o Healthy Weight Gain

o Reasons Why Weight Gain

o Improve appearance

o Improve health

o Improve athletic performance

o Steps to Gain Weight

• Have purpose which makes sense

• Don’t sacrifice speed in your sport for weight gain

• Calculate your average energy needs

• Keep a 3- to 7-day record of what you normally eat

• Monitor your living habits

• Do you get enough sleep (burns extra calories)

• Smoking burns extra calories (~200 calories/day or 10% higher metabolic rate

• Caffeine in coffee and soft drinks can increase metabolic rate for several hours

o Steps to Gain Weight

• Set reasonable weight gain goal

• Can gain 20% body mass within 1^st year of resistance training program and then gain tapers off (1-3% per year after 1^st year)

• 0.5-1.0 pound/week is sound advice for novice

• Increase caloric intake

• Utilize a resistance training program to increase body weight

• Take body measurements once per week

• Circumference measures at neck, upper and lower arm, chest, abdomen, hips, thigh and calf

• Gains should be in chest and limbs

• Minimal gains in abdominal and hip regions

• Skinfold measurements at similar sites to circumference measures can assure proper muscle vs fat gains

o Exercise Considerations

o Resistance Training to gain body weight

n Utilized the bulk-up method

o Use 6-10 different exercises to stress the major muscle groups

n Incorporate 3-5 sets of each exercise

n Work up to 8-12 repetitions; when reaching 12 reps, increase weight so that 8 becomes max # or reps initially

o Conduct over several months, then consider “shaping the bulk”

n Using a wide variety of exercises using lighter weights with many repetitions at high speeds

o Typical beginner’s program

• Learn proper technique on each exercise over a 2-week period

• Determine 8RM

• Keep weekly record to record your progress

• Do one set of 8 exercises with the sequence noted in the following:

• Bench press (chest muscles)

• Lat machine pulldown or bent-arm pullover (back)

o Typical beginner’s program

• Half-squat (thigh muscles)

• Standing lateral raise (shoulder muscles)

• Heel raise (calf muscles)

• Standing curl (front upper arms)

• Seated overhead press (upper back muscles)

• Curl-up (abdominals)

o Typical beginner’s program

• Recovery between exercises are ~ 30 seconds

• Do 3-5 complete sets with 2-3 min rest between sets

• Workout 3 days/week attempting as many reps as possible on successive days

• Repeat step 7 as you increase strength

o Nutritional Weight Gain

o National Research Council notes that 5 calories are needed per one gram of tissue during growing years

n 8 Calories per gram of tissue gain for adults

n If one expects to gain one pound of lean mass per week, approximately 400-500 Calories/day should be added to your regular daily intake (provided that one is doing resistance training at the same time)

o Is protein supplementation necessary for weight gain?

o Provided that one adheres to the 1.5-1.8 g/kg protein intake/day recommendation, this should be enough

n This could just be the addition of 1 glass of milk + 3 slices of bread + 2 eggs

o Protein supplementation with powders and amino acids will likely be converted to fat unless you are doing significant wt training

o Is timing of food intake important?

o Consuming additional dietary protein during recovery (from wt training), along with CHO, will enhance protein synthesis

n Additional research suggests that consuming protein + CHO before exercise can be beneficial in stimulating protein synthesis

n A good protein + CHO combination is protein shake with a 3-4 gram CHO to one gram protein ratio

o Typical Diet Plan for Wt Gain (exchanges are high protein and/or CHO)

o Milk exchange – 1or 2% milk instead of skim milk (15-30 calories/glass); prepared milk shakes with fruit; add low-fat cheese to sandwiches; or yogurt with fruit

o Meat exchange – lean meats (poultry or fish); legumes (beans, nuts, seeds, etc); or peanut butter in snacks

o Starch exchange – whole grain products (pasta, veggies, etc) or fruits

o Typical Diet Plan for Wt Gain (exchanges are high in CHO or additional calories)

o Fruit exchange – fruit (dried fruits) or fruit juices

o Vegetable exchange – fresh vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, etc) with low-fat cheese or dips

o Fat exchange – unsaturated fats (olive or canola oil) + salad dressings or soft margarine

o Beverages - milk and juices

o Snacks – 3 balanced meals + 2 or 3 snacks/day

o Meal Plan suggestion for body builders

o Macronutrient distribution

n 55-60% CHO

n 25-30% Protein

n 15-20% Fat

o During off-season, diet should be slightly hyperenergetic, i.e. 15% increase in calories

o During pre-contest phase*, diet should be slightly hypoenergetic, i.e. 15% decrease in calories

* 6-12 weeks prior to competition – retain muscle mass and decrease body fat

* Diet may contain up to 30% protein content