How to Gain Weight for Sports

Contrary to popular belief, it is not always easy to gain weight for sports. That is, you can gain fat, but you really want to gain lean muscle mass. To do that consider tracking what you eat each day and round out any gaps: do you eat at least 3 cups of vegetables and the same of fruits? Do you eat too many refined carbohydrates or empty calories?To gain muscle mass by consuming extra calories, you must be keenly aware of selecting nutrient-dense calories. Eating a stack of pizzas and drinking pints of beer will add weight quickly but also increase your waistline and increase your Body Mass Index (BMI).

Instructions

1

Start by getting any medical clearances needed from your physician. An annual physical is a good starting point to raise any obvious red flags of high blood pressure, risk for diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders that could lead to colon cancer and other chronic diseases. Have your physician or a sports nutritionist determine what a good range of calories is for you to maintain in order to increase your muscle mass by body weight.

2

Take body fat measurements. This will ensure that as you are eating to gain mass, you are not increasing body fat and increasing your risk for certain cancers. The apple or pear rule applies: better to carry body fat on the hips (pear-shaped) than to carry excess body fat on the belly (apple-shaped). Use body fat calipers found in health clubs or order one online for less than $25.

3

Examine your current diet. If you have passed your medical clearance and have an idea of how many calories you need to consume, keep a food diary for 2 weeks. In the food diary record everything you eat and drink in every 24-hour period, the times consumed and whether it was directly before or after any physical training. For example, note the 5 Oreo cookies at work as well as the extra complex B vitamins that you consumed.

4

Consume an additional 2 to 3 snacks of quality protein daily. This may equal to only about 300 to 500 calories a day, depending on the amount of training you do. This does not mean you need to eat hamburgers every hour. Consider adding these high-protein snacks of 9 to 15 grams of protein. That could be 1 cup of nonfat yogurt with fruit, or half of a small tuna sandwich, no mayo. Or half a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich with sugar-free spreads. You might eat 1 cup of cooked pinto beans and peppers.

5

Record your new additions of low-fat, nutrient-dense protein. Do not obsess, but try to add these protein snacks between your meals and not in place of them. Eating smaller, high-protein snacks every 2 hours will generally help most people gain muscle mass.

6

Maintain your training schedule. Dont skip your resistance training or the biking or running or swimming that you do. Simply eating a lot of protein will not translate into visible muscle mass. The extra calories must be consumed or they will be storedlike all calories, as fat.