If you're training drug free you won't be able to gain weight or add an impressive amount of muscle mass if you're not consuming enough clean calories to promote hypertrophy; i.e. muscle growth.
On the contrary, if you don't eat enough, chances are that you'll lose muscle no matter how hard you train.
Sherlock Holmes would be the first to acknowledge a 'see food diet' as the logical answer to gain weight and mass because the more you eat, the more you grow, correct?
Not exactly.
It is very true that you'll be putting the breaks on gaining weight if you're nutrition intake is impaired. However, there is a clear difference in getting bigger and getting more muscular. We're talking about gaining weight without getting fat which will make you more muscular, not just bigger.
Which leads me to my pet peeve...
Guys who justify eating too much junk food to gain weight and accept an excessive amount of fat gain (more than I endorse in my book) in hope of stimulating extra muscle growth.
It does not work that way.
Your body has a limited capacity to gain muscle. Unfortunately it does not have a limited capacity to how much weight we can gain (we would be a much more attractive society).
Each person has a different ability to manufacture muscle based on how much protein their body can synthesize which is based on your testosterone levels, your testosterone to stress level, your insulin sensitivity, your genetic muscle fiber make up, and many other variables.
Lets look at eight secrets to help you eat more food so you can gain weight that does not turn into body fat.
1 DOUBLE IT UP
If you aren't growing, the solution is simple - get in more calories. What's the easiest way to bump your calorie intake through the roof? Double up on all your servings. For example, if you're having one chicken breast for dinner, from now on, make that two.
Toasting a slice of bread for breakfast? Double that as well. This takes all the thinking out of it for you. Whenever possible just aim to eat twice as much as you normally would to double your calorie intake. Since you have to prepare the food anyway, it's not really any extra effort to prepare twice as much.
2 FOCUS ON FOOD TIMING
Next, don't let yourself be distracted during the day. You have to eat and eat frequently - once every 2-3 hours would be your best bet if you really struggle to get those calories in.
If you find you forget to eat when it's time, get a timer and set it to go off. Or, buy a watch that has a beeper. This includes breakfast as well. You must get quality nutrients into your body within fifteen minutes of waking up if you want to go grow. Don't ever let your body turn to present body mass as fuel or you'll be digging yourself out of a hole.
3 FIND BIG EATING EQUIPMENT
Another sneaky trick I have many of the guys in my program do is just purchase bigger plates. Just like many diet books will tell you to cut the size of your plate in half to consume fewer calories, for building muscle you want to do the exact opposite. Once you have that bigger plate, make sure you fill it - FULL.
It will take less mental effort to clean one large plateful of food compared to two whole smaller plates of food.
4 DON'T SKIMP ON POST-WORKOUT NUTRITION
Next, you also must be absolutely sure you're eating good food immediately after your workout. If you let yourself suffer at this point, you're not maximizing the true potential of the effects of that workout.
The body is in a state where it will literally suck up any calories you supply it immediately following a workout, so failing to give it a huge dose of carbs and protein shorts the recovery process.
If there is one time you want to slam back a higher calorie shake, this will be it.
Also, if you're someone who can only train in the morning, don't think this means you can get away without eating beforehand. It doesn't. Just like everyone else you must fuel the body before the coming workout. If you cannot tolerate a full food meal, then you should instead use a liquid shake to get the calories in.
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