If you have a fast metabolism and want to bulk up, changing the way you eat and exercise can help you gain weight faster. While you can gain weight by eating junk food and doing little exercise, the healthiest way to do this is to eat a diet of nutrient-rich foods and do weight training to build muscle mass. Know that you won't get results overnight, but if you start right away, you will be able to see changes in a matter of weeks.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Eating to Gain Weight
Step 1. Eat more than three meals a day
If you naturally have a very fast metabolism, eating only three times a day - no matter what you eat - won't help you gain weight. Your body burns calories fast, so you have to feed yourself to put in more than you consume. This means eating not only when you are hungry, but throughout the day. Aim to eat five meals a day if you want to gain weight.
- Don't wait until you feel hunger cramps to eat. Plan five meals so you don't get to try it.
- Eating this much can be quite challenging, as you need to stock up on enough food to feed yourself more often. Make calorie-rich snacks that you can eat on the go, like bananas and peanut butter or cereal bars.
Step 2. Add lots of calories to each meal
It is not enough to have five small meals if they are low calorie; instead you need to make sure they are abundant and high in calories. Prepare your meal like a restaurant every time, with large portions of meat, vegetables and carbohydrates. Eating a lot like this may not be particularly practical, but it's the best way to gain weight fast.
- A hearty breakfast sufficient for your needs might consist of a three-egg omelette, two slices of bacon or sausage, a plate of roasted potatoes, and a glass of orange juice.
- For lunch, try a richly seasoned turkey wholemeal bread sandwich, two bananas and a salad.
- Dinner could be grilled steak, seasoned baked potatoes, and lots of grilled vegetables.
Step 3. Go for whole foods rich in nutrients
To gain weight healthily, you need to eat foods that are rich in nutrients. While it is possible to gain weight by drinking sugary sodas and eating large pizzas every day, doing so ruins your metabolism and only creates fat gain instead of muscle mass. When choosing what to eat, try the following tips:
- Look for foods that are poorly processed. For example, choose old-fashioned oatmeal instead of instant oatmeal, and opt for fresh chicken instead of sausages for lunch.
- Cook your meals from scratch as much as possible. Avoid frozen dinners, fast food foods and snacks that have an exaggerated amount of salt, sugar, and other additives that aren't nutritious at all.
Step 4. Focus on proteins, fats and carbohydrates
These are the three elements that help you gain weight, and you need to make sure you have plenty of each if you want to stay healthy. Try to include them in every meal to ensure you have a balanced diet. Here are some good examples for each of these nutrients:
- Proteins: eggs, salmon, tuna and other fish; roast, pork chops, ham and pork; chicken breasts and thighs; lean beef burgers and steaks.
- Fats: olive, safflower, coconut and grape seed oil; avocado, walnuts, almonds, flax seeds.
- Carbohydrates: fruit and vegetables; beans, lentils, peas; rice, wholemeal bread, pasta and other whole grains; honey and fruit juice.
Step 5. Make sure you drink plenty of water
Water helps your body process the extra protein and calories you are getting. Drink plenty of it with each meal to avoid dehydration. Since you are probably also doing more physical activity to gain muscle mass, you should drink 10 glasses of water every day.
- You can also drink tea, fruit juices, and other unsweetened healthy drinks.
- Avoid drinking too much sports drinks such as Gatorade, as they contain a lot of sugar.
Part 2 of 3: Building Muscle Mass
Step 1. Focus on weight training
Body builders know that the best way to gain weight is this type of exercise, because it makes the muscles bigger and stronger. You can practice it in a gym or get the necessary equipment and do it at home. Since this is an important component of your weight gain goal, plan to train several times a week.
- If you don't want to spend money on joining a gym, consider getting a barbell and set of weights so you can exercise at home.
- You can also try resistance exercises, which move your muscles without using weights. Push-ups are an easy way to get started right away. You can also install a pull-up bar at a front door so you can exercise your arms and chest.
Step 2. Work on different muscle groups
There may be a part of your body that you want to strengthen more, but it is better to strengthen all muscle groups, rather than just one area. Train to involve the arms, back, chest, abdomen and legs for the same amount of time. Do not do exercises for all muscle groups on the same day, but alternate them so that everyone has the opportunity to rest between sessions.
- Plan your exercises weekly so you are able to focus on each muscle group in a balanced way. For example, you can decide to work out your arms and chest one day and focus on your legs and abs the next day, then exercise your back and chest on the third day, and so on.
- It is a good idea to work with a personal trainer who can set up a program and exercise plan that meets your needs.
Step 3. Train to build muscle mass without injuring yourself
Musculature is formed when you put tension on the fibers of the muscle tissue, pushing them beyond their limits every day. You can achieve this by lifting enough weight and repeating the workout enough to tire your muscles and feel sore, but you don't have to overdo it to the point of hurting yourself. To find the right weight for each exercise you need to understand how much you can lift for 8-10 reps before you feel the need to stop. If you can easily do more than 10 reps, add more weight. If, on the other hand, you see that you have to stop after 5, take it off a bit.
- Compound training is the best for your needs. Concentrate on complex compound exercises, which require the use of as many muscles as possible: bench press with barbell and dumbbells, squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, chin ups and lunges.
- It doesn't matter if you can only bench press with 5 kg dumbbells for now. Even if you are just starting out, focus on putting more and more strength every time you exercise. Always push yourself a little harder, get stronger, lift more and more weight, but always stop before you risk causing a muscle tear.
- During training, be sure to rest for a minute or less between each set of exercises and do not do more than 12 repetitions for each set.
Step 4. Drink a protein shake immediately after each workout
According to a study conducted at the University of Birmingham, an energy smoothie helps improve endurance during physical activity. Take a banana, a handful of dried fruit or an energy snack immediately after physical activity.
Step 5. Get some rest
You need to allow your muscles to rest between training sessions. This is an important way to help them get bigger and stronger. Muscles are rebuilt during rest days, so you must never exercise the same muscle before it is ready and you must never strain the same muscle group for two consecutive days. Wait at least 48 hours before working the same muscle again.
Plus, you need to get 8-9 hours of sleep every night for maximum results. If you typically only sleep 6 hours or less, you won't be able to get all the benefits of your exercise and diet
Part 3 of 3: Know what to avoid
Step 1. Don't keep the same type of training the same all the time
The body has the ability to adapt quickly, so if you don't change your training routine from time to time, your body will get used to it and you won't get any improvements. Change the exercise patterns once a week. You can increase or decrease the number of repetitions or sets or simply change the order in which you normally do the exercises.
Step 2. Limit your cardio exercise sessions
When you run, pedal, swim and do other cardio exercises, you are using energy that could instead be channeled towards muscle development. So limit your cardio activities to once a week or cut them out altogether when you're trying to gain weight. But if you like these exercises and don't want to stop doing them, at least choose those that require little energy, such as walks, hikes or short bike rides on the flat.
Step 3. Be active and don't be sedentary
There is another method to gain weight quickly: eat what you want and move as little as possible. However, gaining weight in this way probably does not give you the look you want, other than the fact that it makes the body weaker rather than invigorating it. Engaging in strenuous activity to build muscle mass will result in health and a definitely better appearance.
Keep in mind that when you eat five meals a day, you still accumulate some fat as well as muscle. This is fine! You need to understand what the weight goal you want to achieve is and then calculate another 2-5 kg in addition to this. Once you reach that weight, you can start cutting carbohydrates from your diet, do more speed exercises, and keep training - at this point you will lose fat quickly and remain a model physique
Step 4. Don't ignore the signs you may notice on your body if you are gaining weight too fast or if you are exercising too hard
In the desire to gain weight as quickly as possible, you may be putting the body under excessive stress. You should never get to feel exhausted and sore. In fact, if you are following a good diet and doing regular exercise, you should feel more energetic than ever. If the body seems to want to tell you that something is wrong, listen to it.
- You may want to consider hiring a personal trainer. In just a few sessions he will be able to give you some excellent suggestions for planning, form, intensity and duration of the workouts, as well as some tips for improving and correcting your diet.
- Always ask your doctor for advice before taking any supplements, and visit if an injury occurs during a workout.
