Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I received an email yesterday from a reader
who wanted to know "the best diet for gaining
muscular bodyweight."
So here it is.
1. Start doing some serious weight training.
2. Do plenty of squats, deadlifts, presses,
bent-over rowing or pull-ups,shrugs, bench
presses or incline presses (barbell or
dumbbell), and some curls and close grip
bench presses.
3. Finish each session with some neck, gut
and grip work.
4. Train progressively. That means, as you grow
stronger, do more reps or add more weight. If
you really want to increase your muscle size
and your bodyweight, you need to get much stronger
than you are now. As in, add 100 pounds or more to
your squats and deadlifts -- 50 to 75 pounds
to your bench presses -- and 50 pounds to everything
else.
5. Use abbreviated workouts as described in Dinosaur
Training, Chalk and Sweat, Gray Hair and Black Iron
and Strength, Muscle and Power.
6. Going back to point no. 4 -- always use good form.
Never sacrifice good form for weight on the bar. yes,
you want to add weight to the bar, but you need to
EARN those weight increases.
7. A further point about adding weight to the bar.
Don't expect to add 100 pounds overnight. It may take
a couple of years to get there. Rome wasn't built in
a day, and neither was any great strongman. Give yourself
some time to grow bigger and stronger, and don't try to
rush things.
8. If you want to add muscle mass, train to add muscle
mass, NOT to get lean and defined. High rep endurance
workouts will NOT help you add muscle mass.
9. For advanced lifters, power rack and single rep
workouts as described in Strength, Muscle and Power can
be extremely productive.
10. Another good idea for advanced lifters would be to
alternate leg specialization programs with back
specialization programs. I give ten of each in Chalk
and Sweat. If you don't already have it, order a copy.
And there you are. That's the very best diet for gaining
muscular bodyweight.
I'm sorry -- what did you say?
You say you wanted a special diet? You wanted to know
what to eat? How many grams of protein, how many calories,
etc.?
Well, okay.
Train hard and heavy -- do lots of heavy compound
exercises -- specialize on your legs and back -- and eat
plenty of good, healthy, nutritious food. Eat lots of
high quality protein foods. Aim for one gram of protein
per pound of bodyweight. In other words, if you weigh
150 pounds, eat 150 grams of protein (or more) per day.
Let your appetite be your guide. The harder and heavier
you train, the more you'll eat.
No junk food. It will just make you fat. And it won't build
an ounce of muscle.
There you go. Simple stuff. The basics. But the basics are
what build strength, muscle and power.
As always, thanks for reading, and have a great day. If you
train today, make it a good one!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Any of my books and courses will help you ENORMOUSLY
in your quest for might and muscle. You can find them right
here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
