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Colin:
Good question. Over the years I have found several techniques helpful when trying to gain size. Here are a few suggestions that have worked for me.

Loosen up your diet. It’s one thing to eat healthy but counting calories and eating too strict will prevent you from reaching your goal. If you want to put on size
don’t be afraid to eat good wholesome foods such as wheat bread, potatoes, beef, yams, rice, eggs and oatmeal. Add in other foods that you like but stay away from foods that are high in sugar.

Slow down on the cardio. I can guarantee you will never put on size doing 5 days of cardio a week. Reduce the amount of time you spend on the cardio deck to 2 sessions of 15 minutes and see what happens. If after 2 weeks you feel as if you are putting on fat increase the cardio to 3 sessions of 20 minutes.

Spend less time in the gym. Experienced lifters know that it’s not how long you spend in the gym but what you do while your there. Some people become victims of turning their passion into an obsession. They spend hour after hour in the gym because they truly love working out but they will never get the results they deserve because they fail to realize that rest is just as important as working hard. Take my advice. Go to the gym, work hard for 45-minutes to 1 hour and get out. Go home and enjoy your life. You will make much more progress.

Take advantage of the 2 most important meals of the day. In my opinion the most important meal of the day is breakfast. Leaving your house without eating breakfast is like going for a drive without any gas in your tank. In both cases the result will be the same. You will run out of fuel and fail to get where you are trying to go. The bottom line is you can’t expect to get big without starting your day with proper nutrition to feed your muscles.

The second most important meal is directly after you workout. During this time your body is in desperate need of nutrition to feed and repair the muscles. The sooner you eat the faster the body can begin recuperating.

 Cut back on the amount of sets and repetitions. A common mistake many weight lifters make is believing more is always better. “If 8 sets of biceps curls work good than 16 sets will work great’, wrong! Doing too much volume will cause you to over train, and your muscles will never grow. For optimal growth try the 6-10 rule- do 6-10 sets per body part of 6-10 reps per set.

Supplement your diet with a good protein shake. It is a biological fact that protein helps to build, maintain and repair muscle tissue.  However it’s sometimes hard to get the amount of protein you need in a given day from food alone. Try adding 1-2 protein shakes a day to make sure your muscles get the building blocks they need to continue growing.

 

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