It’s easy to want to have a fantastic body, but the average person doesn’t do what it takes to get one. By reading this article about muscle building, you have taken the first step to learn about how to get a better body. Keep reading to discover simple techniques to start building muscle as soon as today.
Many people who work out make the mistake of emphasizing speed over technique. Focusing on technique while doing your repetitions more slowly will significantly improve your results, regardless of the exercise you are working on. Just make certain to take your time, while making sure the exercise is being done correctly.
If you want to increase muscle mass, you need to eat more food as well. Eat the amount that you need to gain a weekly pound. Find healthy ways to get anywhere from 250 to 500 more calories daily. If you don’t see any weight change, consider altering your eating habits.
Weight Training
If you’re planning to engage in extreme cardiovascular exercise, leave your weight training on hold for a while. Cardio is essential for good fitness, but too much cardio may cancel out your attempts at bulking up through strength training. Focus on a healthy balance between cardio exercise and weight training.
Building muscle cannot happen if you’re not getting a good amount of protein. Many muscle builders rely on supplements and shakes to get all the protein they need. These are wonderful to have after a workout, as well as right before you go to sleep. If you wish to lose weight as you build muscle, consume about one a day. If your goal is to also increase your mass, consuming as many as three per day will be beneficial.
Attempting a muscle building program while involved in difficult cardiovascular workouts or training for an upcoming marathon is not recommended. Although cardio is important for your overall fitness, large amounts of it can negatively impact strength training attempts. Strength training exercises are the best way to increase muscle mass.
On the days you have designated for muscle growth exercises, you must ensure that you eat well. Fuel up for your exercise session by taking in some calories an hour before heading to the gym. That doesn’t mean you can eat whatever you want, but that you need to eat a bit more on training days.
When training, high reps and a good number of sets will show the best results. Fifteen lifts is a good number, with no more than a minute break between sets. This can stimulate your lactic acids, which can help you build muscle. Repeating this many times in each session will maximize muscle-building.
If your goal is to build muscle, you must increase your protein consumption. Protein is one of the primary building blocks of muscle, and eating too little can actually cause you to lose muscle, defeating the purpose of bulking up. A good measure for your bodybuilding diet is a gram of protein every day for every pound of your weight.
Make sure you are eating enough calories in a day. There are online calculators available for determining how many calories you need to eat in order to gain a given amount of muscle in a certain time frame. Use these calculators to estimate your calorie requirements, but don’t forget these calories need to be healthy ones consisting of healthy carbs, proteins, and other nutrients.
Train opposing muscles while in the same session including your chest and back, or quads and hamstrings. This gives one muscle group a break while you work the opposite and also ensures that you don’t train unevenly and create muscle imbalances. This will help you increase the intensity of your workout since your time in the gym will be limited.
You should never attempt to cram more than three muscle-building workouts (four at the very most) into a single week. You want to provide time for your body to repair itself. Too much exercise may cause injury and that can be counterproductive.
A great way to work around muscles that stop you from performing certain exercises is to pre-exhaust. When you do rows, for example, your biceps could give out before your lats do. To avoid overworking one muscle, target your weak muscles with isolation exercises that save supporting muscles for later exercises. The result is that your lats are exhausted ahead of time and then when you row, your bicep won’t limit you.
Plyometric exercises are something you want to do. Plyometric exercises target fast-twitch muscle tissue, encouraging faster muscle growth. When you do plyometrics, they are like ballistics moves because of the acceleration they require. When performing plyometric push-ups, for instance, push your body up with an explosive force that actually forces your hands to leave the ground.
With some weight lifting exercises, keeping the amount that you are lifting to a minimum will benefit you. Excess weight during neck exercises, dips, or split squats could put your joints at risk of serious injury. Keep heavier loads for bigger exercises like rows, presses, squats and deadlifts.
Bicep Curl
Try a different type of bicep curl. In a typical bicep curl, you don’t get a lot of benefit from the top of the curl due to moving your dumbbell or bar beyond the parallel part. However, the upper part of the movement can be the most beneficial part of bicep curls. Perform seated barbell curls to correct this.
Never bypass stretching before a lifting session. Stretching exercises warm up your muscles which aids in preventing injuries; stretching after a workout aids your muscles in relaxing during the recovery phase. Deep tissue massage is also an effective way for you to relax post-exercise tension in your muscles.
Building muscle mass takes some effort and commitment, but it is not impossible. You need to work hard, but the information you gained here will help you achieve great results in which you can feel good about.