Every day at work as a Personal Trainer I come across guys who want to know how to build more muscle but are so confused at the conflicting advice in the fitness industry that they literally don't know which way to turn for results. This affects both gym newcomers and seasoned veterans.
Today we answer this question for you. Right here, right now.
Firstly we need to establish your goal. Believe it or not, this is the area where men first lose their way. Whereas women are forthcoming in their desire to lose body fat, men tend to want the best of both worlds. How many times have we heard that somebody wishes to lose fat but also get bigger and stronger? Too many.
Having two very different goals makes your task more difficult in every way. Sure, if you are just starting out in the gym or have had a long lay off you may enjoy both fat loss and hypertrophy within the first few weeks but only up to a point. then you need to decide.
Why? Because you cannot do both at the same time long-term. The general rule is that in order to build you need to work at a calorie surplus, whereas to cut you need to operate at a calorie deficit. So doing both becomes somewhat impossible, you see?
Of course, if you are an athlete with a quality sports nutrition program and a lifetime devoted purely to your fitness you can structure a plan to achieve both simultaneously. But for most of us, who go to the gym to get fit and also have busy jobs and family lives, that is unrealistic.
Decide what you wish to focus on, set your diet to that goal accordingly and then you are truly ready to begin. Net we need to structure your workout program. We will show you:
* What type of exercises should you do?
* How often should you train?
* Are you doing too many or too few reps?
Put the focus of your workouts on big, compound movements. These multi-joint movements require the most muscle fibres to perform, therefore resulting in greater size and strength gains, too. Bench press, squats and other compound movements are simple yet ideal. Don't spend too long working small muscle groups by themselves, i.e. there is little point in performing five sets of an isolation exercise for your forearms...
Furthermore, understand the importance of rest. When training for size your body does not grow while your are in the gym. On the contrary, it grows while you are at rest. Try not to perform more than 4 sessions per week and you will see a great return in gains. It's hard to stay away when you get into training, but it is very important.
People get lost, however, when it comes to the number of reps. For hypertrophy (muscle growth) the optimal number of repetitions is 8-12. Once you can push beyond twelve reps you need to increase the resistance. If you fall below eight reps it's too heavy. That easy system, combine with it's focus on progression, will keep you on the straight and narrow.
The world of fitness is an often over complicated one. If you ask five trainers for tips on how to build muscle you will probably get five different answers. The tips above will help you to get down the basics!
Today we answer this question for you. Right here, right now.
Firstly we need to establish your goal. Believe it or not, this is the area where men first lose their way. Whereas women are forthcoming in their desire to lose body fat, men tend to want the best of both worlds. How many times have we heard that somebody wishes to lose fat but also get bigger and stronger? Too many.
Having two very different goals makes your task more difficult in every way. Sure, if you are just starting out in the gym or have had a long lay off you may enjoy both fat loss and hypertrophy within the first few weeks but only up to a point. then you need to decide.
Why? Because you cannot do both at the same time long-term. The general rule is that in order to build you need to work at a calorie surplus, whereas to cut you need to operate at a calorie deficit. So doing both becomes somewhat impossible, you see?
Of course, if you are an athlete with a quality sports nutrition program and a lifetime devoted purely to your fitness you can structure a plan to achieve both simultaneously. But for most of us, who go to the gym to get fit and also have busy jobs and family lives, that is unrealistic.
Decide what you wish to focus on, set your diet to that goal accordingly and then you are truly ready to begin. Net we need to structure your workout program. We will show you:
* What type of exercises should you do?
* How often should you train?
* Are you doing too many or too few reps?
Put the focus of your workouts on big, compound movements. These multi-joint movements require the most muscle fibres to perform, therefore resulting in greater size and strength gains, too. Bench press, squats and other compound movements are simple yet ideal. Don't spend too long working small muscle groups by themselves, i.e. there is little point in performing five sets of an isolation exercise for your forearms...
Furthermore, understand the importance of rest. When training for size your body does not grow while your are in the gym. On the contrary, it grows while you are at rest. Try not to perform more than 4 sessions per week and you will see a great return in gains. It's hard to stay away when you get into training, but it is very important.
People get lost, however, when it comes to the number of reps. For hypertrophy (muscle growth) the optimal number of repetitions is 8-12. Once you can push beyond twelve reps you need to increase the resistance. If you fall below eight reps it's too heavy. That easy system, combine with it's focus on progression, will keep you on the straight and narrow.
The world of fitness is an often over complicated one. If you ask five trainers for tips on how to build muscle you will probably get five different answers. The tips above will help you to get down the basics!
About the Author:
Writer: Russ Howe PTI is a popular personal trainer. See how to build muscle with our new video guide showing the five steps to a more muscular body and the best shoulder building exercises.
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