If you have started with a workout program for building muscle, you would have noticed hundreds of muscle building programs being featured on the websites and it becomes difficult to decide the best of out of all. Firstly, there is not best muscle building program on the web. All the programs mentioned on the web have already worked best for someone but it does not mean that they will work for you too. Every person has a different metabolism and genetics due to which each person’s body . A better approach is to sign up for a personal coach or trainer because you can get a program that is best for your body type. A trainer will focus on how you workout and will prepare a program that works best for you. Building muscle and gaining weight are natural processes and will take months and years of efforts. Do not run for results or take shortcuts, you will end up losing motivation.
When you try to build muscle, the first thing you have to work for is eating clean foods apart from keeping your body in a calorie surplus. If you eat more than what your body burns and most of it comes from junk food, you will end up with unhealthy fats most of which is waste. Hence for building pure muscle, you have a eat clean and whole foods as much as possible minimizing fat gains and increasing muscle. You have to focus on quantity over quality. Start by incorporating healthy whole foods into your diet and then increase the quantity of these foods in each meal. This will ensure that you eat more of clean foods and increase the calorie intake at the same time. Some of the muscle building foods that help in gaining muscle and weight are listed in the article Top Foods to Gain Weight.
For the training part, to build muscle you will have to maintain low reps and heavy weights. Progression is the best key to build muscle in short time. You have to force your body to grow and stop adapting to the workout by increasing the weights every now and then. Whenever you feel that you are able to lift more reps than required, increase the weight.
Best Muscle Building Tips
Here are some of the tips to build muscle the healthy way:
- More Training Does not mean More muscle: Most of the beginners make the mistake of spending hours
in the gym and doing every exercise they can. For building muscle, working out for short time and with high intensity is the best you can do. Spending hours in gym leads to more of over-training which is caused by excessive training and lack of nutrition leaving behind unwanted health problems like fatigue, altered heart rate and muscle soreness. The best muscle building I can give you here is that you not workout for any more than 45-60 minutes in a day and focus more on your intensity. Take minimum rest and pauses best sets and focus more on your exercise than on external factors. Keep your rep range within 8-12 for building muscle. If you are able to perform more than 12 reps, increase the weight.
- Eat Frequently: One of the muscle building tips for skinny guys is to eat small meals throughout the day. Eating multiple meals a day allows your body to fall under the anabolic or muscle building state. When you fuel your body with enough nutrients every 2-3 hours, your body gets into a state where it continuously works to build muscle. Eating short meals frequently also allows gives your body enough time to digest the food properly allowing better absorption of nutrients. Never skip meals or exceed your meal timings by 4 hours. Instead eat 6-8 short meals throughout the day to help your body build muscle faster.
- Focus on both Proteins and Carbohydrates: Most of the beginners have a mindset of focusing only on protein. Yes protein is the building block of muscle and is required the most by body to build muscle. But you should never forget carbohydrates as they are the energy sources for the body. The idea is to provide enough carbohydrates to the body so that it never has to choose protein for energy production. Focus more on complex carbohydrates like Oats, Whole Wheat Breads and Sweet potatoes. Simple carbohydrates can occasionally be consumed like in breakfast or post workout for better recovery and muscle growth. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables throughout the day.
- Work on Bigger Muscles: Most of the beginners make the mistake of working more on body parts like biceps or chest. The truth is both biceps and chest which are visible muscles are small in nature and do not need as much attention and work as bigger muscles like back and legs do. In order to build muscle fast, you need to work more on bigger muscle and with compound movements like deadlift and squat. Working on bigger muscles and compound exercises will automatically help your body in releasing more Growth Hormone helping you to build muscle and get big in no time.
- Get Adequate Sleep : Another great tip for building muscle fast for beginners is to get proper rest everyday. When you workout your body creates tiny micro tears in the body which need to be replaced so that they grow better and stronger. These micro tears get replaced when you sleep. Another reason not to compromise on sleep is that your body produces 70% of the Human Growth Hormone during the sleep. Hence remember that your body does not grow in the gym, but at home when you sleep. Try get 8-10 hours of quality sleep everyday for a better recovery and muscle growth.
- Drink Plenty of Water: Another important muscle building tip is to drink plenty of water throughout the day. Water not only excretes the waste out of the body but also helps in better absorption of nutrients. Your body need to be hydrated throughout the day to work properly. Aim for minimum 12 glasses of water a day to help your body in functioning properly.
- Use the Right Supplements: Another key point to build muscle for beginners is to use the right supplements at right time. There are literally hundreds of supplements available in the market including Mass Gainers, Proteins, BCAA’s, Glutamine and many more. All these supplements help our body in different way. Hence you need to decide which supplements would work best for your fitness regime. For best muscle building supplements refer to the article Best Supplements to Gain Weight.
- Change Your Workout Every 4-6 Weeks: As we are aware our body gets adapted to the workout very frequently. Hence you need to change your workout every 4-6 weeks so that your body foes not get used to a workout. Some examples of changing the workout include adding new exercises, changing the order of exercises or following a completely new exercise plan.
- Drink Milk Before Bed: A great way to prevent catabolism during the sleep is to drink milk before bed. It has been seen that drinking warm milk before bed can induce better sleep. The calories derived from the milk will stick with you and will prevent muscle breakdown at night.
These were the top 9 muscle building tips for hardgainers. The most important point a hard-gainer needs to keep in mind is eat more and keep the body in a calorie surplus for maximum growth. For suggestions and questions use the comment box below.
Nice article….. All points you mentions are correct and if someone is building his or her muscle then it is important to do that. They need to work hard for their muscles. Regarding that they need to eat good nutrition food and need to eat more frequently as possible. Take good beauty sleep. These all facts are considered if you are working on your muscles.
Nutrition is indeed the most important part of any fitness routine.
Thankyou.
Adequate sleep and proper nutrition can do more for you then any supplement or crazy training session. Also when you consider your muscles are mainly water, it makes sense to drink a lot each day
I agree.
Lifting is just 30%, rest 70% includes your nutrition and adequate sleep.
I totally agree with the point that every person has a different metabolism & it’s not necessary that what exercise routine worked for another person will definitely work for you.
I agree.
Great article very well specially this point “change your workout every 4-6 weeks”, this is great advice for anyone trying to build muscle in long run
Indeed.