In the summer season, the days become shinier and hotter day by day, and in this situation, people who want to gain might struggle a lot, not because they don’t want to but because summer makes them not to. The heat, reduced appetite, and other seasonal factors can slow down your weight gain journey. But here comes the good news: with the right guidance, you can overcome these problems and transform your body.

In this blog post, we will discuss the 4 problems that you face in the summer season and some of the most practical solutions to help you build muscle and gain weight more effectively.

Reduced Appetite in Summer: Why It Happens and What to Do

Indeed, the most common issue during the summer season is the reduced appetite, and it’s natural. In the summer, due to its heat, your body digests food slowly to save energy, and it becomes difficult to eat enough calories to support muscle growth.

Why appetite decreases in summer

1. In Ayurveda’s text it is written, our digestive fire weakens when we expose ourselves to heat. The body focuses on staying cool and not on digestion.
2. The external heat of the surroundings increases the body’s internal heat, which slows hunger to prevent overheating.
3. Not only this, heat also hinders the release of appetite hormones like *ghrelin*.

Solution: Use Liquid Calories

As the hotness of the season increases, your body digests liquid calories more easily and effectively. Thus, adding 2 shakes or a smoothie can increase a total of 1200+ calories without much digestive effort, resulting in quick weight gain.

Examples of liquid calorie options

• Peanut Butter Banana Whey Smoothie
• Mango Lassi with Whey Protein
• Rice + Mango + Ghee + Jaggery Shake

More Easy-to-Digest Calorie-Dense Foods

• Paneer or potato sandwiches cooked in coconut oil
• Banana and peanut butter sandwiches
• Rice with soya chunks, curd, and ghee
• Egg or chicken wraps with olive oil

Add-On Snacks for Extra Calories

• A couple of dark chocolate slices
• Half a glass of fruit juice
• Cookies or a piece of a protein bar after meals

If you are an active person, fill up a water bottle with 3-4 tablespoons of Glucon-D. It will keep you hydrated and energized throughout the day.

2. Low Workout Intensity in the Heat: Fixing the “Too Fatigued” Problem

Summer not only reduces your appetite but also makes you feel drained physically and mentally. This can affect your gym performance; you probably lift lighter but end up getting too much fatigue and skip some sets. This is some serious thing we need to talk about, which impacts your muscle-building efforts.

Solution: Train Smarter, Not Longer

Reduce workout frequency

If you were training 5–6 days a week in winter, scale it down to 3–4 days in summer.

Keep sessions short and intense

Aim for 45–60 minutes max, including warm-up and cool-down. Focus on:

• Compound lifts
• 5–6 exercises per session
• 2–3 working sets per exercise
• 6–12 reps per set
• Use a smart weekly workout split like Push-Pull-Legs (3 Days)
• One Full-Body Day or Upper-Lower Split (1–2 Days)

This sample workout plan allows you to train every major muscle group twice a week, which is ideal for muscle growth.

On rest days, you can train muscles like calves, abs, or forearms without breaking the momentum and overloading the system.

3. Micronutrient Deficiencies: The Hidden Muscle Loss Trigger

Summer’s hot weather leads to excessive sweating, which drains vitamins and minerals from your body. These nutrients may be present at the macro level in your body but are important for recovery, energy, muscle contraction, and hormone production.

Common Symptoms of Mineral Deficiency

• Muscle cramps
• Weakness during workouts
• Poor recovery and no muscle growth

3-Step Solution for Preventing Deficiencies

Maintain Sodium & Potassium Levels

These minerals are very important for muscle pump and contraction. An easy drink you can make:

1. ¼ tsp of salt
2. Juice of 1 lemon
3. Coconut water or plain water
4. Optional: Add a banana for extra potassium.

Stay Hydrated

Aim for at least 3-4 liters of water per day; it also depends on your activity level. You should drink more water to help digestion if you eat a high-protein diet.

Pro tip: Add a pinch of salt to your water bottle. It will help you maintain sodium balance.

3. Use Electrolyte Supplements

For electrolytes, you can add a sachet of WHO’s ORS or any glucose powder to the water bottle to increase electrolytes, which boosts all the things required for muscle growth.

4. Poor Sleep and Recovery: The Silent Gains Killer

An increase in body temperature also results in poor sleep quality, which technically disturbs the recovery time for your body to repair muscles and grow them bigger.

3 Sleep Hacks for Better Recovery

1. Cold Shower Before Bed

You can take a cool shower at least 1 hour before it will eventually reduce your body temperature and improve sleep quality.

2. Supplement with Magnesium Glycinate + Ashwagandha

• Magnesium Glycinate (300mg)** helps relax the nervous system.
• Ashwagandha (500mg, KSM-66 variant)** lowers cortisol and enhances deep sleep.

You can take both after dinner to support better recovery.

3. Sleep in Complete Darkness

Turn off your lights and make a complete blackout in the room. These small changes can significantly improve your sleep quality.

Your Summer Muscle Gain Game Plan

Now you know the four major summer obstacles to muscle gain:

1. Reduced appetite
2. Heat-related fatigue
3. Micronutrient loss
4. Poor sleep

Just follow all the steps mentioned above with structured training, recovery tools, and consistency. You can absolutely achieve size and strength even in the harshest of summers.

Quote: Stay strong, stay smart and keep growing.