gaining weight and building muscle

[Tapeworm]

1) Milk. And lots of it. Google GOMAD.

2) WHY??

[majklnajt]

Milk creates mucus.

[Tapeworm]

Utter myth. Well disproven.

[voodoojar]

Boiled chicken breast, egg whites. I dont get down with powder shit too often and im not a weight lifter but i know those 2 foods have good protien and low fat.

[devinci]

perlepinpin powder

[Rick]

Whey protein and creatine.

(gaining weight and muscle won't necessarily help cycling though)

[false_Aesthetic]

So before I got back into cycling I was a bit of a gym rat.

Gaining mass is relatively easy if you cut down on long long cardio (read: long rides) and focus on what HIIT.

I've tried a lot of different things. 99% of them are junk IMHO including creatine --seemed to just make me gain water weight.

The stuff that seemed to work:

Protein pre and post lifting (I mixed strawberry whey and OJ)
Casein protein before bed
BCAAs.
L-Carnatine (not acetyl though)
L-Glutamine

BCAA and supplements should be cycled. Week 1: Load Week 2-4: Sustain. Week 5-6: Off. Repeat.

More important for muscle mass is probably cutting down on long cardio sessions (2+ hour rides) and switching up to intervals. (~1 hour).

Gaining mass also seemed to come the most when I was pushing workouts to failure.

[majklnajt]

Utter myth. Well disproven.

Well, its my experience. Not that I would only read about it.

[voodoojar]

[Tapeworm]

I won't say that the supplements are ineffective but most who are lifting simply don't eat enough. If you have your GOMAD and approx 5-6000 calories a day and STILL can't increase muscle mass THEN look to supplements. Until that point I view most powders as an exceptional way to drain your wallet. Milk is cheaper and more effective. Same goes for "recovery drinks" and any other pill, potion or unguent.

And FWIW I never intentionally work to failure.

But as I mentioned, the question is WHY the OP wants to increase mass.

[false_Aesthetic]

I won't say that the supplements are ineffective but most who are lifting simply don't eat enough. If you have your GOMAD and approx 5-6000 calories a day and STILL can't increase muscle mass THEN look to supplements. Until that point I view most powders as an exceptional way to drain your wallet. Milk is cheaper and more effective.

And FWIW I never intentionally work to failure.

But as I mentioned, the question is WHY the OP wants to increase mass.

In case you're curious.. GOMAD = Gallon Of Milk A Day

Tapeworm makes sense when he talks about supplements---eating right comes first. Still, I made my best gains (YMMV) when supplementing like I outlined above. I'm a skinny kid. I'll always be skinny but I managed to go from ~17% body fat to ~9% while gaining 15 lbs over the course of 6 months.

As for the working out till failure. I don't think that its a great idea when you're trying to do anything other than gain mass. The ways gym rats lift are more meant for cosmetic rather than functional growth. I think Tapeworm has more working knowledge when it comes to what works with the bike. He can probably speak to the science and data behind it (I sure can't) but if you're also trying to reap some benefit from lifting for cycling, he's right, stay away from failure (it sure effin hurts the next day).

If you end up going that route always have a spotter. Going to failure when you have 225lbs above your chest or 315lbs on your back in just a recipe for embarrassment or really really really serious injury (Really, it's not a proud moment when you have to yell "HELP!" and the only people within hearing distance are old men.)

If you don't have a spotter you can try drop sets or rest-pauses. Again, this is for cosmetics.

[stella-azzurra]

I wonder what the Schlecks would do about gaining weight and building muscle mass? because they will surely need it to win the tour next year.

Lets see maybe hit the gym for a bit more and do some moderate leg weight exercises.
Eat more protein laced foods.

It will be hard, since their gene make up keeps them skinny and lean.

[cryoplasm]

All they need to do is focus on TTs. More flat courses. Being skinny and lean is not a bad thing. The objective target isn't track sprinting; but even then leg weights are done in moderation.

Why did you ask this question? It's so the duo can be better on the flats? They should ride flats.

[devinci]

Why would the schleck need more muscle mass? I bet their uphill w/kg is stupid high. As said, they should focus on riding the tt bike with tt efforts...

[Lewis]

I did gomad and got fat. I was working out loads too. I got strong and put on weight, but had a spare tyre round my middle! Then burned the whole lot off in a year of riding. Now I am a lean racing snake!

Milk is good in reasonable quantities. Everyone is different.