Gaining Weight to Gain Muscle – What I Learned About Bulking Up

Gaining Weight to Gain Muscles what I learned in 30 days…

First of all this is not for the faint of heart, or those who do not have control over their eating habits.

WHY? Because it can be dangerous to start adding extra calories to bulk up if you are not able to control your cravings.

Also it may be hard to see all of that hard work suddenly go in reverse as the scale starts to inch up.

In 2018 I wanted to try new techniques and this was one of them. So here goes…

The Goal: add a significant amount of muscle over a 2 month period in order to increase my overall muscle mass.

I was at 180lbs and I was getting pretty slim, and I wanted to see if I could increase my muscle mass in order to fill out a little more. I knew I would be gaining weight and some fat.

I increased my calories to about 2500 calories per day, mostly by eating what I do normally but adding in more complex carbs, a sample eating plan is below:

MEAL # 1

2 Whole Eggs
6 Egg Whites
1/2 cup dry oatmeal
1 oz of pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup of blueberries

POST WORKOUT

1-2 Scoops of Protien Powder
1 cup of almond milk

MEALS 2-5

4-6 oz of meat, either turkey, pork, steak, or chicken
1/2 cup of brown rice
vegetables

MEAL 6

1/4 cup of unsalted mixed nuts (no peanuts)
1 serving of Yogurt either Dannon, Oikos, or Fage

I also switched up my workouts to the following regimen and stuck to it for the entire time.

MONDAY: heavy upper body
TUESDAY: heavy lower body
WEDNESDAY: active cardio rest
THURSDAY: back and chest
FRIDAY: legs
SATURDAY: shoulder and arms

For the 2 months that I did this I was never really hungry, and I was always sore!

After it was over I went from 180lbs to 195lbs, most of this was muscle. My waist size went up about 1 inch or so, my chest size went up 2-3 inches as well as all other areas of my body got bigger.

10 THINGS I LEARNED FROM MY EFFORTS TO GAIN WEIGHT TO GAIN MUSCLE…

  • Its much easier to gain weight then it is to lose it.
  • Lifting heavier weights requires adequate nutritional intake.
  • Eating an increased amount of food was difficult for me.
  • The more weight I gained the more concerned I got for my health.
  • There was a point where I felt like I was getting to big, eating to much.
  • The increased weight lifting and strength training was hard on my body.
  • Cardio is not as important as resistance training in gaining muscle.
  • Vanity definitely played a part in my increased desire to get even bigger.
  • When lifting heavy it is better to have a spotter or training partner to break through plateaus.
  • Gaining weight/muscle gain be dangerous if you do not have control over your nutrition.

In the end I was bigger, a lot bigger. But I wondered at what cost. I mean metabolically I wondered if I was doing as much damage to my body as I was doing when I was obese.

I am learning that its not good that the body is in a state of feeding all the time because then it constantly has to store fat. Metabolically the body needs time to burn energy and the only time it can do that is when we are not feeding it.

But I am glad that I did this, I learned a lot about working out, manipulating nutrition, and controlling hunger.

Would I recommend this… NO! I guess if you are severely underweight it may be good. But to constantly yo-yo back and forth between gaining weight/muscle and losing weight/fat to achieve a ripped body gain be metabolically damaging to you.

A sensible nutritional plan and a sound resistance training program coupled with maintaining the correct amount of muscle mass for your frame should be the ultimate goal.

It is withing these parameters that you will find true and healthy wellness.