So I don’t nirmally post anything on any forums but I’m in a rut here and I need help, I’ve been having a hell of a time gaining weight and I have my macros and diet more dialed in than I ever have, and I train hard, but for some reason I just cannot gain weight. Don’t get me wrong, I look great, probably the best I have, but I just want to be bigger!
Current stats:
5’9
185lbs
13-15% BF
Train 5-6 days a week
Running 700mg of Sust 350 a week
Diet consists of 4 eggs and a protein shake for breakfast at 6am, then at 9pm (first work break) I eat a chicken breast and a cup of rice, then at 12 (lunch) I eat a chicken breast and a cup of rice with a protein shake, at 2 I eat a chicken breast and a cup of rice, then at the end of the day when I get home at 4:30 I eat something medium sized before the gym, I train for around an hour to an hour and a half, then I drink my shake and glutamine and eat a full sized meal (usually chicken and rice ) and then right before bed I hammer some cottage cheese and sleep for the night and do it all again. On a strict day I’m getting about 3700 calories and around 370g of protein. I look great, I’m very well proportioned and my physique looks nice and fairly well defined and vascular and I’m thick for my height, but I’d like to sit at 190-195lbs and lean but I just CANNNTTTTT seem to break 185. Any suggestions, maybe throw some Var in the mix, I don’t do well with tren or anadrol so that’s a no go, and dbol doesn’t seem to have any affect on me anymore (don’t ask me why, tried multiple brands at 50mg a day), help me out
You’re on a pretty low-fat plan. Fixing that is the easiest way to add calories.
If you’re “fairly well defined and vascular” (which isn’t really around 15%), then you should have room to be more aggressive with calorie intake. Right now, you’re eating like a pre-contest bodybuilder. There’s no reason for that.
Also, yes, have some fruits and vegetables.
I believe the rule of thumb is: If you can’t gain weight without gear, then you should avoid gear.
An easy fix, have each of your protein shakes with 8-12 oz of whole milk instead of water. That will add 450-675 calories without filling you up any more, along with 24-36g protein, 24-36g fat and 36-54g carbs. Oh, and eat some fruits and vegetables.
Okay thanks for the input guys, yes I agree I should gobble down some veggies for sure, and as far as the eating more thing, what my goal is is to kinda try to lean bulk I guess? I know it’s hard but so far I’ve gained 5lbs and leaned out a little more, I counted my macros and I’m at the levels I need to be at to achieve what I want, and I know upping calories is the Mecca of weight gain, I was just hoping that I didn’t have to cuz I want to retain as little of fat as possible. And as for my BF percentage and it not seeming to make sense why I’d be relatively lean and vascular, we’ll last time I checked I was 15%, and so I checked again last night after I posted this question and it said 12%, I’m vascular in my shoulders, traps, arms, legs, and I have a 6 pack in the morning… but yeah I’ll go with what you guys said, I just figured that having my macros right in that sweet spot that I’d be able to slowly gain quality muscle mass without any fat gain, but it’s come to a halt so that’s why I reached out, all of this input is great so thank you. Also I forgot to add in my stats that I’m 26 years old and have a few cycles under my belt, I started working out at 138lbs, made it to 205 at one point, and now I sit around 185-190 average
Your base metabolic rate at your size as an active person is probably around 3000 calories/day, and if you’re working hard you’re probably burning close to 1000 calories every workout, so you’re pretty much eating at maintenance right now.
I could see this being possible if he’s actually training for the whole 1.5 hours, but I imagine he’s more saying that he’s in the gym for 1.5 hours. I’m sure there’s rest periods in there.
Good point, he hasn’t really described how he’s training. Still, by the common sense metric, if he’s eating 3700 calories/day and he’s not gaining or losing weight, he’s eating at maintenance.
Honestly that makes the most sense, I got to this point and now I’ve held this physique steadily, so I’m gonna agree that I’m eating at maintenance. And yeah I’m at the gym for 1.5 hours but obviously there’s some rest/bullshit with friends time here and there for a couple minutes. Do you guys are basically thinking I should up the calories, what do you think would be a reasonable calorie goal for a leaner weight gain? 4500?
Honestly, you just need to figure out what works for you, how fast you want to gain weight, how much fat, if any, you’re willing to temporarily put on, etc. You can always adjust, anything you decide to start with is only a jump off point. If 4500 has you gaining weight quickly, but you’re putting on fat, drop the cals by a few hundred. If you don’t gain weight as fast as you’d like, add a couple hundred. I would give any calorie change at least 2-3 weeks before adjusting, then reassess at that point, to keep things moving in the right direction. Sometimes a change will be needed, sometimes not.
I’ll try that, I’ll probably start mixing my protein shakes with milk, I was just hesitant to do so because of the high amount of estrogen but realistically it’s only a few cups a day, not like I’m drinking a whole gallon, thanks guys
) and then right before bed I hammer some cottage cheese and sleep for the night and do it all again. On a strict day I’m getting about 3700 calories and around 370g of protein. I look great, I’m very well proportioned and my physique looks nice and fairly well defined and vascular and I’m thick for my height, but I’d like to sit at 190-195lbs and lean but I just CANNNTTTTT seem to break 185. Any suggestions, maybe throw some Var in the mix, I don’t do well with tren or anadrol so that’s a no go, and dbol doesn’t seem to have any affect on me anymore (don’t ask me why, tried multiple brands at 50mg a day), help me out 
