Weight gain basics
/Following on from my previous post about weight loss basics, it would be balanced to write about gaining weight if that’s what you desire or require. When combined with a structured weight training program it is possible to gain weight in a 70/30 ratio of muscle to fat if you can also put in a little effort to track your portions. Here are a few tips:
Generally, you will need to eat quickly to 100% full at every meal if you want to gain muscular weight; by this I don’t mean eat so fast that you get indigestion, but know that there is about 20 minutes before signals move from your stomach to your brain to tell you that you’re full. Once that 20 minute mark comes it will be much harder to keep eating, or drinking if you have made a liquid shake meal containing, protein, vegetables, carbohydrates and fat.
You will be eating at times when you don’t feel hungry so some force feeding will occur. For some people this is more challenging than working out with weights. Titrating caloric intake up over time is usually the answer here. Also, one or two days per week you could experiment with consuming less to give your digestive tract a rest.
Track your portions and total daily intake. Make use of calculators such as this free one from Precision Nutrition Calculator. If you have an approximate figure on how much you move at work or days when not working out, and how many hours per week (and how hard) you work out then you can arrive at a more accurate amount of food/drink to aim for. This process is fulfilled by then tracking your daily portions of lean protein (ideally), colourful vegetables, smart carbohydrates and healthy fats. A good baseline ratio here in my experience is 25% protein, 50% carbohydrates, and 25% fats (1gm of fat per kilogram of bodyweight) if you are doing consistent weight training. The rationale for the higher carbs is that they are the optimal fuel for muscles in training and they are protein sparing: meaning protein consumed can go towards muscle growth and not be converted to glucose for fuel. One exception to the caloric breakdown mentioned might be the underweight male trying to gain weight: if this is the case, then a gallon (3L) of full cream milk daily will greatly speed up the process as long as you tolerate dairy. Simply consume one third in the morning, one third at midday and a third in the afternoon. Again, titrate up to the maximum amount over a few days too.
Eating a solid food meal or drinking a liquid meal every three hours is also important when trying to gain muscular body weight, rather than trying to consume thousands of calories at one or two meals.
A rough starting caloric surplus if very underweight is 500 - 1000 calories. It’s also a smart idea to use a tape measure, alongside following scale weight at least fortnightly. Example girth sites are: neck, shoulders, chest, upper arm, waist, hip, thigh and calf.
A good coach will be able to assist you with the measures and working out daily portions if you struggle to do that on your own.