The first thing I would suggest is not to worry about your BMI rank. It really is one of the least accurate measurements of health or fitness. In some of the studies I read that analyzed BMI measurements, 25% of the time BMI classified people who were normal weight as either overweight or underweight and 25% of the time it classified people who were overweight or underweight as being normal weight. In other words, up to 50% of the time people were classified incorrectly when simply using BMI as the gauge.

BMI is used so frequently, because it is easy to compute and required no special equipment, but it is just too much of an oversimplification to give accurate results. A body fat measurement provides much more useful information, even when using a simple caliper measurement (from someone who knows how to use them). If you are concerned about specific areas of health, you can do more advanced tests, such as a VO2 max test for oxygen consumption or bone density test for bone health.

As for the question about what type of exercise routine to do, that really depends on your goal and what physical attributes you want to improve. If you main goal is really to gain weight, then you should focus on a bodybuilding style resistance training program.

This means moderate to heavy weights (weights you can lift for a maximum of ~ 8 – 12 times). Then you perform each exercise 3 to 5 times with low rest (~ 45 – 90 seconds) between sets. The total number of sets you perform will depend on your fitness level and training experience.

The other step is to perform minimal cardio exercise, because cardio burns calories, which makes it harder to gain weight. Doing a lot of cardio also decreases the potential weight gain from resistance training exercise, so it can have a double negative effect if your main goal is to gain weight.

I am not necessarily saying this is the best program for you, but this is the type of approach people take when they want to gain weight. I actually recommend against most people following this type of program, but if you want to gain weight this is what I suggest.

Another common recommendation for people trying to gain weight is not to eat more than 3 times per day and instead try to increase the size of each meal. Basically you have to go against all the usual advice, since most people are trying to lose weight. Eating multiple small meals helps to increase your metabolism and burn more calories, but if your goal is to gain weight, then you actually want to decrease your metabolism and this is done by eating fewer and larger meals.

Again, I am not saying this is a good thing to do, but it is what people are often told to do when they want to gain weight. Personally I have never recommended these things to one of my clients and I believe that if you have good health and fitness (good nutrition, strength, muscle mass, endurance, aerobic function, flexibility, posture, bone density, body fat percentage, etc.), then your weight is really not very important.

If your lower than desired weight is the result of being deficient in certain areas, such as not having enough muscle or having low bone density, then those specific things are what you should focus on improving. Resistance training programs with high volume (volume = reps X sets X weight) and lower rest are best for gaining weight, as long as you are consuming enough calories. Programs using higher resistance are better for increasing bone density.

I hope this information helps, but my best advice is really to put less emphasis on your weight and really don’t worry about your BMI. If you are healthy and in decent shape, that is much more important than you BMI and your current weight may actually be right for your body/physiology.

I’m going to try posting it again on Ross’s behalf…

Here we go…
http://virtualfitnesstrainer.com/muscle-building/bodybuilding/bodybuilding-for-beginners-tips-for-muscle-mass/
and
Here:
http://virtualfitnesstrainer.com/muscle-building/bodybuilding/defeat-your-skinny-genetics-the-1-1-skinny-guy-transformation-program/
and go here:
http://virtualfitnesstrainer.com/muscle-building/muscle-building-diet-plans-and-strategies/

So optimum fitness is also essential here as well… if you’re wanting to join the military?

So you’re wanting increased lean muscle, excellent fitness and fat loss too?

Always make sure you’ve got permission from your doctor and that it’s cool with your parents too that you’re starting a new eating and exercise plan.

I sympathize with your situation and I know that sad/stressful life events can disrupt your entire life and it can be very difficult to get back on track. I applaud you for putting forth the effort to work back towards more positive nutrition and exercise habits. While it can be very disheartening to lose a lot of your previous gains, you do have a number of things working in your favor.

First of all, you are young and have already had some success, so you are ahead of a lot of people. Another good thing is that regaining lost muscle is usually easier to get back than it was to gain the first time, assuming you are being as good as you were before.

As for the issue of whether or not you should do the same things you were doing before, I cannot say for sure, but it is a great place to start. Since it worked before, there is a good chance it will work again, especially at first. On the other hand, since it is something your body is somewhat used to, your results may not be quite as good as they were the first time.

The more often you follow the same training program, the less effective it becomes, but if you have not been training much recently the results should still be pretty good. I would start with your old program as the basis for your new training, but possibly add in some new exercises or make some other small changes to your workouts to keep your body improving. If the results are not as good as they were, you may need to make more significant changes to the routine.

You probably do this already, but if not, I also recommend keeping a workout journal. If you already have one, then you can compare the progress of your new routine to your previous routine to make sure you are on track. This makes it easy to see if you are not improving as much as you did before. If that is the case, it is good evidence that you should change up your workout routine.

I hope this helps and I wish you success in gaining back everything you lost and more,

Ross