Hello there!

quote:

ORIGINAL: Coeus

Hi, I've just signed up to the forum and I'm looking for some information.
I'm 22 years old, 6"1 foot and 165lbs, and have a very high metabolism.(2 year ago I weighed 155-160lbs)
I've been working out on and off over the years, with a few failed attempts to gain mass, due mostly to being misinformed about nutrition. And lack of time. In the past I've tried a few different weight gainer protein shakes with little results. My goal is for either 180lbs or 200lbs. Depending on how I feel about myself when I reach 180lbs.

Right now I'm taking a protein shake(is that what you'd call it?) called "Muscle Juice 2544" The basics of it contain:
Calories: 1272
Protein: 71g
Fat: 28g
Carbs: 184g
Thats with 2% Milk added by the way. And twice a day.

More info on the product here:
http://www.bodyconcept.com/family/1240/display.html

Alright, so I've got a lot of specific questions.
Now I think I'm slowly gaining weight, but if I am, it's like a .5 or 1 pound every week or two. I'm still not really sure, my weight was jumping all over the place. I'm on my 3rd Tub of this Muscle Juice. But the women at the shop said it would take a while to kick in.

I'm trying to eat as much as I can, but lately I've just felt really stuffed and haven't been able to eat as much as before.
I wake up, have a bowl of cerel or toast, and then have a shake right afterwards. Then 2 or 3 hours later I have lunch, and then 2-4 hours later have dinner or just another shake, then I goto school in the evenings for 3-4 hours. I eat something at school, usually a granola bar that has like 23g of carbs in it, then come home and if I'm hungry, I have something else to eat, then goto bed or I have some creatine and work out for an hour.
I usually only every work my upper body, but now I'm going to start doing my lower body as well, since I see a lot of people saying it makes a big difference.

While your gainer shake has lots of calories...I'm not really a big fan of these shakes w/ 160 g of flipping sugar. Take out that shake, and your diet lacks bulk and density. You can't gain weight on what you're eating, especially w/ such a high metabolism. IMO...you'd be far better off ditching that gainer shake, using some regular old whey and casein and making your own shake. Add some fats into your diet, increase your protein. Think calories dense foods.....nuts, oils, pasta, beef, oats, potatoes. Granola bars and liquid sugar...not so much.

[1] I read about someone on this forum eats 6 meals a day, every 3 hours. I'm wondering if I should try that? Should I count my shake as a meal? So like, wake up, have cerel, 3 hours go by, have my shake then, 3 hours later, have lunch, etc...? would this help me to eat more?
Other than that, I think I'm eating alright, just not enough.

Absolutely. Everyone should eat 5-6 meals a day. Don't think breakfast, lunch and dinner...think meal 1, meal 2, etc. If you are not used to eating so much then work on slowly increasing meal frequency as well as calories. You can't go from eating 2000 to eating 4000 calories as easily and smoothly as you can go from 2000 to 2300, to 2600, to 3000, etc. Increase gradually and you'll find that you'll soon be eating enough to actually gain weight.

[2] Is there a better and worse time to work out? I do everything at home with free weights, and a multipurpose bench. I usually work out in the evenings, like around 10pm or 11pm. Finish an hour later, and go relax in bed for half hour or so, then fall asleep. I've heard mixed reviews on working out, then going to bed.

Workout whenever you want. What that means is...everyone's different...some like to train in the morning, some evening and some late at night. Whatever works for you. What's more important is that you employ proper PWO nutrition.

[3] Do I want to be lifting heavy weights? So I can only do like 4-6 reps? Or do I want to be reaching 12-15?(which is what I'm doing now)

Always, always, always lift heavy. 15 reps does not build muscle. Keep your reps under 8 in general, include multiple sets and keep your rest intervals relatively short.


Thank you very much