Do you know how you can gain muscle mass effectively and healthily? No more need to worry.
It’s never too late, and you are never too old to become better. You can always begin from where you are and increase the size of your lean tissues by gaining mass.
Gaining muscle mass is not all about going to the gym; neither is it about overeating protein. It involves a variety of variables over 24 hours, and the workouts you do in the gym to push your muscles to the limit also counts.
Muscle mass works magic in your body. First, it helps maintain your body composition and weight. That means that you will reduce the risks of being weak as you age, thus reducing the chances of having brittle bones or getting injuries from accidents.
Secondly, muscle mass will also protect you from obesity, heart diseases, and various chronic diseases.
Thirdly, lean body mass will make you look toned, lean, and more muscular, thus enhancing your general outlook and boosting your self-esteem. Another benefit associated with muscle mass is supporting your overall fitness goals and making you a better athlete.
Last but not least, muscle mass supports wound healing and recovery. This means that your wound will heal faster in case of an accident or an injury, leading to a speedy recovery.
“Workouts without a plan just won’t get you to the goals you want; you need a strategy.”- Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. (M.H. fitness director)
A Must-read: 6 Healthy Diet Facts You Must Know
Gaining Muscle Mass In Brief
There is a big difference between gaining muscle mass and losing weight. Although when your lean tissues increase in size, you will burn some fats underneath, making you process more dietary carbs effectively and utilize your calories better.
Besides, it is possible to have increased lean tissues without improving body composition, such as being obese. If you are obese, you can easily add muscles faster than someone who suffers from poor muscle quality due to lifestyle factors and lack of exercise.
Therefore, if you want to add to your muscles and have an excellent overall body composition, the key focus is improving your training, adjusting your lifestyle, and checking your diet.
You can follow different ways to add muscle mass and improve your body composition. You can achieve this through working out, lifestyle changes, hormones, and dieting. But one of the effective ways of building your muscles is by having realistic strategies that are fun and achievable for your needs and goals.
This article will help you with fundamental strategies you need to build your muscle mass whether you are a beginner or have had frustrating training sessions without results.
1. Capitalize On Muscle Mass Building
Your body stores proteins through a process called protein synthesis. The more protein is stored, the larger your muscles grow. But you also have to note that it loses the same proteins for other uses like processing hormones.
This loss will result in less protein available for gaining muscle mass. To thwart this process, your body needs to quickly build and store new proteins to break down the old ones.
To increase your lean body mass, aim at adding one gram of protein per pound of your body weight. This amount of protein is what your body will need per day to achieve the targeted muscle mass.
For instance, if you weigh about 160-pound, you should consume around 160 grams of protein a day.
This is equivalent to an 8-ounce chicken breast, 1 cup of cottage cheese, two eggs, a roast-beef sandwich, 2 ounces of peanuts, and a glass of milk.
2. Work Big, Not Small For Your Muscle Mass
They say, “No pain, no gain.” And yes, one of the keys to toning your muscles is by working through your biceps curls and abs.
Challenge your body to workouts that will build your multi-joint movements.
Using a dumbbell row, squats, pull-ups, bench presses, and deadlifts will stimulate the growth of your lasts, abs, and biceps.
3. Heavyweight Training.
There is no shortcut to building muscle and strength. Training is the way out. Safe, efficient, and heavy training comes with many benefits. It challenges your muscles not only concentrically but eccentrically.
If the training is not done right, the stimulation will cause your muscles to rupture and tear.
Ensure that your number of repeats on the workouts is minimal and valuable. The reps should be added adequately according to how your body responds to the exercise.
This will cause you to add new strength and allow you to lift heavier weights and more repeats.
For instance, you can lead off workouts that let you train low-rep. You can do four sets of 3-5 reps for the beginning, then do three sets of 10-12 reps for every move after that as you gradually upgrade.
4. Get A Drink First Before Muscle Mass Building
It has been proven that drinking a shake containing amino acid and carbohydrates before working out will increase the processing of proteins more than when you take it after working out.
The drink contains 6 grams of essential amino acids and 35 grams of carbohydrates that are ideal blocks of proteins for muscle building.
Since heavy training increases blood flow to your tissues, taking a shot of a carbohydrate-protein power drink will lead to significant uptake of the amino acids in your muscles.
Drink the shake 30-60 minutes before working out for more outstanding results.
5. Take It Slow, But Sure On Your Muscle Mass
You don’t need to subject your body to fatigue and exhaustion to gain muscle mass.
Training hard will cause your body not to move because of pain. For better results, choose the spots that you want to work on each day and attack, then aim to finish the workout within a limit of 12-16 sets.
However, you are allowed to do vigorous exercises once in a while. Activities that push your body to the breaking point should be limited to three times a week at most.
6. Take Up Challenges Progressively
As earlier mentioned, it is crucial to pick uploads and challenges progressively not to tear or rapture your tissues.
You must not lift heavier loads in every workout, especially if you are a beginner.
It is safer to stay with the same weight for some time as you aim to improve. Also, consider reducing the rest time between 120 seconds and 90 seconds.
7. Maximize Workout Volume
Your muscles tend to be under tension from the weight, whether on a bench press or when working on your curls and biceps.
Maximizing your workout volume will leave your lean body tissues under tension for a longer time than in a typical set.
This will allow you to lift and lower the loads without any specific timing. The extra time your tissue is under tension during a set can help spark muscle growth.
8. Get Enough Sleep (At Least 6 Hours)
This is one of the most forgotten variables when walking the path of weight building. Most people don’t realize the importance of this secret.
You spend too much time working out but fail to have enough sleep, not knowing that this is the time that your body is growing and your muscles are recovering.
It is also when you sleep that muscle-growing hormones are secreted. The recommended time is between 8-10 hours of sleep, but if that is not achievable, don’t go below six hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Sleeping in a dark, calm, quiet room will enhance the quality of your sleep and reduce the effects that can underrate your ability to gain muscle mass.
Also Read: Can Hormones Make You Gain Weight?
The Bottom Line
Nothing comes easy. Even gaining muscle mass requires determination, hard work, commitment, and resistance in training and dieting.
Proper diet and setting realistic schedules for building muscle mass will guarantee you long-term gains in muscle size and strength development.
Also, note that muscle mass takes months to build up. If your body retains more protein than it loses, your muscles will grow, but consistency in working out is required.
Finally, to reach your muscle mass target, lift hard, stay consistent, and eat right.
