ok, cool, i'll try some weights then.

as far as when to take things like protein or creatine, do you think it would a good idea to do that right before going to bed? i always thought it was better to take things like that right before working out, that's how i've done it in the past.

 

take creatine all thru the day. it does no good if it is not built up in your system. you get no benefit from it for the first 4-5 days that you take it until it builds up, so popping a few before a workout is a waste. remember that creatine does not build muscle though. working out and protein do.

take some recovery branch chains before bed. don't bother with all of the calories in a shake.

Do shakes at other points during the day. it is unlikely that you could over do protein intake in a single day, so load up.

 

i used to take a light dinner and down that horrible protein drink at night
it helped me heal alot faster

 

so if creatine doesn't help build muscle, what does it do? and excuse me for being ignorant, but what the hell is a recovery branch chain?!

 

Creatine is already in ur body so all it really does is add water weight. I know alot of ppl on creatine have good builds but its not worth it. It can kill ur stomach and alot of otehr stuff. I say get some calories, a weight gainer from GNC with a nice shake a day and u should be good, but it will only add weight, u need to work out to turn that into lean muscle. Im in the same boat as u just SUPER skinny and i am trying hard to gain weight. I dont use a weight gainer right now but i do drink alot of smoothies which are helathy and i have them add protein.
here are a ton of articles to help u out.
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/forum...&page=0#854196
http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/BULKING_!!!__-_A_beginner's_guide/m_5557/tm.htm
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/custo...lking_diet.php
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/get_b...cob_wilson.php
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/forum...page=0#1094752
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/magaz...eyourself2.htm
http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/W.../m_4968/tm.htm

hope those help u out!
Ill help u out and make it simple, u need to eat more calories than u burn! Eat more carbs and proteins

 

Creatine keeps your blood cells kinda "bloated". This is supposed to give you a little boost when working out hard. I think I have felt the effects before, but I also think that a lot of that stuff is psycho-symatic - you think, therefore it is. Would I have had the same feeling on a placebo? The world will never know.

Recovery branch chains are a little more easy to believe in because they are more basic science. They are a zero calories way to get the material(simple proteins - not ones in a steak that your body has to process a bunch) that your muscles need to recover after a workout. You make micro tears in your muscle while working out - the branch chains help in the healing process. During the healing process new muscle is formed if the proper ingredients are there. Eventually, you see some results of this process as bigger muscles. If you work hard all day and don't have protein in your system, then this process will not take place. That is not psycho-symatic.

 

I would stay away from creotine aswell.

 

brian maybe you should buy a bench and some wieghts and a curl bar
if u just do crunches, push ups, sit ups and so forth your just gonna get cut up

 

I know a guy in the SF Bay Area who could probably get you on a workout and dietary supplements plan to gain muscle and weight, if you are looking into that route. Send me a PM if you are interested.

 

Lay off the sex brian, you will gain 10pd in like about a mth or so, i forget for sure.