Eat Big…..To Get Big

Eating Support for Skinny Dudes
By Kevin Haag, CSCS

Rule 1:  EATING IS PRIORITY #1.  No Crying and No Excuses Allowed.
You MUST Eat!  Whatever you want…and lots of it.  I am sorry if you are “Not Hungry” or “Too Busy”.  These are the same excuses skinny dudes have been using for years and no one cares.  The jacked guy across the gym, with all the girls sitting on his lap is actually happy you look like a twig.  Not only does he get all the chicks, but it won’t hurt him when he runs you over on the field.

Rule 2:  Lift Heavy and Lift OFTEN.  Oh – you don’t like the gym”, “Your hands hurt” Wa-Wa-Wa.
You are not going to stimulate muscle growth or build strength doing push-up unless someone stands on your back as you do them.  Your goal every day is adaptation!  Your body will adapt to the heavy load by building the muscles you need to move the load!

Calories & Gaining Muscle

Daily calorie intake is the amount of energy ingested from protein, carbohydrates, and fat. The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the calorie load just to keep our metabolism running. Consuming additional calories is not an option, whether you are an athlete or a computer geek.   Stress, whether lifting, sports, school, relationships, family or work further bump up calorie needs.

A starting point to gain muscle is 20 calories per pound of bodyweight. For example, a 150-pound male would need, 3000-calories a day. To gain muscle weight, eat 6-8 meals each day. You will utilize nutrients better with smaller, more frequent meals.

Every meal should be rich in protein and high-quality carbs. For a weight gain diet, I recommend 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight from eggs, beef, chicken, turkey, fish and quality protein powders.  Fat intake should be about 20-25% of your calorie intake. Good sources of fat are olive oil, omega 3 supplements, canola oils, nuts, flaxseed oil or specially blended oils, and peanut butter.  A moderate amount of fiber is essential for muscle weight, optimizing digestion. A serving of oatmeal, green beans or steamed fibrous veggies will help.

Example:

150 lbs. Need 20 calories per/lb. = 3000 calories. Of that, protein intake is 300 g/day at 2 g/lb. This provides 1200 calories a day from protein (4 calories/g). If you eat 8 times a day, you should average 40 grams of protein each meal.

This eating schedule is for the after work/sports training:

 

• 7:00 Breakfast
• 10:30 Mid-Morning Snack
• 1:00 PM Lunch
• 4:00 Pre-Training Meal
• 6:00 TRAINING
• 7:30 Post-Training shake
• 8:30 Post-post-training meal
• 10:30 Bed snack/shake
• 3:00 Mid-sleep shake, optional. Have this pre-made and if you get up to urinate, hey, eat more protein!

 

 

 

Your 7-8 Meals

1. Breakfast: Oatmeal and Eggs, plus a Protein Shake.  Your body has just been catabolic for 4-9 hours without nutrients (depending on if you get up in the middle of the night). I recommend.  High Calorie, weight gainer with protein for an immediate influx of amino acids and sustained slow protein absorption.
2. Mid-Morning: A protein snack. Bar or Jerky
3. Pre-Workout: Believe it, this is an ideal time to dose up on protein. I recommend a big protein meal (50g) before training! This can be a protein shake, (as above) an egg omelet or even meat and it should be entering your muscle cell about the time when you are just finishing training!
4. Post-Workout: Here again, give yourself a bigger protein dose (40g) of protein, consisting mostly of quickly absorbed proteins such as whey isolate /hydrolysate. (Ask your trainer for recommendations). This is the single most important time to get muscle fuel. You can also combine glutamine, BCAA and creatine (all powerful add-ons). Try to get it down within 30 minutes post-workout!
5. Post-Workout Meal: After my post-workout protein shake, I drive home, shower and then immediately prepare a whole-food protein meal. For me, this is roughly an hour after my post-workout protein shake. This is a surge of slow protein. Steak, eggs, cottage cheese (a great source of casein), or lean grilled hamburger.
6. Before Bed: Before bed is another crucial time to pound the protein. You want a slow protein, either in the form of an egg white or milk protein/casein). Adding some fats to your shake (in the form of added flax oil or half-and-half cream) will give you concentrated calories for growth.
7. Middle Of The Night: If you choose to try a middle of the night feeding, go for a smaller but nutrient dense protein with some fat (once again, flax oil or cream) added and have it pre-made.

Besides calorie load, to gain maximum lean muscle, use proteins! Additional supplements can be glutamine, creatine, BCAA, omega 3 fats, liver and a vitamin-mineral supplement, in this order.

Three For Total Thunder!

1: Whey isolate and peptides.
Whey is a fast protein. It’s absorbed quickly. Use a whey protein that contains high-quality whey (isolate/hydrolysate/ high-quality concentrate). To make sure the whey concentrate is high quality, use a ranked company in PLANET MUSCLE because they all have been tested!

2: Micellar casein, caseinate proteins, milk protein isolates and egg protein.
Micellar casein and caseinate are slow proteins, a sustained source of amino acids for growth. Micellar casein or caseinates are great before bed, on an empty stomach and middle-of-the night protein. Egg white protein powder is also a moderately slow protein.

3: Glutamine Powder.
This cell-volumizing amino acid is also a potent muscle-builder. A healthy 5 to 10g dose once or twice a day will reinforce your immune system and dramatically decrease muscle breakdown.

 

What to Eat: The best foods to choose from:

 

Healthy Protein Sources

• Pastured eggs, poultry, and pork
• Wild caught seafood
• Grass-fed meats such as beef and bison
• Organic, grass-fed dairy products (preferably from goats and sheep, in limited amounts)

 

Healthy Carb Sources

• Yams/ sweet potatoes / White potatoes / Red potatoes
• Rice
• Quinoa
• Gluten free oats
• All fruits
• All vegetables

 

Healthy Fat Sources

• Coconut oil, milk, butter
• Ghee
• Butter from grass-fed cows
• Avocado
• Olive oil
• Fish oil
• Red Palm Oil
• Organic nuts (in limited amounts- e.. a serving here and there).
• The fat that comes with the high-quality protein you consume is where the majority of our fat intake should come from.  Use the added fats above in small amounts.

 

What Not To Eat

• Junk food
• Sugar
• Alcohol
• Poison
• Heroin