Gaining muscle with exercise

Q: I have been working out for many years and am in pretty good shape, but I have always had trouble increasing muscle size. I have a super-fast metabolism that seems to burn off everything I eat no matter what I do. It seems that most of the information out there today is about losing weight, so I was wondering if you had any tips for a guy like me who is trying to increase muscle size and weight. Thanks.

A:. Believe it or not, losing weight is easy compared to putting on real muscle size. That’s right, I said it and it’s true. Anyone can strip off extra weight that they’re not supposed to be carrying in the first place, but trying to add a few pounds of lean muscle can be harder than Chinese arithmetic.

So if you have a lightning-fast metabolism and can’t seem to add any extra muscle to your frame, don’t give up.

You’ll just have to trick your body into gaining size. Here’s how.

Eat a few larger meals
Normally I tell my clients to eat five to six small meals a day, because it stabilizes blood sugar levels and gives the body the signal that food is readily available, allowing the release of extra calories.  So, to gain size you simply reverse the process. Instead, eat four larger meals a day to slow the metabolism down and help the body store extra calories for building muscle.

Eat more complex carbohydrates
When you eat carbohydrates, they are turned into glycogen and stored in your muscles for energy. When you eat more than you can use, they are stored and will surely help you gain size as well as give you plenty of energy for high-intensity workouts needed to shock the muscles into growing larger.

Focus on multijoint exercises
Don’t waste a lot of time doing single-joint exercises like bicep curls; focus on the basic meat-and-potatoes multijoint exercises - exercises that work more than one muscle group at a time, like squats, barbell rows, dead lifts and power cleans. These exercises will work large parts of the body at the same time and are proven to be the best for building size and strength.

Don’t miss times to supplement
In addition to regular meals there are two times a day when drinking a quality protein supplement will have a great effect on building muscle size. The first and most important is within 15-30 minutes after a workout, because glycogen levels are low, and anything you eat will be shuttled directly into the bloodstream for faster and more effective muscle repair.

The second is right before you go to bed, ensuring that the body will be supplied with the bricks and mortar needed to build bigger muscles while you rest. Both of these extra meals are better consumed as a liquid, so a quality protein supplement like a shake or powder works best.

Do short, quality workouts
Most people don’t realize that rest is just as important as working out when it comes to adding muscle size. Therefore, your workouts should be short, intense and to the point. I’d recommend a program consisting of one to two body parts a day with eight to nine sets per body part. Keep the repetitions between eight and 10 for optimal growth, and don’t forget that in order to grow, you will have to challenge your muscles with maximum poundage.