Bulking up without 'the juice'

Jacqueline Stenson MSNBC contributor

How can a skinny guy get buff without steroids? And why is there so much conflicting advice on weight-training? Smart Fitness answers your queries. Have an exercise question? To e-mail us, click here. We’ll post select answers in future columns.

Q: All the focus is on weight loss, but I have the opposite problem. I’m a skinny guy who wants to bulk up. How can I do this without resorting to steroids? Are there any supplements that can help?

A: With all the news reports lately of steroid use in the sports world, it would seem the only way to get big and strong is by injecting chemicals into your body — and loads of them.

It's true "the juice" can produce results above and beyond what many men could achieve on their own through weight-training. But it's just not worth the risk, experts say.

"There are too many negative side effects," says Janet Walberg Rankin, a professor in the department of human nutrition, foods and exercise at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. Among the risks associated with steroids are heart problems, aggressiveness ('roid rage), severe acne, baldness, shrunken testicles and breast enlargement in men, and facial hair growth for women.

But steroids aren't magic. Guys who bulk up on steroids also are clocking many hours at the gym each week pumping iron.

Muscles have to be stimulated and challenged to grow. So weight-training is what you should focus on to help put some meat on your bones.

Just how much muscle a man can put on through training varies. "It really depends on the individual's age, genetic profile, hormone levels, how hard and long a person might train, what kind of diet they consume and if they are taking any performance-enhancing drugs or supplements," says Jeffrey Potteiger, chair of the department of physical education, health and sports studies at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

A young, healthy man who's not taking steroids could still pack on several pounds of muscle in a couple of months if he's training hard, he says.

Most gains happen in the beginning of a strength program. Over time, Rankin says, the average muscle gain for men is about four or five pounds total.

So if you're hoping that weight-training will turn you into Mr. Universe, it's probably not going to happen.

Technically speaking, you're an ectomorph, with a body that's skinny by nature. Even with similar training programs, you'll have a harder time packing on pounds than an endomorph, who tends to be chubby, or a mesomorph, who has a more athletic body that gains muscle most easily, says Michael Barnes, an exercise physiologist and director of education at the National Strength and Conditioning Association in Colorado Springs, Colo.

But you can gain muscle and become stronger and more "cut" if you hit the weights hard enough, Barnes says. He recommends that beginners start out by doing one to two sets of strength exercises that target all major muscle groups, three times a week. As you build strength, you can increase the workload. After several months, for example, you could start training four days a week and gradually increasing your sets to three to five, he says.

And since you're already lean, Barnes notes, it's best to avoid high-calorie-burning activities like endurance running (ever seen a bulky distance runner?). Instead, focus your cardio activity on sprints and interval training that increase your power, he says.

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