to take the food side of it seriously ... got Macro Factor and started counting..
My macro breakdown is:
154g Protein
121g Fat
481g Carbs
481 grams of carbs... is a shit tonne for me... I get close most of the time but rarely do I hit the target and when the app revises my nutrition plan it generally just adds to my carb intake ...
Is it legit to just up my rice? ... I feel like I'm eating a truck load of rice already but ... if it's as simple as just adding another 150g of white rice to my daily intake then I'm good to do that...
Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for nailing a high carb goal
Hi all,
I would consider myself extremely skinny, and have been for my whole life. I am 16 years old, 5’7”, and weight about 106 pounds. My frame/appearance has been pointed out constantly, so I feel that’s it’s definitely time to make a change. I feel “normal” at my current weight and I have a very fast metabolism. Any things I should do to gain weight? My goal is to gain at least 10-20 pounds so my arms don’t look as “skeleton-like”.
Side note: Please elaborate on “just eat more” if that’s what you’re going to say.
Welcome to the basic questions and discussions thread! This is a place to ask any questions that you may have -- moronic or otherwise and talk about how your going. Please keep these questions and discussions reasonably on-topic: things noted in the 'what not to post' section of the sidebar will be removed, and the moderation team may issue temporary user bans.Anyone may post a question, and the community as a whole is invited and encouraged to provide an answer. If your question is more specific to you, we recommend providing details. The more we know about your situation, the better answer we will be able to provide. Sometimes questions get submitted late enough in the day that they don't get much traction, so if your question didn't get answered in a previous thread, feel free to post it again.As always, please check the FAQ before posting. The FAQ is considered a comprehensive guide on how to gain lean mass and has more than enough information to get any beginner started today. Ask away!
Ive been bulking for a few months now. I started at 165 lbs and im now at 180lbs yet I still look skinny af? I do weightlifting and cardio but for some reason I look almost exactly the same as when I started despitr gainint about 15 lbs. My calfs are pretty big but my upper body like my arms, shoulders, and waist still make me look like a toothpick. How is it that im pretty heavy but I still look skinny af? This was my goal but now I am thinking 190. Im not trying to be buff just wanna have an athletic build.
Best Way To Begin Lean Bulking?
I’m 43, 5’7” and 135lbs. I’m down over 100 since September 2022 (236~>135). I’m currently eating 1600 calories / day on a cut and my Wyze scale tells me I’m at 8.5% body fat. Photos from last week are on my feed.
I plan to cut until 5/31 - that’ll be 90 days - and then plan to begin lean bulking for summer. At my current pace, I should be just below 8% bf by then.
What’s the best approach? My TDEE ranges from 2266 - 2537 based on about a half dozen online calculators.
I’m struggling with that last little bit of skin/fat around my belly button. Not sure if I should bulk? Continue to cut? If my skin needs more time to tighten up? Or if I’m screwed and need surgery?
I don’t really know much about lean bulking so I’d really appreciate your advice and guidance. Thank you!
hello gainers, i have been skinny my whole life. at the age of 34 (unmarried) height 5'4" (163cm) and weighing only 95lbs or 43kg. seems like i have been stuck on this weight forever. I'll get admitted to gym today, for the 10th times, never ever have the motivation to go to gym or eat more. no matter how tasty the food is. now i have decided to change, otherwise can't find a girl to get married, also i am tired of being skinny. i want to gain weight as fast as possible. and i am ready to do everything to my get rid of my teenage body.
please shower me with your advice, tips or tricks and let me know if its possible to gain weight at this age. i am pretty skinny forearm, that's why can't wear any watch. is it possible to get strong and thick forearm?
Discuss what's motivating you to get make gains here. What started you off? What keeps you going? What do you use to make sure you don't quit?
I’m in the last month of my bulk and I’m getting my wisdom teeth out this week. What are some good high calorie and high protein foods that don’t require a whole lot of chewing?
What have been your victories this week? Have you made good progress? Set a new lift PR? Enacted a new habit that is helping you greatly? Post it here!
hi team!
Im doing meal prep now. And im planning on having chicken and white rice for lunch for 5 days in a week. My question is will eating white rice everyday give me blood sugar issues / diabetes down the line?
Thanks for all the support i get on this community! <3
Welcome to the basic questions and discussions thread! This is a place to ask any questions that you may have -- moronic or otherwise and talk about how your going. Please keep these questions and discussions reasonably on-topic: things noted in the 'what not to post' section of the sidebar will be removed, and the moderation team may issue temporary user bans.Anyone may post a question, and the community as a whole is invited and encouraged to provide an answer. If your question is more specific to you, we recommend providing details. The more we know about your situation, the better answer we will be able to provide. Sometimes questions get submitted late enough in the day that they don't get much traction, so if your question didn't get answered in a previous thread, feel free to post it again.As always, please check the FAQ before posting. The FAQ is considered a comprehensive guide on how to gain lean mass and has more than enough information to get any beginner started today. Ask away!
Age: 26 Height: 5’10 Daily calorie intake: 3430 Daily protein: 172g of protein
I work out 4 times a weeks day 1 & 3: chest + arms and day 2 & 4: back + legs
There are so many empty motivation posts saying, "just eat more" but its not that simple.
Anyway, I found out the amount of calories I needed to gain weight was around 2,100 (at the time of being 120)
When i found this out i decided to have four meals a day (you can do 3 or 5 a day. It all depends on your life and preference). My meals had a 3 hr break between them.
I divided my calorie requirement by 4 for my 4 meals a day and I eat the required amount at that time.
My schedule looks like this:
Amount of calories needed: 2,100
First meal: 11 am (525 calories)
Second meal: 2 pm (525 calories)
Third meal: 5 pm (525 calories)
Fourth meal: 8 pm (525 calories)
Anyways, happy gaining!
I've read that cold showers can lower inflammation which is needed for gaining muscle mass. I love taking them and feel the benefits would help before I hit the gym. Would taking a cold shower 30 minutes-1 hour before lifting cause any negative consequences at all?
I’ve had obstacles along the way that have put me out of commission, and there were a few weeks that weren’t as clean as I would’ve wanted, but I’m generally happy with how my lean bulk went. My strength has increased notably. I went from benching 185 for 2 to a 225 ORM. All with a 15 lb increase in body weight. Goes to show I didn’t do things right for a long time when my numbers shoot up like that after being active at the gym for over 2 years.
Welcome to the basic questions and discussions thread! This is a place to ask any questions that you may have -- moronic or otherwise and talk about how your going. Please keep these questions and discussions reasonably on-topic: things noted in the 'what not to post' section of the sidebar will be removed, and the moderation team may issue temporary user bans.Anyone may post a question, and the community as a whole is invited and encouraged to provide an answer. If your question is more specific to you, we recommend providing details. The more we know about your situation, the better answer we will be able to provide. Sometimes questions get submitted late enough in the day that they don't get much traction, so if your question didn't get answered in a previous thread, feel free to post it again.As always, please check the FAQ before posting. The FAQ is considered a comprehensive guide on how to gain lean mass and has more than enough information to get any beginner started today. Ask away!
Hi r/gainit I've been swinging club weights on and off, trying to find a good home routine that will provide muscle growth and mobility. I figured steel clubs might have a similar "What the hell? Effect" like kettlebells, but I have not found any progress pictures from people who mainly train club weights, there are also a ton of videos online of very old/very thin men swinging very large clubs without much effort.
Does anyone have any insight on this?