There are a lot of reasons why building muscle is good for you. It often results in a better appearance, greater strength and a higher level of fitness that can last well into the future. It can be really fun, too! Keep reading for some valuable advice on weight training and all the great things it can do for you.
Don’t work on enhancing the size of your muscles if you are taking part in a marathon or participating in extreme cardio workouts. While a good cardio workout is key to staying fit, trying to build muscle while doing a lot of cardio is counterproductive. An intensive cardio workout essentially cancels out your attempts to build muscle. Strength training exercises are the best way to increase muscle mass.
When trying to build more muscle, you will need to eat more in general. Muscle weighs more than fat, and you need to be able to feed your muscles. Eat what you need to in order to gain that pound per week. Investigate ways to raise your caloric intake, and if after two weeks you see no change in your weight, consider taking in even more calories.
Repair and build your muscles by making sure to stretch post-workout. Anyone that is under forty years old needs to make sure that each stretch is held for a minimum of thirty seconds. If you are over 40, hold the stretch for a minimum of 60 seconds. Post-workout stretching improves the effectiveness of muscle-building exercises and reduces the risk of injury.
Meat products are a good source of protein and help add muscle mass. Attempt to consume meat with roughly a gram of protein for each pound you weigh. The extra protein you consume will be stored and used to build muscle, giving you the results you are trying to achieve.
Avoid rapidly boosting your protein intake immediately after you begin your new workout plan. Doing so may lead to excessive calorie consumption, which might then cause you to gain weight in the form of body fat. Slowly increase protein intake, about 200 calories daily, and you will have a much better chances of building muscle.
To be sure you get the proper amount of muscle growth you can, do compound exercises. These moves incorporate many muscle groups at once, so they are efficient and effective. Bench presses, for example, work your chest, arms and shoulders at the same time.
Work your muscles to exhaustion to get the best results from your exercises. Leave nothing on the table. For every set that you do, you need to push yourself until you’re physically unable to lift. Try to force yourself to your limits. Using this strategy might mean you need to do fewer reps as you become fatigued.
Be sure that you add in as many reps and sets as possible as you workout. Do fifteen lifts at the minimum with a break of a minute or less in between. This constant working will increase lactic acid production and flow, thereby stimulating the growth of muscle. Doing this consistently while you train will optimize the amount of muscle built over time.
Try adding plyometric exercises to your workout regimen. This type of exercise develops the fast-twitch muscle fibers that stimulate muscle growth. Plyometrics are like ballistic moves in that they require some acceleration. For example, when performing plyometric push-ups, you would allow your hands to leave the floor, causing your body to lift up into the air.
60 Minutes
If bulking up is appealing to you, then concentrate on squatting, dead lifting and bench presses. By doing these exercises, you will build muscles and get in shape fast. All other exercises should be centered around these three.
Keep every one of your workouts to less than 60 minutes, maximum. Your body starts producing excess cortisol, the stress hormone, after 60 minutes of a workout session. Cortisol blocks testosterone–a hormone that promotes muscle growth–and undermines all of the work you are putting into building muscle. This can be avoided by working out for no longer than 1 hour continually.
One issue that crops up for many bodybuilders is that different muscle groups grow unevenly. Use fill sets to target your problem muscle groups. A fill set is a short set of 25-30 repetitions of exercises that specifically target the questionable group. It is to be done two to three days following the last time the group was strenuously worked.
Eat plenty of protein when trying to add muscle to your frame. Protein is the base of muscles, and if you don’t get enough, your muscles will suffer. A good benchmark is to eat a gram of protein daily for each pound of your body weight.
Eat foods rich in protein before you workout and afterwards if you want to grow muscle. Fifteen grams of protein about an hour prior to training and after you train is recommended. To get an idea of how much 15 grams is, think a couple of glasses of milk.
Try doing plyometric exercises. When you complete these exercises you help stimulate muscle growth by developing muscle fibers that are fast-twitch. Plyometrics require acceleration, and they resemble ballistic moves. For example, when you do push-ups that are plyometric, your hands leave the floor, propelling your body upward.
If your muscle-building regimen is actually working, you should be getting stronger. You should see a steady increase in the amount of weight you can lift over time. Beginners should see improvements of five percent more weight every two workouts. Analyze your progress regularly and if you aren’t seeing the results you are looking for, consider making changes to your workout. If you find that you are weaker than your last session, it is possible that you were not fully recovered.
Having a strict schedule for your workouts will prevent injuries and help you gain muscle. New bodybuilders should avoid working out more than twice a week. Three times is perfect for experienced people.
A good solution for muscles that may limit some of your exercises would be pre-exhaust. When you do rows, for example, your biceps could give out before your lats do. The solution is to try isolation movements like straight-arm pulldowns, so that the bicep is not the point of emphasis. This causes the lats to be exhausted prior and when doing rows, the biceps should not limit you.
If bulking up is appealing to you, then concentrate on squatting, dead lifting and bench presses. Focusing on these three types of exercises helps build muscle mass fast. Different exercises should be added onto your weight-lifting routine, but you should ensure that these three particular exercises are always done on a regular basis.
Be careful when deciding which moves you will do with more weight; some moves are not favorable to extra weight. Joint problems may stem from exercises like split squats, neck work and seated dips. Keep these for bigger exercises such as rows, presses, squats, and deads.
Hopefully, you have already identified a few ways that you can use this advice to improve your muscle building routine. Building muscle will work wonders on your physique and greatly increase the confidence you have. By having dedication and motivation, you will get results you have only dreamed of and have more strength than you thought possible.
Like any other strength training exercise, squats require good form. Move the bar to the area on your back closest to the trap’s center. Your hips, glutes and hamstrings will have to work harder and this will allow you to squat more weight.