How To Build Muscle Mass With A High Metabolism?
September 14, 2009 by Shaun
Filed under The Fitness Bug
It’s been a ride so far here at stayfitbug.com and I have covered many topics, many of which have been suggested by readers like yourselves and those in other online communities. One of the biggest topics has been ‘how to build muscle mass with a high metabolism’. I have covered this topic through out various posts in the last few weeks, but the information is scattered across the site, so I intend to make this a bible post for all of you skinny men out there. I will help you get that muscle and I will make it my duty that you achieve from the information you pick up from stayfitbug.com!
You are what you eat
This we all know, but when you suffer, or should I say, when you are ‘blessed’ with a high metabolism, you just have to eat more. And these are the foods you will want to include in your diet.
- Spinach – This is muscle fuel and will help repair muscles after working out (but you have to eat loads of it)
- Pineapple and papaya – Will help speed up muscle recovery and will help breakdown and digest protein.
- Salmon – Or any other type of fish will help you (Especially for cardio training).
- Pasta and meat sauce – Is good for building and repairing muscle.
- Pork tenderloin – Will help reduce fat around your waist.
- Cold water – Will help with endurance.
- Chocolate milk – Helps with hydration. Chocolate milk gives the perfect balance of carbs, protein, and fat for a speedy muscle recovery.
- Coffee – Good for pain relief after workouts.
- Green tea – Good for muscle recovery.
Other great additions
- Peanuts
- Turkey
- Porridge
- Brown bread
- Brown rice
- Black beans
- Potatoes
- Eggs
If you are lost for what meals to include, have a read of killer foods for fitness (one and two). That is still in it’s early stages and you will see more of killer foods for fitness, but in the mean time see my verdict on this book ‘Gourmet Nutrition’.
The high metabolism meal plan
In one of my very early posts I described how to eat in the early days of building muscle for mass, and this is how you should structure your daily meals.
- Meal 1. A GOOD breakfast like porridge with bread mixed in.
- Meal 2. Drink a gainer meal
- Meal 3. Lunch with a lot of carbs 2/3 and 1/3 proteins
- Meal 4. Drink a Gainer meal
- Meal 5. Dinner with 1/3 protein and 2/3 carbs
- Meal 6. Drink a gainer meal
- Meal 7. Eat a dish with 2/3 proteins and 1/3 carbs
Realistically this can be hard to keep up, as I have tried doing this on a number of occasions to fit around my daily schedule. But if you keep it to at least 5 meals on the busy days and 7 meals on your free days, you will put on weight for sure. If you really do struggle, like most people do nowadays, then you can always take a supplement and add that to your diet. Whey protein is my personal favourite as of now, but take a look at my personal view on how to use these supplements.
Note: Also make sure you have a healthy bank account; all this food can be costly, depending on how and where you eat. Again give the Gourmet nutrition book a read for some tips.
Resistance Training
How much and how often?
I have frequently talked about the importance of setting goals when training for results, and you will have to do this here too. But because we are talking about training to build muscle on a high metabolism/ ectomorph body type, the goal (no matter who you are) will be mostly the same.
1) Resistance training 3-4 times a week (1 hour a day)
2) One cardio training session a week. Depending on how skinny you are it could be a case of doing no cardio training at all in the early stages.
To see how to set your own personal goal, see my guest post on Dieselcrew.com
Lift Weights at Moderate Speed
Now, there has always been this myth that,
Lifting weights slowly = Bigger muscles
You can agree to disagree with me here, but I no longer believe this to be the case. For years I use to perform slow movement weightlifting and I would usually always achieve slow results… compared with now. With 2 years of power lifting and ‘explosive movements’ I would see results every 3-6 weeks!
The reason why lifting slow is bad is because,
1) It puts stress on the muscle from taking to long.
2) Allows pressure to build up in the joints… from taking to long.
3) Oxygen and energy run out before the muscle is even worked.
In general, changes will occur in your muscles when the muscles contract ‘intensely’. And this is why your weight lifting should not focus on slow movement. Yes… it may possibly give you an increase in strength, but you may lose muscle mass and you will only then be a strong, but still… skinny man!
The Ultimate Solution
There will be arguments on which is better,
Lift fast, or lift slowly? Why and for which type of goals?
But the key thing to remember is that weight training whether fast or slow is better than no weight training at all. But for you high metabolism types, the best thing to do is,
1) Start with lightweights – This will allow you to understand how to lift the weights properly regardless of the exercise.
2) Do the exercise properly – Once you have mastered how to do it, focus on control and execution.
3) Lift at moderate speed – Explosive yes! But not fast and not slow.
4) Increase the weight – Do the above 3, but always aim to increase the weight.
Structuring your weight lifting techniques like this will allow for the blood in your body to flow properly when lifting, and will give you the ‘pump’ that your muscles need. Do this and your muscles will grow!
You and the previous You!
See you in the comments.
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Link to this page
Power lifting if you’re an experienced lifter. Basically, same exercises, just with increased speed on the lifting and slower on the eccentric phase. Supersets for decreased rest will get your heart rate up and minimize the need for cardio.
Correct. I used to do the increased speed on the lifting and slower on the eccentric phase quite a lot. A still do in fact. What’s your current body like as a bodybuilder?
PlfsTs I am always excited to visit this blog in the evenings.Please churning hold the contents. It is very entertaining.
WwtXPY I am always excited to visit this blog in the evenings.Please churning hold the contents. It is very entertaining.
Loved the How to build mass w/ a high metabolism article. Felt as though it was written for me. What do u do when you don’t have money for supps; u seem like your eating everything in sight; gaining very little weight. Is it possible to gain muscle; lose weight? How do u do gain weight n muscle? Trying to get to 165# by May 31st. I think my goal is in jeopardy, HELP!!
I have no newer pics up on the site yet. That main picture was 2009. Well, anyone can bulk quick. But you’ll gain a good amount of fat in the process too.
How do I go about gaining some fat? Naturally, I have a high-ass metabolism. IT SUCKS trying to gain weight; have no problems gaining some muscle.
Well, in general, you” need to consume up to 1.5 grams of carbs/protein per pound of bodyweight. Or if you are a true hardgainer, you could always go on a GOMAD diet for a month or two. That’s the simple version.
Have been gaining weight. I’m up 2 lbs. Is it good/bad to jo? Also, noticing more definition in certain areas; size increases in others. What are your thoughts; should I continue with my T&E?
What ever you got working for you, keep doing it. Just note what works. You only need to worry when things start to go wrong. That’s where Stay-Fit Bug comes into it
I am currently between 6″0 and 6″1 and my weight is at 125lbs and im 31 years old. I still have a piece of paper on my wall saying when I was 22 years old and I weighed 121. As you can see I dont put on any weight and im incredibly frustrated with it. I’m always pacing and fidgeting. I stress out a lot and because of all this I burn even more calories. I am trying to maintain my 3 workouts a week. on Monday/Wed/fri with a day rest in between. I also do martial arts training for 3 hours once and sometimes twice a week. I am going to try what you said and I pray that this works for me. Thanks for the article!
I’m so fed up of looking the way I do that I will try anything. Its seriously affecting my well being at this point.
No worries Shaun… here’s another useful video for you to watch too…
http://tinyurl.com/Build-a-pro-fitness-bod
Thanks but the link doesnt work. I think somethings missing.
Give this a try instead… http://bit.ly/build-muscle-effectively