Nothing infuriates me more than when a guy asks me how to gain a lot of muscle without gaining fat. I hate it when people ask me that. Can it be done? Sure, it’s called steroids. Good luck with the man boobs and shriveled testicles when you finish your cycle. No thanks; I like my rock hard pecs and giant nuts. For a natural weight lifter, some fat will be gained in the muscle building process. If your ego is so fragile that you cannot bear to gain a little fat around your midsection, stop reading right now.
So why is it so hard to gain muscle and not gain fat, or even lose fat at the same time? The reason is because your body is designed to survive, not to look pretty. There are some born with fantastic genetics, but most of us are not like that. The reason for this is that the men with naturally muscular bodies died out in times of famine. Muscle has a very high caloric demand; in essence it is a luxury. In hard times, everyone is skinny. We also tend to gain fat pretty easily; this is another survival adaptation.
What about the hard gainer? The hard gainer is someone that is blessed or cursed, depending on the person’s perception, with a high metabolism. On top of that, hard gainers don’t like to eat. The very first thing you need to do is get under the iron. Weight training, and I mean real weight training is high intensity weight training, no step aerobics. Hard weight lifting makes you hungry; in fact you will feel hungry all the time. So how should you train?
The first two weeks is the hardest. You will feel pain like none other. This period is when most people give up. If you are doing weight training like you should, with high intensity, the soreness will be excruciating. In some cases, you will get edemas (muscles filled with fluid, swelling). Make sure you ice the sore muscles every 20 minutes to reduce the edemas. Do not apply heat!
Start out with a 5-day program. One body part per day. A good split is Monday: Chest, Tuesday: Back, Wednesday: Legs, Thursday: Shoulders, Friday: Arms. Since most guys want the biggest bench press possible, I start the program with chest, then followed with other large muscle groups. The small muscle groups should be worked later in the week, because you will be fatigued. Always begin with heavy compound movements; finish the workout with lighter isolation exercises.
The compound exercises should be in the 5 set range, the reps in a reverse pyramid. Start with higher reps, this will warm up your tendons and ligaments. Make sure you do ten minutes of light cardio before weights, it’s no fun taking off 6 months due to an injury. The final 3 sets should be in a low rep range, 10 reps, 8 reps, and finally 6 reps. these sets should be done with heavy weight and to failure. Now by heavy, I mean a weight you can do with perfect form. You don’t need to show off to anyone. Occasionally I will work to a 1-rep maximum, make sure you don’t do this too often. Training in this range will greatly fatigue your central nervous system. There’s no point unless you are an Olympic weight lifter or power lifter.
The isolation exercises should be done in the 3 set range with higher reps, about 10 to 15 reps. Now I know some people are critical of isolation exercises, and say that you should only do compound exercises. I say, why not have the best of both worlds. Even power lifters do isolation exercises such as triceps extensions to strengthen a weak point. Once you finish the compound exercises in your workout regime, you will be tired. The isolation exercises allow you to recruit the remaining muscle fibers, which in turn will build more muscle.
What to eat? You must eat a lot. This is the common dogma. Again, hard gainers are skinny because they do not eat enough. Weight lifting should solve the hunger issue, but what does one eat? Stay away from sugar. While you will gain some fat along with solid muscle, you want to limit the fat. A high sugar diet will ensure that most of the weight gain will be fat. You can join the rest of the obese world and drink soft drinks, eat processed white carbs, deserts, candy bars, and twinkies. Or you can join us and pack on serious muscle. Other than the sugar restriction, eat what you want. Make sure to increase your protein intake, about 1-gram of protein per pound. Don’t go over or you will strain your kidney. Also, don’t eat too much protein in one meal, the excess will be pooped out. In fact don’t eat too much in one sitting, 5-6 meals a day is ideal. If you feel pressed for time, you can use natural protein powders and natural protein bars. I say natural because natural protein products have no sugar, no artificial sweeteners, and no other garbage.
If you can survive the first 3 months, you will be in for a pleasant surprise. Good luck on your journey to a better body.
Otis Lee
Author of Gain Muscle NOW! The Book of Muscle
via Paleohacks Paleo Cookbook Review http://ift.tt/1Coja88
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