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By
Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems |
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In the first installment of
this article (click
here to read that if you missed it), I outlined the fundamental
components of training big.
As the saying goes however,
your training is only as good as your ability to recover from
it. That's where big eating and big sleeping come in.
Here then, are your two "hidden"
keys to no-fail recovery…
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Eating
Big
OK, take a deep breath because here
comes some more advice you won't like. Eating big means waaaayyy
bigger than what you think it means. Literally, you have no idea
what it means, because it you did, you wouldn't be reading an article
about how to gain weight. If you're the prototypical 18-year old
kid weighing say, 140 pounds at a height of 5-11 or so, you're not
likely to gain weight until you surpass the 5000-calorie barrier.
That's your daily intake by the way, not weekly.
Now aside from your palpable fear
about the number I just threw at you, here's another hard reality:
you can't do this eating "clean." You'll have to eat a
lot of fat, including things like (take a deep breath) butter, mayo,
pizza, ice cream, and high-fat meats and dairy products.
In all seriousness, your hourly fat
intake will probably exceed the American Heart Association's recommendations
for daily fat intake.
Oh, and you'll probably lose your
abs (to the 76 percent of the remaining 14 percent of readers who
left us earlier in the article- SEE YA!).
For the rest of you who are truly
serious about gaining weight, just understand that the loss of visible
ab development is part of the price you'll have to pay. Later on,
when you weigh 265, you can trim down to 220 or so and have your
abs back, But for now, let's just worry about acquiring something
to trim in the first place.
Remember, this isn't about lowering
your serum cholesterol, looking good in a speedo, or becoming president
of your local PETA chapter. It's about laying down some serious
muscle. And doing that means tricking mother nature into believing
that new muscle won't jeopardize your long-term survival odds.
If you're still
looking for specifics, I'll give you a few:
- Eat at least 20 calories per pound
of bodyweight per day, every day. If you weigh 140, that means
2800 calories per day. More is better.
- Consume no less than 1.5 grams
of animal source proteins per pound of bodyweight per day. If
you weigh 140 pounds, this means 210 grams of protein from meats
and/or dairy products every day.
- The rest comes from carbs and fats.
I'm not terribly concerned about the ratio, but if you pressed
me, I'd say limit simple sugars if you can, partly because they're
not very healthy, but also because (compared to fats) they're
relatively low in calories
- Supplements: Sure. Creatine, EFA's,
protein powders. All good. You can also do fine without them.
So if they help, use them. If they're a pain, don't worry about
it.
- Getting a lot of calories in means
not only bigger meals, but also more frequent meals.
- Finally, I'm not a nutritionist,
and this is not nutritional advice. It's weight-gain advice. Act
accordingly.
Sleep Big
By "sleeping big," what
I really mean is getting enough rest and avoiding physical activity
that doesn't contribute to lean mass gains. Sleeping at least 8
hours a day is important, and possibly up to 9-10 hours a day, including
naps if possible. My grandmother used to preach (and I happen to
think she was right) that the hours before midnight are the ones
that really count.
As for reducing "non-productive"
physical activities, there is no absolute recommendation I can make.
You simply have to decide if the calories you burn through skateboarding,
playing Frisbee, or whatever it is you like to do is worth the cost
in terms of reduced gains in lean mass. Clearly, "non-training"
physical activities are not "bad" per se, they just interfere
with muscle growth (in your case anyway). Only through careful reflection
can you decide if the cost is worth the benefit.
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Parting
Thoughts
If you're young and skinny
with a raging metabolism, the advice I'm dispensing here
will seem like a bitter pill to swallow. There is indeed
a price to pay for carrying around more muscle than nature
deems sensible. But take solace in the fact that those of
us with the opposite challenge would love to have your problem!
So if you're tired of being
skinny, follow the roadmap I've just provided, and I assure
you you'll gain as much muscle as your genetics will allow.
Just make sure you enjoy the process along the way!
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About
The Author
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His colleagues call him
an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients
call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability
to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself
a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout
school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are
ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.
His counter-intuitive approach and self-effacing demeanor
have lead to appearances on NBC’s The TODAY Show
and The CBS Early Show.
Currently, Charles competes
in Olympic-style weightlifting on the master’s circuit,
with a 3-year goal of qualifying for the 2009 Master’s
World Championships.
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Learn
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