Although your body naturally develops some muscle, promoting higher levels of muscle and weight gain can be difficult. In addition to consuming the proper nutrients at the proper times, you need to perform resistance exercises and get adequate rest to spur muscular growth and weight gain. Consult a doctor before beginning any exercise or nutrition plan.
Resistance Training
Resistance training involves working out with weights. But rather than build muscle, weight training actually causes muscle trauma. As the Bodybuilding website explains, workouts break down muscle fibers. Your body responds to this damage by using nutrients to help strengthen and protect your muscles to prevent future injury. By consistently lifting weights to overload your muscles and cause trauma, you can trigger muscle growth --- if you perform the right steps to recover.
Rest and Recovery
Because weight training causes muscular trauma, you need to rest to recover and gain muscle and weight. For this reason, you should not train the same muscle groups on consecutive days. If you perform a particularly intense workout for one muscle group, you may want to avoid working those muscles again for several days. Sleep is also important for recovery and growth; according to research published in 2010 in the "Journal of Andrology," sleeping for a longer period of time can increase your levels of testosterone, a primary muscle-building hormone.
Calorie Intake
To gain weight and muscle, you must consume more calories than you expend via your metabolic rate and your activities, such as weightlifting. You cannot gain muscle if you are afraid to eat more, the Iron Magazine website cautions. While some fat gain may occur when you gain muscle, keeping your calorie surplus small --- 10 to 15 percent more than your maintenance calorie level --- can help you limit fat gain as you gain weight.
Nutrient Intake
Consuming the proper nutrients can facilitate improved muscle growth. Your body uses amino acids, found in protein, to build muscle, so protein intake is vital. On his website, nutrition and supplement researcher Dr. John Berardi suggests that consuming 2 grams of protein per kilogram of your weight each day can produce a high rate of muscle growth when combined with proper training. Do not neglect carbohydrates, the MedlinePlus online medical encyclopedia advises, because they provide energy, or fat, as it provides calories and is essential for proper health, growth and development.
References
- Bodybuilding: Muscle Injury And Overtraining!; David Knowles
- "Journal of Andrology"; Sleep, Sex Steroid Hormones, Sexual Activities, and Aging in Asian Men; V.H. Goh, T.Y. Tong; March 2010
- Iron Magazine: How To Gain Lean Muscle Without Turning Into a Tub of Lard; Tom Venuto
- Dr. John Berardi: Protein Prejudice; March 7 2003
- MedlinePlus: Dietary Fats
Member Comments