How do I effectively gain muscle weight?

Okay so I'm just a few pounds away from maintainance. I'm interested in having an athletic figure, rather than just ''skinny'' - I used to be very fit. I'd really like to gain muscle weight but Im slightly underweight at the moment. My BMI is 18 and I want to be happy at a higher BMI, and look toned. I was just wondering, how do I do this? Where do I start? And how would I make sure I don't end up going wrong?

I just want to look fitter, feel better and become more active.
I was thinking of joining a ''Body Pump'' class for men and women at the local sports centre. Apparently it will  ''tone and condition the body focusing on correct lifting techniques and postural alignment''. Would joining be a step in the right direction, as well as upping the calories?
(I also don't have a clue what to eat to gain weight either!)

How much lifting and exercise would I have to do? Cals? Food?

Any advice would be very much appreciated! :)

Thankyou.

From your pictures it looks like you have never worked out before and if this is the case than it will be relatively easy to be on a deficit and build muscle. (you would be considered a newbie) You do understand that you will go up or plateau on the scale? If you eat healthy with enough protein (to keep the muscle you will be gaining by weight training) You shouldn't have a problem putting on a little bit of muscle. To get an athletic figure will take some time and patience... It took me about 4-6 months working out constantly to were I would consider my body to be at an athletic figure but I'm also considered Mesomorph so I had a fairly good foundation to start with. Every person is different; depends how serious and disciplined you are with diet and weight training.

*you could eat at maintenance with training numbers included; maybe even a little more, 1-200 calories, more since you said you are underweight.

*use weight training..there is a section on CC for workouts too; to give you options.

*and start with light weight (to get proper form) and once you have that down add more weight.

BTW..BMI numbers are not the best indicator of fit levels..mine says I'm over weight and my body fat is at 14-14.5% right now.

Original Post by erikaams5:

From your pictures it looks like you have never worked out before 

I don't know how you'd be able to tell this from her pics...I'm sure people could look at me and think that, but I'm a former athlete!

I'd suggest weight training though. I just started the New Rules of Lifting for Women program and I love it so far, it has lots of good tips about building muscle mass. Protein is big in that program.

Original Post by erikaams5:

From your pictures it looks like you have never worked out before

 Oh jeeze. That was a little harsh. She looks quite nice! I have to say though... your body compositions pretty much look the same to me, she's just a bit smaller. *Shrugs* But I digress!

You should try and eat a calorie surplus, of course.
On the side of excerise, honestly... just pick up a couple of weights and get started! I was very thin with little muscle.. but after about three months of maybe, what, ten minutes a day working my arms (curls and kickbacks mainly) and legs (mostly squats and biking on high resistance) people look at me and go "Oh my gawd! You're so tiny.. but.. look at that muscle!!" I'm very lean now, and it really didn't take that much effort. Mind you.. I find it very easy to gain muscle.
I think what I'm just trying to say is that you really just need to get started. I targeted a muscle group every other day, spending maybe ten minutes in total. You don't need a huge plan to get results. =) I think the Body Pump class could be really fun though! I'd say go for it! Of course, included more protein in your diet would be a great idea. Maybe add in a couple egg whites to a meal, have chicken/tuna/etc. for lunch... cottage cheese as a snack...

Good luck!

go hang out on the fitness forum for a bit and search for threads about gaining muscle. 

Start by reading the welcome to the fitness forum sticky.

If you're all talking about the picture of me in the bikini, that's over two years old! My body doesn't look anything like that now a days. The picture of my face was only taken two months ago, but I don't think you could tell if I've ever exercised before just by looking at it lol.

I used to work out five times a week. I did toning with 4KG weights and aerobics in the house. But it only made me lose weight, it did tone though.

Seeing as muscle weighs more than fat, could I just eat maintainance (same in, as out) - and tone up with weights? Would that work?

Thanks for the support.

No, eating maitenance wouldn't get you very far. Yes, muscle is more dense than fat. But.. okay... so? They are two very, very different biological structures. Your fat won't turn into muscle because there's nothing left to build the muscle with. So in a sense.. you'll tear your muscle weight lifting, but your body will likely rebuild it to near the same size it was before, as your "maintenance" calories will be used to fuel, you know, living, breathing, etc. =P

When I was weight training and restricting calories, my muscle broke down faster than it would have if I were sedentary - just as a side note.

So what I should do is eat a few hundered calories more than maintainance, mainly in protien, on the days I do weight training and exercise?

How many cals should I eat if Im 17,  did Body Pump twice a week (one hour sessions), swimming once a week (maybe for say two hours?), go to school -  also have a cleaning job on a wednesday? And how effective would it be?