You are most likely [if not absolutely] an ectomorph, it's a little different ball game for you [more difficult]. A friend of mine named JR is 130lbs 6'0, he can eat what should be double his maint. calories for two weeks and see no statistically significant gain in weight, when it should be 6-8lbs.

 

working out for 7 weeks and gained 5 pounds of muscle (HAHA I WISH IT WAS THAT EASY!!!!!) In all honesty, dude no shortcuts please im in the same boat as you and all you gotta do is work out A LOT, that will make your body crave food, EAT IMMEDIATELY AFTER YOU WORK OUT, AND EAT A LOT! if you rely simply on protein shakes or steroids, you'll go nowhere trust me
good luck

 

Is it best to eat after the workout or before?

 

both.

PREWORKOUT

OBJECTIVE

the objective here is to promote sustained carbohydrate & amino acid availability, minimize muscle catabolism, and spare glygogen as much as possible. it's important to note here that research is quite conflicting on the issue of GI & exercise performance. much of the latest studies show no real difference. the actual amount & physical nature of the meal depends on how soon your schedule allows you to eat or drink before training. there are at least 2 acceptable scenarios..

COMPOSITION

scenario one: a solid, full-sized balanced meal finished 60-90 minutes preworkout consisting of 30-60g protein (0.2-0.25g/lb target BW) + 40-80g carb (0.33g/lb target BW). there are endless examples of how this can be constructed, & heres just one:
---- 5-8oz of any type of land or sea animal flesh
---- 1-2 cups of whole grain product or starchy vegetable or legume /or/ fistsize sweet potato, etc. Have your preference, focus on total amount rather than food subtype.
---- 1 or more cups fibrous vegetable like salad greens, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, spinach, kale, cabbage, onions, even carrots, etc, etc

[or]

scenario two: a liquid meal or shake finished 30-0 min preworkout:
---- 20-50g protein (0.15-0.2g/lb target BW). Whey is preferred for its BCAA content & gastric tolerability for most.
---- 40-80g (0.33g/lb target BW). Any fruit works well here, so does old fashioned oats. a solid case can be built for a combination of both. whether you include water/milk is a matter of digestive tolerance. milk just gets the anabolic/anticatabolic cascades rolling for those in a severe hurry to gain muscle. adding fat to this shake can slow the release of nutrients & benefit those who train for significantly more than 90 min, offering extra protection against energy dips - especially if you don't consume a dilute carb solution during your workout. note that most people will do fine without the fat.

to reiterate the factor of individual differences, don't be afraid to go outside of the listed guidelines & exceed the upper limit of listed carb intake as needed to power you through your training. conversely, don't be afraid to dip below it given your gastrointestinal tolerance for exogenous substrate during or pretraining.

POSTWORKOUT

OBJECTIVE

the objective here is to sustain elevated insulin concentrations & get a head start on recovery by antagonizing cortisol & other catabolic elements, replenish water & glygogen, and restore levels of circulating amino acids. this is mistakenly viewed as the most important meal of the day, which is BS. why? because if you're not properly fueled prior to this point, you might compromise your training performance, and you won't achieve the same level of protein synthesis & antiproteolysis. thus, it's equally important in the large scheme of things.

COMPOSITION

i'm not biased towards a shake-only postworkout philosophy, as long as either type contains a liquid component. 2 equally effective scenarios are:

scenario one: as soon as possible postworkout - or even at the tail end of the workout, say, 10-20 minutes before it's over. i start chugging my postworkout shake 60 minutes into my workout, regardless of how long my workout takes.
---- 30-60g protein (0.25g/lb target BW). whey again is pretty cheap & works great here. research shows that postworkout protein doesn't inhibit glycogen synthesis, and can improve protein synthesis. this means that you can hedge your anabolic & anticatabolic bets by taking in a sizable amount of protein postworkout. whey happens to be a highly insulinogenic protein, so this is ideal at this point.
---- 60-120g (0.5g/lb target BW). dextrose & maltodextrin have traditionally been emphasized as ideal for postworkout because of their high-GI. however, i have issues with going pure dex for postworkout for a couple of reasons - and they have nothing to do with the threat of insulin resistance, because that whole scenario applies to a completely different population. first off, you can get some default dex within fruit or milk. secondly, pure dex has no micronutrient density, and i've said it before, antioxidant micronutrition is grossly under-emphasized whenever postworkout nutrition is discussed. dex is a fine addition to your postworkout carb arsenal, but to go pure dex for the largest carb hit of your day doesn't make sense from a micronutrient density standpoint

adding fruit to your postworkout mix of carbs can potentially benefit folks who train with a high volume & do a lot of cardio (ie, precontest). the protection of liver glycogen status under such conditions can maintain the centrally neurologic signaling of the "fed state" and hence prevent lean tissue catabolism -- especially during hypocaloric balance.

okay, so to be practical, simple examples are: 1.5 cups dry oats (OR) 1 cup dry oats + 1 banana (or pick any other fruit you like). these are just 2 examples out of many possibilities.

milk considerations: whether or not you add milk to your postworkout shake depends upon personal preference and tolerance. the cons of milk are that many folks have some degree of lactose intolerance or milk allergy, and therefore are excluded from the possibility. the pros of milk postworkout are that it's highly insulinogenic, contains 6g dex per cup, and is a potent anabolic/anticatabolic substance that has outperformed whey in human research thus far.

scenario two: ASAP postworkout - a solid-food meal consisting of:
---- 30-60g protein (0.25g/lb target BW) in the form of lean flesh, all types are fine, 5-8oz suffices.
---- 60-120g starchy carbs (0.5g/lb target BW), good examples are white or brown rice, and all types of potatoes & breads. my bias and preference here is to include a serving of higher-glucose fresh fruit, such as grapes, banana, or pineapple - for micronutrient/antioxidant purposes (we should all know by now that the fructose contribution of fruit, at about 7g on average per serving, is insignificant). another wrinkle to add here is that berries as a group have more antioxidant potential than other fruits. this confers benefit despite their lower concentration of glucose compared to grapes, pineapples, & bananas. so, don't worry if you choose other fruit than the higher-glucose ones postworkout; you're still winning out in the antioxidant arena.
---- water or milk, pick your poison.. a word about fruit juice: while i am not against small amounts of fructose from whole fruit for maintaining/replenishing liver glycogen, fruit juice on the other hand tends to cross the line of excess in terms of fructose, and you miss out on much of the beneficial phytochemicals & oxygen radical suppressors in whole fruit.

 

Thanks

TONS of information there!!

 

^^^ LOL, tons of misleading information and helpful one too. 284 grams of protein a day for ur frame? Unless you are rich, want to look like a body builder, and have the appetite to eat that much this wont happen.

The most important thing and hardest is not getting there, it is staying there when you achieved your goal. Getting strong is easy, but staying strong is the hardest part. Same thing go with weight gaining. You are so used to your eating habit that changing it is very difficult if it even happen.

Supplements such as protein is good, but once you start to load them up they get ridiculously expensive. Like everything in life, read the fine label before purchase. Even WEIGHT GAINER PRODUCTS have label in the back which stated "this product is not a meal replacement and is not recommended to consume solely as a weight gainer" and/or "consume serving after meal". Does this ring a bell?

They are expensive. $45 dollars will probably get u a week supply of weight gainer. You can do yourself better by going to the grocery and spend that money on better protein like chicken, pork and beef which is cheap. Fish is expensive, but they are also the best IMHO.

My best advice to you IS EAT BREAKFAST AND CONSUME LONG DIGESTIVE PROTEIN BEFORE YOU GO TO SLEEP!!!!!! Trust me when I say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. While you sleep, your body is feasting on itself to keep it going. So after an 6-8 hours of sleep ur body is starving and need foods now!! Specifically protein so skipping breakfast is basically a HELL NO if gaining and maintaining ur weight is ur goal(especially for us high metabolism guys who burn calories like a Ford GT-40 burn gas).

You don't have to consume twice as much calories to gain weight. You do have to intake more, but it is important to know when and how much.

Also, if you ever have time stop by your local gym have a chat with one of the trainer or employee. They are either nice people who want to help you out or want to show off how much they know or both. Just say no if anyone of them start to steer you toward any questionable product if you know what I mean.

 

Are you kidding me? This kid is asking about putting on mass and you say that 284 grams of protein is misleading? WOW, please tell me you look like a muscle and fitness cover model. At minimal, for any MALE human being, 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight is just to maintain his CURRENT muscle mass. In order for him to see gains, he obviously will have to pound it out in the gym, but needs the nutrition to back that up.

OF COURSE taking supplements will cost you money! Any form of supplements, especially when you're trying to achieve a goal (in his instance putting on muscle mass) can be expensive. It comes with the territory. The same goes for good quality food! Lean meats, poultry, etc... are much more expensive than frozen TV dinners, $3 Taco Tuesdays, $1 Whoppers, all other junk food.

Everyone has a different body, but this is the general rule of thumb for anyone who has actually stepped in the gym to reach their fitness goals.

 

Putting on muscle mass does not have to be expensive. Also, yes, 284 grams of protein a day for his 5'6" 143 lbs. frame is ridiculous to put on extra mass. Where do you get all of your info?

Whatever you do ebbai don't listen to us over the internet. Go read up and do the research urself. It's not that hard if you are determine and know what you are doing.

 

284g is excessive in my book for a 143lb man. I don't buy into 2g/lb. I'd say a macro with 60% protein is max, so calculate the calories you want to eat using any one of the accurate formulas, multiply that number by .6, then divide the result by 9.. thats the number of grams of protein to eat if you want 60%.

 

http://www.indoorclimbing.com/Protein_Requirement.html This is the daily requirement to sustain urself

http://www.hydroxycut.com/calculators/protein.shtml This is daily recommendation for muscle build

Health conscious adults should consume .4 - .5 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

Endurance Athletes .5 - .7 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

Strength Athletes .7 - .8 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

GO SHOVE UR 284 SOMEWHERE ELSE.