How to Gain Muscle Mass and Weight

Gaining muscle mass isn't mentioned nearly as much in the media as losing weight is. However, for a large number of people, especially guys, gaining muscle is more important than losing fat. In fact, even for those who are overweight, gaining muscle mass is much more important than losing the fat, not only for their health, but also for their long-term goals. But how does one go about building muscle and increasing their weight?

There are two primary things that you need to control:
1. Your nutrition.
2. Exercise.
Lack of either of the two will result in failure to gain muscle, especially nutrition.

First, let's dispel some of the common myths about exercise, shall we?

Myth #1 : The longer your workout, the better.
Myth #2 : If you don't sweat, you don't lose any fat. Sweat is the proof of "melting" fat.
Myth #3 : The greater the frequency of your workout, the more muscle mass you'll gain.
Myth #4 : It's better to target individual muscles such as biceps and calves.

So what's the truth?

1. You do not gain muscle mass when you exercise! You gain mass when you rest from a workout! That's why resting between strenuous workouts is so important. Don't work out more than 3 days in a week. A sample workout you may try would be - Mon, Wed, Fri. This gives your body a day's rest between all the workouts and a two day rest before you start the cycle again.

2. It's not the frequency, or the length of your workout, but the intensity of your workout that helps you gain muscle mass. It doesn't benefit you much if you do 50 reps and 15 sets of bench press, but it benefits you a whole lot more if you use weights with which you can do no more than 3 sets with 3-7 reps.  This will help you gain a lot more muscle mass as long as you remember to take rest. In fact, if you work out for more than 47 minutes in one go, you risk hurting your growth and over-training.