“I want to pump you up!” That’s what this article is all about, changing your mind, body and spirit in ways which will benefit your health and self-esteem. Building muscle brings such amazing results when it comes to your entire life, so read this article in it’s entirety to begin your transformation.
Do more repetitions, not heavier. The ideal workout to build muscle contains a high number of repetitions at a medium level of intensity. Keep your breaks between sets under a minute. This constant repetition causes a buildup of lactic acid in your muscles, which has been observed to stimulate muscle growth.
Talk to your doctor about which supplements are safe for you. You may be able to enhance your muscle building efforts with creatine and other types of supplements, but you need to know if they are healthy for you to take. Taking supplements is something you need to discuss with a doctor so you can build muscle safely and in a healthy way.
If you are working toward “bulking up” your muscles, do not do cardio for more than 90 minutes per workout. Too much cardio can cause the body to form “lean muscle” instead of the bulk that you desire. Cardio is very important, but put a limit on it for best results.
Patience is the key. You are not going to develop rock hard muscle mass overnight. You are going to have to work long and hard to get the results that you hope for. Do not allow yourself to become discouraged if you are not seeing the results you hoped for. Keep your goals reasonable and safe.
Push all your exercises to near muscle failure. Each repetition needs to be pushed to a point where your muscle can not do one more set because of fatigue. It does not matte if you start light and increase to maximum weight, you need to make sure not matter what weight you are using you push to fatigue.
Many people who wish to build muscle use protein shakes and meal replacements. It is important to note however that there is a distinction between the two. It can be dangerous to your health to use protein shakes frequently as a meal replacement. A full meal contains many essential nutrients that are not included in protein shakes. In addition, living off protein shakes can leave your muscles soft which negates your muscle building efforts.
Fill up on carbohydrates after a workout. It has been proven that if you do this, on the days that you are not going to work out, you will be rebuilding your muscles faster. Eating carbs after a workout increases insulin levels, which slows down the rate that your body breaks down protein.
Aim to maintain a journal when following a workout regimen. Jot down the exercises that you do, the number of sets and reps you do, and anything else concerning your workout. You should write down how much rest you get each night and even how you feel during workouts. Writing down everything that you can allows you to better keep track of how you are doing every single week.
On the days after your workouts, it’s best to rest and eat a lot of carbohydrates. This helps your body to build muscle and recover from expending energy during the workout. That way, you’ll see the biggest muscle growth possible from the workout you did. Pasta, peanut butter sandwiches, and similar foods are great for this.
Make sure that your diet has enough protein when you are trying to build muscle mass. The maximum amount of protein intake you need is about one gram of protein for every pound of your body weight on a daily basis. Slightly more or less protein does not matter too much, but you do need to intake as much as possible.
Perform your lifting regimen every other day. After a vigorous workout, the protein synthesis process can take up to 48 hours to complete. In other words, your body builds muscle for up to two-day post-workout, and working out while your body is still recovering may undo your hard work. Enjoy the day of rest–it will help to maximize your results.
After you have worked out it is important to eat some low-carb protein. This means you probably want to avoid protein bars as they often have high carbs. Good sources of protein include lean cuts of meats and poultry as well as a cheesy omelet completed with some sliced veggies.
Pre-exhaust is one method used to help you with muscles that might not quite be strong enough. For example, before lats on the rows, your biceps might feel fatigued. To solve this problem, first perform an exercise that isolates the lats but does not require much from the biceps, like straight-arm pulldowns. Therefore, you will pre-exhaust your lats. When it is time to perform rows, you shouldn’t be limited by your biceps.
If you are not seeing a difference after a few weeks of intense training, measure your body fat. Perhaps your fat is slowly transforming into muscles, and you are not seeing a difference in your weight. This is a good thing: once your body fat is reduced, you will be able to build muscles.
Resist the temptation to complete your reps and sets at top speeds. Performing the movements of each exercise slowly will provide better results, even if you have to switch to a lighter weight to do it. Each repetition should take 20 seconds, divided into 10 seconds for each half of the movement.
When you work out, you should always be counting how many push ups or squats you are doing. Keeping track of your performance is a good way to know if you are actually progressing. With time, you should do your best to increase the number of sets you can do.
Results-driven people love to build muscle as the changes come rapidly and in so many different ways. It starts with their look, and then leads to better health and a simplicity of lifestyle which is unrivaled by any other life change. Take the tips and techniques from this article and begin your changes today!
