I get a lot of people asking me on tips for muscle growth. Are you one of those skinny dudes (like me :-)) who has been trying to gain muscle with limited success? If you’re working out like crazy hour after hour at home or in the gym but only seeing minimal gains, something has to change. Contrary to popular belief, muscle growth isn’t all about hard work. It’s about timed effort, solid nutrition, and rest. If you aren’t following these tips for muscle growth, you’re gonna have a hard time growing muscle. Simple as that.
7 Tips For Muscle Growth
Tips For Muscle Growth (REAL muscles :-))
#1 – Tips For Muscle Growth
Eat between 5 to 6 meals a day.
To grow muscle, you can’t just keep eating the same amount of food you’re comfortable with eating. What you’re used to eating to right now is probably just enough food to keep you at your current weight. To grow muscle, you need to eat more than that, and you need to be eating something every two to three hours. Don’t take this tip for muscle growth for granted…eating right is KEY!
When I first got onto my muscle growth plan, I found myself forcing food down because I knew I had to eat it. Of course, over time, I got used to the new amount, but it can be a bit daunting at first. Expect to be staring down some pretty big plates full of chicken (and other lean protein sources), and vegetables. These foods are essential for muscle growth. You’ll be eating more than your fair share of them.
#2 – Tips For Muscle Growth
Limit your cardio.
Cardio exercise is great if your goal is to be a faster runner, more nimble, or just plain healthy. The problem is that those goals don’t exactly work well with the goal of growing muscle. Intense cardio depletes your energy reserves, causing your body to break down your muscles in search of more fuel. It can run totally contrary to your goal of muscle growth.
It’s a scene I’ve witnessed all too often. Someone is “working hard,” totally running himself to the ground with cardio and weights, only to see zero results. What’s wrong? He just isn’t allowing himself to rest, and he hasn’t set one underlying fitness goal. If you want to grow muscle, you need to make it your number one priority. You have to do it at the expense of everything else, including cardio.
#3 – Tips For Muscle Growth
Eat mostly protein.
When muscle growth is your goal, you need to be eating protein all the time. Your first meal of the day needs to include protein. The meal before you work out needs protein. Your post-workout meal needs protein too. In order to grow muscle, you have to eat least one gram of protein for every pound of body weight, and you need to do that every day. I know it’s a tall order, and you’ll be cooking up a lot of chicken breasts, and having lots of protein shakes.
#4 – Tips For Muscle Growth
Do 8 – 10 reps of every exercise, and keep increasing your weight.
That’s a good shorthand for figuring out which exercises to do and at what intensity. Lifting for muscle growth is quite different from lifting for other forms of fitness. You need to pile the weight on and gradually increase it over time. Do a set of 8 to 10 reps of any exercise with about a minute in between each set. By the time you’re nearing your third or fourth set, your muscles should be exhausted. Around the 8th or 9th rep, you should be nearing muscle failure.
The point is to keep doing the same exercises until they no longer make your muscles fail at the 10th rep. Once you’ve gotten to that point, you can increase the resistance and do the same amount of reps, going until your muscles fail again. Do this over a period of months, and you will start to pack on the muscle.
#5 – Tips For Muscle Growth
Sleep 6 to 8 hours a night.
It’s downright impossible to see any results with any system if you don’t sleep. Most of your muscle regrows when you’re sleeping, so if you don’t get much sleep, you won’t see any of those gains -no matter how much you eat. Like I said above, growing muscle isn’t just about hard work. It’s about timing your work with rest so you can get back to your program and train harder the next day.
#6 – Tips For Muscle Growth
Take a daily omega 3 supplement.
Omega 3 oils are absolutely necessary for your body to function. They reduce inflammation from injury, aid in cognition and reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. A few studies have even linked them to elevated mood.
Here’s the interesting thing. Your body can’t produce Omega 3 acids. That’s why you need to get them from sources like fish oil and flaxseed. Just a few fish oil tablets a day is enough for most people, and they’re relatively inexpensive. Definitely well worth it.
#7 – Tips For Muscle Growth
Consider using a creatine supplement.
Creatine helps your body generate energy for the quick and explosive movements you’ll be using in weight training. 70% of people who use creatine see some kind of performance improvement. Creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid that your body already produces. It helps to create ATP, which is the active chemical your body burn for energy. If you have more creatine in your body, you generate ATP faster, adding power to those explosive movements.
I like creatine because it gives me that added boost to push past my comfort zone and make the most out of my workouts. It may or may not be your thing, but it certainly works for me.
To Sum It All Up – Tips For Muscle Growth
As you can see, muscle growth isn’t just about putting in time at the gym. All of that effort is useless if you don’t balance it out with the right nutrition, supplements, and most importantly, rest. After a solid 4 weeks of training, it’s okay to have a week of mild training to allow yourself to recover. It’s all a part of the plan. Train hard, but always train smart.
I hope you found my tips for muscle growth helpful! If you did, make sure you leave a comment below! OR if you have any tips for muscle growth that have worked for you, leave them below as well.
