September 2001

The question-of-the-month for September comes from Michael in New Jersey, a 24 year old who is having trouble combating his fast metabolism to gain mass.  His question is:

Dear Mike:

I have been training hard for several years now.  I eat the 6 meals required per day and do my best to get an adequate amount of carbs and protein.  I lift large amounts of weight but my build does not reflect this or my eating habits.  I have been told that my metabolism is too fast.  If this is the case, how can I combat this and gain the mass and weight I should be putting on?

Dear Michael:

Thank you for your question.  Your question is a very common one.  I call people like you 'hard gainers'.  Gaining weight and putting on size is simply a matter of 'calories in and calories out'.  If you are not gaining weight, you are not taking in as many calories as your body is burning off.  You may be eating more food (calories) than you ever have before, however, if you are not gaining weight you must not be eating enough.

To solve this problem, you need to chart all of your food intake each day (use my diet track sheets) and get a total number of calories consumed.  Do this over the course of a week, and if your weight hasn't changed over that week, add 500-750 calories more each day.  Do this for one week and then check your weight.  If it has gone up just continue on the regimen.  However, if your weight has not gone up, add an additional 500-750 calories again and repeat.

There is no way (given you are a healthy person) that this plan won't work for you.  Give it a try!  Good luck and keep training hard.

As always, don't forget to visit the Past Qs & As and my Training Tips section for more great tips and training info.

Until next month, train hard and stay healthy.

Mike Francois

Do you have a training question for Mike?  If so, visit our Ask Mike section and submit your question.

Note: Before embarking on any nutrition, supplementation, and/or training program, consult with your physician or other licensed health-care professional.