At 130 pounds, want to gain...

[guoisius92]

I am very new to this forum. I turn 18 in under a month and currently weigh a little bit more than 130 pounds. I have been weight training at varying levels of intensity for about 18 months now but am ready now to get serious and make some proper muscle mass gain. I am 5'7 so, according to the BMI scale, I am underweight and, predictably, have quite a slender build. I would like to gain some pounds and take on a more full look. I weight train about 4 days a week and at the moment I am concentrating very hard on ensuring that form is good with the exercises, even if that means lowering the weights I use to perfect techniques.

First off, I would like to ask if I should be using supplements, and if so, what kind? Would creatine be a viable option at this stage? Regarding nutrition, I realise I need to be eating a lot of carbs, more so than protein.

next question is, assuming I work on a train one day, off other day routine basis, aiming for four training sessions a week, how long should sessions be? I have asked many people and had varying responses, but have read lots of forums where people are talking about a 45 minute workout, and I question whether a 45 minute workout is really enough to stimulate muscles to grow. Also, what about cardio - should I be doing cardio, how much cardio etc.

I would appreciate any suggestions from fellow forum users and would also appreciate any contact from any other people who have a similar build and similar goals to mine?

Thanks

[swanso5]

at 130pds you need to:

EAT - 20 x your bodyweight in pounds so 2600

of that you need 2.5g of carbs per pd of bw so 325g / 1300cals...protein 1.5g per pd/bw so 195g / 780...and that leaves us with 520cals of fats = 58g

TRAINING - you need an abbreviated program that ONLY focuses on the big exercises like deadlifts, squats, military presses, bench presses, pull ups, chin ups, rows and lunges...you have no room for arms and machines, they'll only rob you of growing calories

[Boss Man]

Screw the Creatine right now. At your weight, it would be a poor purchase more than likely.

Diet is what will help you most right now, to increase development potential .

[ultimatehlth]

Great advice by the guys before me. Let me just add that your body is still growing at your age and undergoing hormonal changes. For muscle growth with a split routine 45 minutes is plenty of time. I'd recommend doing a superset format such as bench press followed by lat pulldown then rest for 2 minutes and repeat, etc. Your focus should be on muscle growth not fat burning. As for cardio, do it on alternate days or at least 4 hours apart from lifting with resistance first. Use a sprint training format rather than endurance running which wastes lean body mass. Warm-up then run a series of sprints then cool down. The sprints will keep you conditioned, make you faster and aid muscle gain. Have a post workout meal that is low fat with a 3 or 4 to 1 carb to protein ratio within 1 hour of exercise.