Bulk Your Muscle with 5 Steps

Gaining muscle mass and bulking up can be a long and challenging journey, but with the right tips, you can speed up the process. Here are 10 tips to help you bulk up fast, including exercise tweaks and dietary changes that will leave your body no choice but to bulk up.

1. Do Resistance Training More Frequently

One of the primary reasons why many people aren't gaining weight and muscle mass is because they lack resistance training. If you want to bulk up, you need to stimulate muscle growth by training more often. Studies show that increasing resistance training volume yields more significant gains in muscle hypertrophy. This means the more you work out, the more muscular you'll get.

Aim to train often but without injuring yourself. For instance, if you want to get massive legs, complete a total of 16 to 20 sets a week of quadriceps exercises and another total of 16 to 20 sets a week of hamstring training. The key is to maximize workouts that increase strength but don't burn calories. Of course, you should still do some cardio, but the main focus must be strength training.

2. Get Strong on Compound Exercises

Exercises called compound lifts target multiple muscle groups simultaneously. This type of exercise is ideal for bulking up as it involves working more muscles with less work. By working more muscles, you're also strengthening more muscles, which in turn boosts muscle growth and the chances of getting big fast.

One study about muscle strength and growth revealed that hypertrophy (muscle growth) is a dominant factor in the increase in strength. Hypertrophy is directly linked to an increase in strength, which is exactly what compound exercises help you achieve.

3. Train in a Variety of Rep Ranges

Varying rep ranges is incredibly beneficial when trying to go big fast. Research suggests that growing muscle is possible with most rep ranges. By switching up your rep ranges, you're forcing your body to use different muscle fibers and energy pathways, which work more of your muscles.

Training movements within the 8 to 15-rep range for many lifters will cover most bases for muscle growth. When doing compound movements such as deadlifts, squats, and bench presses, it's ideal to follow the 5 to 10 reps range. You can also experiment with ranges like 10 to 20 and 20 to 30 to see which works best in eliciting a muscle fatigue response.

4. Train Closer to Muscle Failure

One of the secrets to bulking up fast is to train with intensity and push your muscles to near failure. Aim to push yourself to the limit to get that extra rep in every set. Training to near failure maximizes mechanical tension, which is the main driver of muscle growth.

When you do additional reps and get closer to failure during a set, the more overall muscle activation your muscle experiences, leading to more growth. This training technique also increases muscle protein synthesis, resulting in more muscle growth. Ideally, take each set to near failure, meaning you leave one to two perfect reps down without ruining your form.

5. Ease off on Cardio

Eating enough calories is one of the keys to bulking up, but if you're doing loads of cardio in your workout sessions and burning off those calories, your muscle growth is going to be slow. Cardio exercises such as cycling and running are excellent for burning calories, so it's not advised to overdo cardio when trying to get big and build muscles. Too much cardio can cause muscle loss, which is the last thing you want. The majority does cardio two to three times a week