How to Gain One Pound of Muscle a Week

Maybe you've had sand kicked in your face or maybe you've lost one too many attainable women to beefier guys. Or maybe you've read so much about weight loss that actually admitting you want to gain weight is a societal taboo. Whatever the reason, you want to bulk up and you want it now. Well, follow these 10 principles to pack on as much as a pound of muscle each week.

1. Maximize Muscle Building

The more protein your body stores - in a process called protein synthesis - the larger your muscles grow. But your body is constantly draining its protein reserves for other uses like making hormones. The result is less protein available for muscle building. To counteract that, you need to build and store new proteins faster than your body breaks down old proteins.

2. Eat Meat

You should aim for about 1g of protein per pound of body weight, which is roughly the maximum amount your body can use in a day. For example, a 160-pound man should consume 160g of protein a day, this would be having an 8-ounce chicken breast, 1 cup of cottage cheese, a roast-beef sandwich, two eggs, a glass of milk, and 2 ounces of peanuts. Then split the rest of your daily calories equally between carbohydrates and fats.

3. Eat More

Together with the above mentioned carbs and fats to adequate protein, you need more calories. Use the following formula to calculate the amount of calories you need to take in daily to gain 1 pound of muscle a week. Give yourself 2 weeks for results to show up on the bathroom scale. If you haven't gained by then, increase your calories by another 500 a day.

Formula:

A. Your weight in pounds

B. Multiply A by 12 to get your basic calorie needs

C. Multiply B by 1. 6 to estimate you’re resting metabolic rate (calories burnt without factoring in exercise)

D. Strength training: multiply the number of minutes you train with weights per week by 5

E. Aerobic training: multiply the number of minutes per week that you run, cycle, and play sports by 8

F. Add D and E, then divide by 7

G. Add C and F to get your daily calorie needs

H. Add 500 to G. This is your estimated daily calorie needs to gain 1 pound a week

4. Work Your Biggest Muscles

If you're a beginner, just about any workout will be intense enough to increase protein synthesis. But if you've been lifting for a while, you'll build the most muscle quickest if you focus on the large muscle groups, like the chest, back and legs. Add squats, dead-lifts, pull-ups, bent-over rows, bench presses, dips, and military presses to your workout. Do 2 or 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions, with about 60 seconds rest between sets.

5. Have a protein drink before you train

According to a study at the University of Texas weight lifters who drank a smoothie containing amino acids and carbohydrates before working out increased their protein synthesis more than lifters who drank the same shake after exercising, The smoothie contained 6g of essential amino acids - the muscle-building blocks of protein - and 35g of carbohydrates. Since exercise increases blood flow to your working tissues, drinking a carbohydrate-protein mixture before your workout may lead to greater uptake of the amino acids in your muscles.

For your shake, you'll need about 10 to 20g of protein - usually about one scoop of a whey protein powder. If you can't handle protein drinks, you can get the same nutrients from a sandwich made with 4 ounces of deli turkey and a slice of American cheese on whole wheat bread. But a smoothie is better. Drink one 30 to 60 minutes before your workout.

6. Lift Every Other Day (NOT Every Day)

Give your muscles a break by following a full-body workout with a day of rest. Studies show that a challenging weight workout increases protein synthesis for up to 48 hours immediately after your exercise session. And also, remember that your muscles grow when you're resting, not when you're working out.

7. Get Carbs After Your Workout

You'll rebuild muscle faster on your rest days if you feed your body carbohydrates, research shows. Post-workout meals with carbs increase your insulin levels, which in turn, slows the rate of protein breakdown. Have a banana, a sports brink, or a peanut butter sandwich.

8. Eat Every 3 Hours

If you don't eat often enough you can limit the rate at which your body builds new proteins. Take the number of calories you need in a day (calculated previously in #3) and divide by 6. That's roughly the amount of calories you should eat at each meal. Make sure you consume some protein - around 20g-every 3 hours.

9. Make One Snack Ice Cream

Have a bowl of ice cream (any kind) 2 hours after your workout. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, this snack triggers a surge of insulin better than most foods do. And that'll put a damper on post-workout protein breakdown.

10. Have Milk Before Bed

Eat a combination of carbs and protein 30 minutes before you go to bed. The calories are more likely to stick with you during sleep and reduce protein breakdown in your muscles. Try a cup of raisin bran with skim milk or a cup of cottage cheese and a small bowl of fruit. Eat again as soon as you wake up.