Muscle gain and maintain weight

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j7gx52nwvf
j7gx52nwvf Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself

Hi everyone, I’m Saad, 39 years old from Dubai. I have been doing regular strength training (push-ups, pull-ups, weights, etc.) and cardio (mostly running) for over a year, and recently got serious about improving my muscle mass and energy levels.

I have started using MyFitnessPal to track my meals, calories, and especially my protein intake. I take protein shakes, multivitamins, my goal is to gain visible muscle, stay healthy, and feel more energetic throughout the day.

Happy to connect with others on a similar journey. Any tips on meal planning or muscle-building progress are welcome!

Thanks and good luck to everyone here.

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  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 14,570 Member

    Welcome, Saad!

    To increase muscle, you need two things: the calories the body uses to build the muscle, and a reason for the body to use those calories to make muscle and not fat. Let me explain.

    Building muscle should be a slow process. Anybody who claims to gain muscle rapidly is probably taking drugs. But for us natural bodybuilders, we should be looking at only .25kg per week weight gain at the most. This means you need to eat whatever is your maintenance calories, plus an additional 250 per day.

    In addition, make sure you have enough protein in your diet since that's what will be the foundation of the new muscle. Try to aim for a minimum of 1.5g protein per kilogram of bodyweight. Going over this amount won't hurt, may even give small benefit, but going beyond 3g/kg is overkill.

    The second part of the equation is convincing your body it needs muscle, not fat. You do this through a progressive strength program. Doing the bodyweight exercises you have been so far is a good start, but eventually you will find it hard to challenge the body, the routine will become easy. May I suggest perusing this thread for ideas on more complete programs to follow. (Don't let the name of the thread mislead…there is an entire section dedicated to bodyweight exercises, if access to a gym is not available to you.)

    which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you

    Eventually, even the perfect program will still feel easy. This thread contains ideas on how to make changes to your routine to keep not only challenging the body, forcing it to grow muscle to keep up, but also to keep things fresh and entertaining:

    30-tips-to-increase-strength-training-intensity#latest

    Again, welcome to the community! Wishing you the best, and don't be a stranger, be sure to check in with any questions you have along the way, or with progress reports.

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