Food to Gain Weight

...I try to eat every 3 hours, little and often, I'll have a meal in the evening and the rest will be snacks like a banana or a yogurt or cereal. But I'm still not having any joy. Can you suggest other foods I should be eating to gain mass?

I want a sixpack too.. so try avoid a lot of fatty/fried foods and chocolate etc...(from Stuart)

First off, remember not to multi-task your fitness goals. If you are trying to develop a six-pack and simultaneously trying to gain mass, you aren't likely to accomplish either goal (at least not quickly). The reason is that the training and dietary focus for those two goals are polar opposites of one another.

You simply can't effectively train and diet to gain mass and develop a six-pack at the same time.

More on multi-tasking your fitness goals
More on accepting fat gains while building muscle

Temporarily, forget about your six-pack goals and concentrate fully on your mass gain goals. Then come back with a fat loss phase. This will get you where you want to end up (with increased mass and a defined look) much faster.

Secondly, don't misinterpret "eat six small meals as opposed to three big ones." The "small" is relative to the "big." If you aren't gaining weight, you aren't eating enough. The sample you provide, at least as I perceive it, isn't going to get the job done. You need more calories and you need protein at every meal.

Check out the weight gain diet section. From there you can design a diet that can be effective at putting muscle-weight on you. Track your eating, keep a food diary at least for a while. This can pay huge dividends as you compare what you are eating to how your body reacts.

As far as specific foods, chocolate and fatty foods aren't really going to be good for either of your goals. The most common foods recommended for muscle building are tuna and chicken. Both are great because they contain high protein contents and are low in saturated fat. You can get more ideas on these pages...

Protein Food Sources
Carbohydrate Food Sources
Fat Food Sources

But, the very best food for weight gain is the food you like. This is because if you are eating that which appeals to you, you are going to be a lot more likely to be able to consume the amount of calories you need to gain weight and build muscle. And you are going to be a lot more likely to stick to your diet. As much as possible, you want to include your favorite foods in your weight gain diet.

Take the food you like and fit it into the diet you design. At the Resources for Bodybuilding Nutrition Page, you can find the caloric and nutritional content on most foods.

Do these things and I think you'll soon find some joy when you step on the scales and when you look in the mirror.

JP Clifford

Fastest Mass Gain Routine?

I'm 26 years old, 5'11" tall and 148lbs. I have never weight trained before. I want to gain about 20 lbs. in muscle. I want to do this as fast as possible. I'm wondering if you could tell me what the best routine for me to follow would be. There are a lot of routines I have seen, including the ones on your site. I'm just wondering which one is best for someone with my goals? Keep in mind I'm not asking you to design a routine for me, just point me to the best one.(from Ivan)

Your goals are not uncommon. And I wish I could point you to that one specific routine that will turn you into a monster in short order. But, truthfully, there are a lot of routines which can put mass on you. As long as they have a focus on compound exercises performed with heavy weights, sufficiently cover all your major muscle groups and can be completed in less than an hour, they can be effective for you.

What you should be looking for is a complete program - a diet, supplement, and tracking program in addition to a weight training program. The routines you follow will be important to your goals but they won't be the most important part of your program.

The most important part of your program will be your diet. In order to build muscle, you must supply your body with an excess of calories. If you aren't doing this, then there isn't any routine that will put mass on you.

Weight Training Routines

JP Clifford