8 Proven Strategies For Maximum Muscle Gains
There is so much conflicting information out there
when it comes to the topic of building muscle,
and sometimes it can be very difficult to know
where to start. If you're an average beginner
looking for some basic guidelines to follow in
the gym, the following 8 points will start you
off on the right track
1) Train With Weights and Focus On Compound,
Free Weight Movements.If you want to make solid,
noteworthy gains in muscle size and strength,
you absolutely must train with free weights and
focus on basic, compound exercises. A compound
exercise is any lift that stimulates more than
one muscle group at a time. Examples of these
lifts are the squat, deadlift, bench press, chin
up, barbell row, overhead press, dip and lunge.
Compound movements allow you to handle the most
weight and will stimulate the greatest amount
of total muscle fibers.
2) Be Prepared To Train Hard.One of the biggest
factors that separates those who make modest gains
from those who make serious gains is their level
of training intensity. In order to stimulate your
muscle fibers to their utmost potential, you must
be willing to take every set you perform in the
gym to the point of muscular failure.Muscular
Failure: The point at which no further repetitions
can be completed using proper form.Sub-maximal
training intensity will leave you with sub-maximal
results, plain and simple.
3) Track Your Progress In The Gym From Week To
Week.Our bodies build muscle because of an adaptive
response to the environment. When you go to the
gym, you break down your muscle fibers by training
with weights. Your body senses this as a potential
threat to its survival and will react accordingly
by rebuilding the damaged fibers larger and stronger
in order to protect against any possible future
threat. Therefore, in order to make continual
gains in muscle size and strength, you must always
focus on progressing in the gym from week to week.
This could mean performing 1 or 2 more reps for
each exercise or adding more weight to the bar.
Keep a detailed training log to track your progress
as your strength increases over time.
4) Avoid Overtraining.Overtraining is your number
one enemy when it comes to building muscle size
and strength. When most people begin a workout
program, they are stuck with the misguided notion
that more is better. They naturally assume that
the more time they spend in the gym, the better
results they will achieve. When it comes to building
muscle, nothing could be farther from the truth!
If you spend too much time in the gym, you will
actually take yourself farther away from your
goals rather than closer to them. Remember, your
muscles do not grow in the gym; they grow out
of the gym, while you are resting and eating.
Recovery is absolutely vital to the muscle growth
process. If you don't provide your body with the
proper recovery time in between workouts, your
muscles will never have a chance to grow.
5) Eat More Frequently.The main area where most
people fail miserably on their muscle-building
mission is on the all-too important task of proper
nutrition. Training with weights is only half
of the equation! You break down your muscle fibers
in the gym, but if you don't provide your body
with the proper nutrients at the proper times,
the muscle growth process will be next to impossible.
You should be eating anywhere from 5-7 meals per
day, spaced every 2-3 hours in order to keep your
body in an anabolic, muscle-building state at
all times. Each meal should consist of high quality
protein and complex carbohydrates.
6) Increase Your Protein Intake.Of the 3 major
nutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fats) protein
is without a doubt the most important for those
who are looking to gain muscle size and strength.
Protein is found in literally every single one
of the 30 trillion cells that your body is made
up of and its main role is to build and repair
body tissues. Without sufficient protein intake,
it will be physically impossible for your body
to synthesize a significant amount of lean muscle
mass. If your body were a house, think of protein
as the bricks. A general guideline is to consume
1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight
each day from high quality sources such as fish,
poultry, eggs, beef, milk, peanut butter and cottage
cheese.
7) Increase Your Water Intake.If you want a simple,
easy and highly effective way to maximize your
muscle gains, drinking more water is it. Water
plays so many vital roles in the body and its
importance cannot be overstated. In fact, your
muscles alone are made up of 70% water! Not only
will drinking more water cause your muscles to
appear fuller and more vascular, but it will also
increase your strength as well. Research has shown
that merely a 3-4% drop in your body's water levels
can impact muscle contractions by 10-20%! Aim
to consume 0.6 ounces for every pound of bodyweight
each day for optimal gains.
8) Be Consistent!Consistency is everything. Those
who make the greatest gains in muscular size and
strength are the ones who are able to implement
the proper techniques on a highly consistent basis.
Simply knowing is not enough, you must apply!Building
muscle is a result of the cumulative effect of
small steps. Sure, performing 1 extra rep on your
bench press will not make a huge difference to
your overall results, and neither will consuming
a single meal. However, over the long haul, all
of those extra reps you perform and all of those
small meals you consume will decide your overall
success. If you work hard and complete all of
your muscle-building tasks in a consistent fashion,
all of those individual steps will equate to massive
gains in overall size and strength.
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