# I am very thin and need to get bigger



## tobeyourselfisnotacrime (Jun 10, 2007)

My body frame is very small. Sometimes I think I'm physically retarded ( You will think so too when you look at me). I have very narrow shoulders and a narrow chest. I have long legs and short upper body. My body has no shape at all. It's straight like a pole. And I'm short. But I'm not underweight. My lower body contributes to most of my mass.

Because of my frail body, I have a very low self-esteem. I believe it's one of the major factors that trigger SA in me.

I used to lift weights. But after I gained 10 pounds my shoulder was injured :rain . It's still injured until today. I want to get it checked but my parents don't want to pay for it.

Now I don't know how can I get bigger. I can't lift weights anymore. I'm losing hope. I don't want to be looked down forever because of physique. I feel very small.

What should I do now? :stu


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## foggydays (Aug 23, 2007)

shoulder injuries are super common with weightlifters, if your problem isn't too severe you may be able to continue weights and heal. here is a great site http://forum.bodybuilding.com/forumdisplay.php?f=91


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## tobeyourselfisnotacrime (Jun 10, 2007)

wow. I don't know shoulder injuries are so common. My shoulder has gotten better but still not fully recovered. Right now I only focus on putting mass by eating a lot.


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## Guitar_Guy44 (Feb 13, 2007)

its seems u hav the same problem as me, im 17 and im only 5'7 130, i cant change it its pissin me off!


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

Physically retarded. Interesting concept. How short and how thin are you? 

I'm 5'5" and currently weigh around 132 (in college I was as low as 124). I very rarely meet guys my age who can rival these numbers. I think it's hilarious when 5'10" guys say they're short, when they're right around average.


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## njodis (Nov 8, 2006)

ardrum said:


> Physically retarded. Interesting concept. How short and how thin are you?
> 
> I'm 5'5" and currently weigh around 132 (in college I was as low as 124). I very rarely meet guys my age who can rival these numbers. I think it's hilarious when 5'10" guys say they're short, when they're right around average.


I was almost exactly that when I was in highschool (5'6, 130 lbs) and I looked like I was sick. I could eat anything and everything and never gain a pound.

I got pretty lazy since then, and now I'm around 5'6" 155lbs and it's just a bit overweight; I need to lose about 10 lbs to get rid of the fat accumulating on my gut. :lol Could definitely stand to put on some muscle, though. Heh.


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

Yeah, I can be 5'6" if I wear shoes, but I don't fight against what my height is, :lol .

I'm actually rather happy at my weight. When I was 124, I was disgusted with myself and saw a personal trainer and ate like crazy. I got up to 142, but I felt really... weird, like I had lost something by gaining weight. I wanted to slim back down a bit, and so I'm around that 132 mark now.


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## Redefine (Jan 11, 2005)

If you hurt your shoulders and you still want to gain weight, work on your legs. Do squats or leg presses. No bench press, it will make your shoulders worse. Working on your legs is the fastest way to gain muscle weight. Oh yea, and EAT! Hard gainers like us have to eat more than the average person to gain weight. Eat like 4 or 5 meals a day instead of 3. Don't buy low fat or fat free foods or low carb meals. Eat all the fat and carbs you want, it doesn't matter they will help you gain weight. I'm like 5'10" 135, but I have absolutely no fat on me. My goal is to be at least 140 or 145 by baseball season. Good luck.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

tobeyourselfisnotacrime said:


> I want to get it checked but my parents don't want to pay for it.


Sad, another victim of the US lack of a health care system.


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## Redefine (Jan 11, 2005)

Oh yea, have you ever tried creatine? It makes your muscles hold more water, resulting in more bulk. Also it helps with your workouts by supplying extra ATP to your muscles when depleted. It can add around 5-10 pounds in water weight alone. It does work.


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## Mamaragan (Aug 30, 2007)

Noca said:


> tobeyourselfisnotacrime said:
> 
> 
> > I want to get it checked but my parents don't want to pay for it.
> ...


I know, my father pays 510$ for the whole family under kaiser. Ridiculous isn't it? And you have to give a 10 dollar copay every visit, and 10 dollars for each prescription.


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

WOW!!!! That's expensive. Mine is $70 a month for just me, and it's taken out of my paycheck pre-tax. I have slightly higher co-pays, but that's nothing compared to that $510 premium. Sheesh!!


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## Mamaragan (Aug 30, 2007)

He pays for roughly 7 people


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

nos said:


> He pays for roughly 7 people


Oh, well that is a lot of people.


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## Mamaragan (Aug 30, 2007)

Still a lot of money even if you divided it by 7


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

Does he get 100% coverage (after co-pay) on everything, or are some situations 90% or less?


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## Mamaragan (Aug 30, 2007)

Everything is covered, except dental. My brother just had surgery to remove his adenoids and tonsils to cure his mild deaf diagnosis, had tubes inserted in his ears surgically, all free. All I get from dental is cleanings. My sister has had a few surgeries on her kidneys too.


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

Does he have any sort of yearly deductible for his health insurance? If not, then it seems like it could be a lot worse.


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## Mamaragan (Aug 30, 2007)

I guess I'd have to ask to know that..


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

Mine is $300, which isn't too bad, but it is somewhat of a disincentive to seeing any doctors, at least until you reach that point. The thing is that I almost never pay $300 in medical expenses in a year, so it feels like I don't get any savings besides on drugs (if I needed any).


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## Zen Mechanics (Aug 3, 2007)

Hey dude if you just try and eat a lot to gain mass but aren't doing any weight training you're just gonna gain fat.. you have to break down the muscle first before you can build it up again. 

Oh yeah and you guys who thought you were skinny, at the end of high school i was a little over 6 foot and like 132. I look like skeltor in pictures. Also I had 0 muscle mass so I was just bone and a bit of fat. Since mid last year I bulked up to 185ish then cut back down to a lean 155 with much lower bodyfat then what I was at 132, now trying to slowly bulk up to 175-180ish with the same bodyfat.


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## Warren (Nov 1, 2007)

I'm a little over 6 ft tall and 123 pounds. ^^; So I know how you feel. And there's always someone there to make a comment about it.


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## Change (Feb 3, 2008)

work on your legs and abs until your shoulder is better.

to bulk up - buy a good whey protein supplement and eat as much as you can. 

creatine like someone's already mentioned is great, but if you're just going to use one thing it should be protein. there are a couple schools of thought - but when I'm training I tend to eat 1g of protein per day for every pound of body weight. Use both for even more effectiveness.

low reps with high weights - although it sounds like you might already be pushing yourself too hard and not know when to stop to avoid injury. Listen to your body.


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## striker (Jun 20, 2008)

Start doing your own physical therapy for your shoulder. 
Find muscles where it hurts and where you have limited freedom of movement. Start moving these muscles everyday
and use a light weight. Your shoulder will get well quicker.


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## lj42 (Jul 10, 2008)

beat this: i'm 5'10, 120 lb.

I used to think that I need to work out, but realized that I’m just really 
Thin. There are certain genetic and medical conditions that can be a culprit. ( they slip my mind now)


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

hmm. I would suggest eventhough im not a health care professional a good diet meaning 5-six small meals a day eating something small every two to three hours to help sustain metabolism and burn fat. I could be 6ft 0in at 280ibs with 38percent body fat and another guy could be the same height but 5-8 percent body fat at 240 or less ibs. bodyfat in males which is the stomach area is the last place to burn since in the beggining the weight gain is started in the area of the abdomen. I would also recommend a personal trainer at your local gym since they helped me with the basics of weight lifting and some on nutrition.


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## VerbalHologram (Feb 19, 2007)

lj42 said:


> beat this: i'm 5'10, 120 lb.
> 
> I used to think that I need to work out, but realized that I'm just really
> Thin. There are certain genetic and medical conditions that can be a culprit. ( they slip my mind now)


6'2 round 140..i seem to be unable to gain weight ever...i box everyday and am very confident with my strength but look very skinny


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## X33 (Feb 13, 2005)

5'10, 140 

My entire family is skinny, I weigh the heaviest in my immediate family :lol (and also am the tallest).


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

lj42 said:


> beat this: i'm 5'10, 120 lb.
> 
> I used to think that I need to work out, but realized that I'm just really
> Thin. There are certain genetic and medical conditions that can be a culprit. ( they slip my mind now)


I think Warren has you beat with his height being above 6 feet tall. 

6'1", 123lbs = 16.2 BMI
5'10", 120lbs = 17.2 BMI

Out of curiousity, what do you eat for breakfast? How big are your meals? Do you easily get hungry, or can you just get by on little food?

I'm significantly shorter than you (5'5"), and I used to weigh 124lbs in my freshman year of college. Before college, I weighed as little as 110-115 in high school at the same height.

The only way I was able to shake this inability to gain weight upon hitting 124 was to stop all exercise and eat a LOOOOOT more. I'd essentially force-feed myself when I wasn't hungry. I had to eat and eat and eat and eat. If two hours went by without eating, that was a problem.

Even with this eating schedule, lifting weights, and seeing a personal trainer, it was a slow process to get up to 142.

I eventually slimmed down to 132-33, which is where I'm at now. Well, I actually slipped as low as 129 toward the end of marathon training, but I'm back to 132-33 now.


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## Beggiatoa (Dec 25, 2004)

Workout your legs. Most people neglect this. When you workout your legs with heavy loads doing squats, deadlift, etc. This activates your endocrine system and it releases more growth hormones. This in turn causes your whole body to grow. Sure, you can get the same effect from just doing arms, chest and back, but it's not as pronounced. 

I used to workout a lot myself, with poor results. I would never grow no matter how much protein I swallowed. When I started working out legs....wow!

Google it.

When I was in high school. I was tall, lanky and skiny. I am 6'1" and was totally underweight. IN fact, you could see my ribs sticking out through my shirt. People made fun of me all the time. I'm pretty big now as an adult so you eventually grow out of it.

I hurt my shoulder once also. It never quite healed right, I still have a clicking sound but I'm functional and can workout again, carefully. I took curcumin for the pain and inflammation and that did a pretty good job. Also, maybe take something to help repair cartilage like MSM and hyaluronic acid.


Good luck!


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## Josh90 (Aug 22, 2008)

5'7 125lbs 18 years here ops :cry


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

Josh90 said:


> 5'7 125lbs 18 years here ops :cry


I don't see anything unhealthy with that height/weight. :con I'd get concerned if you were in the 110-115 range.

How much would you want to weigh ideally?

I've noticed guys often want to be overweight through BMI standards. Ideally they want to be heavy and have low body fat percentage (obviously) in order to dismiss the BMI, but often they end up retaining the same or very similar body fat percentage as before but just carry more of everything. Then they later have trouble losing weight when their health is negatively impacted and their metabolism slows to a point where it's much more difficult to lose the excess weight they've gained. I think it's more of a society pressure issue for guys than a healthy pursuit (unless you do a ton of planning and have clear and realistic goals and all that).

If you want to gain weight, consider aiming for a modest gain... 10-15 pounds in a slow, gradual increase (so that you're not just adding mostly fat) with lots of weight-bearing exercises targeting the whole body. I gained 18 pounds while seeing a personal trainer (since I figured he could set me up with a wide variety of exercises) to get workouts. I'm glad I stopped there though, as I didn't like the side effects of having gained that much weight (endurance weaker, flexibility lower) and lost about half of the gains.


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## Josh90 (Aug 22, 2008)

ardrum said:


> Josh90 said:
> 
> 
> > 5'7 125lbs 18 years here ops :cry
> ...


140-150lbs, it would help my self esteen alot, I am wondering can it be done by just eating alot and not going to the gym?


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## Zen Mechanics (Aug 3, 2007)

yeah but then you'd just be fat..


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

Right, you could do it by just eating a lot, but you might not feel better about it since it will primarily be fat. You'll get winded more easily, tired more easily, etc.

It's up to you though, obviously.


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## Amebix (Aug 30, 2006)

Hai guise, im actually studying to be a personal trainer, if you have any questions you want to ask feel free.

I used to be very skinny myself (6'1, 115 pounds, i think i win ) but ive managed to get up to 180 in about 15 months. Its surprisingly easy, it just takes dedication. You basically need to eat alot, alot defined as 500-1000 calories above your basic metabolic requirement (BMR) spread out over 5-6 high-protein meals and do compound exercises with heavy weights. Compound exercises are exercises involving 2 or more joints, as opposed to isolation exercises like barbell curls that only use one. The exercises that should make up the bulk of your routine are squats, deadlifts, bench presses, shoulder presses, barbell rows and pull-ups. A routine centered on these lifts will easily take you where you want to be. These lifts are technically difficult though, so I recommend either finding a good strength coach or reading a book called Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. Infact, read starting strength even if you have a coach, as the information is so complete as to make the book invaluable. Do the routine outlined in inside and i promise you will be amazed. I put on 15 pounds of muscle in my first 8 weeks on it. Dont attempt these lifts without coaching of some sort (person or SS) as your almost gauranteed to injure yourself. Goodluck, if you have any questions feel free to ask.


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## Amebix (Aug 30, 2006)

Find your BMR here: http://exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html


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## X33 (Feb 13, 2005)

^ Hey do cardio. workouts in anyway help a person gain healthy weight? If they don't, are they known to cause weight loss?

I have been focusing on cardio. lately because of its many benefits (I, especially, like how it's supposed to be good for the mind). So far, I have put on a few pounds so it's looking good.


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## Amebix (Aug 30, 2006)

Cardio can help a person to lose weight by burning calories and stimulating their metabolism, but its not of much use when trying to gain weight. Ive personally never heard of a anyone putting on appreciable amounts of lean body mass through just cardio.


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

Hey, Amebix! It's cool to have someone training to be a PT here!

I was one of those "hard gainers" myself who eventually got an opportunity to see a personal trainer when my brother-in-law paid for a months worth of meetings (several per week). I don't like much "bulk" myself since my primary interest is middle distance running. But lean muscle and fairly low body fat percentage is nice. I was able to get the modest gains I sought, which would have shocked me months before I started.

In order to gain weight, I had to totally stop running and all other cardio while eating a lot more (variety of healthy foods plus whey protein shakes). The trainer had me doing a full body workout with free weights (11-12 activities), and even the modest gains, when added up with everything I was working, led to decent results. I was able to carry on the workouts he gave me to the gym at college, and it was a nice experience.

He did say though that if my primary goal became building muscle mass significantly, I'd need to go to more powerful lifts. Not only do I have reservations about that due to my interest in a lower overall weight, but also I don't like dependence on a gym membership or excessive equipment.

But yeah, my experience definitely confirms the idea that cutting out cardio is a must if you have trouble gaining weight (and want to gain weight).


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## X33 (Feb 13, 2005)

What are the benefits of gaining weight? This is more directed towards those who were skinny and then put on weight. 

Do people treat you differently? Do you have more energy? Are you more enthusiastic? Has putting on weight helped anxiety/depression, maybe given you mroe confidence? Thanks.

Gaining weight is a big investment and I am not sure if the returns are worth it. For now, I am going to continue doing cardio. GL to all who want to gain weight.


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## Zen Mechanics (Aug 3, 2007)

I went from 184 cm 60 kgs to 75 at the same if not lower bodyfat. It's led to much more confidence, people treat me different, much more attention from girls etc. I think i was at that level of skinniness before that most people just found gross so when i gained some weight to get to a more healthy 75kg people responded to me a lot better.


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## Zen Mechanics (Aug 3, 2007)

Oh yeah and i'm way healthier/more in shape now. When i was 60kg i'd just eat junk food all the time. now i get 6 meals a day of whole food, plus the cardio i've done when cutting means I'm in way better shape as well, i can actually run for a decent amount of time now unlike when i was skinnier..

but the main benifit for me was definitely the increase in confidence


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## X33 (Feb 13, 2005)

^ How long did it take you to put on 15 kilograms? 

I think I weigh 65kg at the moment and am 178 cm tall. I could probably use another 5kilos :dunno


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## striker (Jun 20, 2008)

I used to be really skinny till i graduated college. Then I got into a high protein diet along with doing weights (Compound exercises). Eat 4/5 times a day.

Also how is your hunger and digestion?
The foods that are especially beneficial for helping with improving hunger and digestion are: Ginger, Pineapple 
- Drink Ginger tea 2-3 times per day.
Chew a thin slice of fresh ginger root a few minutes before meals. Or grate a little ginger, mix with some lemon juice and salt, and eat a pinch or two.


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## Zen Mechanics (Aug 3, 2007)

X33 said:


> ^ How long did it take you to put on 15 kilograms?
> 
> I think I weigh 65kg at the moment and am 178 cm tall. I could probably use another 5kilos :dunno


in the first 3 months of working out i got up to like 83 kgs, (a gain of lik 23kg lol). obviously a lot of that was fat, probably half half. But i didn't have a gut or anything, and a decent amount of muscle so i had wayyyyy more confidence being at that weight then at 60kg. after that i cut for a few months down to about 70kg, bulked back up to 80 and just finished cutting down to 75 last week at a bodyfat a lot lower then when i was at either 60 or 70, finally have visible abs! i'm also stronger then ever (bench the 35 kg dbs for a few reps). you could easily put on 5kgs with noob gains in a month or two easy.


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## Mc Borg (Jan 4, 2008)

X33 said:


> 5'10, 140
> 
> My entire family is skinny, I weigh the heaviest in my immediate family :lol (and also am the tallest).


I'm 5' 11, 140..

I've been trying to gain weight for the longest time..Nothing works. :sigh


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## Zen Mechanics (Aug 3, 2007)

^
How much do you eat a day?


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## Mc Borg (Jan 4, 2008)

Zen Mechanics said:


> ^
> How much do you eat a day?


I eat a lot. :lol

I don't really eat like full meals with the exception of dinner..just random snacks throughout the day..


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## Zen Mechanics (Aug 3, 2007)

Well keep a track of what you eat all day one day, and work out all the calories of everything you eat, it might not be as much as you think. see if you're getting to the 3000-3500 mark.


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

I thought I ate a lot when I tried to gain weight and failed... But I had to add a LOT more food and cut out all aerobic exercise to make the difference.

Before doing that, I thought I could gain significant weight by just having an extra protein shake every now and then (while probably eating less during regular meals). I didn't realize how uncomfortable I'd have to make myself with eating in order to gain weight (and I'm talking just 1-2 lbs a week too).

I have no idea how much of the 20lbs I put on was muscle vs. fat, but I was lifting weights regularly and consistently to the point where I'd be very sore after workouts. I felt a lot stronger afterwards, so there must have been some muscle.

I'm getting a scale/body fat analyzer here soon (ordered it). I'm curious what I'm at these days. I hope it isn't too high (fat percentage). Since I like my weight, I'll mostly work on cardio stuff to try to burn a few pounds of fat perhaps. I just want to tweak a little and build a little more strength in existing muscle.


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## Peace99 (May 27, 2008)

Noca said:


> tobeyourselfisnotacrime said:
> 
> 
> > I want to get it checked but my parents don't want to pay for it.
> ...


Ya I was going to say the same thing. Real world example of the poor crappy US health care system.
Not like how some greedy politicians make it out to be. Or the insurance companies for that matter.

Have you tried lifting lighter weights and doing more reps. Also if you workout on a regular basis you can try
taking protein shakes as well. Eating 3 meals a day including breakfast should at least help maintain your current weight.


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