Here is the deal people, gaining weight the right way is a lot more difficult that it sounds. Especially when you don't have a whole lot of time and have a fast metabolism. The key to weight gain is to get lots of exercise and eat lots and lots and lots of food.
As a collegiate athlete there are lots of products that we are not allowed to take because the NCAA bans them, therefore I take a more natural approach to gaining weight. The best way to do this is to start by constantly eating. You need to be taking in more calories than you are burning off. Remember to eat healthy food though, stuff that is high in protein and low in fats. All fats aren't all bad though. Your body needs fats to recover so there is no need to try and eliminate them completely.
Now that we have covered the eating it's time to get going on the working out. I recommend alternating between one hour and two hours of working out a day. I have been doing some research online and I also gotten verification from my weight lifting coach here at Rutgers. Everything that I have read says that after about an hour of lifting your body no longer responds to the workouts. This has to do with the phenomenon of muscle memory, which I talked briefly about in one of my previous posts. So how do you get a good two hour workout you ask? Anaerobic workouts.
An anaerobic workout refers to any sort of exercise that does not require oxygen. This includes weightlifting, sprinting, plyometircs, anything that involves explosive activity done in short bursts. The reason that these types of exercises are good for gaining weight is because you burn less calories while performing anaerobic exercise than you would while doing an aerobic workout.
To be able to accomplish the task of getting a good two hour workout in one should combine two or more anaerobic type workouts. Here is an example of my weekly exercise pattern focusing (but not only) on anaerobic exercise.
Monday: 9-10am lower body weights.
5-6pm Sprinting (generally repeat 200's or a latter)
Tuesday: 5-7pm Pole Vault practice and Plyometric box jumps/bounding (these types of
workouts are for explosion)
Wednesday: 9-10am upper body weights.
5-6pm Medball circuit combined with 30-60m sprints
Thursday: 5-7pm Pole Vault practice and a core circuit (this will encompass a variety of
abs, legs and arms)
Friday: 9-10am Combination upper/lower body weights (different from rest of week)
5-6pm Hills or relaxed 400's
Saturday: Easy 20-30 min jog (this helps release built up lactic acid in the muscles)
Sunday: rest! (Yay!)
Keep in mind that this is not set in stone, and the workouts vary from week to week.
If you have any questions or need examples of any of these types of exercises let me know!
Hope this helps you gain that muscle weight!
Oh just to let my followers know I have gained 3 pounds! I need to work on eating more, so that is my short term goal for the next couple of weeks.
Fulfilling your goals is sweeter than candy.
-Sonya
Two questions: First if I am dieting to lose weight while also trying to gain muscle is that going to hurt my muscle gain?
ReplyDeleteAnd if I do cardio before or after I lift will it hurt bulking?
I hate to break it to you Chris but trying to lose weight and trying to gain muscle at the same time is never going to work. To gain muscle mass you have to gain weight. Muscle weights more than fat, with that said if you are wanting to gain weight then you need to change your diet to something that is more applicable to weight gain.
ReplyDeleteDoing cardio is totally fine when you are bulking up. It is actually good to go on a 15-20 min run after a vigorous lift so that you can get the lactic acid out of your muscles.