New here - hard gainer looking for a little advice

L

Lateralus

0
Hello friends. Basically I spent most of my life as a skinny, verbal and physical punching bag for everyone. By freshman year of college I was done growing and tipped the scales at 129 lbs. - and I was 6'1" :eek:

Well I finally started weightlifting 5 years ago as a sophomore but I am a "hard gainer" with a high metabolism and I have a thin bone structure, so putting on weight has been verrrrrry slow. Drinking 3 nights a week in college didn't help either I'm sure.

Over the last year I have been taking whey protein and creatine which have helped a lot, and I've been lifting higher weight and lower reps. I can currently bench 225x10 for one set, which is good for my weight - but my problem is that although my strength has been increasing steadily, my weight has plateau'd.

So I have two questions:
1. What can I change to start gaining again?
2. What area does it look like I need to work on the most? I was thinking shoulders maybe?

I don't have a pic from when I was 129 lbs. (thankfully) but:
1st pic is from this summer at 175 lbs.
2nd pic: On the left is 2.5 years ago on spring break when I was up to 150 lbs. On the right is half a year ago at 170 lbs. and approx. 7% body fat (still 6'1").
 

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I wish I hadn't looked at your pics before bedtime because my mind is wandering ... ;)

You could very easily be a fitness model.

Anyway, I'll let the guys on the forum give you further specific advice because I think you look really good right now, therefore I'm not able to provide you with any constructive criticism. And I'm not thinking straight after seeing your pics ...
 
Well thanks, that's quite a compliment. I'm not quite where I want to be yet though (I think I'll always have a feeling of being too skinny). I think for my height I am still a little underweight according to some online charts, although I'm not sure of their accuracy based on bone size and body fat. But I would like to gain about 10-15 more lbs. realistically and I've been lifting 5 days a week lately and not gaining an ounce. I appreciate the feedback!
 
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Well it's been over 2 days and 105 views and one person replied (thanks I_love_muscles). The other forum I registered with (I won't post the link) got 7 replies already in less time, so I am saying goodbye to this one.

In case I can't delete this thread and my account, and anyone stumbles on it, the best advice I got elsewhere was to change my lifting routine completely and to eat 6 small meals per day rather than 3 large ones. So I'll be giving that a shot and I'm going to start focusing on exercises I've never done before. Someone also recommended using maltodextrin with my protein shakes for extra carbs.

With that, I bid you all farewell. :D
 
sometimes it takes time for people to respond on here. i think you look fine the way you are, so i don't know what advice to offer you, so i'll wait for someone else to post some good info. for you. i'm sure someone will post in time. good luck with your goals.
 
Maybe the guys didn't have anything to say because you're already OK? I don't know.

That's too bad you're leaving :(

Good luck :)
 
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