The Best Way To Gain Weight, Bulk Up, And Build Muscle

So you’ve set the goal: Now is the time that you’re finally going to build that muscular body you’ve been wanting for so long. As such, you’re starting to do your research to find the best way to gain weight that will help you pack on quality lean muscle mass as quickly as possible.

With so many muscle building programs and diets out there, it can be hard to decide which is worth your time and which is just going to waste it.

How do you know what the best way to gain weight is? Is there just one most effective method?

Let’s take a look at a few of the factors that you should know about when looking for the best way to gain weight.

Taking Your Body Type Into Account (Skinny Guys Listen Up!)

The very first thing that you absolutely must do if you’re going to figure out the best way to gain weight is to take into account what your body type is. Simply put, each and every person is going to react slightly differently to any given muscle building plan.

If you’re an ectomorph (skinny guy) for instance and can’t seem to gain weight no matter what you try, you would not do well on an incredibly high volume weight training program. Chances are, that would just cause you to lose weight. Not quite what you’re looking for. Rather, you need a muscle building program created specifically for hardgainers.

On the other hand, if you’re a mesomorph who’s been building muscle for quite some time and are now looking to take your body to the next level, the best way to gain weight for you will be a plan that incorporates a variety of advanced training techniques such as drop sets, supersets, and so on.

Lastly, if you’re someone who’s a strong endomorph and has a clear tendency to gain body fat, for you, the best way to gain weight will be a slower and steady approach. If you use a very high calorie surplus in effort to build muscle fast, you may just end up gaining a high degree of unwanted body fat.

Your metabolism tends to run slower and as such, you must keep your calorie intake in check. Your weight lifting program should also likely incorporate a bit of cardio training as well to help burn off any excess calories should you start to gain body fat.

Factoring In Your Diet

The next thing that you have to look at when you’re trying to gain weight is the diet that you’re using. You absolutely must have a higher calorie diet if you want to build muscle mass. How high those calories are will depend on your metabolic rate and body type as mentioned above, but you do need that surplus if you hope to have success. If it’s not there, you won’t be getting any larger.

You can’t build something out of nothing, so food needs to be coming in.

Additionally, you’ll want to take in ample protein with each meal and snack you eat along with higher doses of carbohydrates around the workout period.

Some people strongly feel that the best way to gain weight is by overloading on carbs before and after the workout when you’re most anabolic and then focusing on protein and fat based meals later on in the day. This can be a very effective strategy for maximizing recovery from your workouts while also improving the chances that you stay lean as you go about the process.

Just make sure that whatever weight gain program you use to bulk up does include a diet plan as well. If it doesn’t, you’ve left out half the equation.

Considering Workout Variations

The next step in finding the best way to gain weight is thinking about the various workout splits that you can do. This ranges from a full body approach to an upper/lower split body approach, to finally a body part workout program where you just work one or two muscles each day.

For most people, the best way to gain weight will be either with the full body workout performed three times per week or the upper/lower split set-up.

These options allow for a higher frequency of training each muscle per week, which is one of the most important requirements for good muscle growth.

The body part split doesn’t allow for this, so that’s its big drawback. Additionally, since you’ll be performing so many compound lifts when doing a full body workout or an upper/lower set-up, you’ll also be releasing the greatest amount of anabolic hormones as well.

This further enhances your chances of seeing muscle size increases.

Finally, the full body workout along with the upper/lower split program allows for three to four days off in total each week to recover, which is more than the body part split does.

Since you only grow if you’re recovered, that’s one element that can’t be overlooked. Always remember, when you’re in the gym, you’re breaking your muscle tissues down. It’s only when you’re out of the gym that you’re body is working to build them back up so you come back bigger and stronger.

The Best Way To Gain Weight – For You

So at the end of the day, what is the best way to gain weight? Well, it all boils down to this:

You need to use a program that’s most suited for your body type! So if you’re a hardgainer, or ectomorph who wants to add muscle mass, you should NOT be following the same workout plan as an endomorph or a mesomorph.

Instead, you should be using a customized weight gain program for hardgainers.

Remember that you will need an overloading stimulus to be in place (weight lifting), plenty of rest, and good nutrition for any size gains to occur.

On top of that, other key elements that you want to seek out (as they will help you gain weight faster) are the use of compound exercises in the program, the use of heavier weights in the 5-10 rep range, and enough rest days off each week to prevent overtraining and allow full recovery to take place.

If you can get all of those things in order along with the higher calorie diet and appropriate macronutrient (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) level, you’ll be well on your way to building the muscular body you want.