Q: Are there any fat gain triggers that I need to be aware of?

A: The biggest fat gain trigger and the one that more people get beaten by is the consumption of too few calories. When you don’t give your body enough energy (food) five key reactions take place that, in the end, will make you fatter and less muscular. Let’s consider them one by one:

Blood sugar – Your body is constantly in need of glucose. The brain and nervous system consume it at a ravenous rate – in fact, when you’re not exercising your brain consumes two thirds of the glucose in your system. If you’re not constantly replenishing your glucose stores, you will feel tired, lethargic, anxious, possibly even dizzy and disoriented.

Seratonin – Seratonin is a neurotransmitter to the central nervous system and brain. If we’re getting sufficient calories our seratonin balance will provide a sense of well being but if we’re not, according to recent research, we will develop cravings for sweet carbohydrate laden foods.

Muscle Protein – If you provide enough energy through eating, your body has no option but to begin cannibalizing its own muscle stores in order to provide glucose for the brain.

Metabolic Rate – Your body knows that it needs muscle to function, so to offset the previous factor, it will slow down your metabolic rate. This will mean that you will be burning fewer overall calories and what you do eat will be more readily stored as fat.

Water Retention – Water retention is a symptom of borderline malnutrition – a condition that can quite easily develop among those who severely restrict calories. The problem is often compounded because people can see water retention as added weight, which further motivates them to cut back on calories.

As an educated bodybuilder, you should know to avoid starvation diets like the plague. Still, you could fall into a situation of too few calories if you aren’t compensating for the energy you burn in the gym. To quickly calculate your maintenance caloric level, add a zero to your weight and then add twice your weight. So, a 200 pound guy would need 2400 calories – but that’s if he does nothing but vegetate all day long. A seriously training bodybuilder would want to add 800 calories for a total maintenance level of 3,200 calories per day.

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