For men
2K 0 07.04.2019 (last revision: 02.07.2019)
In the article, we will analyze the general nutritional rules for a successful mass gain by mesomorphs, and also offer a ready-made weekly diet that you can easily change for yourself.
"Pure" mesomorphs are rare enough. They tend to gain muscle mass fairly easily, without a lot of extra fat, and lose weight easily when needed.
Nutrition rules for gaining mass
- The ideal number of meals is 5-6 a day. You can eat 3-4 times, but it will be more difficult to consume the right amount of calories.
- If you do not have the opportunity to snack on a complete food, replace these methods with sports nutrition - protein (protein) and gainer (carbohydrates and proteins).
- Do not be afraid to eat after 6 pm and an hour or two before bedtime, this is normal and absolutely safe from a health point of view. What matters is how comfortable you feel if you eat too late.
- Remember to drink enough clean water - at least 35 ml per kg of your weight.
- The main sources of carbohydrates are cereals (rice, buckwheat, oatmeal, pearl barley), durum wheat pasta, potatoes, and whole grain bread.
- Mesomorphs easily gain muscle mass, but at the same time they can throw in excess fat. That is why one should more responsibly (than ectomorphs) approach to nutrition. Try to completely eliminate fatty foods with a lot of sugar and trans fats from your diet. The share of simple carbohydrates should be no more than 15-20% of the total daily amount of carbohydrates.
- The main sources of protein are chicken, turkey, lean meat, fish (white and red), eggs, cottage cheese and other dairy products. Protein from cereals and legumes is deficient in amino acid composition.
- Sources of fats - vegetable oils, nuts, oily fish (red).
- If you are not gaining weight, add 100 kcal each week to your norm (about its calculation below) until you notice the changes on the scales. The ideal growth rate is about 0.5 kg per week. If you see that you are gaining a lot of excess fat, reduce the amount of carbohydrates (primarily simple ones). You can add 2-3 cardio workouts per week for 20-30 minutes after the strength.
Ready menu for the week
We selected the diet below for a mesomorph male with a height of 180 cm, a weight of 75 kg and an age of 20. Using a special formula, we obtain his basic calorie requirement to maintain his current weight - 2750 kcal. To gain weight, you need a surplus of calories, that is, they should be more than the norm. We add 15% from the top and we get the number we need - 3150 (rounded off). That is how much calories you will need to eat every day.
The approximate percentage for BJU looks like this: 20-25-55, that is, 25% of all calories should be proteins, 25% - fats and 50% - carbohydrates. In numbers, in this case, it looks like this: about 155 grams of proteins, 89 grams of fat, 430 grams of carbohydrates.
In the table, we used only common and easy-to-cook dishes. You can replace them with any others if you know their composition and calorie content. The result is the following diet:
| Monday | |||||
| Meals | Proteins, g | Fat, g | Carbohydrates, g | Calories | |
| Breakfast | Steamed buckwheat 150 g *, 2 eggs omelet, 100 ml milk and herbs | 41 | 16,8 | 108,7 | 750 |
| First snack | Kefir 250 g, a mixture of nuts and dried fruits 100 g | 13,8 | 32,7 | 63,1 | 601,9 |
| Dinner | Baked chicken (fillet) 150 g, boiled rice 120 g, fresh cucumber | 42,6 | 11,2 | 98,8 | 666,4 |
| Second snack | 2 bananas and an orange | 3,9 | 1,2 | 50,1 | 226,8 |
| Dinner | Grilled beef 150 g, boiled pasta 150 g, cucumber and tomato salad 100 g, seasoned with olive oil | 54,3 | 26,9 | 110,2 | 900,1 |
| Total: | 155,6 | 88,8 | 430,9 | 3145,2 | |
| Tuesday | |||||
| Meals | Proteins, g | Fat, g | Carbohydrates, g | Calories | |
| Breakfast | Boiled barley 100 g, whole grain bread 100 g, cheese 150 g | 36,9 | 37,3 | 119,9 | 962,9 |
| First snack | Kefir 250 g, whole grain crisps 150 g | 25,2 | 11,3 | 102 | 610,5 |
| Dinner | Stewed turkey fillet 150 g, boiled pasta 150 g, fresh tomato | 43,8 | 12,6 | 118,1 | 761 |
| Second snack | Fruit salad with sour cream sauce, 200 g | 2,2 | 15,8 | 37,2 | 299,8 |
| Dinner | Beef tenderloin steak 150 g, boiled potatoes 300 g, pickles | 47,8 | 11,9 | 52,9 | 509,9 |
| Total: | 155,9 | 88,9 | 430,1 | 3144,1 | |
| Wednesday | |||||
| Meals | Proteins, g | Fat, g | Carbohydrates, g | Calories | |
| Breakfast | Boiled buckwheat 150 g, 2 whole eggs | 26,6 | 15,5 | 107,7 | 676,7 |
| First snack | Cottage cheese with sour cream and dried fruits, 250 g | 36,5 | 10 | 42,2 | 404,8 |
| Dinner | Grilled beef 200 g, baked potatoes 600 g, canned peas 100 g | 43,5 | 32,8 | 108,5 | 903,2 |
| Second snack | 2 bananas and an orange | 3,9 | 1,2 | 50,1 | 226,8 |
| Dinner | Stewed chicken fillet with vegetables 200 g, boiled rice 150 g | 45,3 | 29,8 | 121,5 | 935,4 |
| Total: | 155,8 | 89,3 | 430 | 3146,9 | |
| Thursday | |||||
| Meals | Proteins, g | Fat, g | Carbohydrates, g | Calories | |
| Breakfast | 2 whole boiled eggs, whole grain bread 200 g, cheese 100 g | 42,9 | 36,8 | 81,8 | 830 |
| First snack | Cottage cheese with sour cream and dried fruits, 250 g | 36,5 | 10 | 42,2 | 404,8 |
| Dinner | Baked turkey fillet 200 g, boiled rice 150 g, salad of cucumbers and tomatoes, seasoned with olive oil, 100 g | 39,9 | 18,9 | 127,5 | 839,7 |
| Second snack | 2 bananas and 2 unsweetened apples | 4,2 | 2,2 | 71,1 | 321 |
| Dinner | Braised red fish 200 g, baked potatoes 600 g, fresh cucumber | 40,6 | 21,3 | 101,8 | 761,3 |
| Total: | 164,1 | 89,2 | 424,4 | 3156,8 | |
| Friday | |||||
| Meals | Proteins, g | Fat, g | Carbohydrates, g | Calories | |
| Breakfast | Cottage cheese with sour cream and dried fruits 200 g, whole grain bread 200 g, cheese 100 g | 56,5 | 28,5 | 108,1 | 914,9 |
| First snack | Kefir 250 g, a mixture of nuts and dried fruits 100 g | 13,8 | 28,7 | 63,1 | 565,9 |
| Dinner | Baked white fish 200 g, boiled potatoes 500 g, cucumber and tomato salad, seasoned with olive oil 100 g | 47,4 | 12,8 | 81,5 | 630,8 |
| Second snack | 2 bananas and 2 unsweetened apples | 4,2 | 2,2 | 71,1 | 321 |
| Dinner | Stewed chicken fillet with vegetables 150 g, boiled pasta 150 g | 32,8 | 16,8 | 107,8 | 713,6 |
| Total: | 154,7 | 89 | 431,6 | 3146,2 | |
| Saturday | |||||
| Meals | Proteins, g | Fat, g | Carbohydrates, g | Calories | |
| Breakfast | Muesli (sugar free) with milk, 200 g | 24,4 | 20,2 | 110,3 | 720,6 |
| First snack | Kefir 250 g, whole grain crisps 150 g | 25,2 | 11,3 | 102 | 610,5 |
| Dinner | Baked salmon in foil 200 g, boiled potatoes 500 g, cucumber and tomato salad, seasoned with olive oil, 100 g | 51,1 | 22,9 | 91,7 | 777,3 |
| Second snack | Fruit salad with sour cream sauce, 200 g | 2,2 | 15,8 | 37,2 | 299,8 |
| Dinner | Beef tenderloin steak 200 g, boiled rice 120 g, fresh cucumber | 52,1 | 18,7 | 89,8 | 735,9 |
| Total: | 155 | 88,9 | 431 | 3144,1 | |
| Sunday | |||||
| Meals | Proteins, g | Fat, g | Carbohydrates, g | Calories | |
| Breakfast | Steamed oatmeal 120 g, cottage cheese 2% fat 200 g with sour cream | 51,9 | 15,4 | 84,1 | 682,6 |
| First snack | Kefir 250 g, whole grain crisps 150 g | 25,2 | 11,3 | 102 | 610,5 |
| Dinner | Braised white fish 200 g, baked potatoes 500 g, cucumber and tomato salad, seasoned with olive oil, 100 g | 41,8 | 27,7 | 88,5 | 770,5 |
| Second snack | 2 bananas and 2 unsweetened apples | 4,2 | 2,2 | 71,1 | 321 |
| Dinner | Grilled beef tenderloin 150 g, boiled rice 100 g, a spoonful of flaxseed oil | 32,1 | 32,8 | 85,2 | 764,4 |
| Total: | 155,2 | 89,4 | 430,9 | 3149 | |
* all weights are for dry products
How do I customize the menu?
First of all, you need to calculate your calorie intake to support your weight. Use, for example, the Harris-Benedict equation. Then add another 15% to the resulting number to get the number of calories for mass gain.
Then download this file which contains the diet above. You will only need to adjust the amount of BJU dishes in meals in order to get the amount of calories you need. It is enough to change only the BZHU, the calorie content and the final numbers are calculated automatically. You can also replace the dishes themselves, then you will also need to manually set their composition for proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
Simplified version
If you don't want to do such complex calculations, there is an easier method. Given the list of sources of carbohydrates, proteins and fats from the first paragraph, simply consume at least 5.5-6 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of protein and 1-1.2 grams of fat per kg of body weight every day.
