Weight Gain With The Correct Diet And Exercise

By Suparna Chakaraborthy

Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 7:48

Though all we hear round us is about tips to lose weight, we cannot avoid the fact that there are many who are under weight. The general faulty believe of weight gain is to consume more food with excess fat content. Your weight should not consist of fat alone, it should also have the muscle weight. Your fat needs to be build into muscles.

Lets looks at the ways of weight gain -

1.Diet – Needless to say, that people who are looking forward to get rid of their lean self need to enhance their diet and re-work on it. Your diet should contain high calories and healthy fat. High calorie food will not only support your weight gaining programme but also will be a great source of energy to help you sustain work out regime. Your diet should have -

Protein – Protein is a good source to build muscles. One should have 50g of protein intake in a day. The best source of protein are - fish, red meat, chicken, low fat milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, egg whites, soy products.

Carbohydrates - Carbohydrates is the nutrient which is converted into glucose in the body, which is a great source of energy. If the body does not have enough source of energy, muscles are broken down for the purpose, which hinders the process of weight gain. The best source of carbohydrate are bread, potato, pasta and dry fruit.

Fat – One need to increase the intake of good fat. Good fats are monosaturated fats found in olive oil and avocados, and polysaturated fats found in oily fish, cod liver oil and nuts. For good source of fat it is best to include tuna fish, eggs, salmon, banana, milk etc in your diet.

2.Exercise – Exercise is not only to loose weight but is also important to gain weight. Proper eating will allow wight gain but if it is not accompanied with exercise then it will convert into fat and not in building muscles. Exercise 3 to 4 times a week is required for muscle building. Weight lifting is said to be one of the most important exercises to gain weight and build muscles.

Bench Press - lie down on the bench on your back. Your hands should he in the correct vertical position to hold the bar. Then ask someone to hand behind you and hold the bar. You need to bring the bar closer to your chest and push it up. If your hands are wide apart, then you will tend pushing it outward. This won't give the desired result. Bench Press workout the shoulders, triceps and fore arms. Chest consists of many muscle groups and has the largest ones in the body.

Squats – Stand straight with your back to the weight bar. Bend your knees and hold the weight bar. Rest it on the base of your neck and side of your shoulders. Your feet should be horizontal to your shoulders. With the weight bend down and then straighten up. Do this for five times. This exercise targets your calves, quadriceps and back.

Dead-lifts – Place the weight bar, attach weights to it according to your strength. Then place your feet in the same angle to your shoulder. Squat down and lift the weight. Try to bring it to your shoulders. It primarily works on your back, arms and leg strength.
Weight lifting shocks your system and stimulates the growth of your body. It not only helps build your muscles but also strengthen them.

3.Amount Of Weight – One should not gain more than 1 to 2 pounds in two weeks. If you are gaining weight rapidly, then it is a bad sign, which shows that you are accumulating fat and not muscles. After a certain point of time you may notice that your weight has stagnated, before achieving the desired result. At this time you should increase your calorie intake by 250 calories per day.

It is important that you gain healthy weight for a better living. The process takes some time, which is normal. Quick increase in weight is not good as it is generally not permanent ans had side effects. Once you have achieved desired weight, you should make sure you maintain it.