How To Gain Weight Fast & Build Muscle Quickly:
If you’re tired of looking and feeling small, read this guide to put on weight, fast! We’ll cover everything you need to know to put on weight efficiently and as quickly as possible, without putting on loads of fat. There are a few key concepts to understand before your journey to weight gain begins.
1. Nutrition is your top priority!
When starting your journey to weight gain, it is important to understand that your nutrition is THE most important part of your journey. Without proper nutrition, you may find yourself struggling to put on weight and muscle. So what do you need? In order to gain weight, your body must be in a calorie surplus (more about this below). By maintaining a calorie surplus your body will be forced to put on weight, and muscle! If your goal is simply to put on weight without much care as to what kind of weight (muscle, fat, or water), try consuming 1,500 calories over your daily caloric needs. If you want to put on more muscle, consume 1,000 calories more than your daily caloric needs.
2. You must have a calorie surplus to gain weight
Like we mentioned above, your body MUST be in a calorie surplus to put on weight. Weight gain (and loss) comes down to one simple equation: Δ weight = calories in – calories out. As you can see, if your calories in are great than your calories out, you will gain weight. Likewise, if your calories in are less than your calories out, you will lose weight. This is a simple concept to grasp, but how do I know my calories out? It can be somewhat easy to track how many calories you consume, but how many do I burn throughout the day? Check out this simple calorie calculator to learn your daily needs!
3. Train like you mean it
Okay so you understand what it will take from a nutritional aspect on how to gain weight, but what do you need to do (and not do!) in the weight room? As you might know, muscle weighs more than fat. So one key to putting on weight is building muscle and cutting your fat. Need help learning how to build muscle? We’ll cover a few tips here but you can always check out the muscle building archive to learn everything you need to know about building muscle here!
Focus on major muscle groups. By performing compound exercises around these muscle groups you can put on muscle mass quicker and more efficiently than isolation exercises. Some of these muscle groups include chest, back, legs, and shoulders.
- Stay focused and train harder. When training, be sure to slowly increase the weight so that your muscles will always be challenged. If a weight becomes easier to lift, that’s how you know it’s time to increase the weight!
4. Limit your cardio
This one is simple: it’s hard to maintain a calorie surplus while performing excess cardio. Make sure to limit your cardio to no more than 45 minutes per week, and less than 30 minutes ideally. You will need to consume more calories if you plan on performing while trying to gain weight. Keep this in mind before you start.
By following these steps, you’ll be on your way to weight gain in no time. Still not sure where to start? Purchase our custom 4-week training and nutrition program to get your own personal trainer to help you along the way!