The Guide To Gaining Weight

Weight gain has been a problem for many men and women for a long time. Not quite as prevalent as losing weight, but still something people struggle with everyday. Let's see if I can put my bodybuilding mind in to helping you guys.

Most of you who are reading this post hoping to learn something are what we in the business call ectomorphs. Ectopmorphs are naturally very skinny, have trouble putting on quality weight, and it doesn't seem to matter what you eat cause you won't put on a pound. Sound familiar? Even though you may think your doomed to be skinny forever...read this and I guarantee you will gain weight.

To make it simple...your body is just not set for being fat, but it's not set for looking like Jay Cutler or any other professional bodybuilder either. But guess what? You don't have to listen to what your body's settings are.

The science behind gaining weight is as simple as losing weight. If you eat more calories than you burn you will gain weight. No lie, there is nothing your body can do. YOU will put on weight. Now the reason you are so skinny to begin with is part genetics, but it is also your metabolism. Your metabolism is in high gear alllllll the time and is basically burning everything you put into your body. The only way to change this is by eating more...usually much more and working out with weights. No push ups, pull ups...just solid, cold iron.

When you get in the gym, work out with weights, and try to keep it to almost only weights. When trying to gain weight, any cardio activity will play a part in counter acting what you are trying to do. The general rule when gaining weight is do just enough cardio to keep your heart and lungs in good shape, but that's it.

Many of you are probably just rolling your eyes right now about to leave this blog and never come back. You are probably thinking if it was just eating more, then nothing can help me because I already do that. Well, you are probably not eating anywhere near as much as you think. First off I want you to do something for me. Write down everything you eat over the next three days. Record the calories, protein, and carbohydrates you take in during the day, and then average these three days to see what you are doing. Now, I want you to add 500 more calories a day to your diet. On workout days I want you to add 700 more calories to your diet. This is going to be very hard for many of you because your body is just not set to eat that much. You will just have to suck it up and do it if you really want to gain weight. After two weeks you should be able to eat this extra food no problem and you should be gaining weight. When your gains start to taper off a little bit, add 500 more calories and so on and so forth. Here are some tricks to boost up those calories without spending a fortune.

Weight Gainer Powders
These are available at any health food store such as GNC. They usually don't taste great, but you will get used to it. These can easily add 600 or more calories to your diet.

Protein
The general idea is to get 1-2 grams of protein per pound of body weight. This may seem like a ton, but weight gainers and protein powders are great ways to supplement. Also, lean meat such as steak and chicken are loaded with great muscle building protein.

Carbs
The first thing your body burns is carbs. If your body doesn't have carbs to burn it burns your protein and fat. Well if your an ectomorph you don't have alot of fat so it burns your protein and muscle. Ouch! As if your life wasn't already hard enough. Moral is eat tons of carbs. Most of your calories should come from good carbs such as brown rice, bagels, wheat pasta, baked potatoes, etc.

Eat Throughout the Day
The whole eating only 3 times a day does not work well for gaining muscle. You should be eating 6 or 7 small meals a day. Keep nutrients flowing into your body all the time and you will be surprised how much of a difference it makes.

There ya go...time to look like a professional bodybuilder....or maybe just like someone who won't get picked up in a strong breeze. Check back tomorrow and I'll post some great workouts to go along with your new and improved weight gain lifestyle. Happy Reading and have a great night.

Email me with any questions I'd love to help.

Fitness Expert