#6) What Are the 10 Best Exercises For Weight Gain?
Do Steps 1-5 above, and you’ll put on plenty of weight.
HOWEVER, if you’re not also training correctly, you’ll just be getting fat, and not building muscle!
If you want to bulk up correctly, you need to be strength training with heavy weights and bodyweight movements.
As we lay out in our “Beginner Strength Workouts” guide, these are the BEST exercises you can do to gain weight:
SQUATS:
DEADLIFTS:
BENCH PRESS:
INCLINE BENCH PRESS:
OVERHEAD PRESS:
PUSH-UPS:
PULL-UPS:
CHIN-UPS:
DIPS:
BODYWEIGHT ROWS:
Get as strong as possible with these exercises while eating enough calories and protein, and you will gain the right kind of weight.
you can follow our 6 level gym workout routine too.
WEIGHT GAIN MONDAY WORKOUT:
- Squats (4 sets of 8 reps)
- Benchpress (3 sets of 8 reps)
- Pull-Ups (3 sets of 10 reps)
WEIGHT GAIN WEDNESDAY WORKOUT:
- Deadlift (3 sets of 5 reps)
- Overhead Press (3 sets of 8 reps)
- Inverted Rows (3 sets of 8 reps)
WEIGHT GAIN FRIDAY WORKOUT:
- Front Squats (3 sets of 5 reps)
- Dips (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Chin-Ups (3 sets of 10 reps)
#7) How to Strength Train to Gain Weight
If you are going to get bigger, you need to consistently increase the difficulty with every workout.
Every time you train, your muscles break down and have to rebuild themselves.
You are teaching them to say “I must get bigger and stronger in case I have to do that again!”
So how do you progressively overload your muscles?
- Lift more weight than last time.
- Do more sets or reps than last time.
- Wait less time between sets than last time.
- Do a more difficult movement or variation.
If you did 3 sets of 5 reps of squats at 95 pounds last week, go for 3 sets of 5 reps at 100 pounds this week!
Write down how you train, so that way you know exactly how to get stronger next time. I use Evernote on my phone, but you can use an old-school notebook or whatever floats your boat.
Write down exactly:
- How much you lifted
- How many sets
- How many reps
- How you felt
- And then next time?
Pick up more.
In addition to the protein shakes mentioned back in Rule #3, consider a creatine supplement – it allows your muscles to store more water – which will both help you potentially lift heavier and improve your performance in the gym!
#8) How Many Days Per Week Should I Exercise to Gain Weight And Get Bigger?
Muscles are made in the kitchen and while sleeping, NOT in the gym.
When you train, you are essentially ripping apart and breaking down your muscles.
Then, during the next 48 hours, as you are eating a caloric surplus and recovering, your muscles get rebuilt bigger and stronger.
Here are the best common practices for weight gain: Do a gym workout 3-4 days a week with a day off in between each (while consuming plenty of calories). This is plenty of training to promote muscle growth and weight gain.
Long story short: pick up a heavyweight in the gym 3-4 days a week for an hour.
Go HARD, go HEAVY.
And then come home, eat, and rest. If you are interested in doing some active recovery on your off days, that’s fine too.
Skinny people usually don’t need to train more, they need to eat and rest more!
#9) How Much SLeep SHould I get To Get Bigger?
You should get at least 6 hours of sleep to function as a human, but getting 7-8 hours of sleep will help aid in building more muscle.
If you are only getting 6 hours or less, you’re not going to get all the benefits of your exercising and diet, and not giving yourself the best chance to gain weight and grow bigger.
We often spend quite a bit of time with our coaching clients working with them on their sleep and environmental habits! From turning off the TV an hour earlier to even becoming a morning person, we build fun missions and challenges for our clients around stuff like this to get results.
#10: Should You Do Cardio While Trying to Gain Weight?
Depending on how you currently feel about running, this next sentence will either make you happy or miserable:
“Running might work against your efforts to gain weight and build muscle.”
When you run, your body uses up calories to fuel your runs. This leaves fewer calories left over to build muscle.
Now, nobody will refute the benefits of improved cardiovascular health, nor would I EVER tell you to not do an exercise that you find fun
If you’re trying to get bigger, here’s what I would recommend:
Find a way to increase your food intake, and still know that you might be building muscle slightly slower than if you ONLY did strength training.
Cut back on running until you reach your goal weight/size, and then introduce it back into your routine.
Is your SOLE focus on getting bigger? Do 3 things:
- Eat (a lot).
- Lift (heavier).
- Sleep (a lot).
Interested in giving your heart a workout without steady cardio?:
Do higher volume strength workouts. Sets of 20 barbell squats are QUITE the cardio workout.
If you’re going to run, do quick sprints or run up a hill.
Go for walks. Yes, you can actually walk to Mordor.
#11: Realize you will put on some fat, and that’s okay.
With all of this eating, you will probably put on some fat along with your muscle.
That’s okay!
You might even be skinny enough that a bit of extra “cushion” on you is a good thing!
If you are trying to put on MOSTLY muscle and minimal fat gain:
- Target at least 1.5g of protein per pound of body weight (3.3g per kg).
- Eat a caloric surplus that is 250cal over your current Total Daily Energy Expenditure.
You’re trying to thread the needle of “only build muscle, don’t add fat” which is fairly advanced and challenging.
As this 2017 study points out, “Protein overfeeding or the consumption of a high protein diet may not result in a gain in body weight or fat mass despite consuming calories that exceed one’s normal or habitual intake.”
This is incredibly challenging, and you do run the risk of not eating enough to build muscle. In addition, you might build less muscle than had you consumed a larger surplus of calories.
Now, what if you’re “skinny fat?”
IF YOU ARE “SKINNY FAT”:
- A slight caloric deficit: 200 calories under your Total Daily Energy Expenditure.
- LOTS of protein: 1.5g per pound of body weight (3.3g per kg).
- Heavy strength training: focus on lifting REALLY heavyweights.
- Build muscle AND burn fat at the same time. Total Daily Energy Expenditure calculator:
#12: Supercharge Your Weight Gain Results (Build the Habit)
These are the 11 rules I’ve followed multiple times in my life whenever I have decided to gain weight.
There’s a Last rule I want to share with you too:
Build the habit of eating and exercise:
- Put your workouts on your calendar.
- Recruit a workout buddy,
- Learn how to batch cook meals.
- Prepare large quantities of healthy food.
- It’s important to build a system that sets you up for weight gain success.
It comes down to two things:
- Don’t miss workouts.
- Don’t miss meals.
Build small habits that become permanent parts of your life, and the results you’ll get will be permanent too.
To recap our full article, here are the “12 Rules To Gain Weight Quickly”:
- Eat more food to create a caloric surplus
- Eat mostly high-quality, high-calorie food.
- Eat enough protein to promote muscle growth.
- Eat enough carbs and fats to reach your goals.
- Track your progress to make sure you are getting results
- Strength training is the key to the RIGHT weight gain
- Get stronger to gain weight.
- Strength train 3 days per week with plenty of recovery.
- Get at least 7-8+ hours of sleep for optimal growth.
- Decide if cardio belongs in your workout routine.
- Learn how to build muscle with minimal fat gain.
- Build the habit of training and eating.