|
Bodybuilders usually have one or two immediate goals: They
want to lose bodyfat and get ripped, or they want to pack
on muscle size. The Holy Grail would be to accomplish both,
but that’s hardly realistic, since it involves going
in two opposing directions at the same time. The most you
can hope for is to maintain your muscle while you’re
losing fat. Building muscular bulk is an entirely different
process from cutting up.
In years past the diet portion of acquiring muscle could best
be described as haphazard. You simply ate anything that wasn’t
nailed down. That, of course, resulted in not just lean mass
gains but also a hefty increase in bodyfat. The next step
involved reducing calories or carbs or both until you lost
the excess fat. Under ideal conditions you also kept most
of the muscle gained during your bulking-up phase.
For a classic example of the comparatively primitive bulk-up/cut-down
process take a look at Bruce Randall, who began his bulking
phase while he was in the U.S. Marine Corps in the early 1950s.
He consumed prodigious amounts of food (courtesy of Uncle
Sam) including dozens of eggs, quarts of whole milk and plenty
of bread. That diet led Randall to a body-weight of more than
400 pounds, but he wasn’t just another fat, sloppy guy.
He lifted actively during his entire hulking period, doing
some extraordinary lifts, such as good mornings with 900 pounds.
I recall being told a story about the time Randall visited
a New York gym for a workout during those days. He opted to
do incline presses but for some reason decided to move the
bench, which he did. Only after he moved the bench from one
end of the gym to the other did Randall realize that the bench
had been bolted to the floor. He was so powerful that he ripped
the bench from its moorings without realizing it.
Randall later began training for bodybuilding competitions
and, through a stringent diet and training program, dropped
his weight from 405 to 187. He then increased it to 227 and
won the ‘59 NABBA Mr. Universe title in London. His
trophy was presented to him at the contest by buxom film star
Jayne Mansfield.
A more recent example of a successful hulking program was
that of two-time Mr. Universe and star of the “Incredible
Hulk” TV series, Lou Ferrigno. When Lou started back
in Brooklyn he was skinny, though a enthusiastic young bodybuilder.
After a few years of training Ferrigno weighing nearly 300
pounds. What had he done to achieve such phenomenal mass gains?
“Plenty of milk and food,” he said.
And therein lies the key to success in gaining muscular size.
You simply have to eat more. These days the object is not
to gain just any type of weight, but to ensure that what you
gain is mainly muscle. The problem is, you must still increase
your calories. There’s simply no way around that, regardless
of what you hear or read.
That last statement must be qualified to a certain extent.
Using certain anabolic drugs, including anabolic steroids,
growth hormone and insulin, among others, can indeed increase
muscle size, but even with their assistance, you still need
to eat and train properly to build quality muscle. In fact,
emerging research shows that you can manipulate your body’s
anabolic hormones by making certain adjustments in your diet
and supplement regimen. That way you fine-tune your gains
so they’re mostly lean mass rather than a combination
of muscle and too much fat.
One common question about gaining muscle is, How much can
I realistically expect to gain? The amount of lean mass gains
varies among individuals due to such factors as genetics,
body structure and training intensity. Those who are blessed
with a combination of naturally high androgen, or testosterone,
levels and a high percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers
will make the most rapid initial gains, but even those who
have less of a genetic head start will nonetheless make impressive
gains by eating properly and training hard. A bodybuilding
axiom holds that you make your best ever gains when you first
begin training, simply because your body isn’t used
to it and responds rapidly to the added stress of exercise.
As you progress to the advanced level, adding muscle each
year becomes increasingly difficult regardless of genetics.
Mass-With-Class Weight-Gain Diet
Meal 1
1 cup orange juice
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup milk
4 scrambled eggs
2 slices whole-grain toast with butter (no margarine; avoid
transfats)
Meal 2
8-ounce hamburger
1 large baked potato
Tossed salad with dressing
1 cup milk
Fresh fruit
Meal 3
Weight-gain drink or meal replacement with a banana mixed
in nonfat milk
Meal 4
8 ounces cottage cheese with fruit
1 cup yogurt
Meal 5
6 ounces tuna
1 piece fruit
1 slice whole-grain bread
Meal 6
8 ounces chicken
2 cups brown rice
2 slices whole-grain bread
1 cup broccoli or other vegetable
Tossed salad
Fresh fruit
1 cup milk with added protein powder
What to Eat for Mass
Regardless of genetic predispositions, you’ll need a
positive energy balance to increase your muscular bulk. That
simply means you must
eat more food than you burn. The effect is so potent that
eating an unusual amount of food alone can add lean mass even
without exercise, although that isn’t a recommended
procedure. Studies involving human subjects who overate but
didn’t exercise showed some surprising changes in body
composition. The subjects all showed significant increases
in lean mass.
The gains were the result of the body’s adjustments
to the unaccustomed levels of food. The body compensated by
increasing the levels of anabolic hormones, including growth
hormone, testosterone, insulin and insulin like growth factor
1 (IGF-1), which led to the subjects’ building more
muscle, a.k.a. lean mass.
Eating all those calories also blunted the levels of the primary
catabolic hormone in the body, cortisol. High levels of cortisol
promote the catabolism, or breakdown, of muscle. Cortisol
is secreted mainly under high-stress conditions; hence its
designation as a stress hormone. But the stress conditions
that promote cortisol release more often involve an energy-deficit
condition, such as a lack of sufficient calories or carbs.
So overeating itself is an anabolic process.
The point here is not to suggest that you must overeat to
gain muscle size but that you do have to up your calories
because it promotes the secretion of anabolic hormones that
will work in tandem with exercise to produce lean mass gains.
A vital consideration in any hulking plan is protein. While
it’s true that providing additional calories in the
form of carbohydrates alone has a protein-sparing action in
muscle, maintaining a high level of amino acids from food-protein
sources promotes a positive nitrogen balance that sets the
stage for muscular gains through increased muscle protein
synthesis reactions in muscle. Some call the process the ‘anabolic-drive
effect.”
When to Eat
The key to optimal protein intake for muscle-size gains involves
smaller but more frequent feedings. In practice that means
eating some protein at least every 2 1/2 to three hours. One
of the most common mistakes made by so-called hardgainers
who bemoan their inability to gain lean mass is not eating
enough or frequently enough. Champion bodybuilders and other
athletes often eat six or more small meals a day. They aren’t
necessarily all food meals; frequently they’re protein-and-carb
drinks or even energy bars. The point is to eat at regular
intervals and not wait too long between meals. As diet guru
Barry Sears of Zone fame frequently points out, your body
chemistry in terms of hormones reflects when and what you
last ate.
Numerous studies show that taking in certain carbs and protein
in a certain ratio within two hours (the sooner, the better)
after a training session promotes muscle gains. That effect
is due to potentiation of the release of insulin and other
anabolic hormones thanks to the added protein and carbs, much
better than what you get with carbs alone. Studies show an
average 37 percent increase in muscle glycogen synthesis after
subjects drank a postworkout protein-and-carb formula, and
the increased glycogen means faster and more efficient muscle
recovery.
Which Supplements To Take
The use of other popular supplements after a workout is more
controversial. For example, recent studies show that combining
creatine with a fast-acting protein, such as whey, effectively
promotes lean-mass gains and works better than either supplement
alone. It also makes sense to add glutamine, since it appears
to play a role in promoting muscle protein synthesis under
intense training conditions. The amino may also enhance immune
system reactions that may be blunted under high-intensity-exercise
conditions.
Creatine itself may be one of the most effective supplements
for promoting lean-mass gains, It not only acts as a backup
for the continued production of the immediate energy source
for muscular contraction, ATP, but also has an acid-buffering
effect in muscle that permits harder and heavier training.
While past studies suggested that any gains that occurred
with the use of creatine supplements were mostly water, more
recent research points to an actual promotion of muscle protein
synthesis with creatine use. Creatine may foster lean-mass
gains by promoting a cellular hydration effect that acts as
an anabolic signal, or switch, in muscle tissue.
If you have a poor appetite or trouble eating enough to get
the extra calories required for inducing lean-mass gains,
you can use any of the many weight-gain-supplement powders
available. In the past products contained nothing more than
dried milk and copious amounts of refined sugar, a recipe
that led to more fat than muscle. Modern versions, in contrast,
contain quality proteins, such as whey and Casein from milk,
beneficial fat and complex carbohydrates to provide the extra
calories. In drink form they count as a meal and enable you
to get the right amounts of calories, protein and other nutrients.
Most important, today’s weight-gain supplements are
highly digestible.
Another option if you have difficulty eating so frequently
is to use a meal-replacement powder. MRPs are usually produced
in individual packets, making transport easy and convenient.
They also contain high-quality nutrients, though they aren’t
high in either calories or carbs. That doesn’t present
a significant problem, because you can use them as a base
and then add ingredients, such as fruit or even ice cream
to increase the calories.
Calories and Nutrients
As for how many calories you should take in each day to promote
lean-mass gains, a formula that works for most people is to
multiply your current weight by 20, then add 1,000 calories
to the resulting figure. That takes into account both resting-
and activity-level calorie requirements. So if you weigh 200
pounds, you should eat about 5,000 calories a day.
As for macronutrients, eat one to two grams of protein per
pound of desired bodyweight. Your carb intake should be about
five to seven grams per kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of bodyweight.
In the case of the 200-pounder, that translates to about 450
to 630 grams a day. By the way, if you opt to use weight-gain
drinks, make sure you don’t get more than 600 calories
at a sitting, regardless of the manufacturer’s suggestions.
Taking in more than that many calories may lead to a calorie
spillover if you do it several times a day, which may lead
to undesirable fat gains.
Many articles on gaining weight warn about eating too much
fat. They’re concerned about the health aspects of fat
ingestion, such as the relationship between saturated fat
and cardiovascular disease; however, cutting out fat completely
is a serious mistake for anyone seeking to gain lean mass.
For one thing, you need to get at least 20 percent of your
daily calories as fat to maintain testosterone levels in the
body. A better choice would be to minimize your intake of
saturated fat and focus on the good fats, such as the monounsaturated
and omega-3 fats found in canola and fish oils, respectively.
You need the calories provided by dietary fat for optimal
lean-mass gains. If you have difficulty eating fat, consider
concentrated-fat supplements, such as medium-chain triglycerides,
or MCTs. They give you about eight calories per gram compared
to nine for most other fats. MCTs are rapidly absorbed, however,
and act more like a carb than a fat, which makes them far
less likely to produce fat gains. Some preliminary studies
show that conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA, which is found
in meat and dairy products, may also promote lean-mass gains
at the expense of fat.
Certain foods have a well-deserved reputation for encouraging
great lean-mass gains, including whole eggs and red meat.
Many bodybuilders discard the yolks of eggs and eat only the
whites, which are pure protein, but all the nutrients and
half the protein of eggs are in the yolks. People interested
in making efficient lean-mass gains should eat whole eggs.
Meat also is a great source of protein calories, as well as
other nutrients, such as zinc and carnitine. In my interviews
with countless champion athletes over the years, virtually
all said they ate meat whenever they wanted to gain muscular
weight. Two top professional bodybuilders, multi-Mr. Olympia
Dorian Yates and multi-Masters Mr. Olympia Vince Taylor, said
they always lost muscle size whenever they cut out meat before
a major contest. The best type of meat for promoting lean-mass
gains comes from grass-fed beef, which has a unique nutritional
profile.
Follow the suggestions in this article and train on a workout
routine that includes heavy; basic exercises and a minimal
level of aerobics, and you’ll build lean mass with minimal
added bodyfat, regardless of your genetics.
Related Articles
10 Bodybuilding
Lunch Meals
A Real World
Bodybuilding Diet
The Ultimate
Bodybuilding Diet Plan
| Popular Products! |
EAS
Myoplex
Myoplex provides your body with an abundance
of high-quality proteins and carbohydrates, in addition
to a.. |
|
UltraMet
If it's difficult to take a break during a hectic
day and treat yourself to a nice meal, and if you feel
you deserve something more than.. |
|
