Issue 113
April 2014
Moving up a weight division is fraught with danger. Put on too much fat and not enough muscle and you could find yourself out for the count. Let FO show you how to do it the right way
Mention the words ‘making weight’ and most fighters will automatically think back to all the hours they’ve spent pounding the roads, or sat struggling to breathe in the sauna, desperate to get rid of those last few ounces. But what if you had the opposite in mind and wanted to move up a weight division or two?
How would you do it, given you’d need to be bigger and stronger while maintaining those lightning-quick reflexes that saw you dominate your rivals lower down the weight ladder?
Well, the simple answer is to gain weight you need to eat more. But things, of course, aren’t quite that simple because to put on quality muscle there are a myriad other details you have to take into account such as nutrient timing, macronutrient quantities, training and micronutrients.
And then there’s getting the right balance between your daily protein and carbohydrate intake. To gain muscle you need to eat protein. To support training you need to eat carbohydrates. The key is to apply them specifically to match the requirements for each training session.
So, to gain lean muscle an athlete must consume more energy in order to fuel the process of growth, as well as the additional training sessions needed to stimulate muscular protein synthesis.
How much energy?
The body needs energy to perform high-quality training. This will have to be increased so there is a surplus in order to provide for the added requirements of building muscle.
A good strategy would be to record your food intake over a week where you maintain your weight. After this, aim to increase you kilocalorie allowance by about 500kcal per day, initially, to optimize your energy intake to stimulate lean muscle growth. Try adding a carbohydrate and protein recovery snack after training. This should be in addition to your intake if looking to gain weight.
How much protein?
Optimal intakes of protein for muscle growth are relatively low – between 1.4-1.7g per 1kg of bodyweight per day. Studies on the effect of single recovery meals show that as the amount of protein increases, the benefits to protein synthesis appear to tail off, meaning that consuming 40g will only have a marginally better impact than 20g.
However, these amounts are dependent on bodyweight; aiming for 0.3g of protein per 1kg is a safe bet when looking to gain weight. Although these amounts are easily reached, high-quality proteins need to be prioritized. ‘Quality’ refers to the amount of protein actually incorporated into newly synthesized muscle and is dependent
on the amount of essential amino acids (EAA) present.
Research by Kevin Tipton, one of the ‘big guns’ in protein science, would suggest that 6-12g of EAAs are required to maximize protein synthesis.
Good sources of high-quality, fast-releasing proteins to aid protein synthesis after weights/training include: meats, eggs, beans and milk, the original source of whey protein and casein.
Carbohydrates
Agreeing on a required carbohydrate intake to help put on muscle is always going to be difficult. One of the biggest issues is how much of an effect carbohydrates and insulin have on protein in the growth and repair stage following a workout.
It’s often claimed an athlete needs a ‘spike’ to maximize insulin’s ability to stimulate growth. However, although carbohydrate and insulin do have a long-lasting impact on protein metabolism, these effects are mostly involved with preventing breakdown with the insulin-dependent phase of protein synthesis.
Indeed, additional carbohydrate has been shown to be irrelevant to increasing protein synthesis as long as sufficient protein is consumed. Don’t forget, quality proteins will release the relatively small amounts of insulin needed for growth. The real ‘muscle’ of your nutritional strategy should revolve around maximizing the immediate protein synthesis that occurs in response to a training session.
So if carbs don’t bulk up your biceps, why include them? Well, you need to ensure you eat enough calories to gain muscle and the body needs energy to perform high-quality training. For example, although traditionally ‘hypertrophy sets,’ have been set at between seven to 12 reps, it is becoming apparent that doing weights until failure is the best stimulus for muscle growth, but this can cause a serious drain on your carb stores.
To really feel the burn you should aim to cycle your carb intake relative to your training – harder longer sessions being a great excuse to get stuck into some whole-grains. If an athlete is focusing on weight-training, then as little as 3g carbs per 1kg of bodyweight per day may be sufficient. However, long, hard training sessions, on top of a demanding schedule may require up to 8g per 1kg.
Fats
The majority of energy should come from carbs and protein, although certain ‘good fats’ are particularly valuable for increasing calorie intake and are required to produce hormones in the body that will help create the ideal environment to grow. Polyunsaturated fatty acids have been shown to slow the initiation of catabolism (muscle breakdown).
Timing
Much research has been conducted into when is the optimal time post-workout for protein synthesis. It has often been espoused that the greatest effects are seen within the first hour.
However, most of the studies that arrived at this conclusion were done early in the morning while subjects were in a fasted state
In actual fact, studies on the rate of protein synthesis after exercise consistently show that muscles are primed to add mass for many hours after training. But that’s not to say timing is irrelevant; a small intake of protein before lifting weights has been shown to be slightly more beneficial than eating afterwards.
However, although timing is important, delaying/speeding-up feeding is nowhere near as vital as your overall daily calorie intake. Frequent eating is also a much-advocated tactic for gaining lean mass.
The International Society of Sports Nutrition advocates that small frequent meals may help enhance insulin sensitivity and regulate appetite, both of which are essential for gaining lean mass. More to the point, for athletes struggling to pack on the pounds, planning your frequent feeds will also help you eat more.
Even if the benefits of immediate feeding have been over emphasized, athletes are searching for every last marginal gain. So pack some portable proteins in your kitbag and make sure these fit in with your calorie requirements for your weight goals.
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