T
he goal in the off-
season is to grow
as much muscle as
possible, right?
Gaining muscle and gaining
mass can be two very different
things. It’s pretty easy to gain
weight. Common sense will tell
you that if you consume more
calories than you burn, then you
will gain weight.
But what kind of weight are
you gaining?
Slow gains are
good gains
Growing muscle is a slow
process. You have to train your
muscle fibres to failure each
week, putting a progressive
overload on the muscles and
causing trauma. This actually
tears the muscle fibres. These
tiny micro tears recover with
good rest and nutrition, and
your body will heal the muscles.
The body’s defence mechanism
against this is to grow extra
muscle strands, thus preventing
your muscle from tearing under
that heavy weight again. This
explains why you need to pro-
gress with your weights in order
to keep overloading the muscles
to keep the growth progress
going.
Keep in mind that your body
only grows new fibres once the
muscle is fully recovered. This is
why rest is so important to
grow. If you train a muscle again
before it’s recovered then you
will just keep tearing the muscle
before it gets chance to grow
new muscle.
Nutrition
Protein
As for nutrition, I recommend
consuming at the very least
1 gram of protein per pound
of lean body mass- or 1.5 grams
to be on the safe side.
How many carbs?
Regarding carbs, everyone is
different. A rough guideline of
3 grams of carbs per pound of
lean body mass is perfect for
a lean gainer.
If you seem to hold fat easily,
then start with 2 grams of carbs
per pound. The important thing
is that you eat the same meals
each day. This way, when you
come to weigh in at the end of
the week, you will have an
accurate reading and know
whether to increase or decrease
your carb intake.
If you’re gaining less than 3lb
per week, you need to increase
your carb intake. On the flip side,
if you’re putting on more than 3lb
per week, you’re most probably
gaining fat and should decrease
your carb intake.
Fats
Fat intake should be kept pretty
low, but it’s important to ensure
you get good fats in.
Here are some examples
of good fats;
* A few egg yolks, one steak and
one salmon meal every day with
a big hand full of mixed nuts in
your oats.
*Avocado with your vegeta-
bles gives you all the good fats
you need.
Be aware that hard gainers
(leaner physiques) can get away
with enjoying plenty of fats.
But if you put fat on easily, then
I recommend you keep your
meats as lean as possible.
Insulin
You can control your weight
solely through adjusting your
carbs. It makes sense to eat
carbs rather than fats, as carbs
are what causes the release of
insulin into the blood. Insulin is
highly anabolic, and is what
takes the glycogen and stores it
into the muscles. Each gram of
glycogen pulls in 3 grams of
water, making the muscles big,
full and strong. It also hugely
increases the uptake of amino
acids into the muscle cells to
help repair and build new mus-
cle. Therefore, a high carb diet is
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FLEX | MARCH 2018