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Weight Gain |
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Considerations for Weight Gain
- If your current diet allows you to maintain weight, add 500 calories a day.
- Strength Train. Weight Lifting and Isometrics are great ways to tell your body that you would like it to be bigger and stronger. Regular progressive strength training (gradually increasing weight and intensity) will cause your body to reinforce your muscle fibers with extra protein, to handle the new demands you have placed on them. It will also increase the size and number of mitochondria within your muscle cells. Mitochondria produce ATP, the chemical energy your muscle cells use to contract. They do this by using oxygen to burn fat and sugar. The more mitochondria you have, the more energy you can burn, allowing you to maximize your training efforts. Studies have shown that people with the highest levels of mitochondria have the highest metabolisms.
- You will need to consume at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight daily. If you are 150 pounds, you will need at least 150 grams of protein per day to pack on muscle.
- You must eat a high quality protein and carbohydrate meal about 2 to 3 hours before your training session. This will give your body enough time to digest the meal, and focus its resources during training. If you eat too close to your workout, a large supply of your blood and resources will be busy digesting food, and will not be available to feed your muscles during the workout.
- You must eat a high quality protein and carbohydrate meal within 1 to 2 hours after your training session to refuel your muscles. Your body stores fat and sugar quite easily, but it cannot store protein. When you ingest protein, it gets broken down into amino acids which will be used to rebuild damaged proteins in your body. These amino acids will circulate in your bloodstream for about 3 hours. If they are not needed within that time, they will be broken down by the body (deaminated), and used for energy. After intense physical exercise, you must ingest protein to ensure your muscles have the essential amino acids to rebuild themselves. If there are no amino acids available, your body will cannibalize muscle tissue and other body and blood proteins to repair the tissue damage done during the training session. Avoid this destructive response by eating protein and carbs after working out. The carbohydrates will be broken down into the simple sugar glucose, and used to replenish the now depleted sugar levels in your blood, muscles, and liver.
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