As a Personal Trainer I am asked how to build muscle on a daily basis by guys who have been confused by the amount of different advice from individual trainers or fellow gym members over the years. Whether you're just starting out on your journey in fitness or you've been trying to get fit for years, this issue has probably affected you at some stage.
Now we're going to end this nonsense and nail down the basic, proven rules.
The first thing you need to do is figure out what you actually want. Too often when we ask guys what they'd like to achieve, what type of body they wish to own, they tell us their goal is to lose fat but also get bigger.
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.
To put it simply, you either want to lose fat or you want to grow. It's one way or the other. To grow you need to consume more calories per day than you currently do, whereas to lose fat you need to consume less than you do now. So it makes sense that you cannot realistically do both at the same time.
Most people try to fit a workout in after a hard day at our jobs or when our family life permits us a break, so we are not able to construct a complex workout routine or the nutritional plan of a top athlete, therefore we need to decide what we want to do and stick with it.
Once you have simply decided what you want to achieve, you can begin dieting for that specific goal and then we're ready to begin looking at your actual workout routine. We'll cover the following aspects here:
* What exercises will allow you to get the quickest results?
* How many times per week should you train?
* What reps should you do?
When it comes to strength and size there is one type of resistance exercise which stands above all others by a long, long way. We're talking, of course, about compound exercises. That's right, the basic exercises such as bench press and squat still reign supreme when it comes to muscle mass. Don't waste time isolating the lower half of your forearm, focus your time on big exercises.
One of the most misunderstood aspects of a good size training routine is the importance of rest. Believe it or not, rest is actually just as important as your gym work and nutrition. We advise no more than four sessions per week with weights, split to cover all body parts and avoiding training the same muscle group two days in a row.
When it comes to repetitions, this easy-to-follow system will keep you on the right track for building lean mass and keep you progressing at a good, constant pace. Your target zone is 8-12 reps. This is the fundamental training zone for growth. Start with a weight you can push out eight repetitions with and as your strength increases you'll notice you can get more reps out over the coming training sessions. Once you can push out more than twelve, increase the weight and return to eight reps. This progressive stance will keep you from reaching any kind of plateau.
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!
Now we're going to end this nonsense and nail down the basic, proven rules.
The first thing you need to do is figure out what you actually want. Too often when we ask guys what they'd like to achieve, what type of body they wish to own, they tell us their goal is to lose fat but also get bigger.
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.
To put it simply, you either want to lose fat or you want to grow. It's one way or the other. To grow you need to consume more calories per day than you currently do, whereas to lose fat you need to consume less than you do now. So it makes sense that you cannot realistically do both at the same time.
Most people try to fit a workout in after a hard day at our jobs or when our family life permits us a break, so we are not able to construct a complex workout routine or the nutritional plan of a top athlete, therefore we need to decide what we want to do and stick with it.
Once you have simply decided what you want to achieve, you can begin dieting for that specific goal and then we're ready to begin looking at your actual workout routine. We'll cover the following aspects here:
* What exercises will allow you to get the quickest results?
* How many times per week should you train?
* What reps should you do?
When it comes to strength and size there is one type of resistance exercise which stands above all others by a long, long way. We're talking, of course, about compound exercises. That's right, the basic exercises such as bench press and squat still reign supreme when it comes to muscle mass. Don't waste time isolating the lower half of your forearm, focus your time on big exercises.
If you don't know how to build muscle today's interview will assist you a lot.
One of the most misunderstood aspects of a good size training routine is the importance of rest. Believe it or not, rest is actually just as important as your gym work and nutrition. We advise no more than four sessions per week with weights, split to cover all body parts and avoiding training the same muscle group two days in a row.
When it comes to repetitions, this easy-to-follow system will keep you on the right track for building lean mass and keep you progressing at a good, constant pace. Your target zone is 8-12 reps. This is the fundamental training zone for growth. Start with a weight you can push out eight repetitions with and as your strength increases you'll notice you can get more reps out over the coming training sessions. Once you can push out more than twelve, increase the weight and return to eight reps. This progressive stance will keep you from reaching any kind of plateau.
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:
Coach: Russ Howe PTI is a trusted personal trainer. Learn how to build muscle with our new video guide giving the 5 principles to a more muscular body and the best shoulder building exercises.
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