Gaining mass is an essential step to increase basic metabolism and energy expenditure. Accompanied by regular physical activity, it allows you to gain lean mass, lose fat and reshape your muscles to achieve your goals. This practice is also commonly used during training or sports competitions!
What are the benefits and role of gaining muscle?
Mass gain is a diet that promotes muscle growth, but it also aims to refine the figure and increase basal metabolism (energy spent at rest).
To optimize muscle functioning, regular training is not necessarily sufficient to achieve the ideal body. According to several studies, everything also happens on your plate, and your diet can impact up to 80% of the results!
A disciplined diet always has a strongly positive impact on your physical condition, because the goal is to gain lean mass and not fat mass. The key is to provide the right proportion of carbohydrates necessary for intensive training, as well as to optimize the assimilation of proteins to promote muscle reconstruction after the session.
What energy intake should be respected when gaining weight?
Energy intake
During our training, our body is in a catabolic state: it draws energy from its reserves, this degradation process allows us to consume energy to make our muscle tissues function. Outside of training and thanks to the digestion of the foods consumed, it is then necessary to optimize the anabolic state as much as possible, allowing the muscle to be regenerated.
In the context of gaining muscle mass, this anabolic state must be greater than catabolism to strengthen the muscle. It is then necessary to increase your nutritional energy intake for the day (gradually at the beginning). These contributions depend on your build (height, weight, gender) but also on your physical activity. For example, a person with a usual caloric intake of 2000 calories per day could increase this intake to a total of 2500 kcal.
It all depends on your level, the goal is to create an anabolic environment favorable to lean mass gain and maintain muscle tissue.
However, it is important not to overdo it and thus limit foods that slow down lean mass gain and increase fat mass gain.
Protein intake
For good muscle development, it is recommended to consume protein at 1.2 to 1.8g/kg of body weight per day (be careful not to consume too much). This quantity must be monitored: without monitoring, the protein level may be more difficult to achieve than the quantity of carbohydrates and lipids consumed.
Proteins are made up of amino acids that are essential for rebuilding and growing muscle. Indeed, during exercise, the muscle fiber becomes weakened, which is why after the session (30 to 40 minutes after the catabolic phase) protein supplementation allows for more effective reconstruction.
Also note that proteins are not all assimilated in the same way by our body. Animal proteins (due to their amino acid composition close to that of our muscles) are more easily bioavailable than plant proteins. This is why it is interesting to vary the sources, they will thus have an interesting complementarity.
Concerning animal proteins , it is interesting to favor those present in lean and/or minimally processed meat, such as fish, chicken, eggs and beef, milk, cheese, cottage cheese, etc.
Plant proteins are also very interesting thanks to all the nutrients provided at the same time. There are multiple sources: oilseeds (also rich in good lipids, such as almonds, hazelnuts, nuts and seeds of all kinds), legumes (also very rich in fiber, such as lentils, chickpeas, red beans). Tofu, seitan or others are also perfectly suited to gaining weight.
Carbohydrate intake
Indeed, very often criticized in diets, carbohydrates are important in the context of mass gain. They help optimize recovery and muscle reconstruction.
Your diet must also allow the replenishment of carbohydrate reserves (glycogen) and thus provide sufficient fuel during regular and intensive exercise. 4 to 6g/kg of body weight must thus optimize the anabolic process to ensure muscle volume gain.
Of course, slow carbohydrates are preferred over fast carbohydrates, they help limit blood sugar peaks and fat storage in the muscle (glycogen reserve), the liver (also glycogen) or in fat cells. The first two being quickly saturated, the excess sugar will be stored in adipose tissues, and therefore promote weight gain.
They are found in unsweetened products rich in fiber: cereals, rice, wholemeal flour, bananas, quinoa, oatmeal and sweet potatoes, pasta and wholemeal bread, vegetables and fruits, etc. They also allow you to have a lasting feeling of satiety compared to fast carbohydrates.
Lipid intake
Good fats are also to be favored (1 to 1.5g/kg of body weight, or approximately 30% of your daily caloric intake). These good fats are composed of unsaturated fatty acids (omega 3, 6 and 9), not to be mixed with saturated fatty acids which have a negative impact on your vascular health.
You can also find these good lipids in certain vegetable oils such as olive or rapeseed oil, fatty fish (like tuna and salmon), seeds and nuts, eggs and avocado, etc.
What food supplements for mass gain?
To facilitate the inclusion of proteins in your menu, it is possible to supplement your 3 meals per day with certain supplements that you can obtain in certain sports nutrition sections:
- Whey shakes or protein bars: most often adapted to the athlete's needs, they contain all the amino acids necessary for muscle recovery, post-bodybuilding.
- Gainers: these are products that provide a mixture of proteins and carbohydrates to boost your bodybuilding sessions.
- BCAAs: which specifically contain essential amino acids for the body, guaranteeing growth of muscle tissue post-session.
- Creatine: 3g of this product during the day can improve your performance, especially during a bodybuilding session. And thus stimulate muscle growth: it improves the hydrogenation of cells and promotes protein synthesis (it contributes to the contraction and relaxation of the fiber). It remains reserved for the most experienced in sports nutrition.
What eating habits for weight gain?
Eat more regularly
Some of your eating habits should therefore be eliminated to perfect your eating program. It is also important to distribute all your meals and snacks in a balanced manner in order to optimize muscle synthesis within your body. Therefore, it is recommended to eat 5 to 6 times a day, including preferably a snack before and after the sports session, and between each meal.
This will then allow you to increase the number of calories consumed but above all to assimilate proteins more optimally (preferably in increments of 30g at each food intake). All while having constant blood sugar levels, allowing you to have a lasting anabolic state.
- Before the session, so as to have good lasting vitality during the exercise.
Discover our energy bars .
- Then after the session, especially focus on protein intake which will allow you (within 30 to 60 minutes) to participate in muscle reconstruction.
Discover our protein bars .
Hydrate well
In fact, it is important to drink at least 2 liters of water, to replenish the water released by sweating and also to optimize recovery. This will also relieve your kidneys, which are working even harder due to the high protein content of your diet.
All means are permitted to optimize hydration and increase caloric intake: drink your calories if that helps you (sweetened to boost you before the session or protein for post-workout recovery)!!
Banish junk food
Very often too rich in sugar and saturated fatty acids, low in micronutrients, it is better to remove processed dishes from your diet program! They promote fat gain and will prevent you from achieving your goals.
Banish pastries, biscuits, refined products, butter, flavored yogurts, sodas, prepared meals, sauces, burgers and pizzas... and any other food rich in saturated fat.
Also eliminate alcohol and your daily small glasses of wine, they increase cortisol levels, which stimulate the storage of visceral fats. Alcohol also has a negative impact on health, whether it is cardiovascular risks or cancer.
