Category: Health

Step 1: Determine Maintenance Calories

Your maintenance calories is the number of calories you consume and burn each day to neither lose nor gain weight. Enter your information in this online calorie calculator by the Mayo Clinic. It uses the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation, which pros consider the gold standard.

For me, my maintenance calories is currently 2650 calories per day.

Step 2: Calculate Calories & Protein to Lose Weight and Build Muscle

Losing Weight (Fat)

In order to lose weight by losing fat, you just need one thing: a net deficit of calories. But you don’t want too large a deficit because then you’ll lose both fat and muscle. You should target a deficit of 5 to 10% of your maintenance calories. You can lose weight by just

• consuming fewer calories without exercising
• consuming more calories but burning extra calories by doing cardio exercises like running

Whether you just rest or you exercise, your net calorie deficit should be 5 to 10% of your maintenance calories. For me, this value is currently between 2385 and 2517 calories.

Gaining Muscle

In order to gain muscle, you need 4 things:

1. a net surplus of calories
2. strength training until failure
3. sufficient protein consumption
4. rest (minimum 7 hours a day)

For the calories, you don’t want too large a surplus because then you’ll gain both muscle and fat. You should target a surplus of 5 to 15% of your maintenance calories. For me, this value is currently between 2782 and 3047 calories.

For the protein, you should target consuming 1 gram of protein for each pound of body weight. So, if you weigh 180 lbs, you should consume 180 grams of protein.

The calorie (energy / fuel) surplus is needed to rebuild the muscle you’ve broken down during strength training. Breaking down muscle fibers only happens if you train to failure. The large protein consumption is needed because muscles are made of protein. Muscle (protein) synthesis occurs while you’re sleeping, which is why it’s necessary to sleep enough after strength training.

Target Calorie & Protein Summary

Day	Calorie	Protein	My Target
Rest or Cardio	5-10% deficit	Any amount	2385-2517 calories, any protein
Strength Training	5-15% surplus	1 gr / lb of body weight	2782-3047 calories, 180 grams of protein

Studies show that consuming high amounts of protein while in a calorie deficit can preserve muscle mass and accelerate fat loss. Therefore, if possible, consume a lot of protein daily, not just on strength training days.

Step 3: Make a Weekly Schedule

Your weekly schedule would be a combination of resting days, cardio days, and strength training (weight lifting) days. Here’s an example.

DAY	ACTIVITY	CALORIES
Monday	Rest	Calorie Deficit, Extra Protein
Tuesday	Strength Training	Calorie Surplus, Extra Protein
Wednesday	Cardio	Calorie Deficit, Extra Protein
Thursday	Rest	Calorie Deficit, Extra Protein
Friday	Strength Training	Calorie Surplus, Extra Protein
Saturday	Cardio	Calorie Deficit, Extra Protein
Sunday	Strength Training	Calorie Surplus, Extra Protein

For strength training, you need to wait at least one day in between working the same muscle group, e.g. don’t do chest presses every day. Do them at most every other day because muscle protein synthesis (MPS) takes 36-48 hours on average and working the same muscles during that time will interfere with synthesis.

Step 4: Make a Meal Plan

When it comes to losing weight, you just need a calorie deficit, but you should consume healthy calories, e.g. no processed food, no added sugar, etc. For me, I try to stick to a keto diet, although that’s not absolutely necessary.

When it comes to building muscle, the hardest part will be trying to consume sufficient protein. If you weigh 180 lbs, you need to consume 180 grams of protein. That’s actually hard to do, which is why many people consume protein shakes to supplement their meals.

Here’s a list of protein-dense foods that can help you reach your protein consumption target.

Food	Quantity	Protein (g)	Calories	Protein Density
Egg	1 large	6	78	8%
Egg Whites	1 large	4	18	22%
Chicken breast	1	53	284	19%
96/4 beef pattie	1	25	150	17%
Greek yogurt	6 oz	20	140	14%
Soy milk	1 cup	7	100	6%
Whey protein concentrate supplement	1 scoop	25	130	19%
Turkey breast		26	125	21%
Tuna		27	128	21%
Premier protein shake	1	30	160	19%
Kirkland chewy protein bar	1	10	190	5%

I personally find chicken breast difficult to cook in a short amount of time while still tasting good. So, I opt for packaged options like Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets. These have added protein, are easy to cook, and taste decent. Other similar options taste better, but they have less protein and more calories, e.g. Kirkland Signature Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks, Boneless Skinless.

Example Meal Plan

Target Protein (grams) Consumption (muscle building):	180
Target Daily Calorie Consumption (muscle building):	2782-3047
Target Daily Calorie Consumption (weight loss):	2385-2517

Since the hardest thing is consuming enough protein, the meal plan below will focus on foods that will hit the target protein amount of 180 without consuming an excess of calories. If there is a calorie deficit, you can easily add any kind of healthy food to reach the calorie target.

Food / Ingredient	Unit	Protein (g)	Calories	Quanitity	Total Protein	Total Calories	Protein Density
Breakfast
Eggs	1 large	6	78	4	24	312	7.69%
Mozzarella string cheese stick	1	7	80	1	7	80	8.75%
Premier Protein Shake (Chocolate)	1	30	160	1	30	160	18.75%
Lunch
Keto Beef Cheeseburger
Keto burger bun	1 bun	9	80	1	9	80
96/4 lean beef pattie	1 pattie	25	150	1	25	150
Cheddar cheese	1 slice	5	90	1	5	90
Mayo	1 tbsp	0	35	1	0	35
Ketchup	1 tbsp	0	20	1	0	20
					39	375	10.40%
Protein Shake					0	0
Vanilla greek yogurt	1 cup (150 gr)	20	140	1	20	140
Whey protein powder	1 scoop	25	130	1	25	130
Unsweetened soy milk	1 cup	6.3	105	1	6.3	105
Creatine powder	1 scoop	0	0	1	0	0
Glucomannan powder	1 scoop	0	0	1	0	0
Frozen berries	1/2 cup	0	35	1	0	35
					51.3	375	13.68%
Dinner
Keto Chicken Cheeseburger
Keto burger bun	1 bun	9	80	1	9	80	11.25%
Grilled Chicken Pattie	1 pattie	20	120	1	20	120	16.67%
Cheddar cheese	1 slice	5	90	1	5	90	5.56%
Mayo	1 tbsp	0	35	1	0	35	0
Barbecue sauce	1 tbsp	0	5	1	0	5	0
					34	330	10.30%
Kirkland Chewy Protein Bar	1 bar	10	190	1	10	190	5.26%
Anything else (pasta, fries, etc)
				Total	195.3	1792

Step 5: Exercise

Cardio

For cardio, you can do anything from hiking, dancing, running, biking, etc. If you’re low on time, you can buy a recumbent exercise bike with resistance. It lets you lay back and exercise in a comfortable position. The one below is lightweight and small and costs $178. You can easily put it in your living room and use it while watching TV.

Another low-intensity option is to simply walk. A common goal is to target 10,000 steps per day, which is about 5 miles. You can also walk at home while watching TV. Some walking pads can easily be stored and don’t make a lot of noise. This one, for example, comes with the following features

• optional 3% incline
• low 45 dB noise
• remote control
• large display
• belt dimensions: 17″ x 48″
• overall dimensions: 27″D x 50″W x 5″H
• supports Zwift and Kinomap
• Speed: 0.6-7.6 mph (~1350 – 17000 steps)
• foldable

Strength training

For strength training, you should do the following:

• For each exercise, do 3 sets of 8-12 reps with 1-3 minutes of rest in between
• For each set, do as many reps until failure (you can no longer complete a full rep)
• Periodically increase the weights (progressive overload)
• Ensure you feel stimulation in the target muscle. If you don’t, then you may be doing the exercise wrong and you will see limited results. Some call this the mind-muscle connection.

When it comes to building muscle, what matters most is volume. For example, both of the following will produce the same results.

Weight (lbs)	Reps	Sets	Total Volume
100	5	3	1500
50	10	3	1500

Accessories

While working out, I’ve found the following accessories helpful.

Compression t-shirt

A compression t-shirt helps you see your physique so you can visually see your progress and which areas to target. I use the Under Armour Men’s HeatGear Compression Short-Sleeve T-Shirt.

Bluetooth headphones

Playing certain types of music can be motivating and make exercising more enjoyable. Many people wear bulky on-ear headphones. I prefer in-ear neckband earphones because they don’t move around and are lightweight. They also block out ambient noise pretty well. I wear the Sony Wireless Behind-Neck Headset (WI-C400).

Workout gloves

If you don’t wear padded gloves, you can easily develop calluses (thickened skin that forms as a response to repeated friction or pressure). Lifting weights is much more comfortable while wearing padded gloves.

Step 6: Count Calories

For calorie consumption, you can count calories by adding up all calories for each ingredient or food you consume. Look at the nutrition label on food packaging and/or look at online calorie databases.

For calorie expenditure, don’t rely on a smartwatch. Their calorie tracking can be way off. Instead, wear a heart rate monitor like the Polar H10 Heart Rate Monitor Chest Strap. You can track your calories both on your smartphone and online. Buy it on Amazon.

To see how inaccurate a smartwatch measures calories burned, today I used both my Fossil Gen X watch and the Google Fit watch app to track calories burned. I also used the Polar H10 chest strap. I did strength training for 1 hour and 10 minutes. When I started tracking on my watch, I chose “indoor workout,” and the phone app just started tracking calories, time spent, heart rate, etc. When I started tracking using the Polar H1 app on my phone, I was able to choose “Strength training” before the device started tracking vitals. Once I was done exercising, I stopped both apps. As you can see below, the smartwatch says “Run”, which I guess means it thought I was running on a treadmill. It also says I burned 482 calories. In the Polar H10 app on my phone, it says I burned 759 calories. That’s way more than 482, with a difference of 277 calories. While I was exercising, I had my Bluetooth earphones on. The Polar H10 app would send an audio message like “You are improving your fitness” or “You are burning fat”. It would say the former when I was doing strength training and the latter when I was resting.

Step 7: Measure Progress

Weight Loss Progress

Measuring your weight loss is easy. Just regularly weigh yourself. To automate this, buy a Wi-Fi scale that records and keeps track of your weight and shows a graph of your progress on your phone. I personally use the Withings Body – Digital Wi-Fi Smart Scale with Automatic Smartphone App Sync. If weighing yourself every day, make sure to do it right before bed or first thing in the morning for more accurate results.

Muscle Gain Progress

To track your muscle gain, you’ll need to track your strength training weights, reps and sets for each exercise. Personally, I log my workouts using the free version of the FitNotes app. It’s a simple and easy-to-use app that just works. I can easily see my most recent reps and weights so I can either match or exceed them.

If you are able to lift heavier weights and perform more reps, then you must be building muscle, even if it’s not immediately noticeable in the mirror. You can also try measuring the circumference of different parts of your body, e.g. your upper arm, but that’s a hassle and inaccurate if you measure right after a workout when your muscles are swollen.

Over time, you can compare your strength training limits to see progress. Below is an example showing my actual results.

Exercise	Dec 26, 2021	March 12, 2022	% increase	Target area
	lbs	lbs
V-bar pushdown	50	72.5	45%	Triceps
Chest press machine	70	120	71%	Chest
Lat pulldown machine	90	130	44%	Back
Shoulder press machine	40	70	75%	Shoulders
Tricep pushdown machine	115	170	47%	Triceps
Bicep curl machine	65	110	69%	Biceps

There are 3 main things that affect muscle growth:

1. food
2. strength / resistance training
3. rest

To grow muscle, you need to

• do strength training to break down muscle
• have a moderate calorie surplus
• have sufficient protein consumption (1 gram of protein per pound of body weight)
• rest to build muscle

If you have a calorie deficit, your body will expend more energy resulting in weight loss in the form of BOTH fat and muscle loss.

If you have an excessive calorie surplus, you will GAIN weight, and grow some muscle but also gain a lot of fat.

You build muscle when the amount of protein synthesized into muscle during rest is greater than the amount of muscle protein breakdown during strength training. Without sufficient protein, you will just gain fat and little muscle.

Food

Both creatine and whey protein powder have been shown to increase muscle mass when taken in combination with resistance exercise.

Creatine increases exercise capacity during high-intensity exercise. This leads to improved recovery and adaptations such as increased muscle mass.

Meanwhile, ingesting whey protein in combination with exercise provides your body with a high-quality source of protein, enhancing muscle protein synthesis and leading to increased muscle gains over time.

While both creatine and whey protein promote muscle gain, they differ in the ways they work. Creatine increases strength and muscle mass by increasing exercise capacity, whereas whey protein does so by stimulating increased muscle protein synthesis.

Source

Protein

Muscles are made out of protein, among other things. So, you’re going to need to consume enough protein to build muscle. You should target 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. For example, I currently weigh 178 lbs, so I should consume 178 grams of protein. Here are some protein-rich foods.

Food	Quantity	Protein (g)	Calories	Protein / Calorie Ratio
Eggs	1 large	6	78	11%
Egg White	1 large	4	18	22%
Almonds	1 ounce	6	164	3.6%
Chicken Breast	1 roasted w/o skin	53	284	18%
Oats	1 cup	11	307	3.5%
Cottage Cheese	1 cup	28	163	17%
Greek Yogurt	6 ounces	17	100	17%
Regular Milk	1 cup	8	149	16%
Soy Milk	1 cup	6.3	105	6%
Broccoli	1 cup chopped	3	31	9.6%
Lean Beef	3 ounces	25	186	13%
Tuna	1 can (142 grams)	27	128	21%
Quinoa	1 cup cooked	8	222	3.6%
Whey protein concentrate supplement	1 scoop (33 g)	25	130	19%
Whey protein isolate supplement	1 scoop (33 g)	30	130	23%
Lentils	1 cup boiled	18	230	8%
Ezekiel Bread	1 slice	4	80	5%
Pumpkin Seeds	1 ounce	9	158	5.6%
Turkey Breast	3 ounces	26	125	20%
Shrimp	3 ounces	20	84	24%
Brussel Sprouts	1/2 cup	2	28	7%
Peanuts	1 ounce	7	161	4.3%

Other protein-rich foods

Pistachios, cashews, parmesan cheese, swiss cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, regular full-fat yogurt, kefir, soybeans, kidney beans, chickpeas, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds.

Consuming a lot of protein without supplements can be difficult because you might feel full before you’ve reached your target daily intake. Also, it can be expensive. For that reason, most bodybuilders take protein supplements. When choosing a protein supplement, it’s important to stay away from ones with a lot of added sugar. The most popular protein supplement is whey protein. To be safe, opt for pure whey protein. I personally get the unflavored Nutricost Whey Protein Concentrate. It contains only one ingredient: Whey protein concentrate. 1 scoop contains 25 g of protein and 130 calories.

You can also buy whey protein isolate, which has 90 – 95% protein compared to whey protein concentrate, which has 60 – 80% protein. Source

Creatine

Creatine monohydrate is the best-studied and most effective form of this supplement. There are 2 dosing regimens:

Option 1

1. Loading phase: Take 20-25 grams split into 4 or 5 equal doses over 5-7 days.
2. Maintenance phase: Then, take 3-5 grams per day to maintain your muscle stores of the compound.

Option 2

Skip the loading phase and start the maintenance phase.

Both options are effective. The first option will allow you to experience the benefits 4x faster. Source

I personally take unflavored Nutricost Creatine Monohydrate.

Other Foods

Now, don’t go consuming nothing but protein shakes. They are meant to be supplements and not food substitutes. You can eat whatever else you want, but generally, you should avoid processed foods and foods with lots of added sugar. I have personally found the Keto diet (very low-carb diet) to be one of the best, if not the best, diets. I was able to lose 20 lbs following the Keto diet. It’s not just good for losing weight, but it’s also good for overall healthy eating.

Calories

While you can build muscle in a calorie deficit (losing weight), it will be quicker to build muscle by having a moderate calorie surplus. In order to determine how many calories is “moderate”, you first need to know your maintenance calories – the number of calories to consume each day to neither lose nor gain weight.

Maintenance Calories

Your maintenance calories is the number of calories you consume and burn each day to neither lose nor gain weight. Use the calorie calculator from the Mayo Clinic to determine your maintenance calories. It uses the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation, which pros consider the gold standard.

Slight Calorie Deficit to Lose Weight Without Losing Muscle

On days you don’t lift weights, you want to lose fat. You can do this by counting calories consumed and, if you are doing cardio exercises (treadmill, etc), subtracting calories burned such that your net calorie deficit is 5-10% of your maintenance calories. In my case, that would be 2200 – 10% = 1980 calories. You don’t want a huge calorie deficit because then you’ll lose fat and muscle.

Moderate Calorie Surplus Gain Muscle

On days that you lift weights to build muscle, depending on how much muscle you want to put on and how quickly you want to gain it, add 5% to 15% to your maintenance calories. In my case, that would be 2200 + 15% = 2530 calories.

Example Weekly Schedule

DAY	ACTIVITY	CALORIES
Monday	Rest	Calorie Deficit
Tuesday	Strength Training	Calorie Surplus, Extra Protein
Wednesday	Cardio	Calorie Deficit
Thursday	Rest	Calorie Deficit
Friday	Strength Training	Calorie Surplus, Extra Protein
Saturday	Cardio	Calorie Deficit
Sunday	Strength Training	Calorie Surplus, Extra Protein

On calorie-surplus days, your body needs the extra calories above your maintenance calories to build new muscle while you sleep.

Example Meal Plan

Here’s my daily meal plan.

Breakfast

• 4 eggs in a bowl microwaved for 2 minutes
• 1 cup of espresso coffee with frothed milk, 1/4 teaspoon of Truvia sugar substitute (erithrytol + Stevia extra), and cinnamon

Lunch

Protein shake containing

• 1x 5.3oz of Ratio Keto Yogurt (15 g protein, 200 calories)
• 1 scoop of Nutricost Protein Concentrate (25 g protein, 130 calories) or protein isolate (30 g protein, 130 calories)
• 1 scoop (5 g) of Nutricost Creatine Monohydrate or
• 1/2 handful of walnuts
• 1 tbsp of chia seeds (2 g protein, 58 calories)
• 1 tbsp of ground flax seeds (1.6 g protein, 46 calories)
• 1/2 tsp of Matcha powder
• 1 pack of frozen Acai (1 g protein, 70 calories) or 1 tbsp of Acai powder
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened Soy milk (3.5 g protein, 40 calories)

Dinner

5 air-fried skinless chicken legs (60 g protein, 380 calories) with one Anaheim pepper

Post-Dinner Drink

Another protein smoothie, but substitute the Acai with 3 or 4 frozen strawberries

Post-Workout Drink

Chocolate-flavored Premier 30g Protein Drink (30 g protein, 160 calories)

Total Daily Protein and Calorie Consumption

Food	Quantity	Protein (gr)	Calories
Eggs	4	24	300
Protein shake	1	48	544
Chicken drumsticks	5	60	380
Protein shake	1	48	544
Protein drink	1	30	160
Snacks (nuts)			?
	Total	210	1928

Without eating snacks, my total daily calorie intake is 1928.

Strength / Resistance Training

Muscle size increases when a person continually challenges the muscles to deal with higher levels of resistance or weight. This process is known as muscle hypertrophy.

Muscle hypertrophy occurs when the fibers of the muscles sustain damage or injury. The body repairs damaged fibers by fusing them, which increases the mass and size of the muscles. This increase, however, does not happen while you actually lift the weights. Instead, it occurs while you rest.

You need to be consistent and lift progressively heavier weights. To do this, you should keep track of your efforts. Personally, I log my workouts using the free version of the FitNotes app.

Sets and reps

A standard way of exercising each muscle is by grouping each exercise into 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps (repetitions). For example, if you bench press, you can choose a weight such that for the first set, you lift X lbs until you reach failure (can no longer lift / perform a complete cycle) after the 12th rep. Then, for the 2nd set, you do the same until your failure is maybe at the 10th rep. And for the 3rd set, you fail maybe at 8 reps.

Set	Weight	Reps
1	100 lbs	12
2	100 lbs	10
3	100 lbs	8

Note that more important than the number of reps is the effort to lift until failure. If, after a while, you feel that you can do more than 12 reps at X lbs for the first set, then you need to increase the weight and continue to lift until failure, regardless of the exact number of reps you can do. This is called “progressive overloading.”

Let me repeat that. Train until failure such that you can barely complete your last rep with proper form. The last 2 to 3 reps before failure are the ones that count towards building muscle.

Breathing

You might be tempted to hold your breath while you’re lifting weights. Don’t hold your breath. Instead, breathe out as you lift the weight and breathe in as you lower the weight. Lowering weights requires less exertion, which makes it an ideal time to inhale. By breathing correctly, you’ll be able to lift more and limit fainting and injury.

Muscles

Here’s a diagram of some of the more obvious muscles that you’ll want to target when lifting weights.

Exercises

There are many types of strength training exercises you can do among free weights and machines. I personally prefer using machines as they are more comfortable and help you perform exercises using proper form and reduce the chance of injury. However, some exercises produce better results when using free weights, e.g. dumbbell or barbell chest press instead of a chest press machine. Here are some of the upper body exercises I prefer.

• Machine front pull-down
• Machine preacher curl
• Machine triceps dip
• Decline crunch
• Machine seated crunch
• Maschine-assisted pull-up
• Machine pectoral fly
• Machine chest press
• Wide-grip cable row
• V-bar push down
• Wide-grip lat pull-down

Exercise Database

• ExRx.net
• WeightTraining.guide

Fatigue

When you start a workout, your muscles will have rested and you will be able to lift the most weight for any given exercise. As you progress through your workout, you will have less strength when performing other exercises. For that reason, it’s good to be selective in the order of the exercises you perform. For example, I would do 10 or so different exercises in the following order:

Order	Exercise	Muscles Targeted
1	V-Bar Tricep Pushdown	Triceps (Tris)
2	Dumbbell chest press (flat)	Chest
3	Dumbbell chest press (30° incline)	Upper chest
4	Hammer Strength MTS Shoulder Press	Shoulders
5	Biceps Curl Machine	Biceps (Bis)
6	Plank exercise	Abs, Core
7	Lat Pulldown	Biceps and Latissimus Dorsi (Lats)
8	Triceps Press	Shoulders and Triceps
9	Lat Row	Lats, Delts and Back
10	V-Bar Tricep Pushdown	Triceps (Tris)
11	Row Machine	Lats, Delts and Back
12	Biceps Curl Machine	Biceps (Bis)

Each exercise, except the plank, is done with 3 sets. This sequence takes about 1.5 hours and I burn on average 500 calories.

Muscles by Volume

Many men generally want a bigger upper body. Oftentimes, they’ll focus exercises on 2 muscles: chest and biceps. However, to have a larger upper body, they may be better off targeting larger muscles. Following is a list of the 10 largest muscles in the body.

Muscle	Location	Volume
Quadriceps femoris	Lower thigh	1,420 cm3
Gluteus maximus	Back of pelvis	760 cm3
Deltoid	Shoulder	380 cm3
Triceps Brachii	Back upper arm	370 cm3
Iliopsoas	Hips	350 cm3
Pectoralis major	Chest	290 cm3
Biceps femoris	Top of the thigh	269 cm3
Latissimus Dorsi	Mid back	262 cm3
Biceps Brachii	Front upper arm	143 cm3
Sartorius	Upper and inner thigh	126 cm3

Muscle Gain By Weight

The longer you lift weights, the harder it becomes to grow more muscle. Following are average muscle weight gains for men and women at different stages of resistance training.

Stage	Men	Women
Newbie	1.5 lbs / month	0.5 lbs / month
Intermediate	0.5 lbs / month	0.3 – 0.4 lbs / month
Advanced	0.25 lbs / month	0.1 – 0.2 lbs / month

Year of Proper Training	Potential Rate of Muscle Gain Per Year
1	20-25 lbs (2 lbs / month)
2	10-12 lbs (1 lb / month)
3	5-6 lbs (0.5 lbs / month)
4+	2-3 lbs (not worth calculating)

You may have heard that muscle weighs more than fat. However, according to science, a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same. The difference between the two is density.

Rest

In order for your muscles to grow, you need to have sufficient rest. Make sure to sleep enough, e.g. 8 hours a day. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t actually build muscle while you’re lifting weights. You do need to lift weights to add mass, but training actually causes muscle breakdown.

How to Tell if You’re Gaining Muscle

1. You’re Gaining Weight
   Track your weight at the same time each day and plot it on a chart to see your long-term progress. 
2. Your Clothes Fit Differently
   Getting jacked will often mean your clothes start to fit differently – usually in a good way. If you’re noticing your shirts are fitting a bit tighter around your shoulders, chest, and biceps, or your pants are getting snug in the thigh and hip area, these tend to be good signs you’re gaining healthy weight. 
3. You’re Building Strength
   If you can lift heavier weights, then you are probably building muscle. Track your strength using a log and practice progressive overloading. 
4. Your Muscles Are Looking “Swole”
   Feeling puffier or bigger is normal and likely a good sign you’re growing your muscle fibers. Lifting weights increases fluids to your muscle, giving you that post-weight training pump, especially when you are just getting started with strength training. Over time, some of the water retention may diminish, but you should continue to feel bulkier. 
5. Daily or Weekly Progress Photos
   Stand in front of a mirror and take a full-body photo. Repeat and assess your visual transformation regularly.
6. Your Body Composition Has Changed
   Ultimately, the most efficient way to measure your muscle gain progress is to assess your body composition at the beginning and end of your bulk. You can opt for an affordable and convenient at-home scale, or schedule a DXA/DEXA scan that estimates your body fat percentage within a 1.6% margin of error. 

The best way to know you are gaining muscle is if you are progressively able to lift heavier weights because the only way you can lift heavier weights if you have bigger muscles.

Tracking Progress

If you use an app to keep track of your progress, you can periodically calculate your percent gains and improvements over time. Here’s an example of my actual gains.

Exercise	Dec 26, 2021	March 12, 2022	% increase	Target area
	lbs	lbs
V-bar pushdown	50	72.5	45%	Triceps
Chest press machine	70	120	71%	Chest
Lat pulldown machine	90	130	44%	Back
Shoulder press machine	40	70	75%	Shoulders
Tricep pushdown machine	115	170	47%	Triceps
Bicep curl machine	65	110	69%	Biceps

Gadgets and Accessories

To support your strength training goals, I have found the following gadgets useful.

Wi-fi body scale

I have the Withings smart wi-fi body scale. It automatically records my weight, and in the app, I can see my weight change over time.

Smartwatch

I have the Fossil Men’s Gen 6 Touchscreen Smartwatch. It’s got a ton of features.

Whenever I enter the gym, I start tracking my heart rate and calories burned. When I’m done, I stop tracking. I can see a history of my calories burned and workout duration over time.

Bluetooth Headphones / Earphones

I have the Sony Wireless Behind-Neck Headset (WI-C400). Many people like to wear Beats headphones. I prefer the behind-the-neck style headset because it’s lightweight and doesn’t move around as I exercise, including when I do sit-ups.

Compression T-Shirt

I have the Under Armour Men’s HeatGear Compression Short-Sleeve T-Shirt. It allows you to see your body shape so you can see how you’re progressing. I find it motivating to see physical progress.

Weight Training Workout Gloves

Repeatedly lifting weights can result in calluses (thickened skin that forms as a response to repeated friction or pressure). Workout gloves tend to have a cushion to protect your skin. I find it much more comfortable to lift with gloves on.

Summary

• Stay in a positive protein balance by hitting your protein consistently.
• Get your protein from high-quality sources like meat, eggs, dairy, and soy.
• Your body needs energy to grow, so you need to be in a moderate calorie surplus.
• Make sleep a priority — both quantity and quality.
• Hit the weights consistently, and train harder by adding volume (in weight, reps, and sets) over time – progressive overloading.