what should i do?

Question
okay,im brandon im 15 and 145pounds at 5'8 and wanting to gain more muscle mass and gain weight,im a mixed martial artist and needing more weight. Im looking for wokout routines and nutrition routines or guidelines,if you ahve any questions or you can help me you can email me at
Thank you,!

Answer
Hi Brandon!  I know several people who compete in MMA; their advice is always to find others to train with.  If you are looking for workouts to do on your own, there are several sites online: bodybuilding.com and mma-training.com are some good places to start.  In order to build muscle, you must use the muscle, so weight training will be important.  Cardio will also be important to help with your stamina during fights.  The best way to gain weight is just to eat.  I can't give you an exact calorie level because I do not know how much you are working out, but you could start out with 3,500 calories and see if you gain any weight at that calorie level.  There is nothing special you can eat just to gain muscle; even protein will turn to fat if you eat too much of it and you are not working out enough to use it.  The average person needs .8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight; if you are training a lot and weight lifting (and since you are still growing) your needs may be a little higher, but even most athletes need no more than 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.  For you, I would suggest 66-79 grams of protein per day (meats average 7 grams of protein per ounce, but the actual amount does differ per meat so food labels can come in handy).  If you choose to use a protein supplement, a whole protein (such as whey) is better than an amino acid supplement because amino acids compete for absorption...taking too much of one can make you deficient in another, even if you are eating plenty of it.  Make sure to continue eating foods from all the food groups to maintain overall good nutrition (all too often people wanting to gain muscle try to eat only meat and maybe some vegetables).  If you like milk, drinking milk instead of a sports drink after a workout can help reduce soreness and replenish glycogen stores because it has a good mix of carbohydrate, protein, and electrolytes.  

That's a lot at once.  If you have any more questions, or have something specific you want to ask, please let me know.  Good luck!

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