subject: Body Sculpting - How Do You Build Muscle? [print this page] How Do You Build Muscle? How Do You Build Muscle?
Have you been going to the gym regularly for months and not able to put on any serious muscle weight? If you answered yes, it's time to take a step back and make a plan. Building muscle is not rocket science. There are four key factors that will mean the difference in building muscle - for both men and women. You have to ask yourself these four questions.
#1. Is my diet optimized for building muscle?
It's time to get out of the "3 meals per day" mentality. If you want to gain (or lose) weight, you need to feed your body whole foods, at least six times a day. This means splitting your large meals up and eating about once every three hours. Not only is this good for your metabolism, but your body will use the foods as energy instead of storing them as fat.
Your six meals per day should consist of mainly complex carbohydrates and protein. You should aim for at least thirty grams of protein per meal. High protein foods include lean meat, chicken, fish, egg whites, cheese and milk products. Complex carbohydrates are found in brown rice, brown bread and potatoes. You should also stay away from foods high in salt and sugar.
#2. Should I be using supplements, and when should I be taking them?
If you can afford supplements you should use them. The basic three you should be considering are protein, carbs and creatine. Whey protein supplements are the fastest known way to deliver quality protein to your muscles. This is why protein shakes are particularly effective after workouts, because your body is craving protein for muscle re-growth.
There are three key time-periods that supplements should be taken - first thing in the morning, after your workout and before bed. If your diet is up to standard, you shouldn't need supplements at any other times. Don't use supplements to replace meals - supplements are just that, not meal replacement.
#3. Am I training hard, but not smart?
The biggest mistake the new body-builder makes is thinking that the more he works out, the bigger he'll get. This couldn't be further from the truth! Two basic rules you must remember when it comes to weight training. First, quality is better than quantity. Second, compound exercises are the kings of building muscle.
Compound exercises require at least two joint movements. Big compound exercises are the squat, the bench press, the wide grip pull up and the seated row. These movements recruit many more muscle fibers to move the weight. This means more muscle groups are worked. These exercises are more challenging and the potential for growth is much greater.
Generally you should be doing three compound exercises for every one isolation exercise. For example your back and biceps workout might consist of wide grip pull ups, seated row, bent over row and standing bicep curl. You may think this is not be enough work for your biceps? Wrong. Your biceps are worked heavily in all these exercises - the bicep curl just finishes them off.
The length of any training session should not exceed one hour. And you only need to train a particular muscle group once a week. This means a split routine should only need to be three days a week. In fact, most professional bodybuilders only train four times per week. Remember, it's quality not quantity.
#4. Do I get enough rest and recovery time?
When you workout you're not building muscle, you're breaking them down. The reason why you looked "pumped up" when you're in the gym is because your muscle tissue is swollen and damaged. Your muscles actually grow when you are resting. So, in simple terms, no rest equals no muscle growth.
So take it easy when you're not working out. Ease up on the cardio. And make sure you get plenty of sleep. Sleep is the body's time for building muscle. This is also why it's important to eat before going to bed - so your body has the fuel to repair muscle while you sleep.
Simple, isn't it?
So you can see that despite what you read in magazines or on the web about building muscle, it's surprisingly simple. If you get the four aspects right we've covered here, you WILL build muscle!
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