So, i was just wondering why it is easier for someone with fat to build muscle than someone who is skinny?
Because they’re used to eating more.
[quote]Otep wrote:
Because they’re used to eating more.[/quote]
Most likely the case. Skinny people tend to be skinny, because they’re afraid of food.
[quote]elusive wrote:
Otep wrote:
Because they’re used to eating more.
Most likely the case. Skinny people tend to be skinny, because they’re afraid of food.[/quote]
Generally true, but making the switch from being skinny and eating conservatively, to lifting like a madman and eating like one too, is difficult to do overnight. After 3+ weeks of eating to the point of vomit/nausea everyday, it takes time for your digestive system to adapt to the incredible increase in food. Just do it anyway and your body has no choice but to grow.
agree with all of the above.
I have always been bigger and find it alot easier then my six foot plus tall friend who weighs 160 to eat in excess of 4 to 5k calories a day…
I think former fatties have a disadvantage with gaining, actually. Most of us have some psychological block to eating a ton after getting thinner. I certainly did. Then you learn that the lifting you’ve been doing forever helps keep your metabolism and body fat in check…so you can eat a ton of good food.
But yeah…probably the used to eating more thing. Or a perpetual fear from the skinny guy of loosing his abz.
The thing that sucks about having fat on your body when you start weightlifting is that you can add muscle, but you’ll still look soft from all the body fat…which will only discourage you when you look in the mirror.
Your body tends to prefer to have some fat on it before you build muscle. If you’re at 8% bodyfat your body is probably screaming out for some fat (although everyone is different - some people gain fine at 8%). A lot of people need to be at higher bodyfat % to gain muscle since otherwise their body will think they need more fat - more of their food will be stored as fat instead of muscle.
As far as psychological reasons - yeah, fat people and former fat people are used to eating more. I’ve never been a skinny guy or someone who has had trouble eating enough - although I couldn’t come close to putting down the 8000 calories some of the guys on this site do daily. Once you start eating more your digestive system adjusts though.
[quote]nowakc wrote:
Once you start eating more your digestive system adjusts though.[/quote]
If that’s true, it sure isn’t always a quick process for some. I’ve upped my calories these last 8 weeks and I’m always on the verge of vomiting. I can drink a weight gain shake and still hack it up 3 hours later. Something like a shake should exit the stomach in less time than that.
I’m not complaining about my slow digestion, but I think a lot of the skinny guys out there may be slow also. Which makes it hard to eat every 2-3 hours. It’s hard to stuff food when there’s not a lot of room. I think fat people have bigger stomachs too. Or else they would wither away and die from stomach stapling and those balloon things that take up space. They would eat like birds after surgery if we all had the same size stomachs.
Just the opinion of an ecto…
Not to jack this thread with a dumb question but COULD it be that fat peoples (such as myself) bodies absorb nutrients better? Or is it just we eat too much?
[quote]dday wrote:
Not to jack this thread with a dumb question but COULD it be that fat peoples (such as myself) bodies absorb nutrients better? Or is it just we eat too much?[/quote]
Could be, if you’re an endo… which I’m assuming you are (like me). I’ve seen ecto’s take in serious calories with little overall weight gain. Ecto’s have to eat a SHITLOAD to put on weight proportionate to their training regimen. So, from that perspective, endo’s are lucky (I guess).
Eating a lot of calories is easy for me as long as it isn’t clean. Like… I could pound away a few big macs no problem or a large pepperoni sausage pizza. The equivalent in clean food has so much volume that I feel full before I am full. I basically just never stop eating. You could call me an ectomorph and it is a pain in the ass. In high school I was ridiculously skinny. I am 6’9" though so that probably has more to do with it than actually being an ectomorph.