Eating the right amount of foods consistently will force your body to grow beyond what you may think is possible. Your diet should contain an adequate amount of carbohydrates (potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, oatmeal, cream of wheat, cream of rice, rice, beans, bread, pasta, all cereals), protein (chicken breast, turkey breast, egg whites, lean meat, fish) and healthy fats (olive oil, avocado, flaxseed, nuts). Green leafy vegetables and fruits should also be included.
When you train with weights, you should eat a minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. You should also include protein at every meal. To enable your body to actually assimilate and use all of the calories you ingest, you should reduce your meal size and increase your meal frequency. Splitting your calories into smaller, more frequent portions will enable food absorption and utilization of nutrients.
During the past 20 years, there have been great developments in the scientific understanding of the role of nutrition in health and physical performance. Studies show that adequate dietary carbohydrate should be ingested (55-60% of total energy intake) so that training intensity can be maintained. Excess dietary saturated fat can exacerbate coronary artery disease. However, low-fat diets result in a reduction in circulating testosterone. So the balance between protein, carbohydrate and fat should be maintained.
The goal for weight gainer programs must be focused on two main components. This includes your nutritional plan and your weight training program. Lifting heavy weights will stimulate the largest amount of muscle fibers which is the key for adding size. Your body responds to this stimulus by increasing your muscle mass. Eating more calories than your body is used to is the other component for packing on size and muscle mass. When you overload your system with plenty of high quality protein, carbs and fat, your body has no other choice but to gain weight and get bigger.
A mass gaining program is incomplete without the timely measurements to monitor your fitness progress. Without it, you won’t know how exactly your body is responding to your diet and training routine. Just looking in the mirror and guessing is not acceptable. FitTracker is a fitness tracking app you can use to track your exercise routine and document your progress so you can succeed with your fitness plan.
If you want to start getting great results, you must develop the habit of accurately tracking your progress. This also provides the motivation to continue with the weight gain schedule and for the further progression. So even though you have a very thin body type and haven’t been able to gain weight no matter what you try, you will definitely succeed with a well planned weight gain program.
Eating Guidelines for Building Muscle
A high protein diet is an inevitable part of any weight training program. Importantly, protein derived from animal sources is very beneficial. Proteins you need to be concerned with are those found in whey, casein (cottage cheese), eggs, beef, poultry, and fish.
Remember that along with proper nutrition, weight training is also extremely important for gaining muscle mass. Heavy weights stimulate more muscle fibers than lighter weights which result in more muscle growth. Heavy weight training puts a huge strain on your body, so adequate rest and recuperation after your workouts is essential. A weight is considered ‘light’ if you can do more than 15 reps before muscle fatigue sets in. To build muscle mass, you must weight train with heavy weights!
