Is it possible to gain weight / mass with just US$50 per month?

[Dave E RDN]

Mark Rippetoe, author of Starting Strength, recommends a gallon of milk a day for those wanting to gain weight. If you did this 5 days a week on top of regular meals, you would definitely gain weight.

 

[Azure]

Mark Rippetoe, author of Starting Strength, recommends a gallon of milk a day for those wanting to gain weight. If you did this 5 days a week on top of regular meals, you would definitely gain weight.

That could also potentially make you sick.

 

[Larry P]

I've a question. Recently, I bought a gym bench and dumbells for my home, so I can do dumbell bench presses without going to the gym.

The dumbells are adjustable, and the size of the plates are all large sizes in terms of diameter. Imagine those plates on the squat rack fitted onto a dumbell handle lol

Funny thing is, at the public gym, I can get the 44 lbs dumbell (20 KG each) into position and then lie back to do the press.

However, at my home, I can't for the life of me even carry up the 44 lbs dumbells into position. Because of this, I'm stuck at 37 lbs (17 KG) per dumbell.

Is this due to the size of the plates? (larger plates = more difficult even though weight is same)

I'm still thinking of how to progress to 44 lbs.

I've had the same experience, at two different homes now. I've used both solid dumbbells and Bowflex SelectTech at home versus the regular rubberized dumbbells at the gym - both hex and plate style. For me, I just lift more at the gym. I think there is some psychological factor to being in a big work room with bigger guys, chicks, and a lot of steel and machinery everywhere versus working out at home where you are comfortable, you have your bed and furniture in close proximity, etc. I've always chalked it up to some psychological factor - our monkey brain.

 

[Dave E RDN]

That could also potentially make you sick.

Oh it will definitely make you sick. haha All part of getting HUGE! Right???

I wonder if anyone has tried a gallon of soy milk or almond milk a day. Not much better but it is vegan so...

 

[Dave E RDN]

Yep, Rippetoe definitely doesn't care for aesthetics.

I will say that Starting Strength is a well-respected book for understanding how to perform the big lifts. He breaks it down for complete beginners, and it can help them feel more at ease when they perform them (instead of being scared of getting injured).

Absolutely.

If you notice, most of Rippetoe's protocols are very simple. Perhaps in some cases too simple. Like: want to gain weight? Drink a lot of milk. Want to get get strong? Do these three lifts and add weight. Got a bad back? Deadlift.

Not that these are bad pieces of advice but very simple and not for everyone.

When I did starting strength I was very happy with the progress I made in the lifts and the my mastery of them. But you get to a point doing it where you get bored and the gains you make in your physique leave some thing to be desired.

 

[Xeon]

Like how Daniel Craig looks in James Bond?

About there. Maybe 10 - 20% bigger but yes.

 

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[Xeon]

I'm currently trying to gain mass and bulk (no need for pure muscles), and I only have about US$50 per month. The rest of my salary, I'm spending it on my hustle and US$50 is the most I can fork out.

I'm currently on mass gainers but it's really expensive (costs me US$150+ for 2 tubs of 5 LBs powder monthly), and that $ can be spent on my hustle. Even protein powders are expensive cos' I still have to buy other ingredients to mix in with the powder (for caloric surplus) and the costs end up the same as the mass gainers.

Anyone tried successfully to gain weight on an extremely tight budget? Even using fast food to gain weight is expensive! lol

 

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[Xeon]

Thanks for all the replies here!

More info please. You want to gain weight, but it doesn't have to be muscle. What up with that?
$50 per month. Is that your total food budget, or your packing on the flab budget?
What specifically are you trying to accomplish?

1) Actually, I want to get bigger and get a dad-bod sort of look.

Basically, gain the size like you see in above pic, without the need for muscle definition or 6 packs.
This way, I'll fill out my clothes better and look better overall instead of looking scrawny (my weight is healthy but my bodybuild / frame is similar to a 14 year old girl if you will).
US$50 is the money for spending on additional food to gain mass, not the total food budget.

Individual needs will vary, and only you can say how many calories you need to gain weight, but I'll go through what I use to bulk and cut and the cost.
Speaking of cost, $50 per month which is ~$1.65 per day. That is no bulking budget, $50 per month is a survival budget!
My diet with costs for a 3000 calorie meal plan:
**If anyone can show me how to post as a table I can insert the individual costs**

Nope, US$50 is additional on top of my 3 meals a day.

Btw, does anyone have experience with protein shake turning sour?
I blend the protein shake in the morning and when I drink the remaining at night (about 14 hrs later), it's sour as hell.

 

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[Xeon]

If I leave whey protein mixed with some sort of liquid (water, milk, etc.) out for any prolonged period of time, it will develop a stench. This process seems to accelerate if I leave the blender bottle in a warm area (such as my car in the sun). The smell is bad enough to keep me from wanting to drink anything, so I can't tell you if it tastes sour (though it sure smells like it would be). I'd recommend mixing, drinking on the spot, and then washing out any containers as soon as possible, but if that's not possible, then I imagine keeping the shake refrigerated would help as well.

If you're leaving your shake out and using whey protein, that's essentially spoiled milk you're drinking.. narsty.

Yup, I just leave it out on my office desk and when I get home at night to finish up the rest of the drink, I must say it's disgusting as hell.
(always ending up with a tummyache after that)
This happens even with mass gainers though (mass gainer powder + water).

Do you currently do any form of physical training ?

I recommend focus on strength training upto 3x a week (you don't have to go all crazy and get a gym membership or start thinking about squats, deadlifts etc... body weight exercise is enough - pull ups, dips, sit ups, push ups etc..)

I would also incorporate about 2 days of cardio - simple 2-3km jog, just to keep your cardiovascular system in good shape and help with digestion and absorption of all the food you will be consuming.

My selection would be - 1. Peanut butter 2.Beans 3.Potatoes 4.Vegetables of choice 5. Preferred protein source (chicken, beef etc...)

No strength training, but I do attend dance classes 3 times a week so I guess that's considered a form of cardio (yeah, the sweating was mad).
Tbh, the main reason I don't really like strength training and going to the gym is that it's boring. Repetitive actions all the time....

For peanut butter, I often hear people tout about that, but does it have any side effects of taking too much? Sodium levels?

 

[Xeon]

So what's the goal? Just gain weight with no regards to composition? Because eating to gain muscle without fat gain versus eating just to gain weight is different.

To gain bulk/mass, to gain muscle with some fat (but not too much) is ok. I'm not looking for those Vince DelMonte 8% bodyfat type of look.

Either way, you need to be in a caloric surplus. Calculate your maintenance calories and eat over that. There, you'll gain weight. To save money, eat calorie dense foods like peanut butter, whole milk, beef, pizza, ice cream etc. Fast food works well too.

To gain muscle without gaining fat, you need your macros on point and you want a slight surplus. Like 200-500 calories over your maintenance on training days.

You don't need mass gaining shakes. You can easily make your own. But you do need to do some math, eat more, and consistently be hitting that surplus.

Also, whey/casein protein supplements are actually really cheap compared to other protein sources.

Yup, I've stopped buying the mass gainer ever since I've finished the previous tub, and now my calorie shake for the past week consists of:

1 tablespoon olive oil
250ml of low-fat milk
2 scoops of whey protein powder (this is the GNC brand, the cheapest I can find, but I still feel it's expensive)
1 cup of oats
3 tablespoons of peanut butter

This totals to 930 calories, I'v seen about 4 lbs of weight gain during the past 3 weeks!

Going to the gym tonight again.

Having a thicker and bulkier body feels great, it feels more complete and manly. I still have a long way to go though.

One thing about the mass gainer vs DIY calorie shake is that, although the calorie shake is 300 calories more than the mass gainer, it seems to digest much faster. With the mass gainer, it takes nearly 5 hours to just digest that 600 calories.

 

[Xeon]

I've a question. Recently, I bought a gym bench and dumbells for my home, so I can do dumbell bench presses without going to the gym.

The dumbells are adjustable, and the size of the plates are all large sizes in terms of diameter. Imagine those plates on the squat rack fitted onto a dumbell handle lol

Funny thing is, at the public gym, I can get the 44 lbs dumbell (20 KG each) into position and then lie back to do the press.

However, at my home, I can't for the life of me even carry up the 44 lbs dumbells into position. Because of this, I'm stuck at 37 lbs (17 KG) per dumbell.

Is this due to the size of the plates? (larger plates = more difficult even though weight is same)

I'm still thinking of how to progress to 44 lbs.

 

[Xeon]

Do you throw them up with your knee?

Set them on your leg while you're sitting, and then you kick your knees up as you yank up and lay back. Does that make sense?

I know, I've been using that method all along at the gym but with these ones at home are different. Also, I can't set them on my thighs when sitting as both ends of the dumbell end in a long pole (you'll feel the weight of the whole thing being "nailed" into your thigh which is painful as hell)

If the plates are a different size, it may require stronger ancillary muscles to balance the weight into position.

Try a few workouts with a lower weight, get used to how the dumbbell carries and then go up. Adjustable dumbbells definitely do feel differently, and it may take a bit of getting used to from the regular singles.

Which are the ancillary muscles and is it possible to train them on their own so I can progress to get into position with the 44 lbs?

I agree, the adjustable dumbells seem very different from the fixed weight ones. The fixed weight ones actually feel a lot easier. After I've trained with the adjustable ones, the fixed weight ones seem lighter lol

 

[silentownage001]

Yes, the guy's strong, but I remember Gary Halbert (the king of copywriting) said in one of his letters to his son, that a guy should have a lean body (or something, can't remember), and not a hulky bulky type of body. I assume he means the body of Captain America/Spiderman/Deadpool rather than Hulk or Juggernaut.

Like how Daniel Craig looks in James Bond?

 

[Xeon]

Ok, I found a solution to the problem I described in Post #53: O/T: Health - Is it possible to gain weight / mass with just US$50 per month?

What I did was to load one end of the dumbell with a large 22-lbs plate, and on the other hand, a 11-lbs plate + a series of small weights to make the total dumbell 44 lbs!

And now I can get it off the ground onto my chest! Maybe it's some weird law of physics at play lol