A guide to mass gaining

If you’re looking to gain body mass, here is a simple and brief guide to the steps which can be taken to effectively increase overall mass and size. The guide is aimed at the relatively inexperienced trainer who lacks knowledge of the basics, and therefore aims to serve as a general overview of how to gain quality body mass.

Eat to gain mass

Learning the importance of food intake for gaining body mass is vital. Paying little attention to dietary intake will significantly impair results, and possibly lead to a downward spiral for those uneducated in the importance of their diet for bodybuilding. New trainers, for example, may not know about the need for sufficient protein levels and calories within a diet, and therefore blame their own training for the lack of results seen. This may in turn result in the trainer increasing training frequency and intensity in an attempt to bring about greater results, therefore leading to greater burn out and diminishing results due to a poor dietary consumption.

Simply put, a diet should be followed which especially has sufficient levels of protein and calories to support muscle growth, but also contain a wide spectrum of nutrients, as well as quality carbohydrates and fats. Aim to eat wholesome foods and avoid processed food choices.

For protein sources, look at; chicken, turkey, white fish, salmon, red meats, eggs, nuts, beans, cheese, and so on.

For carbohydrate sources, look at; oatmeal, granary bread, brown rice, wholemeal pasta, sweet potato, new potatoes, baked potato, and so on.

For fat sources, look at; nuts and seeds, natural nut butters, olive oil, olive oil based spreads, oily fish, and so on.

Eat at least five servings of fruit and veg during the day too, as well as having sufficient fluid intake.

The diet should contain plentiful calories to support weight gain, with a caloric surplus necessary for body weight gain. For an example of a bulking meal plan, see bodybuilding bulking diet.

Stress the muscle

A diet plan will do little for muscle gain if there is a not sufficient stimulus for muscle growth. Simply, the aim of a training plan is to place a demand on a muscle which is greater than it is currently capable of, so the muscle tissue responds by increasing in size and strength. This is where the phrase “progressive overload” comes into play. The trainer should aim to gradually increase the resistance lifted for a given exercise, within the same repetition range, so there is a continual overload on the muscle to aid progression.

Those focused on mass gaining will want to ensure their training plan is mostly composed of exercises which stress multiple muscle groups, therefore leading to overall greater muscle stress. These exercises are commonly referred to as “compound exercises”. Examples of great compound exercises include; bench press, shoulder press, dips, squats, deadlifts, hack squat, row, and the pull up.

The training plan itself should be structured to allow for the intense training of a muscle group, with sufficient rest and recovery afterwards. There are various options available, with full body splits, upper and lower body splits, body part splits etc all capable of inducing gains.

As an example, a body part split may look like the following:

Monday: Legs (squats, stiff leg deadlift, hack squat, calf raises)
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps (bench press, dips, shoulder press, narrow grip bench press)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Back, Biceps, Abs (deadlift, bent over row, pull up, barbell curl, crunches)
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

Stay consistent

Building a quality physique takes time and effort. Weight can be piled on relatively quickly, yet muscle is harder to come by. Eat sufficient levels of food, yet monitor body composition to ensure excessive fat gains are not experienced. If too much fat is being gained, simply reduce serving sizes slightly to reduce overall calorie intake. If weight is not being gained, yet you are training hard in the gym, possibly look to increase calories. Do remember the body will demand greater levels of nutrients and energy as muscle mass increases, so a diet should always remain flexible to the progression monitored.