Learn more about weight gain.
Bodybuilders use weight gain techniques to build as much muscle as possible in the off-season. In this way, they can quickly make great strides in their physique.
But before you start eating, it is important to understand how to gain weight correctly. You will also need to consider your starting point, your goals and how much time you have. Here's what you need to know before you start the muscle-building journey.
What is weight gain?
Weight gain is an attempt to gain weight quickly, preferably in the form of muscle, by consuming more calories than your body needs, combined with a training program designed to stimulate muscle gain.
As a rule, when someone wants to gain weight, he eats as much as he can, taking into account the nutritional value of food. Any and all high-calorie foods are fair game and are often consumed in excess to meet the daily calorie requirement for weight gain.
The problem with this approach is that a typical diet contains a lot of carbohydrates, fats and refined foods, but little protein. If you increase the number of calories by 1000 per day according to a typical diet, you will gain weight, but from 50% to 70% of the weight gained was fat.
Net weight is a more strategic phase of weight gain, in which preference is given to whole, unprocessed foods high in protein, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, as well as fruits and vegetables. Moreover, a high-protein diet is more likely to lead to more muscle gain and less fat gain.
Reasons why people are considering gaining weight
Someone can start gaining weight for various reasons, including:
They want to gain muscle mass and strength for competitions such as powerlifting or bodybuilding.
They are underweight and would like to gain weight in order to improve their health parameters.
They must correspond to a certain weight category for the sport.
They want to gain muscle mass for a role, casting, competition, etc.
How to start gaining weight?
When you are ready to start gaining weight, you must first determine how much muscle mass you want to gain, how many weeks you need and what kind of mass you want to gain — clean (normal) or "dirty".
Most weight gain cycles last from 6 weeks to 4 months. Some people even claim to be in the weight gain phase for more than a year. However, longer is not always better.
Next, you need to calculate your daily calorie requirement. Start by determining the resting metabolic rate. This number tells you how many calories you need to complete basic tasks and maintain your weight. Once you get that number, add an additional 10% to 20% of calories to add 0.25% to 0.5% of body weight gain per week.
If you're not sure how much you're currently eating, try recording your intake throughout the week using the nutrition log app to determine where you're starting. Food tracking in the app can also be useful during weight gain to ensure that you reach your calorie goals every day.
Nutrition for weight gain
If you are not worried about gaining fat during weight gain, traditional body weight will suit you. Traditional weight means that you eat whatever you want to achieve your calorie goals. Fast food and other highly processed foods are fair game. With this build—up style, you can gain more fat than muscle mass - so you need to decide whether it suits you or not.
On the other hand, if your goal is to build muscle mass with a minimum amount of fat, you should give priority to the quality of foods and proteins. In combination with strength training, protein intake should be between 2.2 and 3.4 grams per kilogram of body weight to maximize muscle gain and strength during weight gain.
To achieve this amount, it will take more than three meals. Each meal should contain about 0.25 grams of protein per kilogram of weight for young people and about 4 grams of protein per kilogram of weight per meal for adults.
Eating a variety of whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and lean protein is ideal for gaining muscle mass. The number of meals per day does not matter for weight gain if the total number of calories per day is reached.
But diets for weight gain are often extremely high in calories, which makes it difficult to achieve the calorie goal in just two or three meals a day. For this reason, it may be a good idea to distribute calories throughout the day so that you can eat all of your food without feeling uncomfortable.
Since you have already calculated your calorie needs, you can now determine how much protein you need each day. To do this, calculate your weight in kilograms by multiplying it by 2.2. Then, as you develop, multiply this number by 2.2 or 3.4. This is your new range of protein intake per day.
The remaining calories can be distributed between complex carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables and healthy fats. Don't be afraid to use high-calorie foods in your diet, including whole milk, ice cream and cheese. These foods have nutritional value and can help you achieve your daily calorie goals.
Fitness for weight gain
Unfortunately, increasing your diet and eating as much food as possible will not help you gain muscle mass unless you combine this with heavy strength training. Training with weights and daily intake of large amounts of protein are necessary to maximize the potential of muscle building.
More advanced training techniques, including supersets, separation of body parts and approach-repetition schemes, can help overcome the plateau of development and prevent training boredom. In addition, including high-intensity interval training (HIIT) per week can be a good strategy to minimize fat gain. HIIT workouts have a positive effect on the growth of muscle mass.
When gaining weight with the help of strength training, aim for 3-6 sets of 6-12 repetitions with a moderate intensity of 60-80% of your single-repeat maximum. Rest should be short, about 60 seconds. Then the amount of training should increase to 12-28 sets per muscle per week.
Safety Tips
While nutrition and exercise are important to get the most out of your weight gain period, you're still putting your body under more stress. In addition to nutrition and exercise, it's important to prioritize sleep, hydration, and stress management to help your body recover and achieve muscle gain goals.
In addition, rapid weight gain can put pressure on joints and cause stretch marks. Take your time and work on gradually building muscle mass to prevent rapid weight gain and associated risk factors.
Result
You can gain weight without following a strategic diet plan. However, if you are trying to gain weight without strength training or eat mainly foods that have undergone deep processing, you may gain more fat than gain muscle mass.
If you are serious about building muscle mass and want to do it so that your training efforts are maximized with minimal fat gain, a combination of pure mass with a consistent program of strength training is what you need. But it is not easy to determine the number of calories, types of foods and develop a training program on your own.
If this is your case, a strength and fitness trainer or a personal trainer and nutritionist can help you develop a daily routine and nutrition plan that matches your lifestyle and helps you achieve your goals. You should also talk to your doctor, especially if you plan to consume more than 2 grams of protein per kilogram of weight per day.
