The Top 25 Ways to Pack on Serious Mass, Part 1

[Power XL]

The Top 25 Ways to Pack on Serious Mass, Part 1
By Anthony Ricciuto
B.Phed C.F.T. S.P.N. F.T. S.W.M.
For EliteFTS.com


My time here at Powerlifting USA has been one that has been very interesting and exciting. As you probably already know, I work as a sports nutritionist working with a variety of professional athletes including bodybuilders, powerlifters, weightlifters, strongmen, armwrestlers, football and hockey players among others. I have always had a large percentage of my nutritional clientele being powerlifters, but as of late it has really increased. I have had a tremendous response from lifters reading Powerlifting USA magazine. I receive numerous emails regarding proper nutritional planning on a daily basis. Sometimes I have a hard time just keeping up with all the mail I receive from our readers. One of the most asked questions that I receive is how to gain lean muscle tissue while maintaining their current body fat percentage. Well, this month you are in luck! I will be discussing with you the Top 25 Ways to Pack on Serious Mass. For all the lightweight lifters out there looking to go up a class, or you mass monsters looking to put on yet more size, this will definitely get you on your way to some serious mass!





#1
Eat 5-6 Times per Day
What did you just say? Eat 6 times per day? Yes, that’s right! Don’t think that you are going to gain quality size eating 3 square meals per day. The only type of mass you will put on eating this way will be the fat type, and this is not our objective. There is no way that you can reach your caloric or your macronutrient needs eating 3 meals per day. If by some magical reason you can eat them in 3 meals, than you will be so full and bloated, you won’t be able tie up your own shoes let alone pound out some heavy deadlifts. Get rid of the mentality that powerlifters can optimize their performance on three meals per day, it’s scientifically impossible. Eating 5-6 times per day will also keep your blood sugar levels stabilized and your metabolism elevated. Eating several times per day instead of the "Big 3” that most are used to, will provide your body with a constant supply of nutrients that you need to recover from your hard workouts. This will cause you to increase your lean tissue, while reducing your body fat percentage. Our goal here is to put on lean muscle mass, not take our body fat level to new heights.

#2
Drink Water

Water is very important for many reasons. Water is good for you believe it or not. It has many health and performance benefits. It keeps your organs functioning properly, clears toxins, reduces excess sodium from your body, and it hydrates your muscle cells. It even liberates fat stores on your body so they are burned off as an energy source. Dehydration will cause a major decrement in performance. Even a 2% state of dehydration will cause your performance to go out the window. Just because most powerlifting events aren’t out in the heat, it doesn’t mean that proper hydration isn’t important. Water plays a major role in cell volumization. This is where nutrients are pulled inside of the muscle cell causing a multitude of reactions that leads to muscle growth. Water is very important in many processes including digestion, transportation and the absorption of nutrients. So how much water should you drink on a daily basis? You should drink on average at least 1oz of water per kilogram of bodyweight. This is a figure that can be increased depending on many factors that affect your hydration level. This amount will start as your baseline from which you can build upon. A 220 pound (100kg) powerlifter would need to drink 100 ounces or slightly over 3 quarts of water per day as his minimum daily water intake. There are also many benefits to drinking water. They include lowering your chances for high blood pressure and kidney stones. Both of these nice little health problems can really cause havoc on your training. Try banging out some box squats when you’re passing kidney stones the size of jawbreakers. It’s not going to happen

#3
Sleep

Sleep is not considered a food group so why am I talking about it in my nutritional column you ask? The reason why sleep is going to be discussed here is that it is essential in gaining lean mass. Your body repairs and recovers from your workout as you sleep. During this time, your muscles grow! Remember this, if you aren’t sleeping you aren’t growing and getting stronger. Think back to a time when you couldn’t get optimal sleep either during university exam time, or another time when sleep was of the essence. Think back how your strength level was, or how you were actually losing size. So how much sleep do you need per day? You should be getting at least 8 full hours of sleep per day. If you can get a 1-2 hour nap per day on top of this it would be even better. Getting proper sleep is a must for muscle growth. Without it, you can kiss gains in strength and size goodbye!

[Power XL]

#4
Consume Enough Protein

“I eat enough protein. I probably ate around 50 grams today.” Now if this sounds like you, we are in some serious trouble. That is unless you are a 60- pound child whose major energy expenditure for the day is playing with your Tonka Trucks. Ok, down to the serious stuff here. If you don’t eat optimal amounts of protein, you will never put on the muscle mass that you so much desire. You are also hindering your strength gains as well. If you are going up a weight class and you aren’t eating the proper amount of protein, guess what? You will put on a nice extra layer of fat around your waist, instead of gaining lean muscle tissue. When trying to put on size, you have to make sure you constantly supply your body with essential amino acids throughout the day. You should consume at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. I have some of my athletes consume between 1.25-1.5 grams of protein per pound when trying to pack on size. If you just jack up your carbs and fat without supplying your body with the protein that it needs, you will end up looking like “Mr. Marshmallow” instead of a strength athlete. Amino acids are the building blocks that you will need to gain lean muscle tissue and to ensure that going up a weight class will be muscle, not fat. Protein helps in the recovery of your muscles from the intense training you perform as a powerlifter. As you probably already know, protein is the main nutrient responsible for increasing lean muscle tissue. You can work out all day long but if you don’t eat the right amount of protein for your specific needs and activity expenditure, than you will never reach your peak in strength, that’s guaranteed!

#5
Maximize your Carbohydrate Intake
Carbohydrates…You gotta love them. Yes we all know that they are definitely the tastiest of all the macronutrients, but how do we incorporate them in putting on size. If you are familiar with my previous articles “The Carbohydrate Manifesto” series, than you already know about the different types of carbohydrates and their function. Make sure that when you are trying to gain solid weight, you consume plenty carbs. Now don’t think that there is only one way to do this. I have had great success with my clients using diets that include both carbs on a daily basis, and plans that restrict them for a certain number of days and then are super compensate for a specific number of days. What you need to know is that there is more than one way to get the job done.

Now when trying to put on size with a nutritional plan where carbs are going to be consumed on a daily basis, you should consume 1.5-3 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight per day. You must be thinking, how can I eat all that? This doesn’t all have to come from food, as there are many good glucose polymer drinks available that can help you fulfill your daily requirements. One glucose polymer drink can supply 100 grams of carbohydrates in as little as 12-16oz of water. I just made this a lot easier didn’t I? The majority of carbohydrates that you should consume when you are trying to go up a weight class should come from complex carbohydrates. These include oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, potatoes, yams, brown rice, ancient grains including quinoa, amaranth, millet, and teff. I gave you an in depths look into these ancient grains in the last issue of PL USA. What’s nice about these grains is that they provide variety in your diet and are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates. Let’s not forget your fibrous carbs including your salads and vegetables. These are very important and should be consumed with at least 3 of your daily meals. Fiber is very important in the digestion process and eliminating toxins from the body. If you are not getting adequate amounts of fiber in your nutritional plan, it is now time to increase your daily intake. It’s hard to pack on size if you have a severe case of constipation. You may laugh, but this is one of the first things that happen to someone trying to gain weight. Many individuals increase their caloric and protein intake yet, they forget to do the same with their fiber and water.

#6
Bump up your Fat Intake
If you read my article in the June Issue of Powerlifting USA “Fatten Up Your Total”, then you already know the importance of fat in the powerlifter’s nutritional program. Fat is where it’s at, especially if you are a strength athlete. I know you get as sick and tired as I do of all those aerobiczers telling you that you should eat 10grams of fat per day. Your fat intake is definitely associated with how strong you will be. Now don’t get the wrong idea here. This doesn’t mean put extra Mayo on your tuna sandwich, or a quart of gravy on your turkey breast. Nor does it mean to put some extra non-dairy creamer in your coffee, or load up on fatty cuts of bacon and sausage. Yes, you want to increase you saturated fat intake slightly when trying to pack on size for your new weight class, but the majority should come from your polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Fats should consist of 30% of your total caloric intake. This is not written in stone, as I have had my clients on programs that were higher and lower than the above. By the way, fat has 9 calories per gram, so this will help you out with your calculations. Good sources of Omega 3 fats are salmon and other cuts of fatty fish. In the past, athletes and bodybuilders avoided these fatty fish. Now, they realize the benefits of these fish fats and understand how beneficial they are not only for your health, but your performance. You can get some good sources of monounsaturated fats from various nuts and avocados. With this all said and done, you now know that fat is a very important nutrient in your quest for strength and size. Without it optimized in your plan, you are giving your competition more than a “Fat Chance” of beating you on the platform.

#7
Drink Milk
Milk…It does a body good! You should have known this would be on the list. Milk is the drink of all strength champions throughout history. Let’s take a look back into the past. Paul Anderson, a man whose strength feats have gone down in history used to drink several gallons of milk per day. I read that he used to drink a gallon of milk just during his workout. If you look at the eating habits of the strongmen and powerlifters of the past, milk was a major part of their diet. Even the old school bodybuilders used to drink large amounts of milk. It supplies the body with an excellent source of protein. Its main source is casein protein, which is a slower released protein source than whey. It also supplies simple carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals to help round things out. Milk has different caloric rates depending on which type you consume. Powerlifters should drink 2% or whole milk, as it will supply you with valuable calories when looking to gain weight. The best time to consume milk is with your protein shake as it can really help with the taste. When trying to pack on mass, milk should definitely be part of your plan!

#8
Increase your Meat Consumption
I knew you would like this one. What true powerlifter wouldn’t? Now again, don’t get me wrong here. The point is that you should increase you lean meat consumption during a mass phase. Note I said lean meat consumption. This doesn’t include bacon, ham, sausage, deli meats, beef jerky, or pepperoni sticks. I know you wish that is what I would be recommending, but your ever visibly growing waistline and your tryglyceride rating wouldn’t be thanking me down the road. The types of meat that you should be consuming should include skinless chicken breasts, lean cuts of steak, extra lean ground beef, turkey, veal and lean cuts of pork. When trying to put on size, you should consume lean red meat on a daily basis. At least one meal of the day should consist of red meat and the other meals can be comprised of fish and lean white meats like turkey and chicken. Make sure that the cuts are lean and you cut off any visible fat. Sorry about that, but if you consume all the fatty meats the only thing that will go up is your cholesterol level, not your performance. Lean cuts of meat should be a staple in all powerlifter’s diets.

Here you have the first part in this three part series on how to go up a weight class while making sure that the weight that you put on is lean tissue, not just another roll around your waist. After reading the first installment of this series, you are realizing that going up a weight class doesn’t mean it’s time to load up on your favorite junk food to help fill out your new weight limit. To properly gain quality weight you have to make sure that your nutritional plan is on the money, otherwise you can forget about going up a weight class while retaining your current body fat level. In part two of this series we will discuss another 8 tips to pack on size and strength for your new weight class!

If you have any questions in regards to this article feel free to write me at aricciuto@x-tremepower.com
You can also view my articles at www.X-tremepower.com

[Mr.Freeze]

You should write a book!LOL :)