As I have already discussed about some fundamentals for gaining healthy weights in my previous contents, which is nothing other than putting on some good amount of muscle mass to your body and I have promised to bring a dedicated content regarding some tips and tricks as well as some diet plans which would help you to gain muscle mass with ease. Now, for those who have already read my last blog on how to gain weights, knows some of the basic and key points about gaining. In this blog, I will not repeat those same things here rather I will give some advance tips for your better results.
First let’s discuss about some of the healthy diets which are very high in calories which will help you to stay in calorie surplus that eventually helps you to build muscles. The basic goal here is to add a high in calorie meal in the breakfast and another one in the dinner which will be around 500 to 600 kcal each. The purpose of adding them specifically at these times is that you will be hungry when you will wake up in the morning so, it will become easy for you to eat that heavy meal and this will give you high energy for the day ahead. In the case of dinner, when you will have a meal with proper macros, it will feed up your muscles overnight and will also help in the recovery. You might be wandering why am I suggesting you to eat calorie-dense meals at least twice daily, it is just because skinny people are found to have low appetite which make their muscle building journey difficult. After two calorie dense meals it will be easy to achieve your daily calorie goal through other meals of the day. Let’s see what can you have for these meals.
Breakfast:
- 40 grams of oats, which will give you around 151 Kcal.
- 200 ml of milk, which will give you 88 Kcal.
- 1 spoon of peanut butter (16 grams), which will give you 94 Kcal.
- 2 medium size bananas, which will give you around 210 Kcal.
- Some dry fruits as per your choice or you might also add dates.
- 1 boiled whole egg, which will give 78 Kcal.
So, the total calorie of this meal will be around 550 Kcal to 630 Kcal, depending upon the dry fruits you add. And the macros will be:
- Carbohydrate = 95 grams.
- Protein = 30 grams.
- Fat = 17 grams.
Dinner:
- 4N whole wheat chapatis (Roti), which will give you 480 Kcal.
- 2 whole scrambled eggs, which will give 180 kcal.
- Add some salads to your meal for better gut health.
So, this meal will give you 650 to 660 kcal. Having macros:
- Carbohydrate = 70 grams
- Protein = 26 grams.
- Fat = 26 grams.
Now, let’s come to the workouts, there are certain mistakes that beginners often do, which stops them from getting the desired results.
No.1: Performing so many exercises on a single day; when your goal is muscle hypotrophy then, you should focus on two to three exercise variations and perform them correctly with proper form and till muscular failure.
No.2: Performing so many sets with higher repetition (Rep) range; Rather try to do 3 to maximum 4 sets with progressive overload and the rep range should be around 10 to 12 rep. Chose a weight with which, you can perform the exercise with correct form and fail within the ideal rep range.
No.3: Training more than 2 muscle groups a day; Try to train 2 muscle groups everyday like “Chest and triceps”, “back and biceps”. This will help you to train properly and will help you gain muscles. This will help you to train each muscle group twice every week which is found to increase the muscle growth.
No.4: Skipping the Pre-workout and post-workout meal; Your pre-workout meal should be high in carbs and it’s a must for building muscles. Many beginners make this mistake, instead you should take a good pre-workout meal at least 45 minutes to 60 minutes before your workout session. This meal will provide you with energy throughout your workout and help you to push your limit. And the post- workout meal should be rich in protein to feed up those damaged muscles and help them in recovery.
No.5: Ego lifting; Lifting much heavier weights than your strength or capacity. Never lift heavier weights than your strength, you will end up getting yourself injured. Rather chose a weight which you can lift maintaining the right posture until failure and you should fail within the ideal rep range (10 to 12 reps). This will be much more effective than lifting heavy.
These are some of the common mistakes beginners make. Correcting them might bring a lot of change to the muscle building journey.
Now, let’s move on to the other components which are “water intake” and “sleep”, simple yet very important. Your water intake must be 3.5 liters to 4 liters daily along with the diet. Drinking less water than this, will be an obstacle in your muscle gaining. As I have mentioned in my previous blog that water acts as a carrier, in transporting the nutrients to the cells. So, it becomes a matter of fact that if you are not drinking adequate water daily, you will not get the desired result.
Sleep also plays a major role in muscle building, because for recovery of the fatigue muscles rest is very important. So, you should sleep for at least 8 hours to 9 hours every night to make your muscle gaining easier.
I have discussed all the major and key factors and even mistake that are stopping you from gaining muscles in the most detailed way possible. Try to follow them properly and the most important part is consistency, you should keep on doing these things to see visible result. Look, natural muscle gaining takes time at least 90 days to 100 days before you can see changes in your body. So don’t be impatient, just follow those steps and you will definitely achieve your goal.