How to Increase Muscle Mass - For Beginners!
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Increasing muscle mass can be the hardest thing to do, especially if you fit in the category of being a “hard gainer” - or the typical ectomorph. Don’t worry - I was there too and was 47kg at 179cm! The best way to explain this, is to use science as our solution!
So when it comes to trying to gain weight and muscle as a hard gainer, you’ll need to be in a caloric surplus. Now - that can be hard to find out - but luckily we can use numbers!
Formula Number 1:
Calories in Vs Calories Out
Calories In = That’s everything we eat and drink!
Calories Out = Everything that we burn! But there are 3 things to consider
A) Calories burnt by Metabolism
- This varies with age, muscle mass and gender! Something we can’t direct change in your day to day. So don’t focus on this!
B) Calories burnt by Exercise
- This is the amount you spend on exercise. Obviously, you need to exercise to build muscle (with a heavy emphasis on lifting weights and increase strength!) - but you also need to know roughly how much you burn. Why? So you can replenish!
C) Calories burnt by Work/Your Job
- Working as a trade and working in a desk job are two completely different things when it comes to the amount of calories burnt. Standing around, and not moving is not considered exercise and won’t burn calories, despite being some what physically exhausting.
This is a big number to consider when you’re looking to build muscle.
So now that we have this, the numbers game is where we want to play. Are you not gaining weight while eating the same amount of calories per week? Well - it’s time to increase the amount of calories that you eat, just slightly.
Remember - any fool can eat 2 x cheeseburgers several times per day, but we aren’t here to sacrifice your health for just a few kg’s on the scale. We want to also consider eating food that won’t clog your arteries.
So put yourself in a caloric surplus with a small increase, and I recommend 200-300 calories at a time. Here’s the take home message for you. Try to increase your weight with the LEAST amount of calories. This will prevent you from going overboard and in the unhealthy ranges.
Sean Koh
Exercise Physiologist, Exercise Scientist, Personal Trainer & Strength Coach
Post Graduate Diploma (Exercise Physiology) & B.Sc. (Exercise, Sports & Rehabilitation)