In order to lose fat, you must have a great fat loss diet and a weight training routine. Don't even bother to weight train unless you are willing to follow the fat loss diet and the nutrition rules! Otherwise, you will be breaking down your muscles but not supplying them with what they need to repair & rebuild! Weight training with a bad diet will ruin your body and cause injury – don't neglect your diet.

 

Fat Loss Weight Training Workout

The following is a a sample cutting workout. (What is Cutting?)  For a weight training muscle building workout for the bulking phase, go here. Bulking vs Cutting.

Workout Routine (Cutting Phase)

Use Lighter Weight - Weight that you can lift to failure for 12-15 reps 5 min. on stationary bike to warm-up Rest 1.5 minutes between sets Tempo: 1/0/1 - 1 second positive motion, 0 second hold, 1 second negative motion Stretch muscles after workout

Exercise Rules: 1 warm up set (12 reps) 3-4 work sets (10-15 reps)

Weight Training Routine Guidelines:

• Weight train 3 days per week.
• Have a Rest Day after a Weight Training Day.
• Do not Weight Train more than 2 days in a row.
• Do not rest more than 2 days in a row.
• Be sure to drink your post-workout shake within 30 minutes of completing your last set!

Cardio Rules (Cardio is an absolute necessity for fat loss. Read all about cardio in the cutting phase.)

• Perform cardio 3-4 times a week. I recommend that you don't do cardio and weight training on the same day, and definitely not in the same session.
• Perform cardio in the morning on an empty stomach (IMPORTANT! Read why.)
• Keep your heart rate at 140 beats per minute for effective fat loss; 180 is for endurance. Lesser or Greater than 140 bpm is not effective!
  • Use a heart rate monitor watch to monitor your heart rate.
• The stationary bike is the preferred cardio method. It's easy and good for preserving your muscle mass.

Day 1: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps	Sets	Reps
Incline Dumbell Press	4	12-15
Pec Machine	4	12-15
Dumbbell Side Lateral Raises	3	12-15
Bench Dips	4	12-15
Crunches	4	20-25

 

Day 2: Back, Biceps	Sets	Reps
Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns	4	12-15
Cable Rows	4	12-15
Cable Curls	3	12-15
Crunches	4	20-25

 

Day 3: Legs	Sets	Reps
Leg Press	4	12-15
Leg Extensions	4	12-15
Hamstring Curl	3	12-15
Standing Calve Raises	4	12-15
Reverse Crunches	4	20-25

Using these tips, I went from a skinny 117-pounder to my current weight of 160 pounds! Read my ways to gain weight:

1.  Count how many calories you eat in a normal day. Don't change anything, just eat like you normally would and count how many calories you consumed. Use FitDay.com to EASILY track your calories in an online account.  I use FitDay every day to make sure I reach my calorie goals; it is truly amazing software. This is an extremely important step, so try to be as exact as possible when entering the foods and food quantities. Also, weigh yourself. You want to weight yourself at the same time of day when you do so, in the morning on an empty stomach after a morning bowel movement is ideal so that food products in your body don't influence the weight reading.

2.  Starting the day after you counted calories, eat 500 calories MORE then you normally do. So, lets pretend that the day you counted calories you counted 2300. For the rest of the week, you would now eat 2800 calories a day. Instead of eating 3 big meals a day or eating all day all the time, spread those calories out and eat six small meals a day. Eat one small meal every 2.5 to 3 hours. That means if you are eating 3,000 calories per day, each meal should be about 500 calories. To get big, you have to eat big! Remember that.

---

Shortcut to Finding Your Weight-Gain Daily Calorie Goal:
Multiply your bodyweight in pounds by 24. 

Recommended Calorie Intake for Muscle Gain: Bodyweight (lbs) x 24
150-Pounder: 150 x 24 = 3600 calories/day

Carbs: 40% = 1440 Carb Calories = 1,440 / (4 Calories Per Gram of Carb) = 360 grams of Carbs Per Day

Protein: 30% = 1080 Fat Calories = 1080 / (4 Calories Per Gram of Protein) = 270 grams of Protein Per Day

Fat: 30% = 1080 Protein Calories = 1080 / (9 Calories Per Gram of Fat) =
120 grams of Fat Per Day

---

3.  Weightlifting is key! Get in the gym and lift! This is another important step in how to gain weight, so make sure you are doing it correctly. For more information on weightlifting workout routines and splits, check out No Nonsense Muscle Building for a complete weight training program.

 

4.  Weigh yourself at the end of the week. You will notice weight gain after one week! Don't expect to see a 10-pound increase. Gaining any more than 1 or 2 pounds a week is unhealthy and means that you are putting on way too much fat. So look for 1 – 2 pound gains at the end of the week. It may not sound like much but it is! You can be gaining 4 to 8 pounds a month!

Buy a Digital Weight Scale

5.  Plateaus. At some point, you will stop seeing weight gain. At this point, you will have to eat even more. So, when you stop gaining weight for at least 2 weeks, that means it's time to start eating an extra 250 calories a day. Every time you see you haven't gained weight for at least 2 weeks, add an extra 250 calories.

6.  Stay away from junk food! Get rid of the chips and candy. No more fast food, nothing fried. Eat high protein foods like tuna fish (and other seafood), chicken breast, turkey, lean meats, fruits and vegetables, etc. You should be eating muscle building food every 3 hours so you shouldn't have ANY room for junk food! Read about the diet to build muscle.

  

7.  Eating protein is absolutely essential to muscle building – without question. Without protein, don't even bother going to the gym! Muscle tissue is repaired with protein. It is widely accepted that 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily is necessary to build and maintain muscle. So if you weigh 150lbs, eat 150 grams of protein every day, forever. Embrace that goal and make it a basic part of your life like brushing your teeth twice a day. And that means everyday, whether you are weight training that day or not, you still need to supply your muscles with the protein that they need to recover for the next workout and to grow.

 

8.  Post-Workout Shakes Are a MUST! Consume a post-workout shake with oats, whey protein, and whole milk immediately after your workout.  It is absolutety vital that you consume this shake within 30 minutes of your last set.  This period is called the "golden window", during which your muscles are desperate for the protein that it takes to rebuild them, and your body is yearning for the carbs it needs to replenish its energy (glycogen) stores. Ingredients for Post Workout Shakes. You want protein for muscle recovery, carbs for energy, and milk/water for rehydration. Whey. Get 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily. Divide your protein intake evenly among your daily meals. Oats. Quick oats work best.  They are more finely ground  than rolled oats. Oats are the best source of healthy carbs in a diet. Milk. Helps weight gain if you’re skinny. Stick to whole milk if you have a high metabolism or you have a lot of weight to gain.  If you wish, you may use fat-free skim milk.  Remember it is not possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.  Choose a phase, cutting or bulking, and stick to it. Fruit. Full of vitamins & minerals. Bananas, raisins, strawberries, etc.

Buy Oats & Whey

	9. Drink 1 Gallon of Water Per Day! The best thing to drink is water, and a lot of it. Your body needs it desperately to perform well amidst the incredible strain you are placing on it with your workouts. Water is crucial even for those who don't workout because your bodily functions (blood circulation, breathing, perspiration, digestion, etc) demand it greatly.
	Drink at least .66 oz of water per pound of bodyweight every day.  A gallon of water a day is a good mark for most people, bigger people will need more. Water will excel your body in all performances. Hydration is king! Read the importance of water. Split your water intake up over the course of the day. Buy a Brita water pitcher – you definitely don't want to be drinking tainted tap water or expensive bottle water.

10. Drink Whole Milk. Milk is really the only other drink you need to be consuming. Milk is the life liquid of baby animals for a reason.  It is packed with protein, carbs, and healthy fat.  Milk is a skinny man's power elixir.  Drinking up to a gallon of milk a day will seriously help you gain wait in no time.

Gradually train yourself to drink more and more milk each day until you can handle as much as you need to satisfy your nutrient needs. Spread the milk drinks throughout the day in 10 – 16 oz quantities.  DO NOT drink all your day's milk in one sitting or you will be sorry! If you are lactose intolerant, don't worry.  My brother is lactose intolerant and he takes lactase pills in order to digest milk just fine.  Buy lactase pills for easy digestion of milk, if you need them. If drinking milk makes you go to the bathroom, you are probably lactose intolerant and you need lactase pills.  The pills work wonders for my brother who is lactose intolerant. Read Lactose Intolerance and GOMAD: Gallon of Milk A Day to Gain Weight.

Why 95% of All Hardgainers are
DEAD WRONG in How They Train for Massive Muscle Growth…

11.  Plan Your Diet! To gain weight the healthy way, you have to get organized. Plan what your going to eat before you eat it. Aim for 30% protein, 40% carbs, and 30% fat. Start tracking your nutrients with an account at FitDay.com and do it every day until you know exactly what to eat and when to eat it to achieve your  nutrient goals.

12.  Eat Carbohydrates. Aim for 40-50% carb intake.  FitDay.com will help you track your nutrient intake EASILY! Focus on complex carbs (oatmeal, wheat bread) and limit simple carbs intake (white flour foods, candy, pastries).

13.  SLEEP!  Get 8 hours of sleep per night. Your muscles will only grow (be repaired and rebuilt stronger) during periods of rest. Getting a good amount of sleep is vital to muscle gain and vital to overall body health in general.  Make a commitment to yourself to go to sleep in time enough to get 8 hours of sleep a night, every night. If you are having difficulty sleeping, consider trying a Sleep Support Supplement.

14.  You cannot gain weight without gaining some fat! Believe it and accept it! Unless you are using steroids, it is basically impossible to gain weight without putting on a little bit of extra fat. No worries, you will be able to lose the fat you gained in the next phase. Accept the fact that you will gain bodyfat when you are on a bulking eating plan. Your main focus during the bulking phase is to gain mass and muscle; focus on that.  After you have reached your goal weight, you will then switch to the fat loss phase, called the cutting phase. Read more about the different phases of fat loss and muscle gain.

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle!

15.  Split your weight training.  When you are on a weightlifting workout programs for gaining muscle weight, you want to make sure to split it so that you aren't overtraining bodyparts. Doing chest on Monday, then triceps on Tuesday, then shoulders on Wednesday will overtrain your triceps. Why? Because just about every chest and shoulder exercise works the triceps secondarily. Also, almost every back exercise works the biceps secondarily. So, work your chest, shoulders, and triceps on Mondays, work your back and biceps on Wednesdays, and work your legs on Fridays.  You want to give yourself a rest day on the day after a training day. Hardgainers should workout no more than 3 days a week to allow for optimal rest time. Limit your workouts to 60 minutes or less.

16.  Carefully plan your meals with foods that will help you gain lean mass. I suggest that you eat six small meals a day. Do this with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and three other small meals scheduled throughout the day. The goal is to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours. See the diet to build muscle. The best way to plan and track your meal plan is by using FitDay.com.

Focus on foods such as steak, chicken, fruit, milk, vegetables, cheese and assorted types of nuts. It's recommended to eat 4 to 6 pieces of fresh fruit a day, and at least four tall glasses of milk. Milk is a great, inexpensive protein source – take advantage of it. A sample snack meal would be a glass of milk, an apple, and a hand full of peanuts.

17.  Drink weight gain shakes. Weight gainers will provide you with a large quantity of calories in one small serving. Weight gainers worked wonders for me in getting from 117 pounds to my current weight of 155 pounds.   They are especially great for people who do not have time for breakfast, or for snacks while on the go. Just mix a serving with milk and gulp it down. See our weight gain supplement reviews here.

18.  To build mass, you must train with heavy weights. Heavy means a weight that is challenging for you. To consider a weight heavy, you should only be able to do a maximum of 6 to 8 reps before your muscles temporarily fail. A weight is considered "light" if you can do more than 15 reps before muscle fatigue sets in. Read all about Free Weights vs Machines.

19.  Keep your workouts under 90 minutes. Short and intense!

20.  Concentrate on free weight exercises that work the large muscle groups. The best weight training exercises for building mass are the simple ones. Stick with compound free weight exercises like squats, deadlifts, the bench press, barbell rows, pull-ups and dips.
	All of your muscles tense when doing squats and deadlifts. They work your body as a single unit and allow you to lift heavy weights. Don't waste time with leg extensions, squats and deadlifts are the kings of mass building.  Your legs make up a great deal of your bodyweight – Don't neglect the legs!

21.  Use heavy weights and low reps, rest 3 minutes between each set.

 

Check Out "No-Nonsense Muscle Building" for a Ready-Made Weightlifting Program for Super Mass-Gain!

22.  Stretching before your session is necessary to warm-up and loosen your joints, muscles and ligaments, while stretching after your workout helps to aid in recovery. Stretching the muscles you that  just work will help to remove the lactic acid buildup in those muscles. Stretching helps in the removal of waste from the muscles, and supplies them with much needed oxygen and nutrients. This will also help to alleviate some of the muscle soreness that accompanies heavy training.

23.  Supplements will SURELY help you gain weight faster. Treat supplements as additions to an already great muscle building diet and weightlifting program. Check out our weight gain supplements and our muscle recovery supplements. Creatine is the most popular supplements among bodybuilders, for good reason.  Most people gain 5 to 7 pounds in the first two weeks of creatine use. Buy Creatine Now.

Take the following supplements EVERY DAY!  Without supplements, I would probably not have gained as much weight as I have because I might have given up.  They have been completely outstanding in my muscle gain progress and they will ensure that I get to 170 pounds this year. I recommend that everyone take daily a Multi-Vitamin, 3,000 mg of Vitamin C, 3 5-gram servings of Glutamine powder, one 5 -gram serving of Creatine, and a serving of Glucosamine.

I use the following supplements faithfully:

	Multi-Vitamin Weight training increases the body's need for many minerals like magnesium and selenium. Multivitamins will ensure that you are not deficient in any major essential vitamin or mineral. Deficiency symptoms include muscle weakness and suppression of the immune system, muscle cramping and fatigue. Buy multivitamins.
	Vitamin C Vitamin C is essential to prevent free radical damage, which is accelerated after the heavy trauma of weight training. It is also essential in helping to repair connective tissue which helps decrease the amount of time that you are sore. Vitamin C helps recovery so you can get back to training. Typical Vitamin C intake is around 3,000 mg in three doses spread throughout the day. Buy Vitamin C here.
	Glutamine Glutamine is an amino acid that the body uses to help your muscles combat the stresses of exercise trauma, lack of calories (dieting), or illness. Supplementing your diet with extra glutamine will help prevent muscle protein breakdown while you're asleep or dieting. Glutamine promotes increased cell volumizing, strengthens your immune system, decreases recovery time and increases growth hormone levels. Never take large amounts of glutamine all at once because most of it gets destroyed in the gut. It never reaches the bloodstream. The best way to get maximum absorption of glutamine is to take it in smaller, divided doses. I recommend you take 15 grams per day in 3 divided doses of 5 grams each. Since you will be taking more than 100 grams of this stuff per week, I suggest save money by purchasing this product in bulk (powder form only, do not get capsules). Buy Glutamine Powder.
	Creatine Creatine Monohydrate: Most people gain 5 to 7 pounds in the first two weeks of creatine use. If you are interested in quick weight gain, and increased energy for your workouts, creatine is definitely worth a go. Buy Creatine Powder.
	Glucosamine Glucosamine — Glucosamine is produced by our bodies, but most of the time our bodies demand so much of it, that it can't create enough. Glucosamine is a powerful antioxidant, which helps to combat the stresses of exercise trauma, and prevent muscle protein breakdown. Suggested glucosamine intake is about 1,500 mg per day, which would be impossible to get naturally. Take one dose at bedtime. Buy Glucosamine here.

24.  Make your eating plan easy by having food in the fridge! Keep foods within easy reach. When you're shopping, remember that convenient packaging reduces the effort of preparing meals and snacks. It also requires less energy…save that energy for bulking up those muscles!

25.  Limit greasy or fried foods. They take longer to digest and therefore diminish your appetite. They're also bad for heart-health.

26.  Write down your specific goal on a piece of paper (e.g. you want to gain 30 pounds of muscle and get your body fat below 6 percent), and either carry it with you everywhere, or hang it somewhere you will see it everyday.

27.  Find a photo of someone who has the physique that you are trying to attain. You must be realistic when choosing this. Choose someone who is realistically achievable. Now hang that where you will see it everyday. Each time you look at your role model photo or read your written goal, you should visualize what you will actually look like at that goal and how you will feel.

28.  Take your physical measurements every two weeks. This will gauge how well your program is working for you. You will see what is and what is not working for you. Read body measurements and taking your bodyfat percentage with skinfold measurements.

Buy MyoTape Now	MyoTape is the best measuring tape available. The MyoTape from Accu-Fitness is a vast improvement over the simple tape and it works wonderfully. You can buy one for less than $10 and also as part of a package when you get your body fat caliper (See the skinfold measurements page for how to use the bodyfat caliper to get your skinfold measurements and calculate your bodyfat percentage).
Buy the FatTrack Gold Digital Caliper with FREE MyoTape	Get your bodyfat percentage super easily with the FatTrack Gold Digital Caliper.  It automatically calculates your bodyfat percentage based on 3 skinfold sites.

29.  Replace sodas and energy drinks with good energy sources, such as milk.  Soda and energy drinks are bad for you as they have excess amounts of simple sugars and it's best to cancel them from your diet altogether.

30.  Power-pack each meal and snack. A few simple additions can add considerable amounts of nutrients and calories to your food. Add peanut butter to toast with honey or jam, dried cranberries and almonds or walnuts to oatmeal, and add cheese to crackers.  My favorite is muenster cheese…so tasty.

31.  STAY FOCUSED. Things rarely go exactly as planned. Nobody makes the gains they expected when they expected. At some point, guys who have made incredible gains became discouraged and felt disappointed, but they did not quit. They stayed focused on their goals. That is the key.

With No Nonsense Muscle Building, you will receive a planned program that will tell you exactly what exercises to perform in the gym and what foods to eat to ensure size and muscle gains.  Vince DelMonte does an excellent job in laying out exactly what you need to do to get from skinny to muscular in no time.

Follow these tips to pack muscle onto your body. The muscle gain phase is known as the bulking phase. Bulking VS Cutting.

Eat Every 3 Hours

It is generally thought that a daily caloric intake of about 15 times your bodyweight is your maintenance diet. (This is based on the Harris-Benedict equation calculated for a lightly active adult male. Read about the Harris Benedict equation here.) So, if you weigh 150 pounds, your maintenance diet would be about 2,250  calories per day (150 x 15 = 2,250). To gain weight you must increase your calories from your maintenance intake. To start, most people will want to increase their daily caloric intake to 20-24 times their bodyweight. I highly recommend that hardgainers, or ectomorphs, start with a daily calorie intake of 24 times their bodyweight in pounds.

20-24 X Bodyweight in pounds = Daily Caloric Intake for Muscle Gain

If you have significant body fat, you may want to start at 16 – 18 times your weight (or, first do a training program geared toward losing body fat).

It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to know exactly how your diet is affecting your physique. To know this, you must be properly tracking your weight gain progress. FitDay.com is a great free way to track your nutrients.  This doesn't just mean that you are weighing yourself, but also using body tape measurements and body fat percentages to determine the direction your body is moving. This will allow you to quickly make the appropriate adjustments.

You now have a starting point for the amount of calories to consume and the ratio those calories should be split between protein, carbohydrates and fat within your diet to gain weight. To put your diet into action it will be necessary to do some simple calculations to determine how many calories and grams of each nutrient you will need to consume. For specific foods to eat for muscle gain, read the diet to build muscle.

With Muscle Gaining Secrets, you will receive a planned program that will tell you exactly what exercises to perform in the gym and what foods to eat to ensure size and muscle gains. Jason Ferrugia does an excellent job in laying out exactly what you need to do to get from skinny to muscular in no time.

First, to find the right amount of calories for each nutrient, you will need to multiply the decimal equivalent of each nutrient's ratio percentage by your daily caloric intake goal.

(Daily Caloric Intake Goal)(Nutrient ratio %) =
daily caloric intake from nutrient.

For example, lets say you have decided to start your diet to gain weight with a daily caloric intake goal of 3,000 calories and a nutrient ratio percentage of 30-40-30. Your calculations would be:

Protein	3,000 x 30%(.30) = 900 calories from protein
Carbohydrates	3,000 x 40%(.40) = 1,200 calories from carbs
Fat	3,000 x 30%(.30) = 900 calories from fat

Now you know how many calories to consume from each nutrient. To find the grams necessary for each of these nutrients, refer to the nutrient pages where you learned how many calories were in each gram of each nutrient…

Macronutrients	Calories Per Gram
Protein	4 calories
Carbohydrates	4 calories
Fat	9 calories

Divide the number of calories needed for each nutrient by that nutrient's caloric content per gram.

(Calories for each nutrient) / (Nutrient's calories per gram) =
Grams from nutrient daily

For the previous example, perform the calculations as follows:

Protein	900 / 4 = 225 grams per day
Carbohydrates	1,200 / 4 = 300 grams per day
Fat	900 / 9 = 100 grams per day

Now, you know exactly how many grams of each of the macronutrients you should shoot for every day. You won't be able to hit these goals exactly, you just want to try and come as close as possible.

 

Weight Gainers will help you get those extra calories that you need to Get Big Fast!

 

Get 8 Hours of Sleep

You do NOT get bigger while working out. Your muscles do not grow in the gym – they only grow when you are resting!

Weight training is needed only to stimulate growth. After that, your body needs rest and food to build muscle. And hardgainers need more rest and food than others. Read the diet to build muscle.

Since your muscles only grow while you are resting, you should definitely get the doctor-recommended 8 hours of sleep per night. Come as close to 8 hours of sleep a night as possible. Try a Sleep Support Supplement if you have trouble sleeping.

 

Work with Free Weights, Not Machines

The best way to gain muscle mass quickly is to use free weights. You must focus on compound free-weight training, and lift heavy weights.  "Heavy" means getting a low number of repititons per set; aim for 6-8 reps or less per set.  You should progressively increase the weight  you lift by small increments on each exercise at each workout. Read the muscle building workout routine.

The use of free weights stimulates the largest amount of muscle fibers.  Your body responds to this stimulus by increasing your muscle mass.

Most machines are a waste of time for hardgainers.  Machines limit your development because they help to support the weight.

On the other hand, free weights make you support the weight along the entire path of the movement, which helps to stimulate more muscle fibers while also strengthening smaller and/or weaker muscles.

If your smaller supporting muscles are weak, your larger muscles won't grow. To build size and strength quickly, pro bodybuilders and professional athletes don't use machines — they use free weights almost exclusively!

 

Free Weights Are King with No Nonsense Muscle Building!

 

The Post Workout Shake is a MUST-DO!

BodyTech Shaker Bottle

Strength training and weight lifting break down muscle, burn calories and make you sweat. You need nutrients post-workout for muscle recovery & rehydration. Post-workout shakes can take care of all of that. Why Drink Post Workout Shakes? Shakes are food in liquid form and therefore are digested faster and more easily than solid foods. It is important to consume protein and carbohydrates IMMEDIATELY following a weight training session in order to give your muscles those nutrients that they need right away when they are most receptive to them.

Immediately following a workout is the MOST IMPORTANT TIME to get nutrients, protein, carbs and insulin, into your muscles and into your bloodstream so that your muscles can receive the glycogen (muscle energy) that they desperately need.  Post-workout is the time that the muscles will absorb nutrients like a sponge because you have just depleted the glycogen stores so drastically with your workout. So, consume your post-workout shake as soon as possible at the completion of your weight training workout, and surely well within what is called the "golden hour".  I like to refer to this window of opportunity as the "golden half hour".

Ingredients for Post Workout Shakes. You want protein for muscle recovery, carbs for energy, and milk/water for rehydration.

• Whey. Get 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily. Divide your protein intake evenly among your daily meals.
• Oats. Quick oats work best.  They are more finely ground  than rolled oats and therefore are easier to ingest and digest. Oats are the best source of healthy carbs in a diet.
• Milk. Helps weight gain if you’re skinny. Stick to whole milk if you have a high metabolism or you have a lot of weight to gain.  If you wish, you may use fat-free skim milk.  Remember that you cannot lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.  Choose a phase, cutting or bulking, and stick to it.
• Fruit. Full of vitamins & minerals. Bananas, raisins, strawberries, etc.

Oats and Whey are fundamental elements of an athlete's diet. Oats are naturally low in sugar and supply slow-burning complex carbohydrates and hunger-filling dietary fiber. Whey proteins are readily digested and provide considerable amounts of essential amino acids (EAAs) especially the three branched chain amino acids (BCAAs). Optimum Nutrition Natural 100% Oats & Whey combines the benefits of these nutritional powerhouses in a smooth, drinkable shake that's quick to prepare and equally easy to clean up after.

Dextrose & Maltodextrin: Even though dextrose and maltodextrin each have a higher Glycemic Index (GI) than oats, GI is irrelevant because other ingredients in the shake influence the total GI; whey protein will spike insulin.

Oats contain vitamins, minerals and fiber. Dextrose/maltodextrin do not. Eat well pre-workout so you have nutrients available when your muscles need them. For pre-workout, I recommend a milk and oats shake (50 grams of oats and 12 oz of milk for me) for pre-workout nutrition.

How to Make Post-Workout Shakes

1. Get Your Container. Fill your shaker bottle or with 16 oz of milk (for a 150 pound person.)
2. Add Whey & Oats. For protein, I recommend Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Protein. It tastes great and it doesn't clump. Or, you can get Natural Brand Oats & Whey with the benefit of having oats & whey in one convenient source.

   Add milk, whey, quick oats to your shake in a carbs to protein ratio of 2 to 1.  Use FitDay.com to calculate the nutrients in your shake based on the quantities of the foods you are adding.  For example, I weigh 155 pounds and my post-workout shake has 16 oz of milk, 2 scoops of whey protein, and 50 grams of quick oats.  That amounts to 90g of carbs, 45 grams of protein, and 15 grams of fat.  

3. Shake Your Bottle. Make sure that your shaker bottle doesn’t leak. Close the shaker bottle tightly & shake it hard.

Use the 3 a.m. "Night Shake" Shake Routine

As a hardgainer, I need to take in a high number of calories each and every day to maintain and to gain weight.  I add to this calorie count by setting my alarm for halfway through my sleep period, which is 3 a.m. for me.  When the alarm sounds, I drink a "night shake" that consists of milk, whey protein, and frozen strawberries. 

Drink Water!

Drink 1 Gallon of Water Per Day! The best thing to drink is water, and a lot of it. Your body needs it desperately to perform well amidst the incredible strain you are placing on it with your workouts. Water is crucial even for those who don't workout because your bodily functions (blood circulation, breathing, perspiration, digestion, etc) demand it greatly.

Drink at least .66 oz of water per pound of bodyweight every day.  A gallon of water a day is a good mark for most people, bigger people will need more. Water will excel your body in all performances. Hydration is king! Read the importance of water. Split your water intake up over the course of the day. Buy a Brita water pitcher – you definitely don't want to be drinking tainted tap water or expensive bottle water.

Adam Harper Lost 24 Pounds of Fat and Gained 19 Pounds of Muscle!
	Thanks to Muscle Gaining Secrets, Adam Harper was able to completely transform his physique with life's natural gold – muscle! Isn't it time for you to do the same? Read All About Muscle Gaining Secrets

The key to gaining weight is to eat more calories per day than your body burns per day.  Your body burns calories every day for bodily processes such as digestion, breathing, blood circulation, and everything else needed for you to survive.  Additionally, you burn calories with your daily activities.

Calories to Maintain Weight

First, determine how many calories your body requires per day to maintain your existing weight by calculating your basal metabolic rate (BMR).

Metabolism = BMR = The set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms to maintain life.

Calculate Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the amount of energy your body needs to function. We use about 60% of the calories we consume each day for basic bodily functions such as breathing.

Use this online BMR calculator.

The equation used to calculate your BMR is called the Harris-Benedict Principle:

Men:
66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

Women:
655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)

 Please note that these formulas apply only to adults.

Calculate Activity

Step two: In order to incorporate activity into your daily caloric needs, do the following calculation:

If you are sedentary : BMR x 1.2

If you are lightly active: BMR x 1.375

If you are moderately active (You exercise most days a week.): BMR x 1.55

If you are very active (You exercise intensely on a daily basis or for prolonged periods.): BMR x 1.725 percent

If you are extra active (You do hard labor or are in athletic training.): BMR x 1.9

Add this number to your BMR.

The result of this formula will be the number of calories you can eat every day and maintain your current weightt. In order to lose weight, you'll need to take in fewer calories than this result.

Sample BMR Calculation: Male, Age: 27, Weight: 155 pounds, Height: 67 inches,  Activity Level: Moderate (40%)

BMR = 66 + (6.3 x 155) + (12.7 x 67) – (6.8 x 27) = 66 + 976.5 + 850.9 – 183.6 = 1710 = Basal Metabolic Rate

Calories to Maintain Weight = BMR + (BMR x Activity Level) = 1710 + (1710 x 40%) = 1710 + 684 = 2,394 Calories Per Day to Maintain Weight

Calories to Gain Weight 

Calculate how many calories you need to consume per day to gain weight. Add at least 500 calories per day to your daily requirement. If you need 2300 calories a day to maintain your current weight, strive to consume 2800 calories daily. If you engage in any physical activity, add more calories to account for the calories burned through physical activity. For instance, a 130 lb. person who does 30 minutes of vigorous weight training burns approximately 180 calories. On that day, he or she should consume 500 + 180 calories in addition to the daily requirement calculated in the previous step.

3,500 Extra Calories = 1 Pound of Weight Gain

It takes 3,500 surplus calories to gain 1 pound. This is why a mass gainer should eat 500 extra calories each day, so that at the end of the week he will have 3,500 calories extra with which to gain 1 pound.  Expect 1-2 pound gains each week for a mass gain plan, typically.

You MUST track your calories to be sure of what you are eating daily.  FitDay.com is an outstanding way to track your calories and so much more.  It is so easy and I use it every day. Sign up at FitDay.com and get started tracking your calorie intake so there's no question!

Change your eating habits. Eat at least six small meals a day. Drink protein shakes, milk, or juice instead of water, coffee, tea, or diet soda. Click here to read all about drinking milk for weight gain and lactose intolerance.

Focus on these Weight Gain Foods…

	Milk is your true key to gaining weight rapidly and naturally.  GOMAD stands for Gallon of Milk A Day. Any hardgainer will gain weight drinking 1 gallon of milk a day. Read the article, Gallon of Milk A Day to Gain Weight.
	Breads – hearty and dense (whole wheat, oat bran, pumpernickel, rye) are more nutritious than white bread; cut thick slices and spread generously with peanut butter, jam, honey, hummus, or cream cheese.
	Vegetables – Eat starchy vegetables (potatoes, peas, corns, carrots, winter squash, beets) instead of  watery vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, green beans, cucumbers).
	Fruit - Choose dense fruit (bananas, pears, apples, pineapple, dried fruit) over watery fruit (oranges, peaches, plums, berries, watermelon).
	Cooking Oils – When cooking, add a generous amount of oil. The healthiest oils are unrefined (extra virgin) oils such as olive, coconut, canola, palm, and butter. The less healthy but still acceptable sources of oil are those high in omega-6 fatty acids (pro-inflammatory) such as safflower, sunflower, and peanut oils. The unhealthy oils are those containing trans fat such as shortening, and the antinutrient-rich soybean oil (aka vegetable oil).
	Spreads - Spreading delicious calorie-rich toppings on toast, crackers, pita, and any other carbohydrate source is an excellent way to increase caloric intake. Some good high-calorie spreads are guacamole, olive oil, cream cheese, hummus, butter, nut butters, sour cream, cheese slices, mayonnaise. Even better is to mix these with shredded meats like chicken or fish. One of my personal favorites is canned salmon mixed with olive oil and vinegar.

Avoid unhealthy foods with trans fat. Most important is to avoid trans fats, which increase your risk for disease. Foods that are high in trans fats are: pastry products, cakes, cookies, processed meats, margarine, shortening, and packaged snack foods.

 

	Weight training is a MUST for muscle building. Weight training will not only help convert the additional calories that you are eating into muscle rather than fat, but it will also stimulate your appetite!  Appetite is a hardgainer's best friend. The added muscle from weight training will increase your metabolism, so you will need to consume more calories per day to maintain that weight.
During the first month of weight training, you may experience tremendous gains if you are faithful to your schedule. However, also expect this to level off after this initiatory period (This is known in the bodybuilding world as a plateau). You overcome plateaus by re-evaluating your weight and muscle mass, while altering your diet to include more food and heavier weights.

 

Learn the Truth About Building Muscle for Skinny Hardgainers

 

Eat more protein. Protein is essential for body function to build and repair muscle tissue. If you don't consume enough protein from raw foods or protein supplements then gaining weight and building muscle will be unachievable. Those looking to gain weight should consume at least 1 gram of quality protein per pound of body weight. If you don't reach your protein goals on a consistent basis, YOU WILL NOT BUILD MUSCLE! It is absolutely vital that you verify that you reach your protein goal each and every day from now on if you are determined to build and maintain a muscular physique.  Use FitDay.com to track your protein intake; I'd be lost without FitDay!

You will need at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day to build and maintain muscle.  Whey protein powder is superior to other protein powders because it the fastest-digesting and it has the best blend of amino acids that your body uses to build muscle. No Protein = No Muscle Building. Without getting 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day, don't even bother weight training at all. You will not be giving your body what it needs to repair the muscles you have broken down if you don't meet your protein requirement every day.

Drink 1 Gallon of Water Per Day! The best thing to drink is water, and a lot of it. Your body needs it desperately to perform well amidst the incredible strain you are placing on it with your workouts. Water is crucial even for those who don't workout because your bodily functions (blood circulation, breathing, perspiration, digestion, etc) demand it greatly.

Drink at least .66 oz of water per pound of bodyweight every day.  A gallon of water a day is a good mark for most people, bigger people will need more. Water will excel your body in all performances. Hydration is king! Read the importance of water. Split your water intake up over the course of the day. Buy a Brita water pitcher – you definitely don't want to be drinking tainted tap water or expensive bottle water.

Gaining quality weight and muscle takes hard work and dedication, in the gym and especially in the kitchen.  Set a daily calorie goal and achieve it, day after day, until you achieve your goal weight.  Then you may want to lose bodyfat by switching to the cutting phase. Track your calorie intake using FitDay.com and enter your food intake on a daily basis if necessary. Aim for 30% protein, 40% carbs, and 30% fat. Jason Ferrugia goes into detail about exactly what you need to do regarding diet and fitness in order to achieve your goal of packing on muscle in Muscle Gaining Secrets.

Adam Harper Lost 24 Pounds of Fat and Gained 19 Pounds of Muscle!
	Thanks to Muscle Gaining Secrets, Adam Harper was able to completely transform his physique with life's natural gold – muscle! Isn't it time for you to do the same? Read All About Muscle Gaining Secrets

 

I am ALGetsBig, and I am a former 5'7" 117-pounder who is now close to reaching a weight of 170 pounds,  That's a 53-POUND increase!  I am also on YouTube in a video where I bench pressed 270 pounds at a weight of 148 pounds! So, I know a lot about how to gain mass the safe & healthy way.

Follow these tips to build muscle fast:

1. Progressively Increase Set Weight at Each Workout.

According to the law of progressive overload, you must increase the weight lifted per set every single workout (or as close to that as you can) in order to ignite muscle growth.

The human body is very adaptable and responds to stimuli placed upon it.  The key is to force the body to adapt by putting it under consistent, gradually increasing stress over the course of your weight-training sessions.  Keep a workout journal so that you know exactly what you lifted during the last workout and so you can easily make small, gradual increases in future workout sets to spark muscle growth.

If you workout with the exact same weight every session with the same number of repetitions, you cannot expect your body to grow because you haven't given it a reason to. So, if you want bigger muscles, you must increase the weight you are lifting every session.

I recommend increasing the weight by the smallest increment possible at every workout.  This means adding 1 2.5 lb plate on each side of the bench press, increasing dumbells from 25 to 27.5, etc.

"I Tried Everything to Gain Weight & Couldn't But Finally Gained 24 Pounds with Muscle Gaining Secrets."

2. Perform Sets of No More Than 8 Reps.

Use heavy weights & low rep-sets. This means aim for no more than 8 reps in a set – if you can do more than 8 reps, the weight is too light. Do 4 sets per exercise and increase the weight by about 5-10 pounds with each set. After warming up with 2 light 15-rep sets, perform your first set of 8 reps, then rest for 3 minutes. The 2nd set should be no more than 6 reps, then rest again. Always rest for 3-5 minutes after each set. The 3rd set should be 3-4 reps, and the 4th and final set of that exercise should be 1-2 reps. Read the bulking weightlifting workout.

Weight Train No More Than 3 or 4 Days a Week.

Rest 3-5 Minutes Between Sets.

 

3. Limit Workout Time to 45 Minutes of Actual Lifting.

If you are working out with good form this is all you need to stimulate muscle growth. You want to keep your workout time under 45 minutes to avoid the release of hormones that actually break your muscle tissue down (catabolic hormones). You will be in the gym for about 90-120 minutes because of the 3-5 minute rest that is needed after each set.  This is because the sets are heavy and very stressful to the body.  3-5 minute rests are also ideal for the ectomorph (hardgainer) body type. Read all about body types. Read the bulking weightlifting workout.

The Pecs – The Abs – The "Guns"… The Girls.  You're Literally Just Minutes Away From The Secret To Having It All… The Truth About Building Muscle is a top muscle building program and ebook. Sean Nalewanyj not only provides a 264 page ebook upon purchase, you also get a 26-week workout schedule and downloadable videos that show you how to perform exercises and with what intensity you need to perform in the gym. This program is all about building the most muscle in the least amount of time WITHOUT steroids. Only basic (and inexpensive) supplements are used. Learn the Truth About Building Muscle Today!

 4. Eat Like A Horse.

Working a muscle tears the tissue, it then repairs and grows. Muscles need nutrients in order to repair and grow. Basically you need to eat big to get big. A good muscle building diet will supply your muscles with the nutrients that they desperately need to rebuild and grow stronger than before you broke them down in the weight room.

Recommended Calorie Intake for Muscle Gain: Bodyweight (lbs) x 24
150-Pounder: 150 x 24 = 3600 calories/day

Carbs: 40% = 1440 Carb Calories = 1,440 / (4 Calories Per Gram of Carb) = 360 grams of Carbs Per Day

Protein: 30% = 1080 Fat Calories = 1080 / (4 Calories Per Gram of Protein) = 270 grams of Protein Per Day

Fat: 30% = 1080 Protein Calories = 1080 / (9 Calories Per Gram of Fat) =
120 grams of Fat Per Day
 

5. Increase the Amount of Protein in your Diet.

In order for muscle tissue to repair itself after your weight-training sessions, it needs a high amount of protein. Some beginners don’t consume enough protein and some more experienced guys take ridiculously extreme amounts of protein. So how much protein do your muscles need? Use the following formula for the most accurate daily protein requirements.

Weight (Pounds) x 1 gram  = Minimum Daily Protein Requirement (grams)

So, a 160 lb man would consume at least 160 grams of protein per day.  Some advanced bodybuilders take 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, so perhaps you can consider that the maximum amount of daily protein.  All meats contain protein; however, you need to be aware that meats like lunchmeat and hot dogs are horrible sources of protein as it is of low quality and definitely not what you want tasked with the job of repairing your muscle tissue.  My favorite sources of protein are as follows:

* Chicken. (Chicken Breasts cooked on a George Foreman Grill)
* Eggs (Boiled, Yolk Included because it's full of vitamins!)
* Red Meat. Ground round, steaks, deer, buffalo, …
* Cheese (Muenster)
* Whey Protein Powder Shakes
* Seafood – tuna, shrimp, salmon…
* Nuts
* Peanut Butter!
* MILK! A must have for weight gain! Read more below about milk and weight gain.

You will need at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day to build and maintain muscle.  Whey protein powder is superior because it is fast digesting and has the best blend of amino acids that your body uses to build muscle.

6. Eat Fat.

A low-fat diet is NOT effective in bodybuilding. 30% of your calorie intake should be fat. Eating fat increases the amount of anabolic (muscle building) hormones in your body. These hormones are testosterone, growth hormone, and IGF-1 (Insulin-like growth factor). Get your healthy fats from milk, nuts & peanut butter, fish oil, cheese, fatty fish like salmon, and from the protein and carb-source foods in your muscle building diet.  Read diet to build muscle.

7. Drink Water!!

	Drink 1 Gallon of Water Per Day! The best thing to drink is water, and a lot of it. Your body needs it desperately to perform well amidst the incredible strain you are placing on it with your workouts. Water is crucial even for those who don't workout because your bodily functions (blood circulation, breathing, perspiration, digestion, etc) demand it greatly.
	Drink at least .66 oz of water per pound of bodyweight every day.  A gallon of water a day is a good mark for most people, bigger people will need more. Water will excel your body in all performances. Hydration is king! Read the importance of water. Split your water intake up over the course of the day. Buy a Brita water pitcher – you definitely don't want to be drinking tainted tap water or expensive bottle water.

8. Avoid Too Much Cardio (When Building Muscle)

Cardiovascular work will rob you of muscle gains. If your goal is to lose fat you need to perform cardio in your cutting phase, or your fat-loss phase.  The bulking phase should NOT include cardio! Read about the separate phases of bulking and cutting.

The reason that too much cardio isn’t desirable when your goal is to build muscle is that too much cardio releases catabolic hormones in the body, breaking down your muscle tissue; obviously, this is counter-productive to gaining mass.

9. Sleep Like a Baby.

	Sleep is incredibly important for building muscle. Muscle tissue only repairs itself and grows during rest periods and that means that sleep is a crucial part of your muscle building goals.  Here's why:
The release of growth hormone reaches its peak during deep sleep. Your metabolic rate slows during sleep which is perfect for muscle tissue repair and growth. During sleep, there is increased blood flow to the muscles. 8 hours of sleep is recommended.  Get as close to 8 hours of sleep every night as you can. Try a Sleep Support Supplement if you feel the need.

10. Relax.

Being stressed out results in a catabolic (muscle breakdown) environment in the body. One such hormone is cortisol. Remember that a calm, relaxed person builds more muscle than the hot-head (assuming all other factors are equal).

11. Use Free Weights. You can lift the heaviest weights using barbells. More weight is more stress, thus more muscle. Dumbbells are great for assistance exercises, but not for your main lifts. Stay away from machines when bulking! Work with machines when cutting. Bulking Phase vs Cutting Phase

• Safe. Machines force you into fixed, unnatural movement patterns which can cause injuries. Free weights replicate natural motions.
• Efficient. Free weights force you to control and balance the weight. This builds more muscle than machines, which balance the weight for you.
• Functional. Strength built on machines doesn’t transfer to free weights or real life. No machine balances the weight for you in real life.
• Versatile. You can do hundreds of exercises with just 1 barbell. Saves a lot of money and space, especially if you want to build a home gym.

12. Do Compound Exercises. Don’t imitate professional bodybuilders by doing isolation exercises. Isolation exercises are fine once you’ve built base strength & muscle mass, but not before then. If you’re starting to build muscle, compound exercises are ideal because they hit several muscles at the same time.

Don't worry about bicep curls when starting to build muscle.  Do pull-ups, chin-ups, and barbell rows.
Don't worry about tricep kickbacks.   Do the bench press, the overhead press, and barbell rows.
Don't waste your time with leg extensions.   Do squats and deadlifts.  

13. Train Your Legs With Squats & Deadlifts. Squats & deaadlifts work your whole body, they are definitely the most important exercise for muscle and weight gain. You will look, feel, and be MUCH stronger when you can Squat 1.5x your bodyweight. This means a free weight squat with your hips going lower than your knees. Aim for that goal.

All of your muscles tense when doing squats and deadlifts. They work your body as a single unit and allow you to lift heavy weights. Don't waste time with leg extensions, squats and deadlifts are the kings of mass building.  Your legs make up a great deal of your bodyweight – Don't neglect the legs!

14. Eat Calorie Dense Foods. 100g raw spinach is 25kcals. But 100g raw rice is 380kcals. Eat pasta, oats, olive oil, mixed nuts, etc.  Read foods that build muscle.

15. Drink Whole Milk. Milk is an amazing source of nutrients for those who wish to gain weight! It is full of protein, carbs and healthy fat.  You can gain 25lbs in 1 month by drinking between 2 quarts and 1 gallon of milk each day in addition to a healthy protein-rich diet. Read GOMAD: Gallon of Milk A Day to Gain Weight.

If you have lactose intolerance, you definitely want to take lactase pills with every consumption of milk.  Signs that you are lactose intolerant are symptoms of nausea, cramping, and bloating soon after consumption of milk and possibly other dairy products.  I am lactose intolerant and the pills allow me to drink 2 quarts of milk every day.  The pills are taken with the first gulp of milk. Buy lactase pills here.

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Sixty percent of adults can't digest milk (Full Article)

By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

Got milk? If you do, take a moment to ponder the true oddness of being able to drink milk after you're a baby.

No other species but humans can. And most humans can't either.

Most people who have bad reactions to milk aren't actually allergic to it, in that it's not their immune system that's responding to the milk.

Instead, people who are lactose intolerant can't digest the main sugar —lactose— found in milk. In normal humans, the enzyme that does so —lactase— stops being produced when the person is between two and five years old. The undigested sugars end up in the colon, where they begin to ferment, producing gas that can cause cramping, bloating, nausea, flatulence and diarrhea.

If you're American or European it's hard to realize this, but being able to digest milk as an adult is one weird genetic adaptation.

It's not normal. Somewhat less than 40% of people in the world retain the ability to digest lactose after childhood. The numbers are often given as close to 0% of Native Americans, 5% of Asians, 25% of African and Caribbean peoples, 50% of Mediterranean peoples and 90% of northern Europeans. Sweden has one of the world's highest percentages of lactase tolerant people.

Being able to digest milk is so strange that scientists say we shouldn't really call lactose intolerance a disease, because that presumes it's abnormal. Instead, they call it lactase persistence, indicating what's really weird is the ability to continue to drink milk.

Read the full article at USA Today….

The solution to lactose intolerance is to consume lactase pills with every serving of milk (and also when consuming other dairy foods like yogurt and eggs, if necessary). 

Drink Lactaid Milk. Lactaid milk is an excellent option for those who are lactose intolerant.  I have absolutely no problems with drinking Lactaid milk – no bloating, diarrhea, or cramping at all.

---

 

 

16. Persist. Get stronger, track your progress with FitDay.com and persist until you’ve built the muscle you want. You’ll see the biggest change in your physique after following the diet to build muscle and weightlifting program for a few weeks and serious changes after 2 months.

 

 

To build lean muscle, three main areas need to be addressed: diet, weightlifting, and rest.  All three are important, neglect any of these and your muscle building program will suffer greatly or won't work at all.  Weightlifting breaks down the muscles, proper diet and rest re-builds the muscles.

Diet

Daily Diet of ALGetsBig: 2 x 200g spaghetti, 4 oz chicken breast, 4 oz ground turkey, 4 oz canned salmon, 2 slices multigrain bread, 52 oz whole milk, 200g yogurt, 3 slices muenster cheese, 112g peanut butter

You need to be sure that you are eating the amount of calories needed to support your body type, metabolism, activity level, and weight goal.  For example I need 3,000 calories a day to maintain my weight of 155 pounds at my high activity level.  A week of averaging less than that amount of calories per day would cause me to lose weight.  I consume an average of 3,500 calories per day, 500 calories above my maintenance level,  when I am on a bulking (muscle-building) plan. Read about the diet to build muscle.

Milk is your true key to gaining weight rapidly and naturally.  GOMAD stands for Gallon of Milk A Day. Any hardgainer will gain weight drinking 1 gallon of milk a day. Read the article, Gallon of Milk A Day to Gain Weight.

 

Drink 1 Gallon of Water Per Day! The best thing to drink is water, and a lot of it. Your body needs it desperately to perform well amidst the incredible strain you are placing on it with your workouts. Water is crucial even for those who don't workout because your bodily functions (blood circulation, breathing, perspiration, digestion, etc) demand it greatly.

Drink at least .66 oz of water per pound of bodyweight every day.  A gallon of water a day is a good mark for most people, bigger people will need more. Water will excel your body in all performances. Hydration is king! Read the importance of water. Split your water intake up over the course of the day. Buy a Brita water pitcher – you definitely don't want to be drinking tainted tap water or expensive bottle water.

Use FitDay.com to track your nutrient intake.  I use FitDay regularly because it's so easy to use and it takes the guesswork out of my eating plan.  FitDay tells me the exact amount of  calories, protein, carbs, & fat that I am taking in and also dozens of other nutrients including all major nutrition facts you would find on a package of food. It tells you the ratio of protein, carbs, and fat in your diet and lets you know how close of far you are to achieving the recommended daily intake of all major nutrients & vitamins.  Simply put, you are doing your weight & muscle gain goals a disservice by not using FitDay!

Be sure to limit your cardio as much as possible when you are bulking, or to make up for the calorie loss by eating more. You really don't want to do any cardio more than you have to (walking to your car from work) when you are on a bulking plan.  Bulking phases typically last 4 to 8 weeks, and then it should be time for the cutting phase.  Read all about the bulking and cutting phases here.

You will need at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day to build and maintain muscle.  Whey protein powder is superior to other protein powders because it the fastest-digesting and it has the best blend of amino acids that your body uses to build muscle. No Protein = No Muscle Building. Without getting 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day, don't even bother weight training at all. You will not be giving your body what it needs to repair the muscles you have broken down if you don't meet your protein requirement every day.

Weightlifting

	Weightlifting is a must when your goal is to build lean muscle.  Here are some rules to follow: Stick to free weights instead of machines.  Machines remove the negative motion of most exercises, which is highly necessary for effectively breaking down muscle.
Use basic compound exercises primarily.  These are squats, deadlifts, bench press, bent-over rows, chin ups, lat pulldowns, and barbell curls.  Isolation exercises (flyes, concentration curls, leg curls, leg extensions, leg raises) are not important when it comes to bulking so stay away from them.
Limit your workouts to 60 minutes of lifting. This means limit your actual lifting time to 60 minutes.  Overtraining is the main reason people don't see results from their weight-training programs. As a hardgainer, you will need to rest 3-5 minutes between sets.  So, you may be in the gym for up to 120 minutes total due to the lifting time plus the rest time.
Use Heavy Weights, Limit Your Number of Sets, & Rest Properly Between Sets.  I recommend resting at least 3 minutes between heavy sets, which is what you should be doing on a bulking plan.  Sets should consist of no more than 8-10 reps; decrease the reps and increase the weight after each set of an exercise; if you can perform more reps than that, increase the weight. High reps are for fat loss and muscle endurance, the opposite of a bulking program.  You can only do one at once – bulking or cutting!

Workout hard, heavy and infrequently (no more than once a week per bodypart) on the big basic exercises, add weight to your exercises whenever possible, get enough rest & great nutrition, and you WILL build muscle! Some of you will build a lot of muscle rapidly, and some of you will take a long time to add a measly five pounds. (It takes me, ALGetsBig, a long time to build muscle even with 3,300 calorie-a-day weeks.) That’s where genetics come into play. But you can maximize your potential as quickly as possible by following these rules.

With No Nonsense Muscle Building, you will receive a planned program that will tell you exactly what exercises to perform in the gym and what foods to eat to ensure size and muscle gains.  Vince DelMonte does an excellent job in laying out exactly what you need to do to get from skinny to muscular in no time.

Rest

Sleep 8 hours a night. Your muscles grow when you are resting, NOT when you are working out. You need to give your muscles enough rest and recuperation to allow the building process to take place. Work out no more than 4 times a week. You need rest because each workout puts systemic stress on your entire body, no matter what muscle groups you are working. Your kidneys and other organs don’t understand or care that you are working different muscle groups each day. So, get out of the gym, get some rest, and grow!

"I Tried Everything to Gain Weight & Couldn't But Finally Gained 24 Pounds with Muscle Gaining Secrets."