I'm tired of being skinny all my life; can you guys help me?

Before doing anything I would go and get a full blood panel done. Find out what your numbers are. There could be an issue or issues.

Wanting to jump right into anabolics isn’t the answer. Eating everything in sight isn’t the answer. Doing 2 hour marathon workouts isn’t the answer. You aren’t going to do yourself any good doing any of those things. After you get blood work done come back and there are several people here who can help you.

Download the RP diet app

IMO nothing improves a mans physical stature more than squats, deadlifts and shoulder presses. focus only on these 3 big compound lifts for a few months and i dont see how you could not start to grow, and your diet will naturally increase

there are many youtube vids on these lifts. i recommend the Starting Strength vids

I’ve watched people in the gym for over 30 years. They go in several times per week and lift and never change their body composition.

What they have in common is that they don’t bring focus or intensity. They don’t perform controlled or full range of motion sets, not do I see them actually train any set to even near failure. They also don’t train all body parts and work on new or different lifts. It’s always the same lifts, in the same order, with the same weight with no intensity. And, they tend to be skinny fat or just fat.

They show up, they lift, they leave and they don’t change. You may need to get a trainer or get someone in the gym that has muscles to review your routine and intensity.

So assuming your diet isn't crazy bad when you "try to eat alot", and you actually go to the gym and lift heavy (for you) weights, I'd get your T checked and see if you need a boost.

Conversely, assuming your biologics are all relatively in line, make sure you are eating the right things. Eating a lot doesn't get you big. Eating a lot of protein and good carbs does. At 150 lbs, I'd probably shoot for 165-175g protein a day. Protein is the most important macro to hit, make sure you are getting protein; that's how muscle is built. Chicken, eggs, beef, no more than 2 shakes/day. Fish if you want but...bleh...

Then carbs, you should prob aim for around 300g carb. Oatmeal and rice and sweet potatoes. Beer and sugar aint the carbs you want. You can have those, but make sure you get the protein and 300g of good carbs in first.
Then get maybe 70-100g fat, little more flexibility there. I hit my fats with avocados and peanut butter almost exclusively (plus whatever fat is in my proteins).

Don't get your calories all at once; don't make an egg white, protein scoop, 2 cup oatmeal with 3 TBSP peanut butter shake in the morning that has half your macros in it and pretend you're half way done. Try to split it up into 5 meals a day if you can (I eat 6). I've found for most people it's easiest to do your three breakfast/lunch/dinner meals with two shakes/snack type meals between. There's your meal plan. Saying you hate to eat a lot makes me think you don't eat nearly enough, even when you do try to eat a lot, and that's probably what is limiting you.

In the gym, just make sure you're pushing yourself and lifting heavy for you 3-5x/week. If you aren't doing cardio, add that in to help your appetite but don't overdo it while you're trying to gain weight. 20 minutes of moderately increased heart rate 3x a week.

Assuming your test is fine, you do that for a month and I guarantee you'll start growing. At 5'10" you do that for a year and your baseline will be in the 170's no problem.

quote:

---

When I do try to eat a lot, which I hate by the way

---

You need:
1. To eat protein rich foods
2. Follow a program (Starting Strength or if willing to pay, something like a Jeff Nippard beginner program)

If your girlfriend doesn't like you gaining a little fat, find a new one. There are tons out there and they all do the same thing.

quote:

---

Before doing anything I would go and get a full blood panel done.

---

this. also evaluate your nutritional macros (calories in, protein gram, fat grams, carb grams) and post here, can give some advice. you might be getting enough cals but if your deficient or balance is off you wont grow muscle effectively.

plenty of good advice givers here. youre young enough that i doubt you testosterone is an issue, but could bem hence the panel. check everything out before going to PEDS. way easier to frick yourself up with those than most people realize.

whats your stress levels like? Sleep habits?

quote:

---

What’s your training history?

Meaning what type exercise or workouts have you done in the past to try to put on muscle? For how long?

---

I trained sporadically when I was in college and again off and on in my 20s, as I had a job that required me to travel and be on the road a lot of the time. I would work out for a few weeks and then would fall off the wagon and it would be hard to get back on track after long breaks. Then in my early 30s, we had two children back to back, so there was a couple of years there where I didn't set foot in a gym.

Now in my mid-late 30s and have started working out fairly regularly since May 2020 as my wife got a Peloton during the early days of the pandemic and it was a way to stay fit while staying home. So over the past couple of years, I have been riding the bike about once a week. I avoid cardio since I know it is not good for someone trying to build muscle. But I have been doing the functional strength exercises on their app 4-5 times a week (20-30 mins per day), but with only the dumbbells we have at home (10-25 lbs, nothing heavy).

While doing these functional strength training exercises at home has helped me improve my posture and also eliminated random body and back aches, it has only given me a slight definition in my muscles, but no size gains even after two years of doing it. The problem is most probably the lack of heavy weights which I don't have at home.

Just last month I started going back in person to the office and I found out that my new office has a gym attached to it. So I went to the gym a few times last week to see what my baseline strength was like. I could only dumbell press like 45 lbs in each hand, curl 35 lbs dumbbells and deadlift like 135 lbs. I know that sucks by the standards here. Just wondering is it too late to start building strength at my age? I don't know if I will ever be able to lift heavy weights, since I don't really have a long sustained period of heavy strength workout foundation/base to build off of.

i think the access to the new equipment will help. 10-25 lb dumb bells is a pretty limiting range for most men.

Try not to focus too much on the weight for now. Focus on your form. Watch some videos specifically on body parts you are looking to improve. i think understanding the science behind how a muscle is moving and helps understand why some exercises are better than others or why some might be better for you specifically. understanding all of this will help you understand what form you should be having and why its important.

if machines are something that make you feel more comfortable dont be afraid to use them. free weight in general are better but machines are very good and can supplement until your techniques get better. I still use machines for a lot of exercises.

I will still say that you need to evaluate your nutrition. you can put all the quality work you want into the gym but if you have bad nutritional practice, you will be really really putting yourself way back. Your body is a machine, and it needs to right type of fuel to run right and the right components to build bigger and stronger.

quote:

---

Just wondering is it too late to start building strength at my age?

---

Absolutely not!