Building Muscle - Tips For Success
- Men's Health, Women's Health, Nutrition Tips and Supplements Insights
- 20 December 2018
There is no easy way to suddenly become a hulk of muscle, it takes time, planning, a healthy diet and a regime which needs to be stuck to. The aim of this article is to give you some proven methods to start building muscle.
Setting Realistic Goals
The ultimate goal may be to gain muscle mass but to get there it's important to gain strength. The bodies ability to recruit muscle fibres is the key to looking more muscular. To see your goals met, lift more weight and increase the reps, then you will need to get your muscles in the best condition to respond to the workout demands. Decide on 2 or 3 exercises that target the upper body, 1 push and 1 pull, and 1 that targets the lower body, and start getting those muscles stronger.
Eat Right
Working out alone will not make muscles bigger and stronger, they need fuel to enable the transformation and that means eating the right foods and taking the best supplements where needed. As muscles require calories it's a good idea to record what you are currently eating, and try to keep track of the calorific intake. If your progress is slow then adding more calories throughout the day will help.
Eating Right Never Stops
Even on your "rest days" away from the weights, you should make sure you eat right. Your muscles are recovering and growing on these days and will need the calories you are eating to enable them to repair and grow, You may not need the same as when you workout but drop by a little only if you want to see results.
Carbs Are Not The Enemy
If your primary goal is to lose weight then yes, lose the carbs and look into a carb-free diet to achieve your goal. If, however, the goal is to gain muscle then you should not be worried about the weight you may gain. Your muscles will need those calories to get big, just don't go overboard. You are keeping a diary on foods you are eating, right? Keep a track and make adjustments to diet based on your results,
Nutritional Shakes
Gaining muscle depends on getting enough calories, The best way of making sure you give your body a healthy amount of carbs and calories before, and after your workout is with a shake. A good quality shake will supply the nutrition you need to work harder and keep your energy levels up.
Manage your Workouts
Unless you are a professional athlete, the chances are you have a full-time job and other commitments that take time from your life to complete. A pro may work each body part once a week but you may have to organise your workouts so that each workout targets a specific group, or even the entire body in each gym session. At least doing this you will work each muscle group 3 times a week if you workout 3 times. If 4 times a week can be afforded then twice upper, twice lower etc. The more you can work out the quicker those muscles will grow but life isn't always like that, do what you can, when you can, but do it right.
Compound Exercises
Deadlifts, the press, rowing and chin-ups are all compound exercises. ie: they work more that one joint at a time. These types of exercise are ideal for building muscle mass quickly as they work more muscle, which in turn releases more testosterone which is the hormone used to promote the growth of muscles. The rule for quicker growth is compound work first, isolations such as curls and leg extensions second.
Legs, Legs, Legs
A lot of men want to work towards bigger arms and chest but don't forget the legs. Nothing looks stranger than a man with an out of proportion body. Use compound leg exercises to maintain the balance, these legs workouts use the whole of the body and still release the hormones to increase muscle growth so are highly beneficial in achieving your overall look.
Recovery Is Vital
There are nutritional supplements available that can help your body to recover from a hard session at the gym but nature also provides her own recovery system. Simply going to bed a little earlier can be a tremendous benefit to the recovery process.
The Weekly Weigh-In
One to put on your calendar, once a week, same day, same time, after the morning bathroom routine but before breakfast. Get on the scales and hope the results shows you have gained weight. Muscle is heavier than fat so it's a good thing to get heavier, if you are losing weight then you are not gaining muscle and its time to revisit the diet and exercise routines to see where changes can be made.
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