im trying to gain a little bit of weight as well. What i'm doing is lifting my upper body 3-4 times a week (more sets more reps because i dont want to bulk up) and i eat like there is no tomorrow. Basically anything i can find that's not fast food or anything related i'll eat. If you want to possibly bulk up a little bit, you could drink a protein shake/eat a protein bar before AND after you lift. That will definitely help (along with eating a bunch of protein during the day as well). It's going to be hard to gain ALOT of weight with a tri training program because you still need alot of carbs as well. If you want to go all out, i know a guy that needed to get huge for D1 college football, so he would drink a protein shake after workouts, right before he went to bed, AND then he would wake up at 2 am every day and drink a protein shake and then go back to sleep. I doubt you want to get that big, but you understand. MAKE SURE that you are lifting weights though, because if you solely drink a bunch of protein without doing anything you'll just get fat.

Is that link working? Does anyone know how to link a previous thread correctly. It does not seem to be working. In the meantime, it works if you just type it in. Sorry for my technical ineptitude.

Like this?. Oooh, mad skillz!!! But to the OP, weight gain (I assume you mean muscle, size) comes from time in the gym, proper diet, and progressing age. Yours is what I call a 'good problem.' I don't understand why a competitive runner, cyclist would want to gain additional pounds knowing that a significant factor in determining speed is the power-to-weight ratio: up your power, lower your weight. Look at your tops runners, cyclists, even top AGers, and they are tiny. I was a whopping at 6'4", 170 in high school, now at 36 I have to fight to stay under 200, and if it weren't for marathons and Ironmans, I'd be well over 200. I like food, beer too much.

G . . . G . . . Why am I drawing a blank? I know of the barley-based beverage of which you speak. Vitamin W(ings) and P(izza) I can see, but Vitamin G? Gummy Bears? Gnocchi?

From what I've read, this is the wrong way to proceed. You get your endurance strength (i.e., many reps light weight) by riding and running and swimming. You want to get force by lifting heavier at fewer reps for the major muscle groups. You won't get huge with this kind of program unless you're doing lots of specialized lifts focused on specific body parts and also pounding down protein and carbs.

[I'm sorry I don't have a link or two...that's not fair. I've seen it in cycling and triathlon training articles/discussion, but I haven't been able to google my way back to it this morning...I think the roadbikerider newsletter had something on it this fall. Maybe a coach/trainer on here can knows more?]

I consider myself somewhat of an expert on the topic. I have 3 words for you: Western Bacon Cheeseburger.

I'm also a 6'4" skinny guy (165-170), and at age 39 weigh as much as I did at 18. I understand the frustration of having people scoff at you when you complain, "I can't gain weight". Few of those more gravitationally endowed have any compassion for our problem.

But I'd agree with those who say, don't worry about your actual weight. It's an attitude I think all people should take - weight is just a number, fitness is a better gauge of your health or ability. Focus on having the muscle strength that you need for doing triathlon ... particularly for swimming. If you do more upper body exercises (like pull-ups, push-ups, and perhaps some swim specific stretch/pulley exercises) along with your swimming you might gain a pound or two. And if you do a lot of cycling, hills especially, you'll gain a pound or two there just adapting to the higher workloads. I've done these things and have gained about 5 pounds (I used to be around 160). If you only focus on gaining 10 lbs or 20 or something, you might just gain extra fat that is actually counterproductive (well, except that you might be a little more buoyant in the water). Good luck.

i particularly said a LITTLE bit of weight because i really just want to gain around 5 pounds. The reason that i'm doing 3-4 high rep weight lifting sessions a week is because i had a time (during the past xc season) where i didnt lift for about 2.5 months and at this point ANY weight lifting will make me gain a little bit of weight.

Get older, and your metabolism will take over ;-)