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My height is around 174.8 cm and weight is around 55 Kgs.

The problem is, I wasn't under weight when I was around 14-15 years old. Now I'm 26 years old. I never paid attention to it until after entering 20s.

I guess the possible reason for this is my stress about life, loneliness, thinking too much about future and not eating much. I maybe wrong though.

Now, I read many answers regarding weight gain here.

Most of them ask: Do you need muscle gain (build muscle) or just weight (fat)?

Thing is, I look weak. My legs and hands are thin. My cheeks are concave (I don't know exact word for it. I mean cheeks are pushed inside instead of most people. Hope you understand it). Sometimes when strong wind is blowing and I'm walking, I feel the force is pushing me.

So I don't understand when you ask muscle gain or weight gain or fat etc.

I just know that I'm not fit in terms of weight and I want to be fit/normal.

So Q.1 To be fit in terms of weight, (so I don't look skinny and become like other people of my age), do I need muscles or fat or something else? (I need answer of it so I can proceed further)

Q.2 For some reasons, I can't join gym and can't buy equipment. I can only eat and do exercises without equipment in home. Does squat work to gain weight? What is proper way to do squat? Is it different from sit down and get up thing?

If you need more information, kindly mention in the comments.

PS: Which answers can I read on this website to gain weight, once I understand how should I proceed?

EDIT: You may want to read my comments on 1st answer here, if you need further explanation regarding what kind of fitness/shape I need and what I lack.

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  • Just squats are going to exercise a fairly limited group of muscles, but it's not hard to come up with a good routine to do 3-4 additional simple exercises that you can do without equipment. I would go for physical fitness / muscle gain to begin with, and then re-evaluate after a few months.
    – tripleee
    Commented Aug 8, 2019 at 3:47
  • The only reason there is for being underweight, unless you have some disease or parasite, is not eating enough. Thinking about the future or not doesn't impact your body weight. Doing squats doesn't make you gain weight. Eating and only eating does. If you want to influence what kind of weight you gain, e.g. muscle or fat, that's when resistance training comes in. Btw, why can't you buy a pair of dumbbells? They are like 30 dollars/euros. That's an investment that will pay for itself in 3 months (about 3 months is about how long it takes to make a noticable difference)
    – Raditz_35
    Commented Aug 8, 2019 at 7:49
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    @tripleee after discussing on FenryrMKIII answer in comments, I found that I don't want to be muscular. I just want to be normal. But you are suggesting me to gain muscles? Right? Am I wrong?
    – vivek
    Commented Aug 9, 2019 at 16:44
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    Gaining weight because you build muscle is probably healthier than getting fat; I understood from your question that health is one reason for you to pursue this, so I guess for that reason start there and see where it takes you. Consuming more energy might also help improve your overall appetite.
    – tripleee
    Commented Aug 9, 2019 at 18:30
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    Having "concave" cheeks means you have very little fat under the skin ( "subcutaneous fat"). To gain weight you need to consume more calories than you spend. If you are not very physically active, this could be around 2,200 - 2,500 calories per day. The weight you'll gain this way will be mostly from body fat, but in your case this is actually what you need for now and it's not unhealthy. It's a very good idea to be physically active at least a bit (walking, cycling..) because this can help to increase appetite.
    – Jan
    Commented Aug 10, 2019 at 10:57

1 Answer 1

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The physiological process to gain weight and muscle weight is relatively simple

Rule 1 : Eat more than what you spend in terms of energy.

Rule 2 : To gain muscle weight, you need to break down muscles so that your body rebuild it with a safety factor i.e. it builds more than what you had before. To break down muscle, you must damage your muscle fibers by exercising. You can achieve this by doing lots of repetitions in case of bodyweight because the stress without weights is lower than with weights. Look at gymnastics movements to increase the stress while using bodyweights exercises.

Rule 3 : And a very important one altough often missed ... You must have the right state to be able to digest what you are eating! As you say, if you are miserable and stressed, you won't digest anything that you eat and therefore you can't gain weight nor muscle ! This rule implies that you get into a proper state to recover (usually at least at night, get good sleep, get relaxed and recover)

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  • Thank you. But my one doubt is still unclear. Am I underweight because of less muscle build or less fat? I don't have any disease.
    – vivek
    Commented Aug 8, 2019 at 15:10
  • You would know it if you were muscular. 55 kgs is nowhere near a muscular build for 175cm
    – FenryrMKIII
    Commented Aug 8, 2019 at 15:15
  • I just can't understand it. Should I aim for muscle gain or fat gain? What I'm missing? Will eating a lot than I consume will increase weight? And if yes, which kind of weight I'll get? It might seem stupid to you, but I'm really doubtful about it. Maybe you didn't understand my question fully.
    – vivek
    Commented Aug 8, 2019 at 18:21
  • I did understand your question fully. Now to "Should I aim for muscle or fat" is entirely up to you. If you don't want to be muscular, then you won't be because this requires a lot of work. So yes, if you eat more than what you spend and you actually digest it (see the part about the state in my answer), you will gain weight and mostly fat. If you want to have a definite answer about your body composition and evolution during your diet, just go to a hospital or care provider and they have so-called "pods" that analyze your entire body composition (water, bones, fat, muscles, ...)
    – FenryrMKIII
    Commented Aug 9, 2019 at 5:43
  • Okay. First by muscular, I guess you mean this: previews.123rf.com/images/curaphotography/curaphotography1403/… Right? If yes, then my answer is no. I don't need such perfect muscles. I just want to be like guys shown here d3381fd3mt5iv0.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/… See. They don't look under weight. They are fit than me. Neither do the look muscular. So to achieve that, how should I proceed? This is my primary question.
    – vivek
    Commented Aug 9, 2019 at 14:13

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