Many power lifters and trainees whose goal is to increase strength may want to gain "good fat" for training. While there is a strength advantage to carrying more body fat in certain areas, this should not be an excuse to binge on junk foods and make unhealthy food choices on a regular basis. Instead, focus on getting more healthy nutrients to boost your training performance. Follow a few simple guidelines to gain good fat for training.
Step 1
Increase your daily caloric intake by 500 to 1,000 calories. Start by having a personal trainer calculate your daily caloric maintenance, or the number of calories you must ingest every day to stay exactly as you are. There are also maintenance calorie calculators at LIVESTRONG.COM and BodyBuilding.com . Once you have your maintenance caloric figure, add more calories by taking in more food at each of your meals.
Step 2
Eat five to eight times per day to provide your body with the calories needed to gain weight. You should aim to eat a meal or snack every two to three hours throughout the day. If you cannot do this because of time constraints or a busy lifestyle, try a "weight gainer" product. These shakes allow you to get adequate nutrition for gaining weight without having to cook a meal. Weight gainer shakes can be taken one to three times per day to augment daily caloric intake.
Step 3
Take in a very large meal immediately after your training workout. "Optimum Anabolics" recommends 50 gm of whey protein, 100 gm of high-glycemic carbohydrates and 30 gm of healthy fats. Whey protein is recommended because it is digested very quickly to provide fast nutrition to damaged muscles. High-glycemic carbs such as fruit juice or dextrose sugar spike insulin to increase nutrient delivery to both muscle and fat cells following your workout. The healthy fats increase calories and help to maintain healthy joints that can be taxed by heavy training and weight gain.
Step 4
Increase your carbohydrate intake at every meal and snack of the day. Carbs are the body's preferred source of fuel, and they readily store as body fat when you take in more than your body needs for energy purposes. Potatoes, rice, pasta, oatmeal and fresh fruits are all good sources of carbohydrates that can help you gain fat for training. You can also use supplemental carbohydrate powders such as waxy maize, maltodextrin and/or dextrose to increase carb intake.
Step 5
Increase your intake of healthy fats. Examples include olive oil, peanut butter and nuts and seeds. These foods are very nutrient-dense and contain a lot of calories. Fats have nine calories per gram, twice as much as the four calories per gram of carbs and proteins. You can also supplement with MCT, or medium-chain triglycerides, conjugated linoleic acid, coconut oil and/or sesame seed oil. Add one or two tablespoons of these fats to each of your meals or snacks.
Things You'll Need
- Weight gainer
- Whey protein
- Dextrose
- Rice
- Pasta
- Potatoes
- Fresh fruit
- Maltodextrin
- Waxy maize
- Olive oil
- Peanut butter
- Nuts and seeds
- MCT oil
- CLA
- Sesame seed oil
References
- "Optimum Anabolics"; Jeff Anderson; 2004
- Muscle & Fitness; The Ultimate Supplement Handbook; "The Carbo Rater"; Jordana Brown
- "Hardgainer Project X"; Jeff Anderson; 2008
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