I watched an interview to Taylor Lautner, the actor from "new moon", and I wonder how in the world he could gain 30 pounds in one year without (allegedly) steroids.
Does somebody around here know if he has "premium" genetics, or it was possible only with help of steroids (which if was the case, obviously they won't say)...
I have tried the diet-gym-cardio in several ways for 8 years and never got such results! I feel very frustrated, or it's only I am very envious
I believe a young , under the proper diet and training regimen could gain .25-.50 lbs per week... which equates to about 12 to 24 lbs of muscle per year. If this Taylor guy really hit it hard he could have possibly gained 24 lbs of muscle, plus 6 lbs of fat (typically when a person is building muscle they are on a bulking diet in which they consume more calories then they are burning. This surplus of calories usually results in some added fat as well as muscle). If the guy was really skinny and added significant amount of muscle he most likely could have added a few lbs of fat as well without looking overly pudgy. He could have also been fudging the truth a bit when he said he put on 30 lbs of muscle in 1 year... perhaps it was actually 25 lbs in a year or 30 lbs in 15 months. Who knows.
So back to your question of how do you gain muscle. Its a combination of a clean balanced diet (which includes adequate amounts of protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats) and solid weight routine that includes heavy weights. Cardio is also important in the equation, however if you're doing tons of cardio you could offset your muscle gains because your body will be using so many calories towards the cardio that it won't have enough left for building the muscle. If you have tried and failed to build muscle in the past then guess would be that your diet was off, you weren't lifting heavy enough weights or you weren't following a proper routine, and/or you were doing too much cardio too allow for muscle growth. Also, genetics do play a role in a persons ability to build muscle.
Building muscle is HARD work. I'm in the middle of a bulk right now and its killer. Look back on the times when you tried to put on some muscle. Were you putting 100% effort into every workout, every set, every rep? Was your diet clean? Were you eating enough protein? Were you eating enough calories? What types of cardio were you doing? Were you doing large amounts of cardio? Were you lifting as MUCH as possible on your lifts or could you have been lifting heavier?
Now that you mention it, actually when I started at the gym, about 8 years ago, in the first 3 months I gained about 20 lbs, and in one year I did accumulate about 30 lbs. However I started at 108 lbs (I am 5 ' 7''). And as you said, I did gain some fat and it wasn't so visible (although waist did grow). But the point is that after that year gains have been very poor, say 8 lbs in the next 4 years. Still I want to gain 8 lbs more and burn some fat (4% ~6 lbs, total gain =14 lbs) and that''s the hard work for me.
But I must say I was really impacted when I watched the interview and I got very depressed, since that guy does look ripped and I don't. But your message helped me to see the things clearly. So thanks for your help and that is why I registered at this forum: for learning and asking what is wrong, and I have made several changes since that: I increased calories and also I am checking cardio (I used to run but I learned the trick for burning fat is moving more slowly, so rate is 65-70% BPM)
I really appreciate your help, I think I also need some mental support. Thanks for it.
Not beyond the realms of possibility. He might have used Prohormones too, which are not illegal. So it definitely sounds possible he could have gained 30lbs.
Now that you mention it, actually when I started at the gym, about 8 years ago, in the first 3 months I gained about 20 lbs, and in one year I did accumulate about 30 lbs. However I started at 108 lbs (I am 5 ' 7''). And as you said, I did gain some fat and it wasn't so visible (although waist did grow). But the point is that after that year gains have been very poor, say 8 lbs in the next 4 years. Still I want to gain 8 lbs more and burn some fat (4% ~6 lbs, total gain =14 lbs) and that''s the hard work for me.
But I must say I was really impacted when I watched the interview and I got very depressed, since that guy does look ripped and I don't. But your message helped me to see the things clearly. So thanks for your help and that is why I registered at this forum: for learning and asking what is wrong, and I have made several changes since that: I increased calories and also I am checking cardio (I used to run but I learned the trick for burning fat is moving more slowly, so rate is 65-70% BPM)
I really appreciate your help, I think I also need some mental support. Thanks for it.
Hi again,
Well I'm glad I could help.
You said that you want to burn fat and add muscle... you might focus on building the muscle, then switch it up to a fat burning plan. Trying to do both at the same time really is counterproductive. To lose fat you must burn more calories than you consume and to build muscle you really must burn less calories than you consume. You might try going on a clean "bulk" for a while where you consume more than you are burning in your workouts (in the form of lean proteins, complex carbs, healthy fats). Also focus on heavy weights and lower reps and really work towards building strength and mass. Give this plan ATLEAST about 3-6 months (or however long it takes for you to meet your strength goals) then switch it up to a fat burning plan by switching up your workouts, adding increased reps to some of your workouts, add in intervals, and slowly begin to reduce calories (like 50 calories or so per day). Make sense?
As for the mental support... We'll be here for you every step of the way to help and keep you motivated.
I feel very frustrated, or it's only I am very envious 
