There are a lot of different reasons why people struggle to put on weight. No matter what they eat or how hard they train, they can just never seem to add more size. A lot of people with fast metabolisms often struggle with bulking up and gaining muscle mass. For others it could just be that there were a few small things they were doing wrong that prevented them from making good gains. It might sound easy and that all you would have to do would be to eat more and more often, but that is not actually the case.
Here, we'll share some tips that might help you get out of the weight gain rut and put you on the fast track of gaining muscle mass. Some of these will be related to nutrition, but if you would like to gain weight the right way and also build muscle in the process, you will have to pay attention to your workout regime as well.
1. EAT MORE CALORIES THAN YOU BURN (SURPLUS CALORIE BALANCE)
Let's say your basal metabolic rate is 1,900 calories: that's the amount of calories your body burns in order to sustain itself. If you move a single muscle a day you will burn more than this amount. Walking to work can burn plenty of calories, not to mention all the other small activities you might do throughout the day.
Let's say you need 3,000 calories a day to put on weight. sounds like a lot, right? One way to tackle this increased calorie intake is to increase food intake frequency and eat 5-6 smaller meals a day as opposed to having three 1,000-calorie meals.
If you are planning on eating five meals a day, meal prep can also come in handy. Ideally, you want to eat food that you cooked/prepared yourself, but we admit that might be a bit too much effort for some. Regardless, you should still plan ahead and at least roughly assemble the food you are planning on eating throughout the day tomorrow.
In case you are concerned about putting on loads of fat in the process, a 2017 study found that " an increase in the eating frequency can also be correlated with an increased prevalence of normal BMI individuals provided adequate physical exercise", meaning that eating more frequently could help maintain a normal BMI level.
2. ADD MORE PROTEIN AND (GOOD) FAT TO YOUR DIET
Carbohydrates are important for muscle building but the other two macronutrients, namely protein and fat, are equally as important when it comes to gaining weight. Fatty food will make you feel sated for longer and food with higher fat content tend to taste better too.
Fatty foods you should include in your diet are oily fish, such as salmon and mackerel, nuts (e.g. Brazil nuts), avocado, butter, heavy/double cream, dark chocolate, olive oil and eggs. Most of these are also high in protein so by eating them, you will be killing two birds with one stone.
Talking about protein: protein is essential for muscle building and recovery and you will need to eat more than you'd think to aid weight gain. According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition, for building muscle mass and for maintaining muscle mass through a positive muscle protein balance, an overall daily protein intake in the range of 1.4-2.0 g/kg bodyweight per day is sufficient for most exercising individuals.
The paper goes on saying that higher protein intakes 2.3-3.1 g/kg bodyweight per day may be needed to maximize the retention of lean body mass in resistance-trained subjects during hypocaloric periods, meaning you will have to up your protein intake once you started increasing muscle mass.
It is advised to have at least 20-30 grams of protein with each meal if the plan is to eat five times a day. Protein should be supplied from a variety of sources including green leafy vegetables, fish, lean meat, eggs etc.
3. DO RESISTANCE TRAINING MORE FREQUENTLY
One of the main reasons why you might not be gaining weight and particularly muscle mass is the lack of resistance training. If you are after muscle growth, you need to stimulate that muscle growth by training the muscles often. How often?
A 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis concludes that "the findings indicate a graded dose-response relationship whereby increases in resistance training volume produce greater gains in muscle hypertrophy", meaning, quite simply, that the more you work out, the muscular you will get.
This might sound self-explanatory to some but also contradictory to basic bodybuilding principles, namely that resting is almost as important ts the training itself. Just to reiterate, resting is important but resting muscles doesn't necessarily mean not training at all.
Finding a balance between training as often as possible without injuring yourself is paramount. The type of resistance training is up to you but don't fall into the trap of only tracking calories. Even the best running watches and best heart rate monitors can't track muscle activation and by tracking workouts with them, you can easily end up focusing only on burning calories.
What you want to do is the complete opposite: maxing out of workouts that increase strength but don't burn calories. Sure, you should still do some cardio: it's great for heart health and to maintain/improve the cardiovascular system, but try limiting the duration of cardio and let the bulk of your workout be anaerobic movements.
4. CONSIDER SUPPLEMENTS
As well as having the occasional protein shake, if your plan is to bulk up a bit and build functional muscle mass, there are other two supplements you might want to consider taking: a testo booster and creatine.
The best testo boosters have potent active ingredients in them that are proven to aid lean muscle growth and aid power and strength gains. They should also come in easy-to-consume tablet or capsule form so it's easier to stomach for several servings a day.
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Creatine, on the other hand, is the bodybuilding industry's best kept secret. According to Healthline, studies show that creatine can increase muscle mass, strength and exercise performance. In another 12-week study by Healthline in the same article, in weightlifters, creatine increased muscle fibre growth 2–3 times more than training alone. The increase in total body mass also doubled alongside one-rep max for bench press, a common strength exercise.
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