VIDEO: Hyphy M.U.D. by Kali Muscle

3 Keys to Bulking Up (Beyond Lifting Weights)

                    Increased Portion Sizes, Plus Snacks

     In order to gain weight you need to increase your normal portion sizes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in addition to eating one to two snacks throughout the day. The key to eating snacks is packing them in advance when you are on the go. Put them in your gym bag, book bag, or your locker at school or work. When you know that food will not be readily available, it is up to you to make sure you have the food you need for your diet. In order to get the maximum benefit from your increased calorie intake, your timing needs to be right.
               

                   Timing is Key

     After lifting weights your protein and glycogen synthesis levels are at their peak. In order to take advantage of this and thus maximize the benefits of resistance training, you need to ingest protein within 45 minutes of completing your workout and carbohydrates within 15 minutes. So how much protein and carbohydrates should you take in? Make sure to ingest 10-20g of protein within 45 minutes of completing your workout and you should take in the appropriate amount of carbs within 15 minutes of lifting.  To figure out how many grams of carbohydrates you should eat, simply divide your body weight by 2. 

Example: a 200 pound person needs 100g of carbs (200/2 = 100). They then need to continue to take in 100g of carbs every 30 minutes for the next 4 to 5 hours. 

     The combination of protein and carbohydrate will also reduce cortisol in your body, which is a hormone that breaks down muscle fiber. Studies have shown that athletes who consume protein and carbohydrates immediately before and after their workouts gained more muscle mass than those who did not time their protein and carb intake in this way. Beyond working out, you should aim to eat at least every four hours throughout the day. Break up long gaps between your three main meals with healthful, calorie dense snacks as discussed above.

Perseverance

Weight gain of this nature is going to take patience and increasing your calorie intake this much is going to be hard work. Do not give up. Think of your food as your weight gaining medicine. You will not get over a virus by skipping on your antibiotics the same way you will not gain weight by skimping on your food intake. Your weight gain will not happen overnight, but instead will happen gradually. It will be tempting to take supplements such as protein and weight gaining shakes. These are a waste of money and have not been proven to add any benefit for those who eat correctly. You will reach your goals without supplements by lifting weights and sticking with larger portions of healthful foods for meals and snacks.

For a 3 day healthy, mass gaining meal plan... shoot me an email! strengthbymatt@gmail.com

       Real soon here, I'll highlight a proven, easy to follow weight lifting strategy that'll get ya allllll kinds of gains!

Protein Supplements: a Complete WASTE of Money

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Before I dive into why protein supplements are a waste of money, I’m going to explain a couple of things first. Your body draws energy from 3 sources:

1.       Primary source is carbs (stored in your body as glycogen)

2.       Next is Fat (stored in your body as glycerol)

3.       Last is Protein (you only use protein for energy in extreme situations such as running marathons)

During weight lifting your body rapidly burns through its glycogen stores.

Also during weight lifting, you create tiny tears or abrasions in your muscles that require protein to repair. During this process, you build muscle.

So, after a good weight lifting session you need 2 thing:

1.       Carbs to restore your depleted glycogen stores and

2.       Protein to repair and build your muscles.

After a workout, your glycogen and protein synthesis levels are spiked. Therefore, you must take in protein following your exercise session.

How much protein do you need though to satisfy this peaked level of protein synthesis? Ask most muscle heads at the gym and they will tell you to take in as much as possible as soon as possible. I’ve heard guys swearing that if you don’t take in half your body weight in grams of protein within 10 minutes of working out, you might as well have not lifted at all.

This is totally false!!! Studies have shown that the human body only needs 10-20g of protein to satisfy its peaked protein synthesis levels after a lift. That’s all… 10-20g within 45 minutes of finishing your workout.

What’s the best/cheapest way to get this protein in your system? A simple glass of chocolate milk. That’s all. Protein supplements are completely unnecessary and a huge waste of money. Other good sources are yogurt with some granola mixed in, a peanut butter and banana sandwich, or a bowl of oatmeal.

Alright so there you have it… Don’t fall for the advertisements and the advice of the huge guys at the gym…they’re huge not because they waste money on protein supplements, they’re huge from genetics and hard work along with the large amount of carbs and calories they’re most likely eating throughout the day. Listen to the science and save a shit ton of money. 10-20g of protein is all you need.

 I’ll talk about restoring your glycogen stores (which might be even more important than taking in protein after a workout!) in a future post.

Deuces.