Gain Weight

Gaining weight can be tough. Some people have a naturally fast metabolisms, and find that they can exercise all day and not see any body mass gain at all. If this sounds like you, the likelihood is that you may have been training hard, but you probably was not training smartly. Gaining lean muscle mass is not a lottery, and it is not a mystery. There are a few simple steps you can follow, that produce results for everyone, every time.

When we are talking about gaining weight, we are talking about weightlifting. Other exercise is good, in fact any exercise is good, but lifting weights is the key to building muscle. And not just lifting the weights, but lifting them right. Lifting them smart.

When you train with weights, the goal is to create tiny tears in the muscle tissue, called microtrauma. This acts as a kind of distress signal to the body, telling it that your muscles simply are not big enough or strong enough to do what you are asking them to do. This will then stimulate a transformation reaction, in the process of which your muscle cells will be regenerated bigger than before, and therefore you will get a little stronger. This is the basis of muscle building. It is fact, and if you remember it, you cannot go far wrong.

The microtrauma needed to stimulate a transformation reaction happens when you push your muscles over and above what they would usually be capable of. If you have ever felt that burning sensation in a muscle when you are really pushing yourself hard to do something, you know what I am talking about. The ideal workout is one in which you hit this high point, get the processes firing that create new muscle growth, and then move on to the next muscle group before you do any more damage.

Because once you have initiated the change, there is absolutely no benefit to working those muscles anymore that day. You will not get more growth, or faster growth, in fact you may slow down your results by damaging the muscles too much, so that they do not have time to recover before your next workout. This is next tip that will serve you well in your aim of building lean body mass. Train hard, but train smart. Hit your high point quickly and move on. That is not to say that you should rush in and start heaving around huge weights right off the bat, of course you need to warm up your muscles first so that you do not do any serious damage, and so that they are primed to lift the heavier weights. But once you are good and warm, pick up the heaviest weights you can manage and really go for it. Break through the barrier, congratulate yourself on a job well done, and move on to the next step.

The other thing to remember about weightlifting is that you must have good technique, or you will not get the results you are after. For example, lowering a weight is as important as lifting it. It may sound obvious, but the number of people you find in gyms all around the world lifting a dumbbell and then letting their arm almost fall back to their side again is staggering. This is not the way to build muscle. The reason people do that is because it is easier. It is easier because lowering the weight is often the hardest part of the lift, it works muscles you probably do not usually work. Therefore those are exactly the muscles we need to strengthen if we want to keep our muscle gain on track. Again, quality of workout is much more important than quantity. If you are not sure about how to perform a particular exercise, as for advice, or do your research. Because if you are not doing it right, you might as well not be doing it at all.

Once you have got your technique down, and your workouts planned, you need a nutrition programme to support your efforts. Body builders need more calories than the average person, but keep an eye on your macronutrient ratios. You need carbohydrates for energy, both complex carbohydrates throughout the day, and simple carbs for that quick energy hit during a workout. You will also need quality protein, without which your body cannot build new muscle, and various amino acids and fatty acids used in the synthesis of muscle tissue.

This really is not as complicated as it might sound, it is just that it is difficult to get all the nutrition you need to support an intensive bodybuilding agenda from simply eating whole foods, no matter how well you plan. This is where supplements come in, and many of them work extremely well to support your hard work and replenish supplies of substances found naturally in the body, which are substantially depleted during intensive exercise, such as Creatine and glycogen. Meal replacement drinks and bars are also a great way to make sure you are getting all the nutrients you need, and many of them are available in special weight gain formulas, for those with a faster metabolism.

Finally, stay positive. Keep a record of your progress so that you can see your gains, which will help to keep you motivated and also help you to identify where you might be going wrong if your progress starts to dip. But if you follow the simple steps outlined here, you should be building your muscles up in no time at all. Good luck!