Solutions To Gaining Weight

Start Eating – A Lot

Most skinny guys are afraid of eating too much in case they gain fat, but with a fast metabolism, that’s the last of your worries. There are two approaches you can adopt – either to eat everything in sight or to work out how many calories you need to build muscle.

 

The first option works well if you want to gain weight, but you may add some unnecessary fat if you eat too much. The second option requires a little more planning, and you’ll need to use an Online calorie counter to determine your caloric needs, but it is more accurate.

 

 

Once you’ve decided on your approach, get eating.

Your diet should be based around protein-dense foods such as steak, eggs, fish, chicken, and dairy products like cottage cheese and milk. Eat plenty of good quality carbs too, from oats, potatoes, rice, bread, and pasta. While these may be the enemy for dieters, they should be your new best friend. Carbs provide energy and much-needed calories while helping to shuttle nutrients to your muscle cells and improving recovery. Don’t forget fats either. Fats are useful for hormone production and boosting your calories further. Go for fattier protein sources, and add in nuts, seeds, olive oil, peanut butter, and avocados on a daily basis too.

Reduce Your Routine

As discussed earlier, you only grow when you rest, so cutting down the time you spend in the gym may seem mad on the face of it, but actually makes a lot of sense.

You can get amazing results from just three workouts per week, performed on non-consecutive days. Follow an “A-B” routine. In week one, perform workout A on a Monday, workout B on Wednesday, then workout A on Friday or Saturday. The next week, train on the same days but switch to B-A-B. In week three, go back to week one’s sessions and repeat the sequence. Here’s the routine –

Workout A:

Deadlifts – 5 sets of 5 reps
Leg Presses – 1 set of 20 reps
Dips – 3 sets of 6-8 reps
Barbell Rows – 3 sets of 6-8 reps
Dumbbell Curls – 2 sets of 12-15 reps
Calf Raises – 2 sets of 12-15 reps

Workout B:

Squats – 5 sets of 5 reps
Stiff Legged Deadlifts – 3 sets of 6-8 reps
Chin-ups – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Bench Presses – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Lateral Raises – 2 sets of 15-20 reps
Decline Sit Ups – 2 sets of 15-20 reps

Warm up for 10 minutes before each session with a mixture of cardiovascular work and light resistance exercises. Aim to increase the weights you use slightly each session, while maintaining perfect technique.

Rest and Recover

Make the most of your rest time. This can’t be stressed enough. If you’re used to being very active and doing lots of sports or cardio, then while you don’t need to cut it out entirely, you either need to reduce your athletic activity or eat more calories to replace the ones you’re burning.

If you’re struggling to eat more calories, then don’t be afraid of a little junk food either. The majority of your diet should be based around healthy, nutrient-dense foods, but if you’ve not got a big appetite, there’s nothing wrong with some pizza, ice cream or chips here and there to help meet your calorie goals.