Baselines guide to Gaining Weight

[baseline_9]

I am writing this article because I am fed up. Fed up with the countless number of new members who decide that using AAS' is the secret key that will unlock the gates to massiveness. If this sounds like you then please read on as this article is especially made for you.

Anyone who has been in this game for a while will have learnt that AAS' are not the key. In fact they are nothing without adequate nutrition. You may gain weight while on cycle and your bench may go up, but if you eat like a 12 year old girl, I am sorry but your just not going to keep any of those gains post cycle. In fact you could actually end up smaller if your PCT is inadequate.

Nutrition

NUTRITION ALWAYS HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE KEY TO SUCCESS!!

Nutrition can be a highly complexed and interesting subject if you have the time to research into it. However I am going to brush over as much as possible and give you the information that I feel you need to know in order to gain quality mass.

I am going to break nutrition down into 3 categories; Carbohydrate's, Protein's and Fat's. I am not going to talk too much about water, minerals and vitamins in this article.

Carbohydrate's


For the purpose of this article I am going to break carbohydrates into two further categories; simple Carbohydrates and Complex Carbohydrates.

Simple Carbohydrates are generally taken in quickly be the body, quickly increasing blood Glucose levels and therefore promoting Insulin release to help drive this Glucose into stores (be it Liver, Muscle of Fat cells) where it can be utilised at another time when required. Clearly we do not want to be storing Glycogen in the form of fat cells, therefore the only time I would recommend eating Simple Carbohydrates it Pre and Post workout. Thus giving muscles a boost in Glycogen (energy) when they need it the most, and hopefully protecting us for the demon that is Catabolism.

So any other time of the day you would be best to eat Complex Carbohydrates. Complex Carbohydrates are generally released into the blood slower than Simple Carbohydrates. This means that the body can use them, as it receives them, instead of having to store them for later.

As far as when to consume carbs I would strongly reccomend consuming the majoriy of ur carbs around the time you train and at breakfast.

Breakfast (Complex carbs)
Pre-Workout (75:25 complex:simple)
Intra-Workout (simple carbs with BCAA's and Creatine)
PWO (75:25 simple:complex)


Glycemic index

To say that all Simple Carbohydrate are fast and all Complex Carbohydrate are slow releasing would be incorrect. The rate at which a Carbohydrate it processed, turned into glucose and secreted into our blood stream can be shown using the Glycemic Index (GI). The graph below shows this.



Foods listed in a Glycemic Index have a range from Between 1 and 100 (Glucose itself being 100)

55 or < Being Low GI
56-69 Being Medium GI
69 or > Being High GI



Click this like for a basic Glycemic Index chart showing foods in each catagory http://www.the-gi-diet.org/glycemicindexchart/


So what does this mean I need to eat and when? Low to Medium GI foods at all times except for around your training.

My recommendations for Low to Medium GI Carbohydrate foods are;

Oats
Sweet Potatoes
Yams
Brown Rice
Basmati Rice
Lentils
Quinoa
Wholemeal Breads

My recommendations for High GI Carbohydrate foods are;

White Rice
White Bread
Dextrose
Maltodextrin
Waxy Maize Starch


Protein

Protein is the building blocks for muscle. It is used to help repair and build new muscle. Protein from different food sources can be better than others and to show this I have linked you to a basic Protein Biological Value (BV) table. The Higher the BV the better your body can utilise that Protein and the better it is as far as building muscle.

http://www.bodybuildingpro.com/proteinrating.html


My recommendations for quality foods high in Protein are;

Eggs
Egg Whites
Chicken Breast
Turkey
Lean Cuts of Beef
Canned Tuna
Most Fish, including oily fish
Cottage Cheese

These foods should make up the majority of your Protein intake


Fats

Fats like Carbohydrates can be sub categorised, Essential (EFA's) and Non Essential Fats. We need to add EFA's to out diet as our body is unable to produce them by itself.

My take on fats it this. Eat a clean diet with clean sources of Protein and add up how much Fat your are already taking in. If you are taking in 60g of Fats already but require 100g per day, make sure that most of the left over Fats, i.e. The 40g you still require are coming in the form of healthy EFA's.

Below is a List of some of the EFA's you could add to your diet;

Almonds
Walnuts
Mackerel
Salmon
Flaxseed/Oil
Evening Primrose Oil
Avocado
Sardines
Olive Oil

I do not believe that Fats will make you fat. Infact I think they play a key role in keeping you lean while trying to gain/ loose weight. I feel that fats are essential as they provide more calories than Carbohydrate's and Protein's, thus making it easy to add calories to a diet while keeping overall Carbohydrate intake moderate.

I believe that keeping your Carbohydrate intake moderate v's high over the long term will lower Insulin release and increase Insulin sensitivity, this putting your body into a position where it can utilise carbohydrate's for energy well (when taking in Low GI Carbohydrate's) and create an Anabolic Environment via Insulin release when required (when taking in High GI Carbohydrate's).


Water, Vitamins and Minerals

Water – Drink an absolute minimum on 2L per day, aiming for between 4 and 6L is optimal.

Vitamins and Minerals – I recommend taking in a variety of different Fruit and Vegetables to get a full spectrum of Vitamins and Minerals, however I would also recommend taking in a good Multivitamin to be 100% sure.


How much to eat

When trying to determine how much to eat to gain weight at a slow but steady rate there are a few thing you need to consider, and yes I did say slow and steady as I believe that is the best way to gain mass and not too much Body fat.

To start with you need to know your Body Fat Percentage (BF). The most viable method for testing your BF would be a calliper test if your gym will do it for you. Do not use Electrical Impedance as it is useless (Scales with BF monitors on them).

This link give you a visual guide to BF%, however only use it as a guide as I think some pics are a bit out.http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-p...nd-percentages

The second thing you need to know is you total body weight in Lbs. Weigh yourself in the morning after using the toilet to get a more accurate weight.

Now you need to know your Lean Body Mass (LBM). To work this out you subtract the BF weight from your total weight. Example below

Total Weight 200 Lbs..........BF 10%............10% = 20 Lbs.............200 – 20 = 180 Lbs..........LBM = 180 Lbs

Now that you know your LBM you can work out approximately how many calories your body burns each day by multiplying it by 15. Example below

LBM = 180 Lbs.........180 x 15 = 2700 Calories Per Day (Very Approximately)

To gain 1 Lb per week you must eat an excess of 3500 calories in that week. That works out to 500 calories per day. I would add these calories onto you daily total to give to 3200 Cals per day and that would be a good place to start.

Please note that I did say 'a good place to start'.... Begin there and make changes if required.

Lets try and keep weight gain down to around 2 Lbs a month


Macro Nutrient Breakdown

So you know how many calories you need but what do they need to come from?

Here I will recommend a 40:40:20 split (40% Carbohydrate's:40% Protein's:20% Fat's)

1g of Carbohydrate or Protein contains 4 calories
1g of Fat contains 9 calories

3200 (Total calorie intake) x 0.4 (40% of total intake) = 1280 / 4 (4 Calories per gram) = 320 g Carbohydrate's per day

3200 (Total calorie intake) x 0.4 (40% of total intake) = 1280 / 4 (4 Calories per gram) = 320 g Proteins per day

3200 (Total calorie intake) x 0.2 (40% of total intake) = 640 / 9 (9 Calories per gram) = 71 g Fat's per day

So I would start with 320g Carbohydrate's, 320g Protein's and 71g Fats per day.

Weigh your self each week and if you are not gaining a small and steady amount of weight the you know you need to gradually increase your overall calorie intake. You could add another 300 calories, spread over the 3 macro nutrients with relation to the 40:40:20 split I discussed earlier and take it from there.

This is not rocket science. If your not gaining weight then eat more, but don't over eat too much or you will end up gaining too much fat.

Don't expect to gain a pound a week each week as it wont return quality gains. Instead keep the gains slow and consistent. Aim for 2 Lb a month Maximum! In the long run you will gain more if you are constantly growing rather that getting big and also fat then having to diet all the way back, only to find you gained 2 Lb in a year because you lost the rest of your gains while dieting.


Meal Frequency - what to eat and when

Im not going to talk into too much detail about this subject, simply because there is not much to it.

My prefrence is to eat 7 or 8 meals a day. This is what works for me. I would reccomend splitting all macros 6 ways, starting by eating 6 meals per day all day long. This means as soon as you wake up or as soon as you can, and just before going to bed. If you dont like eating in the morning choose another sport to train in.

Layne Norton has been doing some research into Meal Frequency and from what I have heard his findings are that eating fewer meals (3 or 4) per day 'can' be as good if not better. The theory is to starve the muscle of what it needs and then feed it when it is hungry (and that is the best way I can explain it simply). I dont buy it so im standing by my reccomendations.

Fast acting protein is good in the morning since you have been around 8 hr (Hopefully 8 hrs anyway) without food.

Eggs, Oats and a Bannanna is a good combo as it has Low to Medium GI carbs that will last in your system and a quickly absorbed Protein in the form of Eggs.


Beofre bed a slow releasing Protein is optimal so that it stays with you throughout the night.

Food with Casein in it is good at this time as it is slowly absorbed. Cottage Cheese is my prefrence but lots stick with a Casein Shake. Beef is also slowly digested and good at this time IMO.

If you wake up to Pee in the middle of the night this is also a great time to take in some Protein, I take Whey simply because I dont have Casein. Whatever your taking in at this time is an added bonus so dont be too picky and dont listen to people say 'Why are you taking in Whey and not Casein'. Anything is better than nothing here.


Supplement's

I do not buy into any of the fancy BS supplements out there. And I recommend you save your money and spend it on food. The supplements I would recommend are;


Creatine Monohydrate (During/PWO)
BCAA's (During workout)
Glutamine (Durrning Workout)
Whey Protein (PWO)
Waxy Maize Starch (PWO)


A few food ideas

Spicy Cajun Rub - http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...y-Cajun-Rub-**

Oat Biscuits - http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...uper-clean)-**

Beef Hash - http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...-**Beef-Hash**

Oat and Egg white Pancakes - http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...te-pancakes-**

Protein Bar - http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...*Protein-Bar**

Best salad dressing ever - http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...essing-ever-**

Refrences for everyone

http://www.bodybuilding.com/guides/m...ding/nutrition

http://www.bodybuilding.com/guides/m...lding/training

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/mus...nutrition.html

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/mus...ass-gains.html

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/mus...-mistakes.html

[benny_jerry]

Top read baseline_9 thanks

[gbrice75]

Great post Base!

[Damienm05]

Great post man.

[Dan111]

good post with good info, thanks for taking the time to write it!

[baseline_9]

BUMPING for all the boys in the USA just getting home from work

[HawaiianPride.]

Low GI FTW!

Bravo B9.

[chrisx]

great post man thanx for simplifying things just wish there were more meal plans =)

[chrisx]

Question baseline how much omega 369 to take daily? I take in other efa's I'm just curious about the omegas

Also about white potatos high gi food?

[nath78]

I am writing this article because I am fed up. Fed up with the countless number of new members who decide that using AAS' is the secret key that will unlock the gates to massivenessIf this sounds like you then please read on as this article is especially made for you.

Anyone who has been in this game for a while will have learnt that AAS' are not the key. In fact they are nothing without adequate nutrition. You may gain weight while on cycle and your bench may go up, but if you eat like a 12 year old girl, I am sorry but your just not going to keep any of those gains post cycle. In fact you could actually end up smaller if your PCT is inadequate.

Nutrition

NUTRITION ALWAYS HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE KEY TO SUCCESS!!

Nutrition can be a highly complexed and interesting subject if you have the time to research into it. However I am going to brush over as much as possible and give you the information that I feel you need to know in order to gain quality mass.

I am going to break nutrition down into 3 categories; Carbohydrate's, Protein's and Fat's. I am not going to talk too much about water, minerals and vitamins in this article.

Carbohydrate's


For the purpose of this article I am going to break carbohydrates into two further categories; simple Carbohydrates and Complex Carbohydrates.

Simple Carbohydrates are generally taken in quickly be the body, quickly increasing blood Glucose levels and therefore promoting Insulin release to help drive this Glucose into stores (be it Liver, Muscle of Fat cells) where it can be utilised at another time when required. Clearly we do not want to be storing Glycogen in the form of fat cells, therefore the only time I would recommend eating Simple Carbohydrates it Pre and Post workout. Thus giving muscles a boost in Glycogen (energy) when they need it the most, and hopefully protecting us for the demon that is Catabolism.

So any other time of the day you would be best to eat Complex Carbohydrates. Complex Carbohydrates are generally released into the blood slower than Simple Carbohydrates. This means that the body can use them, as it receives them, instead of having to store them for later.


Glycemic index

To say that all Simple Carbohydrate are fast and all Complex Carbohydrate are slow releasing would be incorrect. The rate at which a Carbohydrate it processed, turned into glucose and secreted into our blood stream can be shown using the Glycemic Index (GI). The graph below shows this.



Foods listed in a Glycemic Index have a range from Between 1 and 100 (Glucose itself being 100)

55 or < Being Low GI
56-69 Being Medium GI
69 or > Being High GI



Click this like for a basic Glycemic Index chart showing foods in each catagory http://www.the-gi-diet.org/glycemicindexchart/


So what does this mean I need to eat and when? Low to Medium GI foods at all times except for around your training.

My recommendations for Low to Medium GI Carbohydrate foods are;

Oats
Sweet Potatoes
Yams
Brown Rice
Basmati Rice
Lentils
Wholemeal Breads

My recommendations for High GI Carbohydrate foods are;

White Rice
White Bread
Dextrose
Maltodextrin


Protein

Protein is the building blocks for muscle. It is used to help repair and build new muscle. Protein from different food sources can be better than others and to show this I have linked you to a basic Protein Biological Value (BV) table. The Higher the BV the better your body can utilise that Protein and the better it is as far as building muscle.

http://www.bodybuildingpro.com/proteinrating.html


My recommendations for quality foods high in Protein are;

Eggs
Egg Whites
Chicken Breast
Turkey
Lean Cuts of Beef
Canned Tuna
Most Fish, including oily fish
Cottage Cheese

These foods should make up the majority of your Protein intake


Fats

Fats like Carbohydrates can be sub categorised, Essential (EFA's) and Non Essential Fats. We need to add EFA's to out diet as our body is unable to produce them by itself.

My take on fats it this. Eat a clean diet with clean sources of Protein and add up how much Fat your are already taking in. If you are taking in 60g of Fats already but require 100g per day, make sure that most of the left over Fats, i.e. The 40g you still require are coming in the form of healthy EFA's.

Below is a List of some of the EFA's you could add to your diet;

Almonds
Walnuts
Mackerel
Salmon
Flaxseed/Oil
Evening Primrose Oil
Avocado
Sardines
Olive Oil

I do not believe that Fats will make you fat. Infact I think they play a key role in keeping you lean while trying to gain/ loose weight. I feel that fats are essential as they provide more calories than Carbohydrate's and Protein's, thus making it easy to add calories to a diet while keeping overall Carbohydrate intake moderate.

I believe that keeping your Carbohydrate intake moderate v's high over the long term will lower Insulin release and increase Insulin sensitivity, this putting your body into a position where it can utilise carbohydrate's for energy well (when taking in Low GI Carbohydrate's) and create an Anabolic Environment via Insulin release when required (when taking in High GI Carbohydrate's).


Water, Vitamins and Minerals

Water – Drink an absolute minimum on 2L per day, aiming for between 4 and 6L is optimal.

Vitamins and Minerals – I recommend taking in a variety of different Fruit and Vegetables to get a full spectrum of Vitamins and Minerals, however I would also recommend taking in a good Multivitamin to be 100% sure.


How much to eat

When trying to determine how much to eat to gain weight at a slow but steady rate there are a few thing you need to consider, and yes I did say slow and steady as I believe that is the best way to gain mass and not too much Body fat.

To start with you need to know your Body Fat Percentage (BF). The most viable method for testing your BF would be a calliper test if your gym will do it for you. Do not use Electrical Impedance as it is useless (Scales with BF monitors on them).

This link give you a visual guide to BF%, however only use it as a guide as I think some pics are a bit out.http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-p...nd-percentages

The second thing you need to know is you total body weight in Lbs. Weigh yourself in the morning after using the toilet to get a more accurate weight.

Now you need to know your Lean Body Mass (LBM). To work this out you subtract the BF weight from your total weight. Example below

Total Weight 200 Lbs..........BF 10%............10% = 20 Lbs.............200 – 20 = 180 Lbs..........LBM = 180 Lbs

Now that you know your LBM you can work out approximately how many calories your body burns each day by multiplying it by 15. Example below

LBM = 180 Lbs.........180 x 15 = 2700 Calories Per Day (Very Approximately)

To gain 1 Lb per week you must eat an excess of 3500 calories in that week. That works out to 500 calories per day. I would add these calories onto you daily total to give to 3200 Cals per day and that would be a good place to start.



Macro Nutrient Breakdown

So you know how many calories you need but what do they need to come from?

Here I will recommend a 40:40:20 split (40% Carbohydrate's:40% Protein's:20% Fat's)

1g of Carbohydrate or Protein contains 4 calories
1g of Fat contains 9 calories

3200 (Total calorie intake) x 0.4 (40% of total intake) = 1280 / 4 (4 Calories per gram) = 320 g Carbohydrate's per day

3200 (Total calorie intake) x 0.4 (40% of total intake) = 1280 / 4 (4 Calories per gram) = 320 g Proteins per day

3200 (Total calorie intake) x 0.2 (40% of total intake) = 640 / 9 (9 Calories per gram) = 71 g Fat's per day

So I would start with 320g Carbohydrate's, 320g Protein's and 71g Fats per day.

Weigh your self each week and if you are not gaining a small and steady amount of weight the you know you need to gradually increase your overall calorie intake. You could add another 300 calories, spread over the 3 macro nutrients with relation to the 40:40:20 split I discussed earlier and take it from there.

This is not rocket science. If your not gaining weight then eat more, but don't over eat too much or you will end up gaining too much fat.

Don't expect to gain a pound a week each week as it wont return quality gains. Instead keep the gains slow and consistent. Aim for 2 Lb a month Maximum! In the long run you will gain more if you are constantly growing rather that getting big and also fat then having to diet all the way back, only to find you gained 2 Lb in a year because you lost the rest of your gains while dieting.


Meal Frequency - what to eat and when

Im not going to talk into too much detail about this subject, simply because there is not much to it.

My prefrence is to eat 7 or 8 meals a day. This is what works for me. I would reccomend splitting all macros 6 ways, starting by eating 6 meals per day all day long. This means as soon as you wake up or as soon as you can, and just before going to bed. If you dont like eating in the morning choose another sport to train in.

Layne Norton has been doing some research into Meal Frequency and from what I have heard his findings are that eating fewer meals (3 or 4) per day 'can' be as good if not better. The theory is to starve the muscle of what it needs and then feed it when it is hungry (and that is the best way I can explain it simply). I dont buy it so im standing by my reccomendations.

Fast acting protein is good in the morning since you have been around 8 hr (Hopefully 8 hrs anyway) without food.

Eggs, Oats and a Bannanna is a good combo as it has Low to Medium GI carbs that will last in your system and a quickly absorbed Protein in the form of Eggs.


Beofre bed a slow releasing Protein is optimal so that it stays with you throughout the night.

Food with Casein in it is good at this time as it is slowly absorbed. Cottage Cheese is my prefrence but lots stick with a Casein Shake.

If you wake up to Pee in the middle of the night this is also a great time to take in some Protein, I take Whey simply because I dont have Casein. Whatever your taking in at this time is an added bonus so dont be too picky and dont listen to people say 'Why are you taking in Whey and not Casein'. Anything is better than nothing here.


Supplement's

I do not buy into any of the fancy BS supplements out there. And I recommend you save your money and spend it on food. The supplements I would recommend are;


Creatine Monohydrate (During/PWO)
BCAA's (During workout)
Whey Protein (PWO)


Refrences for everyone

http://www.bodybuilding.com/guides/m...ding/nutrition

http://www.bodybuilding.com/guides/m...lding/training

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/mus...nutrition.html

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/mus...ass-gains.html

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/mus...-mistakes.html

good thread man!!

[baseline_9]

Question baseline how much omega 369 to take daily? I take in other efa's I'm just curious about the omegas

Also about white potatos high gi food?

Omega 6 dietry intake is essential, hense the name given EFA's. However i have learnt that a general diet covers the n-6 requirments, therfore i would not worry too much about adding any Omega 6 into your diet.

Omega 3 intake is generaly lower, if you eat plenty of oily fish you should be ok. If you want to add n-3 into your diet you could add a few table spoons of Flax Seed Oil throughout the day, thus adding ALA to your diet.

EPA and DHA supplimentation itself would be better IMO

See below quoted from lyle mcdonals site in regards to n-3 (omega 3) intake, specifically EPA and DHA.

"An absolute bare minimum would be a combined intake of EPA/DHA of 500mg per day. A standard 1 gram fish oil capsule typically contains 180 mg EPA and 120 mg DHA (300 mg of total fish oil) so that would be only 2 pills per day. There is evidence that more may be beneficial for a variety of goals."

My reccomendations would be to add both Flax Oil as mentioned and double the minimum reccomendation made by Lyle ( which would be a total of 1g of EPA/DHA combined) in the form of fish oils (caps from any good Health Store).

If you are taking in adequate Fish Oils in via your whole food choices (Salmon Mackrel etc..) then obviously this will cancell out the need to suppliment.

Refrences - 'A Primer On Dietry Fats Part 1 and 2' ( on Lyle McDonalds website, bodyrecomposition dot com


What do you want ti know about potatoes?

[baseline_9]

great post man thanx for simplifying things just wish there were more meal plans =)

I will add some balanced meal plans with macros etc in the week, away from my laptop ATM

[phrenetic]

Top thread bro, will certainly save you guys a bit of time explaining it all over again to every new member, now fingers crossed people actually read it

[baseline_9]

BUMPING this with a few added recipies for u guys and gals

[gbrice75]

Just reread this. Amazing post, you're on fire lately Base!

[baseline_9]

Just reread this. Amazing post, you're on fire lately Base!

Just felt like bumping a few old posts

I will one day do a food thread with loads of videos and nice meals to cook,

Looking forward to that when im eating some decent food again