How Workouts Help You Gain Weight

Besides eating, workouts can also help you gain weight. Many people thought workout only for people who want to lose weight. It is a myth! Workouts work for both gaining and losing weight. (Also read: 10 Tips to Gain Weight Fast) This entry will explain how workouts can help you gain weight.

First of all, you need to understand the mechanism of how a workout can increase your weight. Long story short, workouts will put stress on your muscle resulting in muscle tears. Muscle has self-healing properties, it will repair itself. In order to repair, it will produce more muscle fiber resulting in an increase in muscle mass/size.

However, this is not a one-day process. Gaining weight can be as hard as losing weight. In order to see the result, you need to be consistent and disciplined in both training and lifestyle. The shortest duration for you to measure the difference is 3 months. My tip on staying consistent is to set a realistic goal for a certain time. For example, "in 3 months I want to gain 5kg". Be sure to follow your track in order to achieve your goal. 

Next is you need to set up your training program focusing on gaining weight. Because not all training can help you gain weight. The worst is you may lose weight if you use the wrong training program. Be sure to focus on the smallest detail such as the training volume, duration, intensity, and type of exercise. 

Here is some of my suggestion you can include in your training program. 

1. Less repetition, high load
   If you are a beginner, I would suggest for you hire a trainer or bring a supporter to avoid any injury. Lifting a very heavyweight can put a lot of stress on your muscle, resulting in more muscle fiber being produced. But be sure you can only lift for a few repetitions (6-4reps). If you are a beginner you may increase the lighter weight with maximum repetition 8. 
   
   
2. Do not skip rest day & don't overdo. 
   Rest days help your recovery process as your muscle need some time to repair and increase tolerance to your current weight. If you skip resting, your muscle may be injured and easy to shrink. Be sure to include a rest day in your training program. However, do not overdo as your muscle may lose their strength and mass after some time if you do not do any exercise.
   
   
3. More resistance training than cardio
   Cardio may help you with stamina and endurance. However, if you wish to gain weight, do more resistance training than cardio exercise and resistance training focuses more on bulking. 
   
   
4. Don't forget any muscle
   I know some of you may focus on a certain part of your body such as more upper body training than lower body. This may cause an imbalance in your muscle growth. Be sure to include all muscle parts in your training program. No matter how hard the training is, do not skip it! You may do one set of full-body training as your warm-up and continue with lifting heavy load using the target muscle. Make sure you include all muscles as your targeted muscle in your weekly training program. 
   
   
5. Don't measure the difference too often
   Too much measuring can cause demotivation. Again, gaining weight is not a day or a week process. It took some time and need the patience to see the result. Focus on training itself than the difference. You may weigh/pinch test yourself once a month.