How to Guide for Gaining Muscle
Learn the basics of gaining muscle with this brief hot to guide. The quest for building muscle mass has been taken up by one
generation to the next, by one pimply-faced teenager to the next and on up
through the age ranges to people with careers, family, children, grandchildren
and social security checks. A lot people
want more muscle mass, and many of these people are asking how.
Surely, as there are as many answers to this question as
there are self-proclaimed gurus doing bicep curls in front of the mirror at
gyms across America,
there are just as many people who are confused about the process of gaining muscle.
This article simplifies the means to gaining muscles. Follow the advice here and the hardest of
hard-gainers should see something happening in the mirror other than ribs poking
through a layer of flab.
Training for Muscle Mass
You will need to work your body against a resistance. Let’s make one thing clear: the resistance
does not have to be a dumbbell, barbell or a weight machine. Done the right way, your own bodyweight can
become effective tools in your muscle-building quest.
To develop muscle mass, your training must meet two main
criteria:
1. You must
train with enough volume.
The resistance training must be in done with sufficient
duration and frequency (volume) to cause micro cellular destruction, resulting
in associated inflammation and triggering the development of satellite cells
into mature muscle cells. This is an
essential process to remodeling muscle cells and increasing the overall size of
the muscle group.
2. You must
continue to get stronger.
This resistance also must regularly meet and exceed a
physiological tension threshold. In
other words, you must strive to increase the exercise resistance often. This ensures the nervous system responds to
the heavier load by triggering key hormonal releases that encourage muscle rebuilding. Additionally, within the muscle cells, more
contractile elements are developed so that your muscles can continue to work
against the heavier resistance. These
contractile elements, called myofibrils, are essentially responsible for
muscular contractions. The increase in
these contractile elements adds to the greater volume of muscle mass and function.
Nutrition for Muscle Mass
No great architectural structure can be built without
sufficient building material. Likewise,
you cannot build a muscular physique without sufficient building material –
food. Furthermore, no great architect
would build a great structure using sand and water; instead, the highest
quality material is used to build sky scrapers, mansions, bridges and temples. So, too, should you avoid low-quality
calories and, instead, choose high-quality, nutrient dense foods to build your
physique. It is your temple.
Too many aspiring “physique architects” rely too much on
foods that are dense in calories but are voided of nutrients. A plate of pasta is dense, and is a favorite
among many athletes, but it is incomplete in natural vitamins, minerals,
phytonutrients (plant-based nutrients), enzymes and fibers. A plate of pasta, breads or
carbohydrate-based sports drinks may contain the calories needed for energy,
but they don’t provide the necessary tools and material to facilitate appreciable
muscle building.
You need good natural sources of muscle building proteins, nutrient-dense
carbohydrates and fats. Look to whole,
fresh foods for the best choices. Avoid
process foods that are mostly stripped of natural vitamins, minerals, and other
vital nutrients. Don’t underestimate the
roles of these natural nutrients in your quest to build muscles.
Recovery & Muscle Building
This is not just post-workout recovery or recovery between your workouts. Surely you’ll need to recover between the
bouts of exercises and training sessions, but you’ll also need to live a
lifestyle that is conducive to your body’s regeneration.
It is away from your training sessions that your muscles
rebuild and grow. Therefore, it is
critical that you optimize the body’s anabolic environment for this process. Below are 3 main lifestyle points to keep in
mind:
1. You need to
sleep adequately.
Staying up late or going out beyond your bed time can
significantly dampen your muscular gain. Continually sleeping for less than 6 or 7 hours a night can also slow
down your progress, not to mention predispose you to adding unwanted fat to
your midsection.
2. Regular meal
scheduling.
You need to eat well and eat regularly, feeding your body
sufficient macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fats and water) and
micronutrients (natural vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, enzymes and
fibers). The biggest mistake is not eating
on a regular schedule, skipping meals when it’s time to feed. Eat appropriately at regular intervals –
every three to 4 hours.
3. Keep toxins out of your body.
You need to avoid drinking too much alcohol, smoking, and
drug use. Also, avoid stress, as it can
deplete your immune system and impede on your muscle gains, not to mention open
you up to potential diseases.
Workout-X Muscle Building Program
You need to workout consistently. Use a good program that is based on science
and years of practical experience from those who are successful before
you. And, most important to your
long-term function and fitness, you should strive to build muscles for their
functional capacity rather than just for show. Use mostly “functional” compound exercises, and vary them regularly to prevent
staleness and boredom. Use those found
on the exercise lab.