So I am trying to gain weight and I have made diet changes, but its been going up and down and i'm back to 105 :( I've been going to the gym 5 days a week to gain muscle mass, but my coach has me doing cardio all the time. It is good to do cardio when you are underweight???
The simple answer is no. No, it is not. Unless you're significantly eating back everything you burn on top of the 2500 calorie baseline and even then, exercise such as cardio at a low weight can really stress your body out. I suggest you cut back on the days you attend the gym, and tell your coach you want to focus on muscle building ONLY if you must go at all.
When you want to gain muscle, you need to eat more calories than you burn. You also need to eat with a 50c/30p/20f macronutrient split. Your carbs should be complex and whole grain, your protein should be lean and complete, and your fats should be primarily unsaturated. And obviously, you must lift weights with some effort.
So what does cardio do? Cardio does two things, one simplier than the other:
1) Increases your total daily energy expenditures (TDEE), meaning you have to eat more of this healthy food that you already don't like too much.
2) Causes damage to your joints (not significant damage) to a point where your body must invest resources in repairing your joints. This detracts from its ability to repair your muscles.
Strictly speaking, cardio and gaining mass do not mix well. Tell your coach you know what your goal is, and that is to gain muscle, not to lose fat.
That much protein isn't really going to do anything but pee out through their kidneys.
Also, if the OP happens to be missing their period due to their weight it would:
a) be wiser for them to have something more like a 55/15/30 split, or 50/20/30 at best. Protein is often one the most lean of the food groups unless we're talking nuts, oily fish and dairy, thus why it's often not so great for a weight gainer to be eating so much protein.
b) Also... if the OP happens to have an eating disorder (in this case I do not think they do but just so you are aware) it is NOT a good idea to make them start focusing on numbers, nor to "lose fat gain muscle". Same again if they don't have their period because the body fat is essential for menses. Just so you know.
Thanks so much for all of your replies! Currently my BMI is at 16.9 I go five days a week, but I do different excercises each time so I do not overwork any specific body part, and over the week I do get a full body workout in. I drink protein shakes an hour before my workouts and within 30 min of finishing. I have been taking in aprox 2800 cal per day. I do not have an ED, my problem is I like junk food, when I eat it I loose weight, So I try to stick to healthier choices, whole milks cheese, peanut butter, cottage cheese ect when I start craving the cookies and cakes lol. I have just been concerned that I'm burning off those extra calories doing the cardio since I don't want to loose any fat that I may store :) As far as any muscle injuries I have had none, and stretch constantly throughout my workouts and throughout the week. I would like to become more informed on the 55/15/30 split and the others as well since I don't really know much about that
Have a balance of healthy and unhealthy. That'll prevent cravings for either.
55/15/30 is a good balance of all the food groups. But I wouldn't really focus on all that. Just make sure you get a good balance of everything and use your head. Don't worry about specific ratios.
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