Gaining lean mass quickly involves intense targeted resistance training and strict adherence to a diet that promotes muscle-building without storing body fat. To gain muscle mass you must create a muscle-growth stimulus in the gym, then eat a lot of calories to provide your body with the raw material necessary to recover. Gaining lean mass means your nutrition must be even more targeted to avoid packing on fat along with your new muscle mass.
Step 1
Increase your total calories by 250 to 500 per day. Hard-gainers, who have faster metabolisms, might need more calories to gain muscle mass. The idea is to add enough calories to promote muscle gain without over-eating and causing undue fat storage. Find your maintenance calories--those required to maintain your body as is--and add extra calories to allow for gaining lean mass.
Step 2
Eat "clean" to ensure that your new muscle mass is a lean gain. "Clean" proteins include chicken, turkey, egg whites, whey protein and leaner cuts of beef. Low-glycemic carbohydrates such as oatmeal, brown rice, whole-wheat pasta and bread, quinoa and sweet potatoes are considered "clean." Fruits such as apples, pears and berries also contribute to lean gains, contributing important vitamins and antioxidants. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are also important. Examples are egg yolks, avocados, olive oil, nuts and seeds, as well as the omega-3, 6 and 9 fats.
Step 3
Use nutrient-timing to promote muscle-building without excess fat-storage. One opportunity comes immediately after your weight-training workout. The "Muscle Nerd" Jeff Anderson recommends 50g of whey protein, 100g of carbohydrates and 30g of healthy fat. Take another protein shake immediately before bed to provide nutrients for muscle-building while you sleep. It should contain 30g to 50g of protein, 15g to 30g healthy fat and little to no carbohydrates.
Step 4
Split all of your carbohydrates for the day between your pre- and post-workout meal. For example, eat one or two pieces of fruit an hour before training and consume the rest (60g to 100g of carbs) in your post-workout shake. In "X-treme Lean," Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman recommend this method for minimizing fat storage. Carbohydrates are our bodies' primary source of fuel, but they are also readily stored if eaten in excess. This dietary strategy helps to use carbohydrates as they are intended, either to fuel workouts or help you recover after training.
Step 5
If you are an experienced weight-lifter, decrease your training for lean muscle gains. For less experienced trainees, a basic three-day a week full body workout can work wonders for building lean muscle mass. Focus on the compound movements for each muscle group. For example, deadlifts and squats for legs, bench press for chest, pull-ups or lat pull-downs for back, military press for shoulders, decline close grip bench press for triceps and barbell curls for biceps. Use one or two sets, after a warm-up set or two, to the point where you can no longer perform a controlled repetition. Have a partner spot you to prevent injury.
Step 6
Use a few natural supplements to quickly increase lean mass. In "The Power of Three," a recent article in Muscle & Performance, the combination of whey protein, creatine and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA ) was purported to increase lean mass in training men and women, compared with a placebo. For the study, they used 9g of creatine monohydrate, 6g of CLA and 36g of whey protein per day.
Things You'll Need
- Clean protein, carbs and fats
- Creatine monohydrate
- CLA
- Whey protein
References
- Muscle & Performance; The Power of Three; Carey Rossi, January 2010
- X-treme Lean; Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman; 2008
- The X-traordinary Size Surge Workout; Jonathan Lawson; Homebody Productions, 2010
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