Gaining Muscle and Bulking Up.

In order to gain muscle and start bulking up you will need to increase your intake of food. There are some people who believe that you can and need to eat whatever you want and as much as you want as long as you’re working out in order to start gaining weight, muscle and size. Well that is not entirely true unless you want to have a gut and be unhealthy. The best and most effective way to bulk up and gain muscle is to increase your protein, carbs and good fats with healthy foods.

Increase your protein intake to 1.5 to 1.75 grams of protein per pound bodyweight. Therefore, if you weigh 200lbs, you need to eat around 300 grams of protein per day. Eating more than 40 grams of protein in one sitting can be an issue for digesting the food. So just divide 300 by 40 and that will give you the amount of meals that you need to eat per day. In this example, the 200-lb bodybuilder will need to eat, around 7-8 meals per day spaced out with a minimum of 90 minutes in between meal and a maximum of 3 hours. Protein sources should come from lean low fat sources like chicken, turkey, 93% lean red meats, tuna, egg whites, shrimp, tilapia, mackarel, and salmon.

Increase your carbohydrate intake to between 1.5-2 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight. Increasing your carbohydrates is needed to keep your energy levels high and put fuel into your workouts. Carbs also help to transport the aminos into the muscle. Make sure your carbs are coming from slow digesting/released carbs like brown rice, sweet potatoes, and oatmeal. High glycemic complex carbs like banana’s, vegetables, beans, grains, and simple carbs like sugar, soda, etc. are supposed to be eaten after the workout when the body needs fast released carbs and proteins in order to quick start the recovery and re-building process. So for instance, a 200-lb bodybuilder who is starting his bulk up plan at 300 grams of carbs per day (bodyweight x 1.5), will split 150 grams (half of the daily requirement) between the morning meal and the post workout meal (so that comes to 75 grams of carbs). The morning meal carbs will be complex low glycemic carbs while the post workout meal will be half simple and half complex). The remainder 150 grams will be split in the remainder meals.

Increase your intake of good fats. Some fats are necessary to ensure good muscle growth. The body needs fats like the Omega Essential Fatty Acids in order to ensure proper hormonal production and brain function. To get the good fats keep the essential fats at 3 tablespoons per day for guy and 1.5 for women in the form of flax seed oil, fish oils, or extra virgin canned olive oil.

Cardio

During the bulk up stage cardiovascular exercise should be limited to 2-4 sessions per week of 45 minutes at the most at a 50 to 60 % pace.

Rest and Recovery

You need 7-9 hours of sleep each night in order for your body to run efficiently. If you deprive your body of sleep you will lose muscle and lower your metabolism.

For more information and to start bulking up and gaining muscle please contact me at 847-757-5467 or email me at George@bodybysolomos.com Personal training can help you reach your goals. Our gym (mybody fitness) is located at 193 Northfield Rd Northfield IL 60093.