The goal of a mass gain is to gain a maximum of muscle and a minimum of fat, because necessarily who says mass gain, says muscle mass but also fat mass. It is important to understand that when you gain mass, you will inevitably gain fat, so you must not do anything!
There is no point in stuffing yourself with fast food and other sweets!
How does mass gain work?
It is a caloric surplus: consume more calories than you spend, while respecting a certain amount of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Mass gain is not achieved by ingesting as much fat/sugar as possible! The gain of fat would be significant while the gain of muscle would be minimal...
The goal is to gain a maximum of muscle and a minimum of fat. It is therefore recommended to ingest between 1kg and 2kg of weight per month, not more. Too much weight gain would result in too much fat gain as well. This represents a caloric surplus of between 300kcal and 500kcal compared to a maintenance total.
Weight gain is not a sprint, but rather a marathon, you have to take your time! Weight gain must be slow, because the faster you go, the more fat you will gain.
It is also interesting to weigh yourself every two weeks, weighing yourself every day is useless! Write down your measurements in a notebook and take pictures of your front, profile and back to see how your body is changing and adjust your calorie intake if you gain too much fat.
What if I really don't gain weight?
It is then interesting to take a gainer. The sugar intake can be controlled by what are called "lean gainers" which are very low in sugar.
It is essential to control your carbohydrate and sugar intake during a weight gain, so if you are afraid of this, you can also prepare your own gainer composed of a whey alone and supplement it with carbohydrates in order to manage your protein, carbohydrate and fat macros.
What about training?
Training for mass gain is all about pushing your body to build as much muscle as possible, over a given period of time. Often, the mass gain phases last 3 to 4 months. During this phase, it is important to plan your training plan so that muscle development does not occur in an anarchic manner. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and this development gap may become more pronounced during mass gain.
Focus on basic movements, i.e., polyarticular exercises that involve several joints and therefore several muscles in addition to the targeted muscle. Indeed, training with polyarticular exercises increases the natural secretion of testosterone, growth hormone but also thyroid hormones and insulin.
For each targeted muscle group, there is at least one basic polyarticular movement that you should incorporate into your training program.
Remember, mass gain is serious and does not require swallowing a monster amount of sugar and fat, quite the contrary! Regular training and a good dose of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids according to your objective and morphology will allow you to make an effective mass gain.
Count on the long term to appreciate the results, your body will thank you!