When it comes to gaining some weight through an increase in muscle mass, the top priority that might be on your mind is the speed of the results you achieve. The faster you gain those muscles, the better.
That means you can start wearing those sleeveless vests sooner – showing off the hard work that you put into your weight gain routine.
If you have already implemented your weight gaining program, then good for you.
The truth is, the fact that you are reading this post means you are most likely not too happy with your results. Perhaps you are simply trying to find out if there are ways to speed up the results – which means building those muscles faster and going from skinny to big in less time.
This post will help you understand what it takes to achieve your goal of bulking up faster and more effectively.
We will cover everything from eating right to making simple changes to your current workout program – all to get those muscles pumped up faster.
1. Start Your Program With A Calorie Surplus
Before you even start to implement your weight gain program, you need to take a closer look at your plan.
An effective mass gainer plan would include both a diet and an exercise plan – as these two forms an essential combination that will allow you to experience an increase in your lean muscle mass.
When looking at your diet and exercise program, there are two factors that can apply:
- A calorie deficit is when your daily caloric intake is lower than the number of calories you burn through physical activity each day. This is a common strategy used by people who are trying to reduce their body weight, as it allows for excess fat in the body to be burnt. This strategy would also make it difficult for a skinny guy to pack on muscles – when there is a calorie deficit, the body does not only burn through calories and fat but also goes into a state where muscle growth is limited.
- Calorie surplus refers to the particular option you want to follow when trying to gain weight. What this essentially means is you are consuming more calories than the number of calories you burn every day. The result is excess calories in your body, which the body then uses in order to increase its weight – this extra weight will be either in the form of muscle mass or as fat, depending on what you do with the excess calories.
When there is a balance between calorie intake and expenditure, it means your current body weight would be maintained. This would also make it more difficult for you to build muscles and increase your lean mass.
With this data in mind, it becomes clear that creating a calorie surplus is your best strategy to help you gain weight.
At the same time, when you implement a calorie surplus, you need to be careful – do this without the right exercise program, and you are sure to gain extra weight as fat and not muscle tissue.
2. Eat A Protein And Carbohydrate-Rich Diet
When creating a diet plan that would provide a calorie surplus, you need to plan out the foods that you will be eating carefully. Opting for junk food, for example, would not give your body the nutrients it needs.
The macronutrient profile of junk food is also inappropriate – making it easier for excess calories to be stored as fat instead of being used as a way to increase your lean muscle mass.
Your diet should include meals and food that are high in both carbohydrates and protein. Protein is an essential part of a weight building strategy – your muscles depend on this particular macronutrient to grow and recover effectively.
This may come as a surprise – but milk is actually one of the greatest foods to add to your diet when trying to increase the amount of protein and carbs you consume.
Milk is not only high in these two macronutrients, but also contain healthy fats, and this drink is incredibly high in certain nutrients – including calcium, a mineral that is critical to the well-being of your bones.
Another factor about milk to consider is that this drink is high in two types of protein – both casein and whey protein can be found in milk.
Whey protein has a more immediate effect on muscle tissue, while casein provides a longer-term effect. Combined, studies show that casein and whey protein offers a more prominent impact on muscle growth.
Nuts are also excellent for gaining weight. In addition to nuts, you can also opt for nut butter instead – which can easily be combined with certain starches, contributing to both your protein and your carbohydrate intake for the day.
You should ultimately combine your foods to create the right balance. Rice, for example, is an excellent source of carbohydrates – but this starchy food will not give you a good dose of protein.
Combine rice with some lean red meat, and you suddenly have a balanced meal that gives you both protein and carbohydrates.
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Click To Learn More!3. Focus On Adding Nutrient-Dense Foods To Your Diet
Don’t forget to focus on nutrients while developing a diet plan for your weight gain program. While protein and carbohydrates are important, you also need to ensure your body gets the right nutrients.
When there is a nutritional deficiency in your body, you become at risk of certain diseases – and your body may not be able to take full advantage of the macronutrient profile you introduce through your daily meals.
A nutritional deficiency is also known to cause poor sleep, and low energy levels, which means entering the gym is likely to make you feel fatigued.
There are many vitamins that you need to focus on when you are trying to build more muscle mass – each of these has an important role to play.
While they may not particularly provide an increase in the lean mass itself, each vitamin and mineral contribute to the well-being of your muscles, the metabolism of energy, or some other function that will have an impact on your performance and ability to reach your goals.
Make sure your diet is optimized to deliver appropriate amounts of these vitamins and minerals:
- Calcium (Yogurt, sardines, almonds, sesame seeds, milk)
- Biotin (oats, hazelnuts, almonds, peanut butter, egg yolks)
- Selenium (tuna, brazil nuts, wholemeal bread, sunflower seeds)
- Iron (sardines, venison, bran cereal, dried apricots)
- Vitamin B12 (meat, offal, milk, eggs)
- Omega-3 fatty acids (brazil nuts, mackerel, salmon, flaxseed oil, walnuts)
- Vitamin D (eggs, sunflower seeds, oily fish, yogurt, olive oil)
- Riboflavin (spinach, chicken, eggs)
- Magnesium (spinach, kale, nuts, seeds, garlic, bran)
- Zinc (eggs, pumpkin seeds, cheese, oysters, red meat)
4. Increase The Eccentric Phase Of Your Exercises
Every single type of resistance or strength training activity has two phases – this includes the eccentric and the concentric phase. The eccentric phase is usually considered an easier part of the activity. The concentric phase, on the other hand, is usually the harder part of each movement.
It has been found that the eccentric phase of a strength training activity tends to be more effective when it comes to activating what is known as hypertrophy – this is when your muscle fibers break down during exercise.
The breakdown of muscle fibers is critical if you wish to gain in lean mass – following this breakdown process, your body will quickly start to regenerate the broken-down muscle fibers.
You have two options when it comes to increasing the benefits that you would gain from the eccentric phase of the exercises that you perform.
The first option is to focus on including activities where you can focus on only including the eccentric phase of the exercise. Many people might find this a rather difficult option, however.
This brings us to the second option – include the regular exercises that you are used to performing, but lengthen the eccentric phase of each activity that you participate in.
This means the concentric phase will become shorter or even stay the same. The eccentric phase, on the other hand, needs to last for a longer period than the concentric phase of the activity.
5. Take Shorter Rests Between Different Sets
Everyone who is trying to build muscle mass knows that taking short rests between each set can be helpful. This gives you a short while to take a deep breath and get a new burst of energy for the next set.
The problem, however, is that taking a rest period that lasts too long can be a disadvantage when it comes to muscle pump.
To maximize your gains through every specific activity that is part of your training program, you need to shorten the rest period that you take between sets.
At the same time, do take note that you should still take rests – we are not saying you should completely eliminate breaks, as this can be disastrous.
Your goal here is to achieve hypertrophy. You also want your body to release two specific hormones that are known to have a significant role to play in the development of muscle tissue.
The two hormones include human growth hormone and, of course, testosterone.
To get the maximum amount of benefits, you should set your rest periods to a time between 30 seconds and 90 seconds.
This is an adequate time for your muscles to take a quick break and refresh, without waiting too long for the hypertrophy process to deactivate. During this short break, your body will also release a burst of testosterone, as well as human growth hormone, which ultimately contributes to the growth of your lean muscle mass.
6. Consume Casein Protein Before Going To Bed
There are a few different types of protein that you can use to help you on your way to a bigger, more muscular physique.
In most cases, when looking at how to gain mass faster, you will find that whey protein is the recommended type of protein. This is because many whey protein products are quickly absorbed and can readily make this protein available for your muscles to utilize during a workout program.
While taking whey protein supplements and eating more food with whey protein can be useful, do not forget about casein protein.
This is another useful type of protein that lasts for a much longer time in the bloodstream.
With this in mind, casein protein is not the type of product you want to use for an immediate improvement in your muscle-building results – instead, this is the type of protein you want to consume in order to support muscle growth over a period of time – the protein is usually able to provide benefits for up to seven hours after consumption.
The best way to take full advantage of casein protein is to take a supplement or eat food that contains this type of protein just before you go to bed. As your body winds down and you relax, the protein can get to work to help your body build muscle throughout the night.
If you are not sure what food to consume, consider opting for a casein protein powder supplement. There are many options that you can consider – just be sure to opt for a product that is slow absorbing and not filled with additives, fillers, or synthetic ingredients.
The BulkSupplements Casein Protein Powder is a pure and unflavoured option to consider – available at quite an affordable price. If you’re wanting to gain mass fast, this is one of our most recommended choices.
If you want to buy in bulk and have a larger budget, then take a closer look at the ProMix Nutrition 100% Casein Protein Powder as well. It will help you gain mass fast and it’s got amazing reviews.
Conclusion
Gaining mass is not as easy as it sounds, especially when you are trying to gain muscle mass. Opting for junk food might lead to weight gain in the form of fat, but this is an unhealthy way to pack on some extra pounds.
The good news is, even if you are currently experiencing results with a muscle growth program, there are often ways to speed up the results you get.
We looked at some of the best methods to implement if you are asking how to gain mass faster. Each of these techniques can give you effective results. Consider which applies to your current program and consider taking advantage of the tips that you are not already utilizing.