Whether you haven’t got the right eating habits, are overdoing it on the exercise, suffer with malabsorption due to prolonged illness or have a disease – such as tuberculosis, cancer or an eating disorder – weight gain can be vital to your wellness. However, you can do more harm than good to your wellbeing if you don’t gain weight in the correct way. So, how to you gain weight safely and effectively?
The first thing to remember is that you need to gain weight gradually. If you up your intake of calories of just 500 per day, you can increase your body weight by 0.5 kgs per week. You should also take note of the ideal weight for your age, gender and height, and consult a doctor before starting any weight gain programme to check what the most-appropriate methods are for you.
Let’s start with your exercise programme. For lean mass, you need to be doing some heavy lifting. The big compound lifts should form the foundation of your routine. This includes squats, deadlifts, presses (bench and overhead), pull-ups, rows, dips, snatches, power cleans, clean and jerks. This is because the big compound lifts work to engage multiple muscles while triggering your hormonal response systems.
When it comes to your diet, you need to make sure it’s balanced before you turn to dietary supplements. Consult a dietician about getting the right amount of protein, carbs and fats, as well as having sufficient amounts of nuts and dairy products. For muscle building, protein is your new best friend as this will help you gain the right kind of weight, rather than fat. Your snacks should also be smart, so pick at pistachios to lower your risk of heart disease, or snack on salsa dips as they are high on fibre and very healthy.
Finally, you need to increase your intake of liquids. Although it’s important to consume eight glasses of water daily for good wellness, you should avoid drinking water before meals and in between meals as this will ruin your appetite. Though it seems a tad unconventional, you can rely on wine as a hunger stimulant because a small glass of wine before your evening meal will help you appreciate your food a whole lot more.
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