Gaining weight can seem like a daunting task, especially for people who are naturally skinny and seem to have trouble maintaining, less gaining any real weight. Gaining quality weight in the form of muscle isn’t impossible. Most likely you are not too far away from achieving your task, and finally bulking up, but you may be missing a few pieces of the puzzle. So let’s start with the basics, and find out just what it takes.
Protein- Protein is composed of amino acids which build muscle and tissues in general, and are critical nutrients for muscle growth. There are essential, (essential amino acids are required from an outside source as these are not made by the body from carbohydrates), and non-essential (produced by the body) amino acids that make up complete and incomplete proteins. Complete proteins are preferable for body-building because they contain a complete array of amino acids. Here is a list of complete proteins that are typically used for growing muscle tissue.
Lean Beef - 7 grams of protein in one ounce.
Chicken – 7 grams of protein in one ounce.
Eggs – 6-7 grams of protein per whole egg 3-4 grams of protein per egg white.
Fish – 6-8 grams of protein in one ounce.
Milk – 8 grams of protein in 8 ounces.
Cheese – 7 grams of protein in one ounce.
Whey – 24 grams of protein in one typical sized scoop (30 grams)
Not only do you need protein, but you need enough of it to repair muscles from training and spark growth. A simple formula will allow you to figure out what you need to ingest. 1- 1.5 grams of protein for every pound that you weight, so if you weigh 180 pounds you will need to eat 180-270 grams of protein. Your consumption is going to depend on your goals as well. If you are just starting out or are maintaining muscle, 1 gram per pound is sufficient. If you have been training for a reasonable amount of time and want to gain muscle, around 1.5 grams is preferable.
You will need to space this out over the day into 5-8 meals per day eating anywhere from 30 to 55 grams at a time. Space these meals apart so that you are eating every 2-3 hours.
In the morning and within 30-60 minutes after your workout a larger amount of protein can be consumed, up to 55 grams. In the morning because the body has been fasting for however many hours you were asleep. After your workout because the body has depleted its stores of amino acids and left unchecked can metabolize muscle itself to create amino acids.
Carbohydrates – ‘Carbs’ are an often overlooked aspect to building muscle. Most, when they think of building muscles they think protein, but your muscles need carbs for growth too. Often times if you’re not gaining or are not getting stronger, adding more carbs to the diet will usually solve the problem. Carbs are not all created equal, there are generally two categories they are placed into, complex carbs and simple carbs. However a more accurate categorization of carbs can be organized by the glycemic index. This index allows us to find out what impact that particular food will have on our body, on a scale of 100. Basically when a food has a rating above 55, we know that this food will be broken down and absorbed quickly by the body and will raise the levels of what is known as insulin. When a food has a rating below 55 it will be broken down and absorbed slower and will not cause a large spike or release of insulin.
Here is a short list of carb rich foods commonly eaten by bodybuilders
Oatmeal
Whole Grain bread-cereal-bagels
Grits
Pasta
Sweet potatoes/Red Skinned potatoes
Rice brown-white-wild
Tortillas wheat-white-vegetable
Fruits - apples - kiwi - bananas - pineapple – cantaloupe etc.
Vegetables - broccoli – squash – carrots- spinach – artichoke – etc.
You need anywhere from 1-3 grams per pound of bodyweight for gaining (depending on goals). So if you weighed 180 pounds it would look like this (180 x 1 = 180) and up to (180 x 3 = 540). Start off with 1 gram per pound of bodyweight and then increase weekly until you are gaining weight. Again like protein, spread your intake between 5-8 meals per day. Post-workout will need to be a large amount of high glycemic carbs, as high as 100 grams. These need to be in the form of pure dextrose, or Gatorade or a pre-designed post workout recovery drink that will cause a large insulin spike. This will help "shuttle" protein and carbs into cells for a faster and more complete recovery. This is really important and can impact your workout the next day.
You will also want to eat different carbs at different times of the day. Eat low/lower glycemic carbs
- in the morning
-30 minutes to 1 hour before a weight workout
-lunch time
-before bed time *when trying to gain overall weight * if you tend to store more BF you my want to lower your carb intake during your down hours or when your close to bed time, while still eating them earlier in the day.
High glycemic carb intake should be limited to
-in the morning
-during or after workout
Here are a few sites where you can look up different food and see where they fall on the GI.
The Glycemic Index (go to “database” in menu and enter item or follow directions to get a broad list of low and high glycemic foods)
Glycemic Index
Fats- Fats, as we should all have learned by now just by watching TV are not all the same, and are not all “bad”. There are three main groups, these are; saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Basically you want to stay away from saturated fats, mainly found in greasy foods and fried foods, and limit saturated fat found in dairy products and red meats etc. (only 5-10% of fat intake should come from saturated fat). Intake of some fat is critical for hormone and synovial fluid production etc., but plant fats and some meats are the best way to get fat into the diet. These foods have a better ratio of what are called omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids.
Fats have a higher calorie content than do carbs and protein, so you only want to ingest 10-30% of your calories in the form of fat. So take your overall calorie intake and multiply it by .10 - .30 and this will give you what you the amount of calories from fat that you want to ingest (see calorie counter below). Remember fat has 9 calories per gram where as carbs and protein have 4.
Timing of fat intake does not play as critical a role as carbs and protein, and generally fat intake should be spread throughout the day when gaining, except for the post workout meal.
Here is a short list of healthy fat sources that can be added for extra calories and overall health.
Almonds
Flax seeds
Walnuts
Buffalo meat
Fatty fishes – salmon, cod etc.
Olive Oil
Pumpkin seeds
Water – You will need lots of water when training hard, especially when trying to put on pounds. Your body is around 70% water; without it you would not only die, but you would only be 30% of the size you are now! Being properly hydrated will increase strength, improve mental focus and decrease pain and inflammation in muscle and other tissues. It’s also crucial for helping the body in processing all the macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fat) that you are eating.
Water intake will vary, again depending upon your bodyweight. A simple formula is to drink half your weight in ounces, not including water during workout. So a 180 pound bodybuilder will need to drink at least 90 ounces of water throughout the day in addition to 30-60 ounces of water during a workout.
Fiber, Vitamins, Minerals – You will need both soluble (absorbed by the body) and in-soluble (not absorbed by the body) fiber in your diet. You will get this mainly from the carbohydrate groups of food, vegetables, grains, etc. Same with Vita and Min, they will also be obtained from the food you are eating, but since the BB diet is very basic and at sometimes extreme compared to the average diet, supplementing with a multi vita/min would be a good idea. Don’t get these at Wal-Mart or the grocery store, but rather at a health food store or online.
Putting it all together
Ok, so you now know about how much of each macronutrient you need to eat and when. Let’s talk about overall calorie requirement and then look at a sample diet plan.
First, let’s find out how many calories you will need, to maintain your current weight, put your information in here.
Calorie Calculator
Ok, whatever number you come up with, you need to eat 500 additional calories per day on top of what you burned to gain 1 pound of overall bodyweight per week. So our 180 pound bodybuilder at age 22 with moderate activity, a small amount of cardio and 1 hour of weights a day will burn around 2800 calories per day. So he will need to eat about 3300 calories per day to gain at least one pound of bodyweight per week. Remember if you calculate your activities for the day, you will be using less calories on days you don’t train.
Let’s look at a sample diet plan for someone around 180 pounds trying to gain about one pound per week. These are not exact amounts, but rather a basic picture of what a typical meal plan will look like. Be creative and add the foods combinations you like to eat.
Meal 1 8:00 am
-2 whole eggs/3 egg whites
-2 slices of turkey or cheese or 1 cup of yogurt
-1 cup of rolled oats
-8 ounces of cranberry or other high GI juice
-1 piece of fruit.
Workout 9:00 am-10:00am
-1-2 servings Gatorade or other sports drink during workout, mixed with or in addition to 34 ounces of water *Use only powdered Gatorade.
Post workout 10:15-10:30 am
-1 piece or 1 cup of high glycemic fruit with 1-2 servings of powdered Gatorade* or preferably 50-100 grams dextrose powder (you can buy powdered dextrose for really cheap at
Bodybuilding.com - The Future Of Bodybuilding! Huge Bodybuilding Site. ) * its cheaper to buy a canister of sports drink powder and just mix it with water yourself. The pre-mixed bottles also contain HFCS.
-2 heaping scoops (55 grams) whey protein powder mixed with 10 ounces of water, (if you use the flavorless dextrose just mix it in with the protein shake, if you buy a flavored post workout carb drink or eat the fruit, drink or eat that right after your workout and then drink the protein shake 15-30 minutes later).
Lunch 12:00 pm
-4 slices of turkey or chicken
-4 slices of whole grain bread
-2 slice of cheese
-large mixed greens salad with ground flax seeds
-1 piece of fruit
Mid-day meal 3:00 pm
-1 ˝ scoops (36 grams protein) of whey protein powder mixed with 10 ounces of milk or water.
-1/2 cup of nuts
-1 peice of fruit
Dinner 6:00 pm
-8 ounces of chicken, steak or fish
-1 large sweet baked potato
-1 small mixed green salad with ground flax seeds and olive oil
-1 cup broccoli
Evening Meal
-1 ˝ scoops (36 grams protein) of whey protein powder mixed with 10 ounces of milk or water. You can substitute this with cottage cheese or if you have the extra funds, buy a
Casein protein in powder form that will digest slower and provide a longer, more stable supply of amino acids than whey.
This again is only a sample plan. Pick the foods you like, look them up, and place them into your diet to achieve your weight gaining goals.
Let’s Recap
-Eat every 2-3 hours
-1 – 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight
-1- 3 grams of carbohydrates per pound of bodyweight
-Eat 1 hour before workout 15-30 minutes after
-High Glycemic carbs after training and in morning
-3500 calories in addition to the amount needed to maintain to gain 1 pound of overall bodyweight
-10-30% of calories from healthy fats
Team Johnnie Jackson / Pretty Boys
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