MUSCLE GAIN!!!

There is a New muscle head movie coming soon called "Pain is gain" and it is based on a true story about a couple of muscle head bodybuilders, Mark Walberg and The Rock. For this role Mark goes from 165 to 200 LBS.
5-6,000  CALORIES  is the amount  of calories that Mark would of had to consume daily to put on that weight. If he took the illegal supps. or not doesn't change that amount of calorie consumption who has to consume to gain that amount of muscle.So now the hard gainers may see how important calorie intake is, it doesn't matter how much protein your in taking in if you are not getting enough calories, your not gaining muscle period.

Now would I advise a client who weighs 165  to go for a 6,000 calorie intake? No way! This is not for beginners or even intermediates, and it is not really healthy for anyone. What I would advise to those looking to gain weight is to find their current calorie intake and just simply add 200 calories to their daily intake and monitor the weight gain on weekly basis. This is same method used for weight loss only with a positive calorie increase instead of a negative. As they progress they can slowly add or take away calories from 100-200 range, to fit their goals. (Use myfitnesspal as a tool for Calorie intake)

Some other tips I would recommend for muscle gain:

EAT PROTEIN of course! Eating one gram of protein for every pound of your current body weight every day will help you get the amino acids your body needs to repair and grow muscles. Go with high quality sources of proteins such as animal products and diary.

Eat  WHOLE GRAINS, such as brown rice, oatmeal and wheat bread. Whole grains  provide your body with the complex carbohydrates it needs for energy and calorie intake. Complex carbohydrates are slow burning which means you get longer lasting energy. Eating carbohydrates straight after a training session provides your body with an insulin spike. This insulin spike puts your body into an anabolic (muscle building) state.

EAT GOOD FATS! Try to incorporate foods like cheese, peanut butter, avocados and nuts into your diet as snacks. These foods are high in calories, but they also contain healthy fats and protein.  Be sure to include enough healthy fats in your diet, so that your body does not retain its current fat supply.

To gain muscle, you need a balanced diet rich in VITAMINS  and NUTRIENTS.The more vitamins and nutrients in ones diet means antioxidants and antioxidants are especially important because they help prevent damage caused by free radicals, which can increase during weight training.

Drink at least one 100% WHEY SHAKE on workout days. Whey protein shakes are adsorbed fastest through our body so taking one post workout is the best time to take a shake if you are only going to take one a day. Taking a post workout shake will immediately refuel glycogen, protein synthesis, and fluid loss. The shake should be followed by a balanced meal of whole grain carb and high quality protein within the next hour.  Taking shakes are also helpful to those who are unable to eat enough high quality protein throughout the day and vegans should most defiantly intake whey protein shakes if they are looking to gain muscle.

Lastly DRINK WATER. Water is a major component of muscle and it is also an essential part of your diet. You need it to stay hydrated and remove the metabolic waste that protein creates in our bodies. Increasing the workload on the body increases the water loss, as well. During a workout the body loses water faster through increased perspiration to cool the body. Muscle cells are over 70 PERCENT WATER and when the body is dehydrated the muscles appear flat. Plus muscle cells rely on water to produce strong muscle contractions and without muscle contractions the body cannot produce muscle.

The very first thing one should do after awaking in the morning is drink a couple full glasses of water before eating and drinking coffee, and even before in taking protein. Remember when we get up in the morning we are waking from a fast so our body is dehydrated. One should also eat within an hour of awaking and be sure to get a good protein and carbs balance meal in the morning. I like to drink milk in the morning after my water because it is a slow digesting protein. Eating slow digesting proteins and carbs are great for the mornings because they will last longer in our body throughout the day.

The above tips are actually useful for BOTH individuals looking for WEIGHT GAIN AND WEIGHT LOSS, it all really comes down to the calorie balance.

Sources: NSCA, Livestrong