“Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.”
- Arnold H. Glasow
Note: This guest post was written by Mark McManus. Check out his website here.
Want to look better and burn more calories even when resting?
You will if you add some muscle to your frame.
Whether you want to be the next Ronnie Coleman or just want a more defined / toned physique like Brad Pitt or Jennifer Aniston, you’ll need to build some muscle mass.
So here’s 10 tips to help you build pounds of lean muscle and get the body of your dreams.
1. Pursue Progressive Overload.
The law of progressive overload simply says that you must increase the amount of reps or the weight lifted every single workout (or as close to this as humanly possible) in order to ignite muscle growth.
The body adapts to stimuli, so how do we use this to our advantage? Well the key is to place ever increasing demand on the body, thereby forcing it to continually adapt. Training with weights is undoubtedly the best way to achieve this. You can know precisely how much weight you can handle and can also make incremental increases over time to spark muscle growth.
If you workout with the exact same weight every session and perform the same number of repetitions, how can you expect your body to grow? So, if you want bigger biceps, you must increase the weight you are lifting every session or the amount of repetitions. Remember:
Progressive Overload = Muscle Growth.
2. Perform 8-12 reps.
8-12 reps on any given exercise will stimulate most muscle growth. Lower rep ranges of say 3-6 work well for building strength but not necessarily muscle hypertrophy (growth). Higher reps e.g. 15 – 20 can indeed stimulate muscle growth but it is far from optimal. You should be lifting a weight so heavy that you can’t get more than 12 reps but light enough to allow you to get at least 8 reps.
3. Perform 6-9 sets.
Yes just 6-9 sets per body part. If you are working out with good form this is all you need to stimulate muscle growth. You want to keep your workouts under 45 minutes to avoid the release of hormones that actually break your muscle tissue down (catabolic hormones). Luckily, you can easily accomplish this by performing a maximum of 9 sets per body part.
4. Eat Eat Eat.
Working a muscle tears the tissue, it then repairs and grows. Muscles need fed in order to allow them to grow. Basically you need to eat big to get big. A good bodybuilding diet will allow you to grow without adding fat at the same time.
5. Increase the Amount of Protein in your Diet.
Muscle = protein. In order for muscle tissue to repair itself after your weight-training sessions it needs an abundance of protein. Some beginners don’t take enough protein and some more experienced guys take ridiculously extreme amounts of protein. So how much protein is enough to supply those hungry muscles? Use the following formula for the most accurate daily protein requirements.
Lean Mass Weight (Kg) x 2.75 = Daily Protein Requirement
Your lean weight is your total body weight minus the amount of fat you are carrying. You will need to know your body fat percentage for this. If you are unsure about this, you can get a good estimate by using the ‘Body Fat Calculator’ in the sidebar at MuscleHack.com site. Another good rule of thumb is to take 1 gram of protein for every pound of total body weight. So a 160 lb man would take around 160 grams of protein per day. My favorite sources of protein include
* Chicken
* Steak
* Pork
* Eggs
* Cheese
* Whey Protein Powder Shakes
* Seafood – tuna, prawns, salmon…
* Nuts
* SeedsHere’s a good post showing great vegetarian sources of protein.
6. Eat Fat.
A Low-Fat diet is not desirable in bodybuilding. Eating fat increases the amount of anabolic (muscle building) hormones in your body. These are:
1. Testosterone
2. Growth Hormone
3. Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1)Some people resort to taking anabolic steroids in order to accelerate muscle growth but you can get great results by implementing the ultimate bodybuilding diet.
7. Make Sure you Drink Enough Water.
Getting enough water is crucial for peak strength and energy levels. You should shoot for around 12 x 8 ounce glasses of water per day. Remember you can include your protein shakes towards your daily water intake.
8. Avoid Too Much Cardio.
Cardiovascular work will rob you of muscle gains. Yes if your goal is to lose fat you should do cardio but make sure it is:
(a) Performed immediately after your weight training
(b) ‘High Intensity Interval Training’ form of cardio for a maximum of 20 minutes.
The reason that too much cardio isn’t desirable when your goal is to build muscle is that too much cardio releases catabolic hormones in the body, breaking down your muscle tissue; obviously this is counter-productive.
Sleep is so important for building muscle. We know that muscle tissue repairs itself and grows during rest periods but sleep is more important than waking rest periods.
Here’s why:
1. The release of growth hormone reaches its peak during deep sleep
2. Your metabolic rate slows which is perfect for muscle tissue repair and growth
3. Increased blood flow to the muscles
10. Relax.
Being stressed out results in a catabolic (muscle breakdown) environment in the body. One such hormone is cortisol. Remember that a calm, relaxed person builds more muscle than the hot-head
(assuming all other factors are equal).
Keep it positive and stay motivated!
Mark runs MuscleHack.com, a blog he started as a way to share insights into the oftentimes confusing world of building muscle and losing fat.
If you would like to get started today he has a free muscle building workout plan here. You can also download it as a free bodybuilding ebook.
If you liked this article, please bookmark it on del.icio.us or vote for it on Digg. Thank you!
Serbian Rasta
There are many things you;ve missed in this article, but overall its a good article for tips.
lets not fool ourselves, if you want to build muscles fast you need to take creating, proteins, and from then you need to build up onto something stronger. I have never taken human growth hormone, but if you want muslces fast that’s the way to go. If you do follow his guidelines then you will build muscles, but it will take trainings and a lot of hard work. Its not that you can build that in a month, or even in a year, it takes years of training for muscle mass.
First thing is that you need to be constant, and work out at least 3 times a week. Make yourself a plan (separate the mouscle groups – one of the most important thing in training not mentioned) which you can stay on and work on for the next 3 years (at least). Getting muscles and keeping them (and yourself) in form is hard, but if you do it often and enjoy doing it (like everyone does, and even if you dont at some point when you see differences you will start liking it) you will get your results.
From the picture on top I can see that you have short biceps and that you may need to do extensions a lot more so they would look better, other then that I see that you took something other then natural food intake (since your muscles look like they’ve been built pretty fast, and they dont look like muscles that are gained from natural sources and over the years – I may be wrong though).
Ok now to go back to program, and everyone shoudl take this advice.
Separate your muscles (or work outs) into 3-4 groups.
I did mine as chests and biceps,
upper and lowe back and triceps,
legs and shoulders
(if you are a started do everything for first four weeks or even more if you think you should build up something so you can separate moucles)
then I changed to
legs and biceps
chests and triceps
shoulders and back
First start of with bigger mouscle groups and do smaller later (for example, you do bench press first then you do few other things for your chest group and then on the end you do 2-3 exercises for biceps). Its important to remember that you need to drink water at all times, and to take breaks between exercises. I never measure my time, as my work out consists of 1 hour training 3-4 times per week.
I do not take anything as of yet (and probably the only thing I will take is creating with some proteins) but I do see the difference after 4 months training (I did work out before, but I made a one year break since I had to work and move to Europe).
And the thing I didnt mention is cardio, sit ups, push ups… – that you do whenever your training was not as tiring and you feel like you can do more.
Ok and one final thing :
I am a smoker, and when I quit smoking for the first time (i started smoking again – stupid of me but I like cigs and weed, so I cant really say that I want to quit again, but who knows I may try again) I gained a lot of weight. If any of you smokers want to quit smoking, the best way is to go to the gym (and I mean go as much as you can). Since your body (methabolism) will drastically change you have a lot of help from your body to gain muscle faster then anyone who doesnt smoke. You will have a lot more energy then when you smoked, and you will have a lot of nervous times (which produces energy) that you can turn into working out and training. I went from 75 kg to 85 in few months and then to 93 which now since I started smoking again I dropped to 83. This is one thing that will work out on your side by quitting smoking (you can turn into muscles faster). O yeah and weed is good for working out, it relaxes your mouscles after work outs and makes them grow faster (if you are a stoner like me).
Well good luck and hoep everything works out.
THis is program for guys, if any girls wants me to tell her some tips for working out (of course you have to be single
then shoot me an email.
Peace
Serbian Rasta
January 22, 2009 at 11:23 am
MuscleMadness
Well I’m 15 years old, and I’m sick and tired of being so skinny. My arm is about 12.6″. I started this about 2 weeks ago, I’m sure my muscles haven’t moved but i know i have lost so weight around my stomach. I eat much healthier now and much more than i normally would, I drink about 12 glasses of water everyday. The only thing is i can’t get a hold of WHEY where I’m from(Caribbean), it may sell in my country but i haven’t found it so far. However i eat a lot of cheese & chicken, drink lots of milk and i also drink “Ensure” once a day, its a balanced nutrition drink but only contains 13g of protein.
I weigh about hmm, well I’m tall so i weight about 125 or 130. My arms hurt like hell but i think its worth it. I do these exercise every night of everyday. I do not cheat these routine either. Normally i won’t stop doing reps until my arms start shaking even when i feel the terrible burn, i know its suppose to tear the muscles. Well i’ll be keeping track of my muscles throughout the year i hope to increase my arm to a ATLEAST 15″ by 2010. haha im expecting much more though. I am actually looking for a response from the writer but i would be glad for any comment of my progress so far i always check this page. Thanks alot Ririan.
January 30, 2009 at 1:31 pm
MuscleMadness
:p lol i also play soccer so im fit
January 30, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Best Prohormones
Great article, covering one approach.
In response to section 6: Another alternative to taking anabolic steroids for fast muscle growth is to use prohormones.
Legal bodybuilding supplements can dramatically enhance the effectiveness of the types of diet & exercise
February 25, 2009 at 8:01 pm
PerfectBodyBuilder
Great Post! I was reading earlier on and someone had stated how Important it was to stay motivated. To do this I plan to read your post every day, seriously
March 5, 2009 at 1:38 am
Lose Fat & Build Muscle
Excellent information. Right down to the point. I would like to debate that cardio though. If you have enough carbs in your blood system and glycogen storage, there should be no reason you would be burning muscle. Muscle burning would be in result of having not enough carbs in your system.
May 11, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Ayman
Great article !!
i would like to add changing your routine often and supplementing with creatine (for those willing to do it) to that list.
thanks
May 12, 2009 at 12:44 am
Anon
I wonder if its ok to smoke, while resting between sets
June 4, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Hgh
Thanks for your lovely tips.
I want to know that is it god to take protein capsules?
Are there any side effects in them?
I have heard they help to grow muscles very rapidly.
June 23, 2009 at 11:12 am
Serge
Good point! You may find this post helpful in order to start your work out – How to Make Exercise a Habit
June 30, 2009 at 12:01 am
jesse
what if u have a really high metabolism?
July 6, 2009 at 9:42 am
Manni Marquez
Some great practical tips here on building muscle mass.
I also believe that adopting a positive mindset and visualising lifting heavy weights can give you a great edge. Combine this with the advice given on this site and you will see your effort paying dividends!
July 18, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Pet
I think I am already too old for this kind of body.
September 3, 2009 at 9:28 am
Hgh
Good general points for sure. Working on ones body is always worth it. It is also good to take little steps in reaching your goals. Don’t try to gain too much too fast. Be realistic and work hard not only on the points above but also work on modivating yourself. Modivation is a HUGE part of reaching any goal. Find ways to modivate yourself and keep at it.
December 4, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Zephyr
A great and informative article. Thanks for posting.
December 30, 2009 at 10:31 am
Jonathan
Is it true that hormones will reduce the size of one’s ding dong?.
January 12, 2010 at 10:17 am
Armand
Hey all just wanted 2 say im new to this site and ya it looks 2 me like a few good tips because im…looking 2 try and build without any stuff like roides or all that other junk cause i would rather build natuarly than use sumthing unnatuaral..
January 21, 2010 at 10:12 am
yoyo
to make your muscles faster and harder you would have to eat less and go to bathroom and try shitting it. then you will see the best results. you are going to like the way it looks i gurantee it.
January 21, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Will
Since the new year I’ve started weight training again. I took 2 years off due to work etc and I’ve pretty much lost the shape I had. I started training when I was 17, mainly to play rugby. I’m 21 now and I’m back in the gym and working hard. I’ve missed the feeling you get after a hard workout and my mood has just improved so much. I feel good about myself again and when you feel like that, you become a more positive person overall. As stated above, a calm/relaxed mind is benifical to working out but it’s even more benificial in everyday life.
As stated above motavation is one of the biggest factors for that keeps me going. Mnay people give up beacue they expect to see gains to quickly and when they don’t they see no point in carrying on.
I have old photo’s of me when I was in good shape. For me this is motivation push. It tells me that I’ve done it once, so I can do it again. The first few months are the most vital, your see gains by then and this will give you the motivation you need to carry on.
January 21, 2010 at 1:20 pm
HGH
Good article but missing a few things. Supplements? You can do quite a bit without supplements but at some point creatins and proteins need to be looked into.
January 24, 2010 at 7:15 am