|
For many thin guys around the world, gaining weight without using illegal
steroids has been a challenge. For thousands of lean young men, the dream is to
gain weight, but no matter how much they eat they remain thin. Some people are
naturally thin; that means their genetic makeup is in such a way that the body
burns more calories than others. The very basic method of weight gain is to eat
more calories than your body burns off. By providing the body with more
calories, this balance can be altered and body mass can be increased. Weight
training is of great importance in this context, which enables the body to
absorb more nutrients from the food by increasing the level of certain hormones
and increasing the muscle mass.
There are many incorrect beliefs and theories bout building muscle. The type of
food to be eaten is an important factor which decides the type of weight
gained, whether it is muscle mass or mere accumulation of fat. Some types of
calories are not equal to others for gaining muscle; because most processed
junk food contains empty, totally nutritionless calories. These foods promote
accelerated fat storage, and do not provide the body with the correct nutrients
essential for gaining muscle. High quality protein, which the body breaks down
into amino acids, should be the centerpiece of all your meals. Intense exercise
increases demand for amino acids, which support muscle repair and growth.
Another factor is the selection of the right type of weight training. Resistance
exercises will help with muscle growth. Whereas aerobic exercises can result in
the reduction of weight. For maximum muscle gain, the focus of your workouts
should consist of free weight exercises, rather than machines or bodyweight
exercises. To get a very effective workout, you must stimulate as many muscle
fibers as possible, and machines do not do this. The main reason for this is a
lack of stabilizer and synergist muscle development. Stabilizer and synergist
muscles are supporting muscles that assist the main muscle in performing a
complex lift.
The results of weight training can vary from person to person, and will usually
depend on your consistency and commitment to your program. You should have the
patience and motivation for building a powerful body with a consistent diet and
exercise schedule.
Exercise Guidelines for building muscle:
Weight training involves the use of equipment that enables variable resistance.
This resistance can come in the form of free weights like barbells and
dumbbells, machines that use cables or pulleys to help you lift the weight, and
bodyweight exercises like pull-ups or dips. The more stabilizers and synergists
you work, the more muscle fibers stimulated. The exercises that work the large
muscle groups are called compound (or multi-joint) movements that involve the
simultaneous stimulation of many muscle groups. These compound exercises should
be the foundation of any weight training program because they stimulate the
most amount of muscle in the least amount of time. Multi-jointed free weight
exercises like the bench press require many stabilizer and synergistic muscle
assistance to complete the lift.
Free weight exercises like the dumbbell press or squat put a very large amount
of stress on supporting muscle groups. You will get fatigued faster and not be
able to lift as much weight as you did on the machine. But you will gain more
muscle, become stronger very quickly and have a true gauge of your strength.
If you use machines in your program, they should be used to work isolated areas
and only after all multi-jointed exercises have been completed. Beginners
should begin with a limited combination of machine exercises, bodyweight
exercises and multi-jointed free weight exercises. Before increasing the weight
levels, they should work on becoming familiar with the proper form and
execution of each.
The following are some proven basic exercises to encourage muscle and strength
gain unlike any other exercises.
Bench Presses - works the chest, shoulders, triceps
Overhead Presses - shoulders, triceps
Pull-ups/Barbell Rows - back, bicep
Squats - legs, lower back
Dead lifts - legs, back, shoulders
Bar Dips -shoulders, chest, arms
To build mass, you must weight train with heavy weights. To consider a weight
heavy, you should only be able to do a maximum of 4-8 reps before your muscles
temporarily fail. A weight is considered 'light' if you can do more than 15
reps before muscle fatigue sets in. Heavy weights stimulate more muscle fibers
than lighter weights which result in more muscle growth. Heavy weight training
puts a huge strain on your body, so adequate rest and recuperation after your
workouts is essential.
Eating guidelines for building muscle:
A high protein diet is an inevitable part of any weight training programme,
importantly, protein derived from animal sources. Proteins you need to be
concerned with are those found in whey, casein (cottage cheese), eggs, beef,
poultry, and fish. Soy protein, tofu and bean curd are some alternatives.
Eating the right amount of foods consistently will force your body to grow
beyond what you may think possible. The diet also should contain an adequate
amount of carbohydrates (potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, oatmeal, cream of
wheat, cream of rice, rice, beans, bread, pasta, all cereals) and fat. Green
leafy vegetables and fruits also should be included.
When you train with weights, you should eat a minimum of 1 gram of protein per
pound of body weight. You also must have protein at every meal. To enable your
body to actually assimilate and use the all the calories you will ingest, you
have to reduce your meal size and increase your meal frequency. Splitting your
calories into smaller, more frequent portions will enable food absorption and
utilization of nutrients.
During the past 20 years there have been great developments in the scientific
understanding of the role of nutrition in health and physical performance.
Studies shown that adequate dietary carbohydrate should be ingested (55-60% of
total energy intake) so that training intensity can be maintained. Excess
dietary saturated fat can exacerbate coronary artery disease; however, low-fat
diets result in a reduction in circulating testosterone. So the balance between
protein, carbohydrate and fat should be maintained.
So the focus on weight gain programmes must be on two components, lifting heavy
weights, which will stimulate the largest amount of muscle fibers. Your body
responds to this stimulus by increasing your muscle mass and secondly eat more
calories than your body is used to. When you overload your system with plenty
of protein and fats, your body has no other choice but to gain weight.
A Mass Gaining program is incomplete without the timely measurements to monitor
your progress. Without it, you won't know how exactly your body is responding
to your diet and training routine. Just looking in the mirror and guessing is
not acceptable. If you want to start getting great results, you must develop
the habit of accurately tracking your progress. This also provides the
motivation to continue with the weight gain schedule and for the further
progression. So even though you have a very thin body type, and haven't been
able to gain weight no matter what you try, you will definitely succeed with a
well planned weight gain programme.
References:
1) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part1eating.htm
2) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part2weights.htm
3) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part3muscle.htm
4) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part4suppl.htm
5) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part5monitor.htm
6) http://www.skinnyguy.net/tips.html
7) Lambert CP, Frank LL, Evans WJ. Macronutrient considerations for the sport of
bodybuilding. Sports Med. 2004;34(5):317-27
Former
"skinny guy" Anthony Ellis is the author of Gaining Mass. The most
widely used weight gain program in the world. This unique program
designed to help people gain weight and build muscle, is currently
being used in over 90 countries. For more information on how to gain
weight and build muscle, check out his website at http://www.fastmusclegain.com
|
