Bulking Up and Gaining Muscle
There are thousands of products, newsletters, and books out there that promise to show you the secret of how to "gain muscle fast" and they ALL want your money but I'll give you the secret for free - lift weights and eat right! Gaining mass, is really simple but it takes a LOT of work. Later I will tell you about how to eat right and lifting weights but first, lets talk about expectations.
What do you need to buy? A $10 used set of dumbbells from from craigslist or a garage sale is perfect, your muscles don't know if they are lifting used rusty old dumbbells or new, expensive, shiny, chrome ones! If you cant find a used set then you can buy a new weight set
By the way, if you have questions you can ask them 24/7 on the free Bulking up and gaining muscle forum.
| This video on "Top 10 Foods for Bulking and Mass Gain" shows you that you cant pack the muscle on by eating. | |
| Ten minute video explaining how to bulk up and gain weight. (Basically the same as the text on this page) |
There is a LOT of bad information out there and people have a very warped view of what are reasonable expectations for putting on muscle thru weightlifting. Lets talk about teens and growth first, during the ages 16-22, teens are growing fast. In this time they are getting taller, adding body mass, and getting stronger all as part of the normal growth process without lifting a single weight. The reason this is important is that many times you hear anecdotes of teens who add 20lbs in one year lifting weights, well the truth is that they would have added 15lbs anyway thru the normal growth process, only the last 5lbs was actually muscle was actually added thru the weightlifting.
So what is a reasonable expectation for how much muscle you can add in a year thru weightlifting? Well if you lift with intensity 5 days a week for an hour a day all year long AND have proper nutrition (more on that later), you can expect to add 5lbs muscle per year if you are a hard gainer and 10lbs muscle if you are one of the gifted few. Doesn't sound like a lot you can do this year after year and slowly those slowly 5lb gains really add up. Picture yourself a decade later with 50lbs muscle on!
OK, now lets discuss how to gain muscle, as I said before you need to lift weights and have proper nutrition. Lets talk about resistance training first. You have to lift weights to get stronger and gain muscle. Mass follows strength, you cant get bigger without getting stronger. Here are workout plans for beginner, intermediate or advanced bodybuilders. Now lets talk about the dedication required. You cant add muscle by flitting around the gym now and then. Remember I said that you could expect to add 5lbs muscle (10 if you are lucky) if you worked really hard? Well this is the "work really hard part" - it means 5 days a week of intense lifting. Just being IN a gym an hour a day does nothing, chatting your buddies while standing near weights doesn't make your muscles grow - you need intense, focused workout sessions. Check out my section on "Focus" to see what I mean by that.
Believe it or not, lifting weights is the EASY part of gaining muscle, nutrition is the hard part. The #1 reason bodybuilders have poor results is not because they don't work out hard enough but because their nutrition sucks. It can take up to FIVE days for the muscles to rebuild after a workout and during that time you need a constant intake of protein. Your body can't store protein up so just having a huge steak with dinner will not work if you want to gain muscle, you need to take your protein in 6 small, even doses spread evenly through out the day to insure your recovering muscles always have the amino acids they need to rebuild. Nobody said bodybuilding was easy. If you can't eat 6 real meals a day then protein powder
The first thing you need to know about nutrition are some numbers. I suggest that you consume 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight per day so if you weigh 180lbs, you eat 180g protein during the day. Next question is how many calories should you eat, my calorie calculator asks you 5 questions to accurately determine your metabolism and give you the precise number of calories you need in each of your 6 meals.
Eating more than this will not make your muscles grow faster, you will just get fat!!! This is really important so I'm going to say this gain. Eating more than what this chart shows will NOT make you stronger or give you bigger muscles, it will just make you FAT. This is the bulking myth - you don't need to get fat to get strong. As long as you are getting your six evenly spaced doses of protein as shown my this chart, your muscles will have the building blocks they need to grow bigger and stronger-- eating more will not help.
Lets take a quick look at what happens if you are not careful with your diet and eat junk food. Our 140 hypothetical BBer needs 23g protein six times a day. Lets say that for each of his meals he eats a big mac which has 24g protein. Each burger has 24g protein so his muscles will grow well but man-o-man look at the calories! Remember I said that this 140lb BBer needs six 350 cal meals, well the Big Mac is 590 calories, almost 200% too much. What this means is that our 140lb BBer would gain 3lbs fat per week or 12lbs of fat per month! Can you say sumo wrestler! You really need to watch what you eat! Here are the most common nutrition mistakes made by bodybuilders:
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they get enough protein so their muscles grow but they eat too many calories so they get really fat
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they eat the proper number of calories but don't get enough protein so their muscles don't grow much
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they get enough protein and the proper number of calories but don't distribute their protein intake into 6 evenly spaced small doses so their muscles don't grow much
Don't let this happen to you! If you are going to all the work of lifting weighs 5 days a week, make sure you give your nutrition the same effort so your muscles can grow.
If you have the time and devotion, you can gain muscle AND lose fat at the same time but its REALLY hard! Your protein requirements remain the same but the number of calories per meal drops so its even harder to find acceptable meals. Lets look at the numbers for those wanting to gain muscle and lose fat. The below chart shows the nutritional requirements if you want to gain muscle and LOSE 1 lb fat per week:
Gain Muscle and Lose Fat (1lb/week) |
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Current Weight |
Calories |
Protein |
| 280lbs (127kg) | 610cals x 6 meals = 3700 cals | 46g x 6 meals= 280g protein |
| 260 lbs (118kg) | 560 cals x 6 meals = 3400 cals | 43g x 6 meals= 260g protein |
| 240 lbs (109kg) | 510 cals x 6 meals = 3100 cals | 40g x 6 meals= 240g protein |
| 220 lbs (100kg) | 460 cals x 6 meals = 2800 cals | 36g x 6 meals= 220g protein |
| 200 lbs (91kg) | 410 cals x 6 meals = 2500 cals | 33g x 6 meals= 200g protein |
| 180 lbs (81kg) | 360 cals x 6 meals = 2200 cals | 30g x 6 meals= 180g protein |
| 160 lbs (72kg) | 310 cals x 6 meals = 1900 cals | 26g x 6 meals= 160g protein |
| 140 lbs (63kg) | 265 cals x 6 meals = 1600 cals | 23g x 6 meals= 140g protein |
To get meals with this much protein and this small number of calories, the meals need to be virtually nonfat. Its virtually impossible to buy anything at a fast food restaurant or in TV dinner form which satisfies these requirements - you need to cook your own meals. For some meal suggestions, please check here.
So remember that to gain muscle requires TWO things:
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You have to lift weights consistently, with intensity and focus.
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You have to eat 6 small meals each with a good dose of protein.
To maximize your muscle gains, you need to do research and learn! This website is a great place to start but don't stop here, I'm just one person with one point of view. Look on the internet, go to your public library (best option) or buy some of the recommended books.