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I got into weight
training to gain mass and put on weight so believe
me when I tell you…when it comes to wanting
mass I know EXACTLY where you're coming from.
Because when I started training, I weighed 145
lbs soaking wet. Today, I'm a lean 210 lbs (at
a height of 5'10")!
I've got four "no
fail" principles that I recommend to people
who are trying to build muscle mass and gain some
weight.
And I'll tell you
right up front - these principles are NOT rocket
science…these are the basic things you SHOULD
be doing if you want to gain mass, yet I see plenty
of people only doing one or two of them and wondering
why they can't put on any mass!
Combining these
four principles consistently will definitely get
the job done!
1.
Train Heavy and Just SHORT of Muscular
Failure
In order to gain
muscle mass, you need to give your muscles a REASON
to grow. Training with heavy weights (relatively
speaking, of course - what's heavy for one person
may be light for another) to just short of muscular
failure is the stimulus that starts the process.
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And by muscular
failure, I mean the point where you physically
can't perform another rep WITH GOOD FORM
- reps done with terrible form don't count!
The best rep
range to train for muscle growth, in my
experience, is between 6 to 10 repetitions
per set. Training in the range below that
(1 to 5 reps) will primarily lead to strength
gains rather than muscle gains.
Training in
the higher rep ranges (for the most part,
unless you're using specialized high-rep
techniques) will primarily work on muscular
endurance with minimal effects on muscle
mass.
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Training to just
short muscular failure is VERY important for muscle
gain. The reason we want to stay just short of
total failure is that this is very hard on the
nervous system. By keeping that do-or-die rep
in you, you still get the benefits of the heavy
training but without the nervous system burnout.
Muscles will not
grow unless they are pushed beyond what they're
used to. Doing your sets only up to a certain
number of reps and stopping on that number regardless
of whether the muscle has been worked or not is
a very common mistake made by both men and women
alike. Counting reps and stopping on an arbitrary
number will NOT work the muscles fully and will
hamper weight gain.
Even though you're
not pushing to total failure, you still want to
be pushing HARD!
So to train for
optimum muscle gain, select a weight that will
cause you to reach just short of muscular failure
in the 6 to 10 rep range.
2.
Utilize Basic Exercises for Most of Your Training
Dumbell tricep kick-backs
will NOT help you gain weight. The Pec Deck will
NOT help you gain weight. Leg extensions will
NOT help you gain weight.
These exercises
are not bad exercises; they're just NOT the exercises
that are going to give you the results you want.
In fact, doing exercises like these at the expense
of the basic exercises can actually detract from
weight gain, especially if you have a hard time
gaining weight. They will use up your valuable
time and energy!
Basic exercises
are the exercises that use the most muscle mass.
They are the HARDEST exercises…the ones you
either love or hate. This "make or break"
challenge is what makes them the most productive
for building muscle.
Basic exercises
include squats, deadlifts, bench press, shoulder
press, barbell curls, barbell bent-over rows,
dips, chin-ups, lunges, and calf raises. This
is not a comprehensive list but it will give you
an idea of what a basic exercise is. Essentially,
a basic exercise is an exercise that you can use
a lot of weight on and that requires the most
effort.
Use these basic
exercises consistently for the majority of your
sets and you WILL gain muscle.
3.
Eat Good Quality Nutrition in Sufficient Quantities
Now that you've
stimulated your muscles with hard, heavy training,
it's time to feed them. Gaining weight, a.k.a.
building muscle, requires a caloric intake in
excess of what it takes to maintain your current
bodyweight.
Basically, you
need to eat more.
The amount of calories
you require to gain weight will vary greatly depending
on several factors, primarily your current amount
of muscle mass, your daily activity level and
your metabolic rate.
The more muscle
you already have and the more active you are,
the more calories you're going to need to eat
in order to gain weight. If you are already thin,
you probably have a fast metabolism (i.e. you
lose weight quickly and gain it slowly), and you're
going to need to eat even MORE.
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In order to
keep your muscles supplied with nutrients,
you're going to need to eat frequently throughout
the day. It's best if you can manage to
eat 5 or 6 meals over the course of the
day. Naturally, these meals will be smaller
than your regular meals if you currently
eat 3 per day.
The idea is
to keep feeding your muscles so that they
always have nutrients available to grow.
If you go without food for long periods
of time, your body will turn on its own
resources (e.g. your muscles) to provide
needed nutrients for repair and recovery.
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And whatever you
do, if you want to gain weight, DO NOT skip breakfast!
It's an important meal for increasing your overall
caloric load for the day, which is critical for
increasing muscle mass.
Besides sufficient
caloric intake, protein is also critical for muscle
gain. Protein is the structural nutrient that
your muscles are made of. You must feed your body
protein in order to help your muscles rebuild.
Good protein sources
include fish, poultry, dairy, meats, soy, legumes
(beans), eggs, and whey. A typical recommended
protein intake for a person looking to gain muscle
would be around 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per
pound of bodyweight. For example, as a 136-pound
person, this would have you eating 109 to 136
grams of protein per day.
Supplements can
also be extremely useful for weight gain. Whey
protein, creatine monohydrate, and the amino acid
glutamine are among the most effective supplements.
And I'll tell you
right now, there's no need to get crazy with your
supplement purchases… manufacturers will
often prey upon your strong desire to gain mass
and try and sell you a TON of supplements you
really don't need.
Keep it simple and
get your training and eating in order. THAT is
what builds an impressive body - not a boatload
of bizarre supplements.
So to sum it
up: eat a lot, eat frequently and eat plenty of
protein.
4.
Get Enough Rest
Your muscles don't
grow while you're training. Your muscles actually
grow AFTER your training session is done. One
of the best things you can do to help you reach
your goal of gaining weight is to learn to relax.
This is especially important both after a workout
and at night.
Immediately following
a workout, your body is in an emergency situation.
You've just put a lot of stress on your body and
your body needs time to recover from it.
If you immediately
have to rush off to do errands or some other stressful
chore, you're not going to get optimal recovery
and that means you're not going to get optimal
muscle growth. If you can manage it, try to schedule
your workouts for when you have a little time
to relax after. Heck, take a nap about an hour
or so later if you can!
Getting some good,
solid sleep at night is also very important. A
large part of your growth process occurs at night.
If you don't get enough sleep or your sleep is
restless, your body will not be able to take full
advantage of the growth you've stimulated with
your training.
Conclusion:
If you want to gain
mass, you HAVE to do the basic things right…train
hard with heavy, basic exercises, eat well and
get plenty of rest. As I mentioned above, this
ain't rocket science, yet you'd be surprised at
how many people miss more than one of these items!
Don't stop yourself
before you even get started - make sure you're
got these four "no fail" principles
down pat!
Check out more articles related
to these mass-building principles:
My
Practical "Lazy Cook" Recipes For Building
Muscle! So Easy Even a Caveman Can Make Them...
Training
on the Edge - Learn How Overtraining on Purpose
Can Get You Maximum Results FAST!
Rest-Pause
Training For Mass Gain
Eight
Mistakes I've Made In My Training and How You
Can Avoid Them
The
Most Critical Lessons I Learned In My Very First
Year of Training That Can Help YOU Maximize Muscle
and Fat Loss
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