It started as a challenge for myself. If I were to take all the knowledge I have about weight gain and put it to work all at once, how much weight could I gain in a week? What would be my upper limit? A vacation was coming up where I couldn’t do anything but eat, sleep, and train, so I decided to do it. This is my story…

I knew from the start that this weight gain would certainly not be all muscle. In fact, it’s impossible to gain that much muscle weight in just one week (unless you’re a baby elephant!). I was going to gain a combination of muscle, water, and most likely some fat as well. That rapid weight gain, however, was going to force a lot of nutrients into my muscles quickly, resulting in some permanent muscle gains.

To start my maximum weight gain adventure, I first had to prepare myself by going on a diet. Why go on a diet to gain weight? Your body adapts more quickly to extreme changes in the environment. I knew I wanted to gain weight quickly, so I had to go on a calorie-restricted diet first. When I reversed my goals and started eating again, my body reacted by rapidly absorbing all available calories and retaining them.

To further prepare myself, the diet I followed was a two-week carb restriction plan, much like the Atkins diet. For two weeks, I ate less than 30 grams of carbohydrates per day, limiting myself to meats, eggs, cheese, and vegetables. This removed all the glycogen I had stored in my body and reduced the amount of water I was carrying (water sticks to carbs in your body; when you remove carbs, several pounds or more of water will be removed with that). It was like squeezing a sponge: you can put more water in a sponge that has been squeezed completely dry than in a sponge that is already wet.

It is important to note that I did not restrict my water intake at all. That will give you exactly the wrong effect. If you restrict your water intake while dieting, your body will actually retain more water. If you give your body a lot of water, it will have no reason to hold onto every drop you give it and will flush it out regularly.

To train during this phase, I did three high-intensity cardio sessions per week for about 20 minutes each. This cardio workout was extremely hard and is designed to burn as many calories as possible as quickly as possible. This would make my body very hungry for nutrients and ready to absorb as much as possible. I did high volume, high rep weight training (12-15 reps per set), 6 sessions per week with very short rest periods to further establish this effect.

After 2 weeks of this training and diet I was ready to start gaining weight. On Saturday night, after my last training session of the week, I weighed in at 192 pounds.

On Sunday morning I woke up and immediately took my first serving of creatine and glutamine. My focus on this day was to eat as much as possible, load up on creatine and glutamine, and drink as much water as possible. Both of these supplements are great for forcing water into the muscles. Taking creatine alone can result in a 5-10 pound weight gain during the 5-day loading phase. To further maximize this effect, he had been creatine free for 3 months prior to this.

I took 4 servings of creatine and glutamine this day, in addition to eating as much as I could (eg eggs, oatmeal, meats, potatoes, fruits, rice, etc) and drinking buckets of water. I would continue to load creatine for the next 4 days, taking glutamine only after each workout from then on instead of with my creatine load. I would start my weight training program on Monday. I was going to do a very demanding program, doing 12 full body training sessions over the next 6 days.

My theory with doing multiple full-body training sessions is this: each part of the body was going to receive as much breakdown and stimulation as possible to maximize the amount of nutrients absorbed throughout the body. I would do more sets for the bigger parts like chest, back and thighs and less sets for the other smaller parts. Each part would be worked twice a day for six days in a row. This type of training is not appropriate for a long-term program, as it would quickly lead to overtraining in a matter of weeks. This was a week long opportunity for me and I was putting everything into it.

After taking my creatine, I made breakfast, which consisted of 10 eggs and a bowl of oatmeal that would feed a family of 4. For flavor, I mixed in some fruit yogurt. To gain weight effectively, you really need to eat a lot.

I went to the gym for my first session that day and weighed myself. He had gained 10 pounds on the first day. Not a bad start! Everything I ate, drank water and took supplements was paying off. My body was extremely prepared to win.

My training session lasted about 45 minutes, during which I worked every part of my body. Post-workout, I immediately took a mix of whey protein (40 grams), creatine (5 grams), glutamine (10 grams), and Tang (sugar powdered drink mix), as well as some vitamins and minerals (multivitamins, calcium, magnesium, vitamin C and antioxidant). It is essential to provide your body with nutrients and raw materials to rebuild itself as quickly as possible after training; otherwise your body will simply break down.

I got home and started making lunch which consisted of 2 large chicken breasts and a large bucket of spaghetti and meat sauce. Several hours later, I had a couple of cans of tuna, a sandwich, and ice cream. Please note that these meals are just examples of what I ate and not specifically what you should eat.

Throughout the day and night, he constantly drank water. When I say constantly, I mean I got up every 10-15 minutes and drank a full glass of water throughout the day. I was very well hydrated, which is extremely important for weight gain. If your muscles don’t have enough water, they simply can’t grow.

My evening training session was also a full body workout. At this point, my body was so awash in carbs and water from coming off a low-carb diet that all it did was give my muscles an incredible pump. I would target heavy weights for sets of 6-10 reps during my sessions and stretch a lot afterwards.

After training I took another supplement and vitamin mix and then went home. I had 4 eggs and a bowl of cereal for a post-workout meal, then a protein shake right before bed. I made a protein shake and put it next to my bed so if I woke up in the middle of the night I could drink a protein shake. This would provide additional calories and protein and reduce the amount of time you went without eating at night. And believe me, with the amount of water I was drinking during the day and during my training, waking up during the night was a given!

I repeated this type of program for the next several days, continuing my creatine load, food load, and water load. By the end of the second day, he had gained 15 pounds of body weight. By the end of the third day, he had gained 18 pounds.

When I finished my creatine load after day five, I started drinking a protein shake first thing in the morning. Taking protein immediately after waking up is the best way to start the day. Instantly reverses the catabolic state your body is in after fasting during sleep.

My workout was going well and my body was absorbing everything I was putting into it. My strength gains were rapid and my fat gains were actually quite minimal. I was in the home stretch now. On Saturday afternoon, I went to a friend’s house and had a huge meal of Shepherd’s Pie, which is basically a big pile of ground beef, potatoes, and corn. Great food to gain weight.

I went to the gym that night for my last training session of my gain week and put the scales at 217 pounds. In just one week, to give you an idea of ​​the incredible strength and size gains I made, I was able to increase the amount of weight I could bench press for 8 reps at 30lbs and had added a full inch to my arms. .

The best part is that this rapid weight gain was great at stretching the fascia of my muscles, giving them more room to grow, leading to permanent gains in muscle size and potential muscle size.

Using all the knowledge and techniques (and appetite) for weight gain at my disposal, I had gained 25 pounds of body weight in just one week!