Gain Muscle
10 Quick Tips to Gain Muscle
How To Gain Muscle
Muscle mass is the straw that stirs the drink in the sport of bodybuilding. Talk all you want about symmetry, shape and definition, but in the final analysis, muscle mass is the defining element of a physique. The mass building equation has three components: a correct diet strategy, hardcore training and high tech supplementation. It’s not rocket science, but there are tricks to it, nonetheless.
To save you time and trouble, I’ve complied 10 tips to jump start anabolism and create a positive nitrogen balance – to pack on muscle mass, you need to take in more nitrogen via protein and training than you excrete through the natural metabolic process.
1. Emphasize The Negative
Muscle growth is the logical byproduct of muscle contraction. Much emphasis is placed on the concentric phase of a lift where the muscle shortens as it contracts. But the stretching of the muscle during the eccentric, or negative, phase where the muscle lengthens while maintaining tension can directly cause muscle hypertrophy, too. Emphasizing the negative is an easy technique to overload muscles and promote radical gains in mass.
2. Eat Fish
Fish containing higher amounts of fat – salmon, for instance – provide us with the ever popular omega-3 fatty acids. Why is this important? The omega-3s make the muscle more sensitive to insulin; hence, they fuel glycogen storage and amino acid entry into muscles while also preserving glutamine stores.
3. Increase Sodium Intake
I’m not kidding. Sodium is an essential mineral that is an absolute must for muscle growth. Sodium has a bad rap because it can cause water retention – anathema to contest ready bodybuilders. On the plus side, sodium enhances carbohydrate storage and amino acid absorption while also improving the muscle’s responsiveness to insulin.
4. Stop All Aerobics
Aerobic exercise has a detrimental effect on mass building. Aerobics interfere with strength gains and recovery while burning up valuable glycogen and branched chain amino acids (BCAA). Adding mass is the best way to upgrade your resting metabolic rate (RMR); is the RMR is elevated, more calories are burned and it is easier to stay lean.
5. Lift Explosively
The amount of force a muscle generates is proportional to the amount of muscle growth you’ll be able to create. Force is defined as mass (the weight you use) multiplied by acceleration (the speed at which you push a weight against resistance). To generate more force, then, progressively increase your poundages while lifting explosively – in this context, you actually increase speed during the second half of the rep.
6. Dramatically Increase Your Calories For Three Days
You will never achieve a positive nitrogen balance with a low calorie diet. It takes raw materials – carbs, protein and fats – to build new muscle mass and support recovery. Increasing your calories by 50% (from 3,000 to 4,500 per day, for instance) for three days can spur growth while adding little if any bodyfat. The key is to limit the increased calories to a designated three day period; you’ll be able to stimulate growth by improving muscle sensitivity to insulin and by providing more carbs for glycogen storage.
If you are in a overtrained state – and if you’re not gaining any new muscle mass, this is probably the case – the additional calories will promote anabolism before fat storage is able to kick in. That’s why you want to limit the 50% increase to a three day period. After that time, return to your typical intake of daily calories; you’ll have stimulated new growth without adding unwanted fat.
7. Rest
Many bodybuilders are unable to pack on mass because they are always training and, therefore, always recovering from those grueling workouts. Taking a couple of days off can restore glycogen, increase anabolism and allow hormonal indexes such as testosterone and cortisol to return to optimal levels.
8. Eat In The Middle Of The Night
Anabolism depends on an excess of calories. As you are well aware, bodybuilders eat four to six times per day to increase the absorption of nutrients and to provide a steady influx of carbs, protein and fat. Expanding on the four to six meals per day plan is to include a protein drink in the middle of the night that can encourage additional growth.
9. Increase Strength Through Powerlifting
Your muscles respond to training in three ways. When you train with high reps (more than 15), there is an increase in endurance with no substantive improvement in size or strength. The six to twelve rep range – the range that all big bodybuilders rely on – promotes an increase in both size and strength. Powerlifters generally stay with low reps, two to four per set, which supplements strength with slight variances in size.
However, if you set aside one week of training to pile on the weights with low reps the subsequent improvement in strength will make you stronger when you return to the six to twelve rep routine. Here’s the formula: More strength equals more tension on the muscle equals more growth.
10. Supplement With The Big Three: Glutamine, Creatine & BCAA
Glutamine is known as the immunity amino. If you are overly stressed from dieting or training, the immune system kicks in, releasing glutamine into the bloodstream. Having low levels of glutamine will inhibit muscle growth – that’s why supplementing with glutamine is important.
Creatine is associate with added power and the ability to produce more adenosine triphosphate (ATP) – the chemical fuel source for training and growth. Supplementing with creatine allows bodybuilders to raise creatine levels in the muscle – therefore enhancing strength and ATP – without the unwanted fat that you’d be saddled with by getting all your creatine exclusively from food. Read more
Muscle
How to Build Muscle: The Definitive Guide to Building Muscle
muscle building
Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. There are three types of muscle in the body. Muscle which is responsible for moving extremities and external areas of the body is called “skeletal muscle.” Heart muscle is called “cardiac muscle.” Muscle that is in the walls of arteries and bowel is called “smooth muscle.”
The biggest mistake when building muscle is imitating Pro Bodybuilders. Most of them don’t train naturally, are genetically gifted and never started training that way. Doing their routines won’t make you build muscle fast.
The average person needs a different approach. One that builds muscle fast and prevents physical & mental over training from doing too much, too soon. Here’s how to build muscle: the definitive guide to building muscle.
1. Get Stronger. More strength is more muscle. Get into strength training. I recommend weight lifting because it allows you to start light and add weight endlessly. Body-weight exercises work too.
- Weight Lifting. Start with an empty bar. Learn proper technique. Add weight each workout to keep pushing your body out of comfort zone.
- Calisthenics . Push-ups, Pull-ups, Dips, Pistols, Reverse Crunches, etc. Switch to harder versions or add weight when they get easy.
2. Use Free Weights. You can lift the heaviest weights using barbells. More weight is more stress, thus more muscle. Dumbbells are great for assistance exercises, but not for your main lifts. Stay away from machines.
- Safe. Machines force you into fixed, unnatural movement patterns which can cause injuries. Free weights replicate natural motions.
- Efficient. Free weights force you to control and balance the weight. This builds more muscle than machines, which balance the weight for you.
- Functional. Strength built on machines doesn’t transfer to free weights or real life. No machine balances the weight for you in real life.
- Versatile. You can do hundreds of exercises with just 1 barbell. Saves a lot of money and space, especially if you want to build a home gym.
3. Do Compound Exercises. Don’t imitate Pro Bodybuilders. Isolation exercises are ok once you’ve built base strength & muscle mass. But if you’re starting to build muscle, exercises that hit several muscles at the same time are better.
- No endless Biceps Curls -> Pull-ups, Chin-ups & Barbell Rows
- Also no Triceps Kickbacks -> Bench Press, Overhead Press, Dips
- And definitely no Leg Extensions -> Squats & Deadlifts
4. Train Your Legs. Squats work your whole body, they’re the most important exercise. You’ll look totally different once you can Squat 1.5x your body-weight. That’s a free weight Squat with hips coming lower than knees.
All your muscles tense when doing Squats & Deadlifts. They work your body as 1 piece and let you lift heavy weights. Don’t lose time with Biceps Curls. When you can Squat & Deadlift heavy weights, you’ll have bigger arms.
5. Do Full Body Workouts. Don’t compare to Pro Bodybuilders. 3rd time so this gets into you. Body part splits with isolation exercises is fine once you’ve built a foundation. That’s once you can Squat 1.5x your body-weight.
You can’t Squat that much or never did Squats? Check StrongLifts 5×5. It takes 3×45mins/week and includes compound exercises like Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Barbell Rows, Overhead Press, Pull-ups, Dips, etc.
6 Get Recovery. Pro athletes workout 5-6 times per week. But they didn’t start that way. They added workouts as they got stronger & bigger. You’ll over train if you jump into their routines. As a beginner you need more recovery.
- Rest. Muscles grow when you rest, not when you workout. Start with 3 full body workouts per week and focus on intensity, not gym time.
- Sleep. Growth hormone releases when you sleep, building muscle. Aim for 8 hours sleep. Nap post workout if your lifestyle allows.
- Drink Water. Avoids dehydration and helps muscle recovery. Drink 2 cups water with each meal, and sip water during your workout.
- Eat. “Eat like a horse. Sleep like a baby. Grow like a weed”. Your training is useless if you don’t eat plenty of whole foods. More below.
7. Eat Whole Foods. You’ll achieve a lower body fat, so the muscles you’ve built show better. And the vitamin & mineral content helps recovery. Stop eating food coming from a box. Eat whole foods 90% of the time.
- Proteins. Meat, poultry, fish, whey, eggs, milk, …
- Carbs. Brown rice, oats, whole grain pasta, quinoa, …
- Veggies. Spinach, broccoli, tomato, salad, carrot, …
- Fruits. Banana, orange, apple, pineapple, peers, …
- Fats. Olive oil, fish oil, real butter, nuts, flax seeds, …
8. Eat More. You need food for energy and for muscle growth & recovery. More frequent meals also boosts your metabolism, helping fat loss.
- Eat Breakfast. Get calories from the first hour.
- Eat Post Workout. Get proteins & carbs post workout to help muscle recovery & replenish energy stores.
- Eat Every 3 Hours. 6 meals/day. Gives your muscles a steady intake of protein, speeds up muscle repair & recovery, boosts your metabolism.
- Eat BW in lbs x 18kcal. Track your daily calorie intake using FitDay. You need at least your body-weight in lbs x 18kcal to maintain weight.
9. Gain Weight. You’ll never look muscular weighing 140lbs at 6″. No matter how much training you do. Here’s the most important part.
- Eat Calorie Dense Foods. 100g raw spinach is 25kcals. But 100g raw rice is 380kcals. Eat pasta, oats, olive oil, mixed nuts, etc.
- Get Stronger. Increase your Squat to 1.5x your body-weight for at least 1 rep. Deadlift 2x BW for at least 1 rep. More strength is more muscle.
- Drink Whole Milk. If you don’t bother gaining some fat, drink 1 gallon whole milk daily on top of your current food intake. You can gain 25lbs in 1 month if you combine this with 3 weekly Squat sessions.
10. Get Protein. Proteins have the highest thermic effect. You need 1g protein per pound of body-weight daily to build & maintain muscle. That’s 160g of daily protein if you weigh 160lbs/72kg. Eat whole proteins with each meal.
- Red Meat. Ground round, steaks, deer, buffalo, …
- Poultry. Chicken breast, whole chicken, turkey, duck, …
- Fish. Tuna, salmon, sardines, mackerel, …
- Eggs. Eat the yolk, it’s full of vitamins.
- Dairy. Milk, cottage cheese, quark cheese, yogurt, whey, …
If you weigh 160lbs: 1 can of tuna at lunch, 300g quark as snack, 300g meat at dinner and 500ml milk through the day gets you 160g protein. Read also how to get your daily protein when you’re a vegetarian/vegan.
