How to Gain Weight and Build More Muscle!

For many thin guys around the world, gaining weight without using illegal steroids has been a challenge. For thousands of lean young men, the dream is to gain weight, but no matter how much they eat they remain thin. Some people are naturally thin; that means their genetic makeup is in such a way that the body burns more calories than others. The very basic method of weight gain is to eat more calories than your body burns off. By providing the body with more calories, this balance can be altered and body mass can be increased. Weight training is of great importance in this context, which enables the body to absorb more nutrients from the food by increasing the level of certain hormones and increasing the muscle mass.

There are many incorrect beliefs and theories bout building muscle. The type of food to be eaten is an important factor which decides the type of weight gained, whether it is muscle mass or mere accumulation of fat. Some types of calories are not equal to others for gaining muscle; because most processed junk food contains empty, totally nutritionless calories. These foods promote accelerated fat storage, and do not provide the body with the correct nutrients essential for gaining muscle. High quality protein, which the body breaks down into amino acids, should be the centerpiece of all your meals. Intense exercise increases demand for amino acids, which support muscle repair and growth.

Another factor is the selection of the right type of weight training. Resistance exercises will help with muscle growth. Whereas aerobic exercises can result in the reduction of weight. For maximum muscle gain, the focus of your workouts should consist of free weight exercises, rather than machines or bodyweight exercises. To get a very effective workout, you must stimulate as many muscle fibers as possible, and machines do not do this. The main reason for this is a lack of stabilizer and synergist muscle development. Stabilizer and synergist muscles are supporting muscles that assist the main muscle in performing a complex lift.

The results of weight training can vary from person to person, and will usually depend on your consistency and commitment to your program. You should have the patience and motivation for building a powerful body with a consistent diet and exercise schedule.

Exercise Guidelines for building muscle:

Weight training involves the use of equipment that enables variable resistance. This resistance can come in the form of free weights like barbells and dumbbells, machines that use cables or pulleys to help you lift the weight, and bodyweight exercises like pull-ups or dips. The more stabilizers and synergists you work, the more muscle fibers stimulated. The exercises that work the large muscle groups are called compound (or multi-joint) movements that involve the simultaneous stimulation of many muscle groups. These compound exercises should be the foundation of any weight training program because they stimulate the most amount of muscle in the least amount of time. Multi-jointed free weight exercises like the bench press require many stabilizer and synergistic muscle assistance to complete the lift.

Free weight exercises like the dumbbell press or squat put a very large amount of stress on supporting muscle groups. You will get fatigued faster and not be able to lift as much weight as you did on the machine. But you will gain more muscle, become stronger very quickly and have a true gauge of your strength.

If you use machines in your program, they should be used to work isolated areas and only after all multi-jointed exercises have been completed. Beginners should begin with a limited combination of machine exercises, bodyweight exercises and multi-jointed free weight exercises. Before increasing the weight levels, they should work on becoming familiar with the proper form and execution of each.

The following are some proven basic exercises to encourage muscle and strength gain unlike any other exercises.

Bench Presses - works the chest, shoulders, triceps

Overhead Presses - shoulders, triceps

Pull-ups/Barbell Rows - back, bicep

Squats - legs, lower back

Dead lifts - legs, back, shoulders

Bar Dips -shoulders, chest, arms

To build mass, you must weight train with heavy weights. To consider a weight heavy, you should only be able to do a maximum of 4-8 reps before your muscles temporarily fail. A weight is considered 'light' if you can do more than 15 reps before muscle fatigue sets in. 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.

Eating guidelines for building muscle:

A high protein diet is an inevitable part of any weight training programme, importantly, protein derived from animal sources. Proteins you need to be concerned with are those found in whey, casein (cottage cheese), eggs, beef, poultry, and fish. Soy protein, tofu and bean curd are some alternatives. Eating the right amount of foods consistently will force your body to grow beyond what you may think possible. The diet also should contain an adequate amount of carbohydrates (potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, oatmeal, cream of wheat, cream of rice, rice, beans, bread, pasta, all cereals) and fat. Green leafy vegetables and fruits also should be included.

When you train with weights, you should eat a minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. You also must have protein at every meal. To enable your body to actually assimilate and use the all the calories you will ingest, you have to 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 shown 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.

So the focus on weight gain programmes must be on two components, lifting heavy weights, which will stimulate the largest amount of muscle fibers. Your body responds to this stimulus by increasing your muscle mass and secondly eat more calories than your body is used to. When you overload your system with plenty of protein and fats, your body has no other choice but to gain weight.

A Mass Gaining program is incomplete without the timely measurements to monitor your 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. 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 programme.

References:

1) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part1eating.htm

2) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part2weights.htm

3) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part3muscle.htm

4) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part4suppl.htm

5) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part5monitor.htm

6) http://www.skinnyguy.net/tips.html

7) Lambert CP, Frank LL, Evans WJ. Macronutrient considerations for the sport of bodybuilding. Sports Med. 2004;34(5):317-27

Former "skinny guy" Anthony Ellis is the author of Gaining Mass. The most widely used weight gain program in the world. This unique program designed to help people gain weight and build muscle, is currently being used in over 90 countries. For more information on how to gain weight and build muscle, check out his website at http://www.fastmusclegain.com

---

Ebooks, Scripts & more

Profit from Articles

Free Advertising

Want to Do Everything Better? Build A Strong Core

Core strength and stability is increasingly recognized as a vital... Read More

The Seven Pillars Of Success

VisionEnvisioning the end-result is enough to put the wheels in... Read More

Choosing The Right Bodybuilding Supplement

Before wasting your money on a pile of bodybuilding supplements... Read More

Anabolic Hormones - A Two-Edged Sword

When I was a young boy, emerging muscles were the... Read More

Lower Body Exercises For Beginning Bodybuilders

The lower body contains some of your biggest muscles which... Read More

Do Electric Ab Stimulators Really Work?

Electronic muscle stimulators are the latest craze, the hottest fad...... Read More

Celebrity Personal Trainers

Personal Trainer to the Stars!!Celebrity Personal Trainers!!Who are these amazing... Read More

Bodybuilding Sins That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts: Part 3

Welcome to article number 2 in our series "Bodybuilding Sins... Read More

The Importance of Maintaining A Weight Training Log

Do you find gyms intimidating? Feel lost while doing your... Read More

Train for the Look You Want

So the Olympics are almost upon us. While you have... Read More

Power Mass Training for Building Muscle Mass

Many people believe you need to train with a variety... Read More

Deep Muscle Soreness And Body-Shock Fatigue

In my experience there are two distinct types of muscular... Read More

Build 80 Pounds Of Muscle?

Is it possible to gain 80 pounds of shredded muscle... Read More

Gain Weight Fast With These Ten Powerful Tips! Part -2

By the time you finish reading this you will have... Read More

What Do You Mean Low-Intensity Training Isn?t The Best For Fat Burning?

But how can this possibly be? Everywhere you look, it's... Read More

Personal Training: 3 Keys to Training Clients in Their Homes

When considering your options as a personal trainer, one of... Read More

Know Your Muscles - The Chest And Upper Back

Becoming familiar with the muscles that make up your body... Read More

How Stretching Can Explode Your Muscle Growth

When you think about gaining muscle, stretching is probably not... Read More

15 Muscle Building Rules for Skinny Guys and Gals!

WHY CAN'T YOU GAIN WEIGHT?Though there may be many reasons... Read More

Maximize The Windows of Opportunity For Explosive Muscle Growth

You have two main windows of opportunity when your training.... Read More

Enough Already! Stop Coming Up With New Weight Loss Programs...

Great weight loss techniques are completely worthless.That's a true statement... Read More

Target: Rear Delts: One Simple Movement and They?ll be on Fire!

The Bent-Over Lateral Raise is one of the most common... Read More

How to Gain Weight and Build More Muscle Mass

In the health, fitness, and nutrition world, achieving optimal or... Read More

How to Weight Train for Maximum Muscle Gain

Weight training involves the use of equipment that enables variable... Read More

Ace Abs Without Crunches, Cradles, Or Sit-ups!

I know what many of you are thinking reading the... Read More