The best way to gain weight through strength training is to use heavy weights. Fitness expert Anthony Ellis recommends on IronMagazine.com that you use weights that challenge you in just four to eight repetitions. Using heavy weights stresses and stimulates the muscles more than using lighter weights, even if you do more repetitions with the lighter weights.
Types
While body-weight exercise and fixed machines benefit people seeking general strength and fitness, you should go for free weights if you want to gain significant weight through muscle.
Barbells and dumbbells recruit secondary and supporting muscles in addition to the primary muscle being worked. These synergist muscles help you stabilize in order to complete a heavy lift. For example, when you perform bent-over rows, you target the major muscles of the back and your biceps, but your abdominals, glutes and thighs all assist to help you execute the move.
By using free weights, you stimulate more muscle fibers and build more muscle overall. Keep free weights as your focus, but feel free to augment your training with body-weight or machine-based exercises.
Strategy
Perform at least one exercise to address all of the major muscle groups of the back, chest, arms, shoulders, legs, glutes and abdominals. Examples of exercises to emphasize these muscle groups are the bent-over row, chest press, biceps curls, triceps overhead extension, military press, squat, lunge, dead lift and crunch.
Beginners should start with just one set of each exercise and work their way up to three to five sets of each, with a minute or two between sets. A full-body workout should take 30 to 60 minutes to complete.
As you become more experienced, mix up your routine every four to six weeks. This might involve adding more weight, changing the order of the exercises or performing other exercises that target the major muscle groups from different angles.
Benefits
Adding weight in the form of muscle mass helps improve your daily function. Elderly people who are underweight especially benefit from adding weight in the form of muscle to make daily activities such as cleaning house or carrying shopping bags easier. For athletes, added weight in the form of muscle helps recruit more power.
Diet
To gain muscle weight, you must eat more calories to support your strength-training routine. Go for 250 to 500 extra calories a day, recommends CNN’s diet and fitness expert Dr. Melina Jampolis. Any more and you will likely put on fat along with muscle. You can gain only 1/2 to 1 lb. of muscle per week—and that's with a pristine diet and perfect lifting and rest cycles. Aim for a minimum of 1 g of protein per pound of body weight daily, then round out your diet with whole grains, vegetables, fruits and unsaturated fats.
Considerations
Giving yourself adequate rest between workouts will help you gain weight through strength training. The real muscle-building happens in the hours after exercise—when your muscle repair and grow stronger. Give yourself a minimum of 48 hours between training specific body parts to allow for proper muscle synthesis. Gaining weight in the form of muscle takes time; stick with a consistent routine for several months to experience results.
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