While most people’s body goals revolve around shedding the extra calories, others want to put on some weight. Gaining weight is considered necessary for reasons such as looking more muscular, improving daily functioning, enhancing athleticism, and others.
If you wish to gain weight, your main focus should be on increasing muscle mass rather than fat. This is in consideration that gaining more muscle is considered healthier compared to fat. Thankfully, gaining weight is not so difficult, as all you need is the right information on how to go about it.
Before getting to such a point, however, it would be best if you understood how muscle gain comes about. Most people somehow believe that one is automatically supposed to get bigger and stronger when they hit the gym.
However, muscle growth occurs as a result of your body’s response to muscle damage inflicted during a workout. Without dwelling so much on how your body gains weight, let’s discuss what you need to do, to add some muscle to your physique:
1. Focus on nutrition
When looking to gain some weight, the food choices you make have a significant effect on the results. To make your weight-gain mission successful, you should consider making the right food choices. To begin with, you have to determine whether you are taking in enough calories to facilitate the generation of muscle fiber.
If the calories you consume are only enough to ensure that you maintain your current lean muscle mass, you are more likely to get stronger, nothing more. The calories, in such a case, are not enough to generate new muscles, which is what you need to increase your weight.
To determine the number of calories that should be perfect for weight gain, you should first determine your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). The following formula is what you should use to calculate your BMR:
BMR = 66 + (13.8 x weight[kgs]) + (5 x height[cm]) – (6.8 x age[years])
For adequate muscle gain while eliminating the risk of gaining unwanted fat, here is what you need to do. Once you have the BMR value, add the number of calories you believe you burned during your workout. You should then add an extra 200-400 calories to the resulting value, for best results.
Proteins for weight gain
You also have to focus on adequate protein intake, considering that protein is quite a significant muscle component. Many studies have proved that the consumption of protein supplements is crucial for exercising adults whose main goal is to gain some weight.
The main focus, however, should be on the total protein intake each day, rather than whether the component comes from supplements or food. The Institute of Medicine suggests that 10 – 35% of the calories you consume daily should be from protein.
Also, a majority of scientists recommend an intake of 0.6 -0.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight (1.4 – 2.0 grams per kg) for proper muscle growth. Protein supplements are really not necessary if you can consume the above-recommended amount of protein.
2. Getting the right supplements
There are different supplements, and these works by increasing your calorie and protein intake. Such products, when combined with an effective exercise program, can work wonders in helping you gain more muscle mass. It’s important that you only purchase legal products for muscle growth for effective results. D-BAL (DIANABOL) and other legal steroids work in completely natural ways to help you gain muscle mass, which is a healthy way to put on some weight.
You can also gain weight by using supplements that enhance your exercise performance. This effect is achieved by the provision of a larger stimulus to which the user’s body has to adapt.
Some of the most effective supplements to consider include:
- Whey protein – Whey is considered one of the best substances when one needs a high-quality source of protein. The best thing about whey is that it’s a cost-effective and convenient option compared to sourcing high-quality protein from food.
- ZMA – People have different opinions on the use of ZMA in facilitating weight gain. However, it has been purported to boost hormone profiles for some users. Some users claim that ZMA can also help with weight gain. You may have to give this one a try to see whether it works for you.
- Creatine – This product increases the amount of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) available to the user during the training. ATP is associated with good performance, considering that it’s involved in the transfer of energy at a cellular level.
When using creatine as a supplement, water is drawn into your cells, which allows nutrient delivery for muscle growth. It is, however, recommended that you perform adequate research before using this product, considering that not so much safe usage has been observed.
3. Get enough rest
Most people looking to gain weight don’t feel like getting rest affects the success of their mission. As such, rest is an underrated factor as far as weight gain is concerned. As much as you may be willing to work out a lot when trying to gain weight, keep in mind that rest is crucial for muscle growth.
It’s important to consider that overworking tired muscles can lead to impaired recovery, and even overtraining syndrome at times. If you feel like your body needs some rest after working out, go ahead and get some.
This is important, especially when one is in their first stages of weight training, as this is when your body is slowest as far as adapting to changes is concerned. You should avoid training an aching muscle at any cost, unless when it’s HST training.
Gaining a healthy weight may seem quite challenging for someone who has been looking to gain weight for a long time without notable progress. Most people who try to gain weight faster, end up doing the wrong things, which makes them gain unwanted fat.
When such situations arise, one if left with a task of having to convert fat into muscles, which is not as easy as it might sound. To avoid such situations and make it easier for you to gain healthy weight, consider using the above-discussed tips. Remember, however, to get additional information about supplementation products that you are not so sure about, for the best results.