Upon initial thought, you wouldn't think someone would need
to write an article titled "How to Gain Good Weight". After
all, aren't those who feel underweight so desirous of
displaying more body mass as to be content with just a
higher reading on the bathroom scale? I would think not.
And for those who are, I'm seriously inclined to mercifully
derail this ultimately counterproductive train of thought.
If you're slender and want to be bigger, it is muscle
weight that you won't regret gaining. Deposits of cellulite
would only make your formerly fat-free physique seem
contest worthy by comparison. So 'how to gain good weight'
translates to 'how to gain muscle weight'; they are one and
the same.
But you wouldn't think so when scrutinizing much of the
prevailing wisdom. Peruse many of the online 'how to gain
weight' articles and you'll see one after another
pontificating the anxiously underweight on how they simply
need to eat much and often, body-build with heavy weights,
and get a lot of sleep. Of course, what's emphasized most
is the part about eating... a lot.
If you've followed this simplistic formula and gotten
nowhere - this article is for you. It's for you who have
piled down excess calories to the point of food coma -
worked out doing squats and dead-lifts to the point of
nausea - and forced yourself to sleep nine hours a night to
the point of... drooling on your pillow - and still not
gained good weight. Let me give you the three key areas on
which to focus if you want to gain muscle steadily; in
other words - if you want the secret of 'how to gain good
weight'.
1. Use the "progression principle" of bodybuilding.
2. Optimize your muscle breakdown/recuperation ratio.
3. Eat a gram of protein for every pound of your current
bodyweight (daily).
Use the "progression principle" of bodybuilding
I've received emails from people who've never read my book
and ask me why they're not gaining muscle. Within these
emails, they'll put down a laundry list of exercises, sets,
and reps that they've been doing in the gym. Yet nowhere
within these lists or descriptions is there a hint that the
person is attempting to apply the biggest key to building
muscle: progression.
Of course, the answer to their question is simple and
(unbeknownst to them) they never needed to write such a
drawn out list. If you just keep putting the same stress
levels on muscles, they won't change. You must continually
and systematically challenge your muscles to move greater
weight volumes than they have previously. You must not only
challenge them - you must succeed in that challenge if the
muscles are to be augmented. What I've shared with
readers of my book is the easiest and most reliably
effective method of succeeding in that challenge. It's
something I've discovered from twenty-three years of weight
training experience. It teaches one 'how to gain good
weight' without hitting progress plateaus.
But the big key to making the "progression principle" work
is to implement key number two:
Optimize your muscle breakdown/recuperation ratio
This one has to be synergistically implemented with the
progression principle or your bodybuilding workouts will be
futile. Effective weight training workouts cause muscle
tissue breakdown. Sufficient recuperation (rest between
workouts) can provide repair for the damage plus additional
tissue to compensate for the extra demands placed on the
muscles. It's vitally important to get the correct amount
of recuperation for the corresponding level of tissue
damage. Without this, the progression principle is
impossible to sustain.
One thing I emphasize to people is that our muscles don't
necessarily recuperate on a rigid time-table. This
under-realized fact - coupled with the orthodox practice of
strictly training each muscle group on specific days of the
week - is what creates much frustration and wasted time in
bodybuilding. If you work your triceps today and you've
scheduled them to be worked again in exactly one week, who
or what's to say they'll be recuperated and stronger on the
same day next week? If they're not, you will run into the
most prevalent antagonist in a trainee's quest for 'how to
gain good weight'.
Over-training/under recuperating is probably the most
common and bewildering obstacle slowing down aspiring
muscle builders. It only takes one session of
under-recuperating a muscle that was only slightly
over-worked to cause a long-term setback. Think about it:
If you work your triceps after a week's recovery and they
really needed a week and one day - do you think they're
still in the same place they were when they needed a week
and a day? No, now they've been torn down even further by
working them prematurely. And we have a tendency to work a
muscle even harder when our judgment is clouded by the
frustration of a setback. This only exacerbates the problem.
Getting the right muscle breakdown/recuperation schedule is
a matter of testing. Despite what some will tell you,
there's not a "one size fits all" schedule, such as a
week's rest between workouts. Recuperation needs change
with age and even change with progress. After your muscles
get a little bigger, there will be more tissue that needs
repair, and hence, more rest requirement between workouts
in order to make further progress.
Eat a Gram of Protein for Every Pound of Your Current Body
Weight (daily)
This is a minimum number in the 'how to gain good weight'
formula. I recommend 1.5 grams of protein per pound of
weight. In addition to being the building blocks of body
tissue, protein increases the thermic effect of eating.
This allows you to increase your calorie intake with less
likelihood of depositing body fat. Increased dietary
protein can also be satiating to the point that excessive
carbohydrate intake will be less of a tendency.
You should break your 1.5 grams-per-pound of bodyweight
protein intake into five or six meals per day. I recommend
at least starting the protein portion of your meals before
consuming carbohydrates as this will slow down carbohydrate
digestion and rises in blood sugar.
Keep in mind: No mathematical calorie formula or protein
intake calculation will be effective if keys one and two
are not adhered to. Although protein intake is important,
it's the synergistic effects of optimizing all three
ingredients that are the secret of 'how to gain solid
weight'.
----------------------------------------------------
Scott Abbett is the author of HardBody Success: 28
Principles to Create Your Ultimate Body and Shape Your Mind
for Incredible Success. He is a certified fitness trainer
and a Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP. To see his
personal transformation visit http://www.hardbodysuccess.com
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