One of the hardest nutrition programs to put together is a mass-gaining plan for the formerly fat guy or the person who continually wrestles with bodyfat. The problem: whenever the individual's mass gains start to kick in, lo and behold, he starts to balloon up and add too much bodyfat. It's a never-ending struggle and exercise in frustration.

So just how do I put together a mass-gaining plan that promises mass without the unwanted blubber? It requires three carefully honed steps.

Upsize/Downsize

Step 1 is divided into two separate menus: one to be followed on training days and another to be followed on rest days. This takes into consideration the fact that the person who struggles to add clean, blubberless mass has to eat less – fewer carbohydrates and calories – on days he is not training or he'll add too much bodyfat. On training days, I'll set the bar at 2 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight along with 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight divided over five or six meals. Therefore, a 200-pounder would eat 400g of carbs with 200g of protein. On rest days, I'll lower the carb amount down to 1g of carbs per pound of bodyweight. That means he'd switch to 200g of protein and 200g of carbs. Follow step 1 for three weeks.

Step 2 calls for an increase in both carbs and protein – to 2.5 g of carbs per pound of bodyweight and 1.2g of protein per pound. The aforementioned 200-pound man will move up to 500g of carbs and 240g of protein. However, too many carbs can quickly ramp up fat storage, so a bodybuilder may have to incrementally move up to that level by increasing his carb intake on two of every five training days for the first four weeks. In other words, if he trains five times a week, he would simply increase the carbs and protein to the prescribed level twice in those five days.

On the other three training days, daily carb consumption would remain at 400g outlined in step 1 (2g of carbs per pound of bodyweight). On the off-training day, he would continue to keep carbs relatively low at 1g per pound of bodyweight. Protein consumption in step 2 is kept at 1.2g daily.

After four to six weeks, it's 2.5 g of carbs per pound of bodyweight on all five training days, remaining at this level of carbs for two to three weeks straight.

Step 3 is readjustment time. By the end of the third consecutive week of a steady carb intake of 500g a day, it's time to drop the carb intake. The reason: when muscles remain saturated with carbs for an extended period of time, the body becomes extremely efficient at storing bodyfat.

Therefore, I always suggest lowering carbs, to deplete the muscles of excess carbs. This helps reverse potent fat-storing mechanisms associated with a continual higher carb intake. When carbs come down, the body also starts to burn some fat – especially if the carb intake had been relatively high for a few weeks. During this carb downsizing, it's important to adjust the protein intake portion of the diet.

Carbs can make you fat, but when they are consumed in higher amounts for an extended period of time, they also support muscle growth. When you reverse gears and lower your carb intake, your body often finds it a challenge to retain muscle mass. That's where extra protein comes in. I suggest dropping carb intake down to 1g per pound of bodyweight on training days and only .5g on non-training days. At the same time, increase daily protein intake to 1.5g per pound of bodyweight on training days and 2g on non-training days.

That is 200g of carbs on training days along with 300g of protein, and 100g of carbs on non-training days along with 400g of protein. After 14 days, return to step 1 and rerun the entire process.