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2006/09/04, 12:01 PM
There are tons of questions on how to put on mass. Here is an excerpt from one of the all time greats, a question posed to Dan Duchaine...
GURU: I want to gain weight. How do I know when I should stop?
A: It all depends on what sport you're in. Whether we like it or not, any weight-gain program that includes eating more than your maintenance calories will cause some deposition of bodyfat. So the real question is: how fat can you get? I've seen many individuals start a very cautious mass program with the intention of not adding any bodyfat--even counting nutrients to the gram. And it seemed that very stringent eating didn't generate much muscle gain when contrasted with other "diets" that were a bit more flexible. It would help if you could actually see the various bodies in the locker rooms and assign bodyfat percentages. For example, at 15%, the sedentary man doesn't look fat in street clothes. But a weightlifter at 15% bodyfat, which is an average fat percentage with the heavier powerlifters and football players, looks very out of shape. Most of the fat accumulates on the stomach and trunk area, but in these two sports, there's no great motivatio! n among peers and players to diet down to a lower bodyfat percentage. So the "you're too fat to even think of gaining weight" advice would probably be ignored.
However, let me assume you're in a bodybuilding mode. It wouldn't be wise for you to start a weight-gain program, which includes eating more and lessening your aerobics (as being aerobically fit interferes with acquiring muscle), if you're already fat. Unless an individual is unusually gifted and using an array of drugs, it's rare to see someone gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Yes, I've seen it done on the old Rebound Training System by Michael Zumpano and the current knock-off, Anabolic Diet. But both systems need an amount of discipline greater than anticipated, and most weight trainers won't stay on such a program.
The problem with getting temporarily fatter than usual (and we haven't decided the exact figure) is that most individuals lose too much muscle when dieting off a lot of fat. Granted, just when I say 15% is too high a bodyfat percentage to allow a successful plummet to a single-digit fat percentage, there will be someone who pulls this off. But typically, at 15%, a bodybuilder looks FAT, and when dieting down, much of the newly acquired muscle is lost.
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Maximus from Gladiator....Strength and Honor!
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