Did you know that one of the worst things you can do when you are looking to put muscle weight on quickly is to go to bed on an empty stomach? This is the time when your muscles need to recover from the strain of your workout and the stresses of the day. If you deny your muscles this chance, you're not going to put on weight as fast as you'd like. If you are trying to gain muscular weight, rather try this more scientific approach --

You need at least eight hours' sleep, but when you go to bed on an empty stomach, your body will be forced to starve for the whole night. Unless you put an end to this forced starvation, you won't be seeing much in the way of quick muscle gains.

Of course, this doesn't mean that you can have a 5-course feast just before bed. That will give you a poor night's sleep as well as indigestion.  All you really need to do is eat a small snack half an hour before bedtime so that your muscles will have all the necessary nutrients available for the following eight hours.

Basically, your aim should be to keep your body in an anabolic state for as long as possible and you will achieve quick muscle gains even while you are asleep. You will be doing this by providing your body with all the required nutrients that would be gradually released during your sleep.  By keeping your body in this anabolic state for a few hours every night will help to ensure that less muscle is broken down, thereby promoting fast gain in muscle growth.

The ideal snack before bedtime

Your good-night snack should contain carbohydrates, fats and amino acids for easy recovery; it should also be "slow release".

To achieve this, the snack should consist of slow-release carbohydrates, unsaturated fats and a slow-release protein. Whey protein is one of the very best protein sources. Mix 25-35 grams with 400-500ml. of milk. The casein in the milk will slow down the release of all the nutrients, including the whey.

If you are using glutamine as part of your supplementation, this would be a good time to consume it. Just add 1-2 teaspoonsful to your protein shake.

It will take about 4 hours to complete the digestion process. The process of anabolic growth during this period will put muscle weight on quickly for you.

Apart from your liquid meal, you can also have a solid protein, like cottage cheese, which contains a good amount of casein and glutamine.

Include a small portion of a slow-release, complex sugar before bed; this can be a slice of whole-grain bread, a small yoghurt or even a small bowl of oatmeal. These will also be slowly released into your system and will sustain your glycogen stores by regulating your levels of blood sugar.

Adding a small amount of fat to your pre-bedtime snack will help slow down the digestion process. This is exactly what you want to happen while you are asleep. A tablespoon of olive oil or flaxseed oil will do just fine. A good quality peanut butter is another healthy fat you could consider using.

Your body needs to be supplied with sufficient nutrients before you retire for the night. If you use these tips to put muscle weight on, you'll soon be seeing the results you want.