If you’ve been trying to figure out how to gain weight fast, you may be among the growing number of people who are choosing to add lean muscle to their body rather than trying to look like a stick figure. You would think that putting on a few kilos would be an easy task, right? For some, they couldn’t gain weight quickly if they sat in a fast-food restaurant and slingshot cheeseburgers and fries down their throats, washed down with buttermilk shakes. Trust me, I’m one of those people. My metabolism is so fast that I think I burn calories just thinking about food.
So, if you’re like me, and your goal is to gain weight quickly, or gain weight and muscle quickly, it most likely requires a bit of planning and dedication on your part. The first thing to keep in mind is that there are no supplements, pills or protein shakes that will make you gain pounds by themselves, if they are used they have to be part of a larger plan to reach your goal.
Just for a minute, let’s say you’ve decided you want to pack on a few pounds of lean muscle. Naturally, the first thing that goes through your mind is how to gain weight fast, right? I mean, let’s not kid ourselves here. We live in a society that requires instant gratification, not one where our expectation is that we will have to work hard to get results. Sure, we may not admit it to ourselves, but subconsciously it’s the way most of us act and think. If it wasn’t, why would we spend so much money on things like weight gain pills, supplements, and protein shakes? It is a multi-billion dollar industry.
However, if you want to gain weight quickly, the best thing you can do for yourself is to set your expectations correctly. Basically, you should expect to put in a decent amount of effort and have to exercise some discipline and self-control.
Now, I’m not saying that you have to let the fact that you want to gain some weight consume your life, or completely change the way you live. In fact, there are some shortcuts you can take, but you need to pay attention to how your body reacts and what your calorie and exercise threshold is. Let’s take a look at some shortcuts for a minute.
Eating high-calorie meals after working out: For some people trying to gain weight quickly, this is a bit of a hassle, because when they finish their workout, they just aren’t hungry. So trying to load calories is the last thing on their minds. So to make it easier, you should focus on foods that contain the most calories and protein in the smallest portions. A great example of this type of food is Red Meat and Potatoes. Men, especially, can choke on a large steak and a bunch of potatoes even if they’re not hungry, simply because it’s steak and potatoes. So if you’re trying to add some muscle and weight to your body, this is a great example of an alternative meal when you’re not hungry.
Exercise for weight, not reps: Most of us, when using any exercise routine, try to hold a weight as many times as possible. However, when you’re trying to figure out how to gain weight fast, you want to switch gears a bit and go for the highest weight you can lift, as long as you can lift it 4 times or more. The goal is to tear your muscles to pack on mass. You may very well lose a couple of inches in areas where it’s needed, like around your waist, but instead there will be lean, heavy muscle that weighs more than fat, so it will definitely help you achieve your goal.
Regardless of the reason you’re trying to put on a few pounds, just like everything else, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. Unfortunately, too many people try to take the easy way out and fail pathetically short of their goals. In this case, they don’t add any weight, or they add the wrong kind of pounds and just end up fat, instead of fit. If you want to add muscle mass and weight quickly, effectively and in a healthy way, find a routine and stick to it, that’s the easiest path to success.