As a Personal Trainer I am asked how to build muscle on a daily basis by guys who have been confused by the amount of different advice from individual trainers or fellow gym members over the years. Whether you're just starting out on your journey in fitness or you've been trying to get fit for years, this issue has probably affected you at some stage.
Now we're going to end this nonsense and nail down the basic, proven rules.
Firstly we need to establish your goal. Believe it or not, this is the area where men first lose their way. Whereas women are forthcoming in their desire to lose body fat, men tend to want the best of both worlds. How many times have we heard that somebody wishes to lose fat but also get bigger and stronger? Too many.
Having two very different goals makes your task more difficult in every way. Sure, if you are just starting out in the gym or have had a long lay off you may enjoy both fat loss and hypertrophy within the first few weeks but only up to a point. then you need to decide.
Most people assume what they do in the gym will determine whether they get bigger or lose fat. This is incorrect. This mainly comes down to diet. In order to get bigger you must eat more than you do now each day, whereas to cut you'll need to eat less. So this is why we must make a choice, depending on our individual goals.
If your fitness program is that of an athlete, you have great genetics and your nutrition plan is so good that your quest to get fit is literally dominating your life, it is possible to structure a plan of course but for the overwhelming majority of people who simply want to train after they go to work or around their family life, it's not feasible.
Once you have set your goal, in this case to get bigger otherwise you wouldn't be reading this article, we can get your diet in place and begin looking at the following aspects of your gym routine:
* What exercises will allow you to get the quickest results?
* How many times per week should you train?
* What reps should you do?
When it comes to strength and size there is one type of resistance exercise which stands above all others by a long, long way. We're talking, of course, about compound exercises. That's right, the basic exercises such as bench press and squat still reign supreme when it comes to muscle mass. Don't waste time isolating the lower half of your forearm, focus your time on big exercises.
Another common mistake is to train too often. When you're trying to build there is a great need for rest. Training no more than four days per week is best, and you should also be splitting each day to hit a different muscle group than the one before. You may wish to train every day once you begin enjoying the buzz from working out, but this leads nowhere. Rest days are in fact growth days.
When it comes to repetitions, this easy-to-follow system will keep you on the right track for building lean mass and keep you progressing at a good, constant pace. Your target zone is 8-12 reps. This is the fundamental training zone for growth. Start with a weight you can push out eight repetitions with and as your strength increases you'll notice you can get more reps out over the coming training sessions. Once you can push out more than twelve, increase the weight and return to eight reps. This progressive stance will keep you from reaching any kind of plateau.
So there you have it. You wanted to know how to build muscle and now you have the facts. Take your time, set your goals and follow our easy list of workout strategies. You will see huge gains with the laws of size and strength training at the foundation of your workout routine!
Now we're going to end this nonsense and nail down the basic, proven rules.
Firstly we need to establish your goal. Believe it or not, this is the area where men first lose their way. Whereas women are forthcoming in their desire to lose body fat, men tend to want the best of both worlds. How many times have we heard that somebody wishes to lose fat but also get bigger and stronger? Too many.
Having two very different goals makes your task more difficult in every way. Sure, if you are just starting out in the gym or have had a long lay off you may enjoy both fat loss and hypertrophy within the first few weeks but only up to a point. then you need to decide.
Most people assume what they do in the gym will determine whether they get bigger or lose fat. This is incorrect. This mainly comes down to diet. In order to get bigger you must eat more than you do now each day, whereas to cut you'll need to eat less. So this is why we must make a choice, depending on our individual goals.
If your fitness program is that of an athlete, you have great genetics and your nutrition plan is so good that your quest to get fit is literally dominating your life, it is possible to structure a plan of course but for the overwhelming majority of people who simply want to train after they go to work or around their family life, it's not feasible.
Once you have set your goal, in this case to get bigger otherwise you wouldn't be reading this article, we can get your diet in place and begin looking at the following aspects of your gym routine:
* What exercises will allow you to get the quickest results?
* How many times per week should you train?
* What reps should you do?
When it comes to strength and size there is one type of resistance exercise which stands above all others by a long, long way. We're talking, of course, about compound exercises. That's right, the basic exercises such as bench press and squat still reign supreme when it comes to muscle mass. Don't waste time isolating the lower half of your forearm, focus your time on big exercises.
Another common mistake is to train too often. When you're trying to build there is a great need for rest. Training no more than four days per week is best, and you should also be splitting each day to hit a different muscle group than the one before. You may wish to train every day once you begin enjoying the buzz from working out, but this leads nowhere. Rest days are in fact growth days.
When it comes to repetitions, this easy-to-follow system will keep you on the right track for building lean mass and keep you progressing at a good, constant pace. Your target zone is 8-12 reps. This is the fundamental training zone for growth. Start with a weight you can push out eight repetitions with and as your strength increases you'll notice you can get more reps out over the coming training sessions. Once you can push out more than twelve, increase the weight and return to eight reps. This progressive stance will keep you from reaching any kind of plateau.
So there you have it. You wanted to know how to build muscle and now you have the facts. Take your time, set your goals and follow our easy list of workout strategies. You will see huge gains with the laws of size and strength training at the foundation of your workout routine!
About the Author:
Author: Russ Howe PTI is a trusted fitness coach. Learn how to build muscle with our new video guide showing the five principles to a more muscular physique and the best shoulder building exercises.
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