muscle building

How to Bulk Up!

While most people’s weight struggles involve the battle of the bulge—some people have a hard time gaining weight. For them, being “skinny” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and putting on the pounds is much more important than learning about dropping weight. If you’re wondering how to bulk up, I am describing you. While there are many reasons you might have difficulty putting on weight, the most general explanation is that your metabolism is higher than most peoples.

Your metabolism is the rate at which your body uses energy. A slow metabolism means your body uses fewer calories per day for energy. A faster metabolism burns through calories, converting them to energy quickly without storing much if any excess as fat. You might frustrate other people, the way you can eat whatever you want and never gain a pound. Your body quickly converts those calories you ingest to fuel and it doesn’t end up as a spare tire. Therein lies the problem—how can you gain weight (particularly muscle) when your metabolism is this high?

When you’re trying to learn how to bulk up with a fast metabolism, you need to be ready to put in some work. Just like people struggle with weight loss efforts, your goal to gain mass won’t come easy. Because, let’s face it, if it was easy you wouldn’t be looking for more solutions! Accepting the fact that your body’s natural metabolism makes it a little harder for you to put on muscle will make it easier for you to accept the challenge ahead.

Your goal is to put on muscle. This will take a combination of both exercise and nutrition. One without the other simply won’t be enough to overcome the furnace within you. As you are learning how to bulk up, you may feel like you are working too hard. It’s then that you need to ask if you are truly committed to your goals.

Increasing the calories you take in while building muscle mass at the gym will help. But, you don’t want to eat just any old calories. Instead, fuel with lean proteins and complex carbohydrates. You want high quality calories. Using good supplements like the Whey Protein powders and Protein Bars we carry here can help you boost your intake throughout the day. Talking with others who have the same kind of metabolism will help too. Also, subscribe to our blog for daily motivation and tips on how to bulk up.

How To Increase Muscle Mass

439197_man_and_muscles_1For many people, losing weight is not a priority. Sure obesity is a major problem in this country, and while we offer many products to assist with fat loss, many of them double as great strength training workouts. So, for the people who may be on the slim side and wanting to bulk up, figuring out how to increase muscle mass is far more important than learning about how to drop unwanted pounds.

 

We are all built slightly differently. And while genetics do play a role in the body that we have, fitness enthusiasts have shown us that you also have a say in that physique. So even if your parents are both string beans and you were called “chicken legs” in school, with some good strength training and the proper muscle building diet, you can put on weight.

 

Just like weight loss, putting on muscle mass comes with a combination of diet and exercise. The difference is that you will be eating more calories as opposed to fewer and loading up on protein and muscle building workouts.

 

Strength training is the obvious factor in learning how to increase muscle mass. Cardio blasts calories so intense cardio routines aren’t really necessary. A healthy heart and lungs is important but when you already have a high metabolism, cardio may work against your muscle building goals. Look into systems that focus on resistance training. P90X and ChaLEAN Extreme are both excellent options.

 

One absolutely crucial thing to remember when trying to bulk up is as your muscles grow, so will your metabolism. So unless you are trying to lose weight you will need to increase your caloric intake.

 

Protein supplements are a great way to boost your calories for the day. Unlike a weight loss plan, though, we want you to drink these extra calories in addition to what you are already eating. Your growing muscles are going to require some high octane fuel and now is no time to skip meals or snacks.

 

When trying to gain mass you want to supply your body with more calories than it burns. The tricky thing is, your new muscles will be burning more and more calories. Eating the right foods and working out will ensure your muscles have fuel and that fuel is building more muscles, not fat.