Simple Tips to Build Muscle Mass

Whether your ambition is to be a professional bodybuilder, elite athlete, or just to become functionally stronger, your training goal is to build muscle mass. It sounds simple: lift weights and you’ll get bigger, right? Consider this: people whose training goal is to lose weight or tone up don’t have a single, straight-line path to do that, do they? Everyone’s body is different. Even within the three basic body types, genetic variables play into what exercises work for them. For example, what works for people descended from ancestors who survived in mountainous regions of eastern Europe, won’t work for people whose bloodline comes from the Mediterranean coast or central Africa. While there is no universal recipe to build muscle mass, there are a few proven fundamentals that should at least help you on your journey.

Start in the Kitchen

Here is a simple formula: to gain weight you need to intake a surplus of calories. Conversely, to lose weight, you need to operate at a caloric deficit. In other words, you need to consume more than you burn off through activity to bulk up. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can simply eat as much as you like of anything you can. There are conflicting opinions about carbs and sugars, but check any Le-Vel Thrive review and you’ll see that lean proteins and supplements are crucial to muscle building. Chicken and turkey breasts, lean cuts of beef and pork, and even more esoteric meats like bison and ostrich can help muscle development.

Regardless of your preference, there’s no doubt that fitness begins in the kitchen. A healthy, balanced diet plan is important. However, it’s even more important to choose a diet plan that you like enough to stick with. If a diet makes you miserable, even the most dedicated fitness enthusiast is likely to throw up their hands and say it’s not worth it. It is far better to have some variety. Make a meal plan that offsets things that you like with things that you need. Experts debate whether “cheat days” are a good idea, but most agree that you need to make occasional exceptions to maintain quality of life. For example, treating you and your spouse to a restaurant meal that isn’t strictly on your plan or having a slice of cake at your child’s birthday party is important, and won’t ruin your gains in an instant.

Exercise Large Muscle Groups

Moving out of the kitchen and into the gym, understand that the exercises that will make you stronger involve many muscles at once. You’ve probably heard “lower weight, higher reps” as a key to slimming down and “more weight, fewer reps” to put on muscle. Like most hard and fast rules, the truth is somewhere in between. Except at the most elite levels, building muscles depends on the types of exercises you perform more than the amount of weight your throw at them.

Let’s look at two exercises that fit this category: squats and deadlifts. Squats engage all your leg muscles, your glutes, and your core. They work more muscles at once than any other single maneuver. Deadlifts perform a similar function for the upper body. They work well using body weight for people trying to slim down. If your goal is to gain muscle mass, focus on these and similar lifts, gradually increasing the weight you use when doing them. For serious athletes in training, the goal should be muscle failure or fatigue two or three times a week.

Go Slow

The last simple fundamental we’ll cover here is this: be slow and precise. Doing 50 or 100 pushups is impressive and great. Now, try doing a single push-up over the course of a minute, engaging all your muscles and very slowly maintaining stability. You may be shocked at how hard that is, and how it affects your muscles. The same is true for most weight-room exercises. Try it during your next workout. You’ll feel every stabilizing muscle working and shaking to keep your balance and form.

Building a physique with great muscle mass takes discipline, dedication, and time. Keep these guidelines in mind as you start the journey!