While many people are looking at ways to lose weight fast, there are also quite few who would want to know how to gain weight and build muscle, mostly men with fast metabolism. Not being able to put on weight can be just as frustrating as trying to lose weight, but following our handy weight gain tips, you can nudge your metabolism in the right direction easily.
The basic concept is fairly straightforward: in order to gain weight, you need to maintain a positive energy balance by supplying your body with more calories than you expend. The actual process can be a bit more difficult than this and involves close monitoring of food intake and tracking workouts too.
Here we'll try to share some tips that might help you get out of the weight gain rut. Some of them will be related to nutrition of course but if you would like to gain weight the right way and also build muscle in the process, you will have to pay close attention on your workout regime too.
IMPORTANT: If you are underweight, have any underlying medical conditions or eating disorders, please consult your doctor first before you apply any changes to your diet. The below tips are more suited for people with fast metabolism who are otherwise healthy and by no means to be taken as medical advice.
The main reason why many people fail to gain weight is the lack of perseverance. Mark Twain once said: "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times." Most people who struggle with gaining weight have started the process numerous times but never sticked with any diet and/or workout plan for long enough for it to show results.
Another reason might be not knowing just how many calories certain food items contain and not eating enough despite 'eating loads' of food. It is worth tracking your food intake, especially at the beginning, using free apps like MyFitnessPal until you learn roughly how many calories and what macronutrient are in certain food items.
Thirdly, you must keep in mind that a calorie is not always equal to a calorie. One calorie from a broccoli will fuel your body differently than one calorie from fries. Carbohydrates in general take less effort for the body to break down and even the temperature of the food you eat can determine how easily your body can digest it (cold, fibrous food takes more energy to digest).
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Let's say you need 3,000 calories a day to put on weight. Would you rather eat three 1000-calorie meal or five 600-calorie meal a day? The latter sounds a bit more manageable, no? Breaking your food intake down into smaller installments will help you eat more food on the long run.
If you are planning on eating five meals a day, meal prep can also come in handy. Ideally, you want to eat food that you cooked/prepared yourself but we admit that might be a bit too much effort for some. Regardless, you should still plan ahead and at least roughly assemble the food you are planning on eating throughout the day tomorrow.
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Carbohydrates are important for muscle building but the other two macronutrients, namely protein and fat, are equally as important when it comes to gaining weight. Fatty food will make you feel sated for longer and food with higher fat content tend to taste better too.
Fatty foods you should include in your diet are oily fish, such as salmon and mackerel, nuts (e.g. Brazil nuts), avocado, butter, heavy/double cream, dark chocolate, olive oil and eggs. Most of these are also high in protein so by eating them, you will be killing two birds with one stone.
Talking about protein: protein is essential for muscle building and recovery and you will need to eat more than you'd think to aid weight gain. It is advised to have at least 20-30 grams of protein with each meal if the plan is to eat five times a day. Protein should be supplied from a variety of sources including green leafy vegetables, fish, lean meat, eggs etc.
Alternatively, you can also consider supplementing protein and have the best protein powder shakes and the best protein bars / best jerky as snacks throughout the day.
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One of the main reasons why you might not be gaining weight and particularly muscle mass is the lack of resistance training. If you are after muscle growth, you need to stimulate that muscle growth by training the muscles often. How often? Check out our how to build muscle guide to find out more.
The type of resistance training is up to you but don't fall into the trap of only tracking calories. Even the best running watches and best heart rate monitors can't track muscle activation and by tracking workouts with them, you can easily end up focusing only on burning calories.
What you want to do is the complete opposite: maxing out of workouts that increase strength but don't burn calories. Sure, you should still do some cardio: it's great for heart health and to maintain/improve the cardiovascular system, but try limiting the duration of cardio and let the bulk of your workout be anaerobic movements.
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How to gain weight fast: 3 tips to build muscle mass and pack on weight easier - T3
