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How Can I Gain Weight Faster? - How Skinny People Can Gain Weight
Emeline has a question for us: how can I gain weight faster? Answer below.
There are several reasons why you are not gaining weight. Here are some possibilities.
1) You have a very high metabolic rate. Some people just have a high metabolism by nature. That means they expend energy at a very high rate and their bodies burn up fat and muscle very quickly. For these people, they are usually skinny as they find it hard to put on weight.
2) You are not eating enough. Then there are those who just can't gain weight because they are not eating enough. Their lifestyle probably demands a lot more energy from them and they are not eating enough to replace the expended energy.
For the reasons above, many skinny people find that their bodies are in a catabolic state most of the time. To gain weight, you have to do the reverse - put your body in an anabolic state. In other words, you should be eating more, expend less energy, or stimulate muscle growth.
For many, expending less energy is not an option. They enjoy their current lifestyle or they just enjoy sports. So the only 2 options left, is to either eat more, or to stimulate muscle growth.
When it comes to weight gain, bear in mind that you can put on 2 types of weight - fat or muscle. Most obese people have an excess of fat and not enough muscle. This means that the body is less efficient when it comes to energy conversion (hence the heavy panting during physical exertions).
I am quite sure that you don't want to gain weight by putting on fat, as that sort of weight gain can lead to serious health problems and is not sustainable in the long run.
So if you want to stay healthy and gain weight, the only way to do so is to gain muscle weight. That means you have to exercise or workout to stimulate muscle growth. Here is how you can pack on more lean muscle on your body.
1) Work out at least 3 times a week. The frequency of your workouts depend on your time constrains as well as your fitness level. If you can workout intensely, 3 times a week for about 30 to 45 minutes will be adequate. If not, work out 5 times a week (same duration) at a moderate pace. Then slowly increase the intensity.
Since you are trying to gain weight, you should avoid too much aerobic exercises like running, cycling, long distance running, swimming, etc. Such exercises will prevent you from putting on more weight. Instead, focus on resistance training - i.e. weight lifting.
As a starting point, find the weights that you are comfortable with by choosing weights that will tire your muscles after 8 to 10 reps. You don't want the weights to be too light as you will have difficulty tiring your muscles and will require many reps. Then the exercises resemble more of cardiovascular exercises and will not help you much. Do 3 sets for each muscle group to ensure that all muscles are fatigue. Fatigue means that you cannot do another repetition in good form. That will help stimulate muscle growth.
2) That is just one part of the equation. The other part is your nutrition. You need to eat good clean proteins to feed your muscles so that your muscles can repair and growth quickly. So your diet may have to change.
Start from 0.5 grams to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. If you weigh 100 pounds, then you should be consuming at least 50 to 100 grams of protein daily. Protein should come from a variety of sources - plant, meat, and whey protein powders.
This is the hardest part for most people. Learn to prepare your own meals if you can't find what you are looking for near your work place. And drink your protein shakes consistently.
If you follow the above advice, you should be gaining weight within 2 to 3 weeks.
