How Athletes Gain Weight Fast. Weight gain with sports nutrition

The weight of a person is reflected not only in the attractiveness of the external image, but also an indicator of health in general. Usually we are talking about the fight against extra pounds. In fact, there is also the problem of underweight. At first glance, a thin person looks slim and attractive, but this can negatively affect well-being. Therefore, the issue of lack of weight and its set must be approached comprehensively.

How to quickly gain weight?

Indicative for determining the deficit in weight is the so-called body mass index, which should not be lower than 18.5. If the calculations showed a reduced value, you should think about gaining additional kilograms. According to statistics, this problem affects the female sex to a greater extent, but men are also prone to excessive thinness.

From a scientific point of view, a low rate is much more dangerous than a high one. It carries very great threats to the health of the body: immunity decreases, muscle tissue atrophies, joints are affected. And according to some reports, the risk of premature death increases. It is worth clarifying that in this case we will talk about thinness as a separate problem of fast metabolism. If it is caused by internal diseases (oncology, thyroid dysfunction, diabetes mellitus), the underlying pathology should be treated.

Recovering is, to some extent, harder than losing it. overweight but it's still very real.

Most fast way stress-free kit for the body includes such key recommendations:

Weight gain at home

Many believe that it is very easy to get better, you just need to eat a lot of all sorts of harmful things. But this is absolutely not true. You can get fat and earn a couple of chronic diseases in this way. But to achieve ideal internal and external indicators, you need to work hard.

You can gain body weight quite effectively at home. You just need to know how to do it right and not hurt yourself.

Safe weight gain involves:

an increase in the amount of food consumed, in simple words- the portion should be about twice the usual;
mandatory increase in calorie content due to dairy products, dried fruits, nuts, fatty meats, olive oil, cereals, potatoes, dark chocolate;
frequent meals (every 3 hours) at approximately the same time, it is especially important not to skip breakfast;
large bowls and plates that serve as a visual trick of the portion size: the larger the plate, the smaller the amount of food seems;
a decrease in the number of vegetables and fruits, it is optimal to make juices or mousses from them to replenish the vitamin reserve;
constant monitoring of nutrition, which involves daily keeping a calorie diary - this is how the norm is determined so as not to slide into obesity;
strength training several times a week, but only if there is knowledge in this area and there are no contraindications.

You should not indulge in all serious, and from the first day follow all the instructions. You need to gain weight gradually, listening to the body's reaction to a particular method. Over time, an individual effective regime is formed, bringing only benefits and positive emotions.

How to quickly gain 10 kg?

It is quite possible to recover by 5-10 kg in a short time, but you will have to try a little. For a thin person, even a couple of kilograms affect the appearance, and what can we say about large numbers. Therefore, it is very important to understand that it is impossible to gain a significant mass only with fat. Or rather, perhaps, but it will already be obesity, and you will have to deal with a sagging stomach or sides.

A set of 10 kg of weight suggests a complex of fat and muscle mass. Therefore, the recommendations include two main areas - diet and sports. Get better quickly by 10 kg will help proper nutrition. We are talking about healthy, but high-calorie foods. It is necessary to determine the rate of calories consumed for a comfortable weight gain experimentally. It is only necessary to calculate the caloric content of food consumed every day and compare with the result.

An approximate menu option to get better and gain kilograms:

for breakfast, an omelette with porridge cooked in sunflower oil, and cottage cheese with honey or fruit is suitable;
lunch should consist of a side dish (pasta, potatoes) and meat or fish, you can drink everything with sweet coffee with cream;
dinner is lighter but hearty, for example, chicken breast with vegetable salad.
do not forget about snacks - dried fruits, nuts, eggs, salads, dairy products.

By following a diet and a fractional diet, you can get better by 5 kg, but the rest must be gained in the gym. Exercises should be strength, not cardio: deadlift, push-ups, barbell, dumbbells, squats.

An integrated approach guarantees a harmonious physique and excellent well-being.

How to quickly gain weight for a girl?

A beautiful figure is very important for a girl. And this applies not only to full young ladies, but also too thin. Therefore, sometimes you can hear the question: what to do to gain weight? The answer is simple - you need to play sports. It is training that is given the main role in the formation of a harmonious young body.

A set of simple exercises that can be performed even at home will have a very good effect in just a week:

for the hips and buttocks: squats, bringing the legs together in the simulator, bending forward with the barbell;
for the muscles of the hands: push-ups from the floor, bench press with dumbbells or a barbell above your head and towards yourself.

The optimal number of workouts in order to quickly recover and gain a few pounds, according to reviews, is 3 times a week. You should not overdo it, there may be a reverse effect due to overwork. Thanks to sports, the right daily routine, a balanced diet and rest, the figure becomes perfect.

How to gain weight in a week?

Gaining weight is better at a slow pace, without creating stressful situation for the body. But in some cases, prompt measures are required, for example, before a solemn event or filming. Is it possible to recover quickly? The answer is yes - it is quite real, if you significantly adjust your lifestyle.

You can gain 5 kg in 7 days by doubling the calorie content of food. At the same time, most of the calories should be healthy (nuts, fatty meat, honey). Some sweets are also needed, but only as a dessert. As a result, up to 10 kg is added in 2 weeks.
You should not eat all the food supplies for the day at one time. Meals should be frequent, without skipping. In this case, fat builds up steadily.
The menu must contain proteins (chicken, eggs) and fats (pork, olive oil).
Well helps in weight gain dairy products with a high percentage of fat. If there is no lactose intolerance, you need to drink a glass of milk several times a day between meals.
Snacks should be useful products(dried fruits, nuts, fruit mousses), not fast food.
It is important in the recruitment process to constantly monitor the calorie content of dishes and adjust according to the sensations. It is better to keep a special diet diary.
To get better, but not to get fat and not to gain too much, you should not forget about physical activity. Fitness will help turn calories into muscle.

If there are no good reasons, then gaining mass in emergency mode is not worth it. By spending a little more time, you can get a much better result that will last a lifetime.

How to quickly gain weight for a man?

Men rarely complain about thinness, rather about figure flaws. Therefore, the approach to weight gain in the male sex is slightly different. The main emphasis is placed, first of all, on nutrition and specific products.

A lack of body weight gives a guy, most likely, a fast metabolism. Everything eaten is processed faster than the body has time to digest. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the calorie content of food, and not its quantity. You should always satisfy your hunger by taking small snacks from home with you. An approximate set of high-calorie and healthy foods has already been mentioned.

A proven one will help a man recover folk remedy- Brewer's yeast. In tablet form, they will not form a beer belly, but will stimulate the appetite. You need to take 2-6 tablets with meals. Be sure to maintain a balance in nutrition at this time, do not eat everything.

Many men manage to gain weight up to 5 kg per week with a very intensive diet. But the problem is that, for the most part, it will be simple fat. But you need muscles, relief and strength. Not without serious strength training. They can be carried out both at home and in a specially equipped room. The fastest way to build muscle mass is to work out according to an individual program with a trainer. The ideal result will not come immediately, but it will certainly be.

What is a woman to get better quickly?

Diet, as it turned out, plays a leading role in weight gain. It is especially relevant for women who want to get better, but at the same time are afraid to get fat. To correct the figure without harm to health and appearance, you need to know what you can eat during this period.

In the set of mandatory products, in order to quickly recover, there should be:

fatty natural milk (up to 3 tbsp.);
sweet tea, coffee, compote with rich pastries;
sour cream;
butter;
meat (pork, chicken, beef);
fish (fatty varieties);
cereals (rice, buckwheat, oatmeal);
pasta;
potato;
fruits and vegetables in the form of salads, purees, mousses.

The main condition for a quick result is that calorie consumption should be lower than their consumption. It is also important to understand that the menu is approximate and is designed for a one-time effect. For a prolonged result, a more integrated approach is needed, including sports activities and health monitoring.

Visit a doctor and get the scheduled examination. Excessive thinness (especially a sharp weight loss) with a balanced diet, regular physical activity should cause alarm: something went wrong in the body. Reasons for weight loss include:

Timely detected and cured pathologies help restore metabolism and gain normal body weight. Consult a dietitian who can help you create a balanced diet. Perhaps the specialist will prescribe a course of vitamins and, if indicated, steroids.

If you are underweight, you should consult your doctor.

Simply increasing the amount of servings and increasing the amount of carbohydrates consumed is the main mistake of those who want to get better quickly. Such a diet will lead to problems with the gastrointestinal tract and can even cause an aversion to food, fraught with anorexia. Increase the calorie content of the diet slowly, by 200 calories per day. The basic principle of a weight loss diet is to consume more calories than you burn.
Establish fractional nutrition - at least five to six meals a day every 3-4 hours. It is important to approach the new regime smoothly: you are used to eating 3 times a day - first enter the fourth snack, then accustom yourself to the fifth, sixth. You must be comfortable, otherwise the body will experience stress.
Half an hour before a meal, drink a glass of vegetable or fruit juice, but try not to drink during the meal itself. Drink drinks between your main snacks to fill your body with extra calories.
Juices stimulate appetite, which is very important when gaining weight. Non-alcoholic beer is also shown in reasonable quantities. It stimulates the production of gastric juice and bile, helping the digestive tract, therefore it is indicated for low acidity.
Forget about fast food, canned food, fried foods, refined foods, lard - such food, and even in large quantities, will lead to obesity and digestive problems. You need to bring the weight back to normal, not become fat.
Breakfast should not be a quick snack, but a full meal. Scientists have proven that the optimal saturation of the body with carbohydrates and proteins is due to the first, morning reception food.
Be sure to restore sleep patterns and adjust the psychological state. This is especially important if you are pregnant, because weight loss will affect not only the mother, but also the baby. The support of parents, friends, beloved man during the period of weight gain is difficult to overestimate. In severe cases, such as anorexia nervosa, modern psychotherapy will help.

Protein is the main construction material during the period of weight gain.

Products for weight gain

Squirrels

To gain weight, your body needs the main building material - protein. Remember how babies get better quickly? They absorb a volume of milk equal to 1/5 of their body weight per day.

A young body needs more calories to develop. Girls under 25 need about 2000 calories per day with a sedentary lifestyle, about 2400 with an active lifestyle. When gaining weight - at least 3000.

It is no coincidence that one of the ways to gain weight for a girl with an acute lack of weight is to regularly consume 3 glasses of infant formula. Or a more familiar drink - fatty milk (cow, goat, and if you can get it - high-calorie and nutritious buffalo).

Your diet must include:

dairy products: rustic or shop sour cream 25% fat, butter, cottage cheese, kefir
chicken and quail eggs, and nutritionists allow the use of two to eight pieces per day with muscle building
seafood and oily fish, which must be introduced into the diet at least twice a week, as an option, fish oil
bean first courses: peas, beans, lentils
meat: chicken, pork, veal, turkey

Carbohydrates

A variety of cereals cooked in milk with butter. A good option is rice, which will help saturate the body with carbohydrates. To increase the calorie content of the dish, you can cook cereals in broth.

Feel free to include pasta and white bread in your diet. Many plump women may envy, because you will not hurt delicious muffin. However, don't overdo it! The amount of carbohydrates introduced into the diet for weight gain should not exceed 55% of all food eaten daily.

Chocolate

From time to time, you can treat yourself to high-quality dark chocolate based on natural cocoa butter. Avoid sweets with trans fats.

Vegetables

When cooking, put more vegetables, stew them, boil, bake, eat in salads. It is recommended to actively introduce into the menu not only starch-rich potatoes, but also gourds, cabbage, beets, carrots. In vegetable salads, put sour cream or olive oil, which contains a lot of vitamin E - a good metabolism stimulant.

Beverages

Between snacks, drink sweet tea, fruit drinks. Juices with pulp are recommended. Be sure to drink non-carbonated clean water - about 2-2.5 liters per day for a normal metabolism.

Fruits and nuts

Eat persimmons, melons, apricots, bananas, dates, rich in vitamins, fiber for normal digestion. A real storehouse of complex carbohydrates are dried fruits - a great snack option. Combine dates, dried apricots, raisins with nuts and seeds, which are rich in essential acids - an important element in protein synthesis.

Sample menu for weight gain

Breakfast

Option 1. Sweet coffee with cream, rich bun and toast with jam.

Option 2. Hercules on honey, with nuts and pieces of fruit.

Option 3. Rice milk porridge with butter, fruits.

Lunch

Option 1. Pie with meat or vegetables.

Option 2. Pasta with meatballs.

Option 3. Omelet with cheese, tomatoes.

Dinner

Option 1. Ukha, macaroni and cheese, white bread.

Option 2. Soup with pasta and meatballs from beef and pork, with sour cream. Vegetable salad, white bread.

Option 3. Borsch with sour cream, mashed potatoes with fried fish.

afternoon tea

Option 1. Popsicles, sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Fruit yogurt, banana.

Option 2. Sandwich with ham and herbs.

Option 3. Milk with oatmeal cookies, gingerbread.

Dinner

Option 1. Meat baked in the oven, with vegetable salad, bread. Fruit dessert with honey.

Option 2. Fish with rice, bread, fruit.

Option 3. Buckwheat with milk, dried fruits, bread and butter.

Second dinner

Option 1. A glass of full-fat milk.

Option 2. A glass of ryazhenka or kefir.

Option 3. Yogurt.

Diet for weight gain is important to combine with sports.

Sport

A complete balanced diet is sure to help you quickly gain weight if the doctor has not found serious problems with health, inhibiting metabolism. However, without physical activity, you may not get better as you would like, namely, gain weight in the hips and abdomen.

For speed dial weights can be consumed homemade protein shake. Mix a glass of cottage cheese and cream, a couple of tablespoons of honey. You can add any jam or syrup.

Your task is not to build up fat, but muscle mass, while not getting skin problems, to be in good shape. Regular sports, namely strength, exercises on the chest, upper and lower limbs will help. Consult with an experienced trainer or choose the right course for you on the Internet.

If you want to make your muscles grow, then you should resort to the help of regular training and proper nutrition.

In this article, you will learn how to gain muscle mass.

For muscle growth, 3 very important conditions must be observed:

Get a large number of calories, that is, you need to consume more calories per day than you spend.
The body should have a need to build up new muscle fibers, then you need increased physical activity.
The body must fully recover after exertion, that is, you always need to give the body a good rest. Namely, you need to sleep at least 8 hours a day.

Each of these conditions contains a lot of subtleties and nuances. And if you really want to know how to gain muscle mass, then read our 16 tips.

If you are reading this article, then you probably want to build muscle and increase your body size. And it doesn’t matter what exactly you want - sculpted biceps or just additional muscle mass. The tips in this article will add some new tools to your arsenal. These tips are a compilation of information received from the best athletes.

Tips for Gaining Muscle Mass

Add a couple of strategies from the list to your daily arsenal and watch the inevitable growth of your muscles!

Focus on more food

James Pulido

You probably know that nutrition plays a key role in sports. It helps to demonstrate the beauty of our body after hard work on it. Well, if we are talking about muscle growth, then nutrition is, in principle, necessary - in order to grow, you need to eat. And do not be embarrassed by talking about counting calories.

Want to know how many calories to eat? James Pulido, MuscleTech athlete and Superman fan gives his answer: Best Option for an athlete, it is to multiply his weight in pounds by 20. That is, an athlete weighing 180 pounds (about 82 kg), multiplying his weight by 20, will get a result of 3,600. This is the number of calories that an athlete should consume daily. For example, I weigh 105 kg, convert the weight to pounds (type in Google "105 kilograms in pounds", write your own instead of my weight at 105), get about 231 pounds, multiply by 20 and get - 4620 calories.

(Note that multiplying body weight in pounds by 20 depends on the quality of calories consumed. Multiplying by 20 is the maximum limit you can give your body. The minimum limit is multiplying by 15. You can be conservative and multiply your weight at 16 - 18.)

For starters, Pulido recommends dividing your meals in terms of fats, proteins, carbohydrates. For one pound of your weight (about 500 grams), you should have 1.5 grams of protein and 2 grams of carbohydrates daily. Everything else - and this is about 15-35% of the daily diet - should be dietary fats. "Fats are essential for hormonal balance, including testosterone production, and testosterone is critical for muscle growth," says Pulido.

Plan your workouts carefully

You want to grow, but it's only important to plan your workouts and not attack the gym like a crazy Banshee. The first thing to do is organize your workouts so that you don't train the same muscle group every day. In addition, muscles grow not only in the gym. They grow thanks to properly calculated rest time and proper nutrition.

“Targetedly stretching and injuring the same muscle groups for two days in a row will not provoke further muscle growth in this area,” says Jesse Hobbs. "If your muscles are aching after yesterday's workout, then you won't get the best results from today."

Jesse Hobbs

Except when you follow an advanced training course. But even in this case, the muscles need to be given 36-48 hours of rest before starting training again. So, if you work hard on the chest and biceps on Monday, then on Tuesday and Wednesday, give the muscles a little rest.

Prioritize evenly

A carefully planned program will ensure maximum results without repetitive repetitions of the same exercises or too heavy reinforced workouts. When forming a training program, pay attention to the difference between the main and peripheral muscle groups.

“Major muscle groups are the largest muscles (pectorals and legs, for example) that don’t need to be trained more than once a week,” says Hobbs.

“Peripheral muscles such as biceps, triceps, trapezius, calves and abs can be trained more than twice a week and will fully recover in a short period of time.”

If you want to build muscle in your arms or pump up killer abs, then train these muscle groups twice a week. For example, if you train biceps, then start doing it on Monday. On Tuesday, move on to triceps, and somewhere on Thursday, start training both at the same time.

Add Basic Exercises

If you want to grow muscle, lifting weights is one of the important steps towards this goal. And compound exercises like the squat, bench press, and deadlift allow you to increase your overall muscle mass, get stronger, and lift more weight in isolation exercises. To be frank, if you're not doing barbell squats and bench presses, you're missing out on a lot.

“I strive for natural movement in my exercises,” explains Pulido. “Using basic exercises causes a hormonal surge in the body and allows me to take on even more weight the next workout.”

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Nick Twam, a personal trainer, always focuses on the deadlift. In his opinion, the deadlift is one of the best exercises for growing and strengthening muscles. It is ideal for gradual but steady muscle growth. The deadlift will help you develop a wide back, strong legs and forearms, and toned, round buttocks while working on the shoulder and trapezius muscles.

Choose nutrient-rich foods

The amount of food you eat is important, of course. But the focus is not only on quantity. Aim for nutrient-dense foods. They will give strength to the muscles.

Ed Honn, a regular competitive bodybuilder, calls these products the best buds. "Eat a variety of nutritious bodybuilding foods that will help you gain some serious weight and volume," he says.

His favorite foods are chicken breasts, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, whole grain bran bread, avocados, almond butter, coconut oil. When it comes to personal dieting, Ed makes sure that protein levels in foods are always stable, cutting down on fats and carbohydrates as needed.

If, for example, in a short time it is necessary to build up a large amount of muscle, then he will increase the amount of consumption of fats and carbohydrates.

Change the number of repetitions in exercises

If you lift the barbell the same number of times every workout, then it's time to think about making changes to an established program. Within one workout, you can easily afford a varied number of sets and repetitions and different intensities. “I prefer to do basic exercises like squats, bench presses and deadlifts for 5-8 reps per set,” says Honn, “then I move on to secondary exercises, which are enough for me for 8-12 reps per set. ".
Lindsey Capotelli

Such a system allows Honn to achieve stable growth in both volume and total weight and achieve optimal results. For those who are almost close to the result, the number of repetitions can range from 15 to 100 repetitions. It all depends on how you planned your exercise system and on what result you need.

Girls, pay attention: you also need to work using the system of changing the number of repetitions. "I've noticed a trend behind most women who train - they get stuck in the 10-15 rep range," says personal bodybuilding trainer Lindsey Cappotelli. “And I used to do the same thing, until I tried short sets of 5-8 reps. At the same time, the first results appeared.

Pay attention to the importance of post-workout recovery

"It's silly to train harder and harder every day," advises Honn. "If you're a little out of sorts or you just don't have the energy, it's better to rest for a couple of days, take yourself a short day off in your training system."

Listen to your body. If I have a training day planned and I feel really bad, then I don't go to the gym and concentrate on getting through the day eating right. Rest, chosen at the right time, really leads to positive results. After all, if you think logically, in the gym, the muscles are injured. And in order to build muscle on this basis, you need to eat right. And there is no point in carrying yourself in the gym in a tired state - one way or another, this will lead to even more serious and dangerous injuries.
To facilitate recovery, Honn focuses on sleep, proper nutrition and lungs. gymnastic exercises for stretching. “Sure, you can train hard, but can you recover just as quickly after such a workout?” he asks. Think about this question before you start compiling your training program.

Elissa Martis

Elissa Martis, a professional bodybuilder, also enhances her workouts with stretching exercises and even regular massages. “I believe that gymnastics is a winning option for maintaining the elasticity of muscle tissues.”

Keep track of your training sessions

Lindsey Cappotelli says she is making constant progress thanks to the entries she regularly makes in her training journal. “I like to write down on paper everything that I do - the weight lifted, the number of repetitions, and in general, everything that I did between rest breaks. So I always know for sure where I stopped, ”she explains. “Since muscle growth is a constant change, then I will complicate the workout by adding extra weight, reducing the number of repetitions and adding the number of sets.”

Lindsey likes to plan her classes 4-6 weeks in advance. Thus, it constantly progresses without getting stuck at one point. You do not always need to train harder, the main thing is to do it wisely.

Regularly adjust and supplement your workouts with new little things

To avoid a "dead" phase in progress, natural bodybuilder Justin Robbins recommends changes in training. This does not mean that you need to completely abandon the old program and start a new one. But some changes can be made.

Justin Robbins

"Never do exactly the same exercise two weeks in a row," says Robbins. “Change the equipment, change your grip, change your hand position, or add one exercise to train the part of your body you want to improve.”

Prepare your own food

If you haven't started cooking ahead of time yet, you're still losing in terms of building muscle. “If you always have the right food on hand, you won’t be tempted to go off your diet even a little bit,” says Robbins. "Never skip meals or you will seriously slow down your progress."

Instead of cooking every day, try to cook for a week at a time. For most people, this is very convenient on Sundays. Go shopping, read a book healthy recipes, stay near the stove. Every morning before leaving for work, you will know for sure that you won’t have to think of anything for the evening.

If you are friends with English language check out this resource - http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/healthy-recipe-database.html . There are a lot of really healthy dishes here. And if you do not know English, but want to learn these recipes, subscribe to site updates, translations of these recipes will be published soon.

Know Your Rhythm

Another key point in building muscle is pace. “Your muscles need to be in constant tension throughout the entire workout,” says Robbins. "When in doubt, slow down and think about the quality of the exercise, especially if it's the hardest exercise of all."

If you decide on a smaller number of barbell lifts, but on a reinforced constant pressure, then just slowly count to five as you lower the barbell. This will give you the serious muscle damage you are aiming for. And these damages will lead to rapid growth.

Irene Goli

Do not fuss during the exercise. Focus on HOW you do them. “Mental control over muscle growth is important to me on every set,” says Irene Goli. “Focus on the quality of the reverse movement in the exercise and tighten your muscles to the maximum limit and stay under this tension for as long as you can.”

Distribute nutritional supplements wisely

Before, during and after workouts are great times to take supplements designed to empower muscle performance and speed up recovery.

"I'm a firm believer in pre-workout, break and post-workout nutritional supplements," says Nick Twam.

Caffeine is one of the main pre-workout supplements. As a rule, in the form of natural, boiled coffee. "Caffeine fires up the nervous system, so it's perfect for starting a tough workout. It will help you feel focused and energized," Twam says.

He also likes to use a few grams of citrulline malate to keep his muscles active. 5 grams of creatine monohydrate and a small portion of carbohydrates to increase energy and muscle glycogen recovery rate.

While exercising, Twam sips on branched-chain amino acid (BCA) shakes. "RCAs are required to reduce catabolism and increase protein synthesis," he explains. Nick adds 10 grams of RCA, often coupled with additional carbs, to keep his muscles at their full potential.

Post-workout, Twam finishes with NitroTech+ with up to 50 grams of extra carbs for even faster recovery and extra glutamine and creatine if needed.

If you do not want to use supplements separately, try picking up a complex preparation. Trainer Jason Dwarika, for example, recommends the MuscleTech Nano Vapor for getting the most out of your workouts.

Be committed to a healthy lifestyle

Daniel Beausoleil

When Danielle Beausoleil is asked about her success, she begins to describe her special approach.

“Many people mistakenly believe that to achieve a decent result, you need to devote 70% to diet and 30% to fitness, or vice versa,” she says. “In fact, you are required to be 100% committed to both diet and exercise.”

Without endless dedication to a nutrition plan and training plan, your results will come to you with excessive difficulty. Of course, this has long been a cliche, but it is true - consistency is always the key to success.

Danielle's advice is simple: choose only the type of activity that is ideal for your specific needs.

Take a multivitamin

Although receiving nutrients whole, natural foods are always best, but sometimes you just can't get all the micronutrients at once and in full, because you still follow a diet and a certain nutritional restriction. "Vitamins and minerals are good for anyone, even those on the right diet," Nice says.

She focuses on high-quality multi- and omega-3 supplements, and also supplements with magnesium and zinc, as this increases the intensity of training.

Know your weak points

As you gradually progress in gaining muscle mass, pay attention to lagging behind the rest of the muscle groups. If there is a part of the body that you want to pay special attention to, then it would be nice to develop a special, separate training plan for it.

Trisha Ashley

“If there is a specific muscle group that needs to be focused on, I prefer to take a little more weight than usual and work out for about six sets of six reps each,” explains fitness model Trisha Ashley Gutierrez. “Then, if I realize that this muscle group really needs to be worked out, then after three days I return to working out this area of the body using even more intense reps for the isolated muscle group.”

By adding weights to exercises for isolated muscle groups, you can easily equalize lagging muscles with the rest. Increase the frequency of training only for the lagging muscle group and you will get the desired volume.

Get Started with Sports Nutrition Supplements

Do not think of nutritional supplements as just a way to increase the overall performance of the body. Nutritional supplements help the active athlete stabilize their caloric intake. “If you want to build muscle and find it difficult to consume the required number of calories for this, then a dietary supplement responsible for gaining muscle mass will only benefit you,” says Pulido.

High quality weight gain supplements include protein, carbohydrates, some fat, and additional micronutrients and ingredients to help improve overall performance. Pulido recommends Mass-Tech products, which he himself has used when he needs more calories than usual for extra energy and improved performance. And if it is not possible to go to the gym, then you can always equip

Of course, you won’t be able to turn into Hafthor Bjornson in 4–5 months, but it’s quite possible to please yourself and surprise others with a pumped-up body. Gaining mass is very easy, an order of magnitude easier than losing fat and forming a model relief. We will now explain how to do this.

Food

Muscles grow if you take in more calories than you burn. That means you need to eat more. No other way.

This problem is especially relevant for people prone to thinness, scientifically called ectomorphs. They seem to be eating normally and, having read about the principles of mass gain, increase caloric content. For example, they additionally eat a chocolate bar or add two eggs to the breakfast menu. But there is still no growth. Why? Because the actual caloric increase needed is far greater than they represent.

A good rate of mass gain is considered to be an increase of about 700 grams per week.

Sometimes for growth it is enough to increase the caloric content of the daily diet by 15%, but more often it is required to receive 30, 50 or even 100% more energy per day. How to make yourself eat twice as much? Actually, you don't need to do this. Doubling calories does not mean doubling the amount of food you eat.

Food is different, and you need to choose high-calorie, giving it 70% of the place in your daily diet.

High calorie protein foods

Lean meats, especially poultry.
Fish and seafood. An important source of healthy fats.
Fat-free dairy products like cottage cheese and cheese.
Eggs. You can eat 6-8 eggs per day along with the yolks.
Legumes. Lentils, chickpeas, peas, and beans are good sources of plant-based protein, and the first two have decent amounts of essential BCAAs, which is good too. Do not get carried away with soy, because it negatively affects the male hormonal background.
Nuts.

High calorie carbohydrate foods

Buckwheat, barley, oatmeal, rice, corn, wheat, millet porridge.
Durum wheat pasta.
Black bread.
Vegetables as a side dish for protein foods. Potatoes, carrots and beets contain a lot of starch, and therefore you should not lean on them.
Fruit. Grapes, pears, bananas and persimmons contain a lot of sugar, and therefore it is better to limit their consumption.

Proportions of proteins, carbohydrates and fats in the diet

Proteins - 30–35%.
Carbohydrates - 50–60%.
Fats - 10–20%.

Count calories and weigh yourself every 3-5 days.
With a weekly increase in weight of less than 700 grams, increase the calorie content of the diet. If growth is faster, then it is better to reduce calories, otherwise the excess will go to fat.
Try to eat more often. Divide the daily ration into 5-6 meals.

Sports nutrition

Ordinary high-calorie food is not a panacea. Eating that much every day is still difficult, and often impossible due to work, lack of time to cook, and so on. These problems are successfully solved by sports nutrition.

Sportpit is actually a pure concentrated beneficial substance. The maximum required in the minimum volume. The vast majority of athletes, whether weightlifters, bodybuilders or CrossFitters, take sports nutrition, and beginners and amateurs alike should do the same.

Whey Protein

Protein sports nutrition helps to meet the daily protein intake, which averages 2 grams per kilogram of body. It is recommended to get 50% of the protein from regular food, and the remaining half from sports nutrition. The most effective is whey protein. Take it 3-5 times a day: in the morning, immediately after sleep, and between meals.

Popular brands:

Gainer

In the absence of mass growth, that is, with a lack of caloric content of the diet, a gainer helps - a super-calorie mixture of carbohydrates and proteins. Take it immediately after training, and in the absence of the opportunity to have a normal breakfast - in the morning.

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Pre-workout complex

Pre-workout supplements are supplements that help you work out more efficiently. They include products to improve blood circulation and muscle nutrition, substances that promote the growth of muscle strength and volume, vitamins and trace elements.

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Creatine

Creatine is one of the most studied sports supplements with proven effectiveness in promoting muscle growth and strength performance. Take it on rest days, that is, when you are not training, 3-4 grams.

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Vitamin and mineral complex

The lack of vitamins and minerals is harmful in itself, and specifically when gaining mass, it additionally negatively affects muscle growth.

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Workout

Living organisms, and the human body in particular, are the result of millions of years of evolution. Do you know what makes us different from all our ancestors? In their life there was little food and an excess of physical activity, but now the opposite is true.

That's just the body is still working in the old mode. It is very economical and does not build muscle if there is enough existing muscle, but it happily accumulates fat, because frequent and prolonged fasting is the most common thing for it. More precisely, it was common, but several decades of a well-fed life had no effect on the biochemistry of the human body.

It turns out that even a person who has overcome a calorie deficit in the absence of physical activity will gain weight, but not in the form of muscles, but in the form of fat on the stomach, sides, and so on.

Any physical activity in the absence of a calorie deficit will give some kind of muscle gain, but we need not “some”, but the maximum. To do this, it is important to choose the right training strategy.

Basic principles of training for mass gain

Perform only basic exercises that involve large muscles and several muscle groups at the same time.
Do exercises with heavy weights and low reps per set.
Rest between sets for 2-3 minutes.
Warm up thoroughly.
Carefully study the technique of correct exercise.

Pay attention to two latest advice. They are extremely important and will help to avoid health problems. It is better to spend a few minutes on them than six months to recover from an injury.

The best exercises for gaining mass

1. Total mass: deadlift and classic squats

Among the regulars of the gym and professionals, the opinion is popular that for a beginner to increase mass and strength, it is enough to perform only three exercises: squats, deadlifts and bench presses. It's worth listening to them.

2. Chest: dumbbell bench press

The classic barbell bench press from the chest to a greater extent involves the front bundles of the deltas, thereby taking the load from pectoral muscles. Therefore, for more effective development chest is recommended to press dumbbells.

3. Back: pull the upper block to the chest with a wide grip

There is a misconception that the best exercise to widen the back is a wide pull behind the head, but in practice it was the pull to the chest and pull-ups with a wide grip that turned out to be the most effective. Next comes the pull and pull-ups with a reverse grip.

4. Quads: Front Squats

Shifting the weight forward removes the load from the hamstrings and buttocks, transferring it to the quadriceps.

5. Hamstrings and Glutes: Romanian Deadlift

The Romanian deadlift differs from the classic deadlift in that it is performed on straight legs from the middle of the knees. Roughly speaking, this is the final phase of the deadlift with the exception of the exit from the squat, when only the extension of the body remains due to the work of the hamstrings and buttocks.

6. Triceps: Close Grip Press or Dips

Triceps are relatively small muscles, and therefore isolation is not needed here, unlike the same chest and dumbbell press. The more complex the exercise, the better.

7. Biceps: standing straight bar curl

You read about the basic exercises, but you will still swing the bitsuha, right? In that case, do it right. The EZ bar is more comfortable, but works the biceps unevenly. Only a straight bar loads both bundles of the biceps biceps equally well. Most likely, you will have to reduce the current working weight by 5-10%.

8. Shoulders: standing or sitting dumbbell press

The width and roundness of the shoulders are given by the middle bunch of deltas. When you press with a barbell standing or sitting from the chest or even from behind the head, the emphasis inevitably shifts to the front bundles. Dumbbells allow you to bench press along the axis of the body, including medium beams as much as possible.

Sometimes workouts seem monotonous, and some exercises cause discomfort. In these cases, remember the words of Paul Dillet: