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.
Today, we end that.
Before you start you need to work out your overall goal. Do you want to lose body fat or do you want to focus on size and strength? Most guys want to have both benefits but we'll explain today why you need to make a choice so you don't get stuck in that awful middle ground where you don't fully commit to either and, as a result, don't get the results of either.
If you have had long history of gym training already you will know it's very hard to get both weight loss and strength results simultaneously, which is why you need to set this goal at the start. Those beginning on their fitness journey will be able to enjoy perhaps 2-3 weeks with the results of both fat loss and tissue building, but once the body gets used to your new training lifestyle you too need to make the choice.
Most people assume what they do in the gym will determine whether they get bigger or lose fat. This is incorrect. This mainly comes down to diet. In order to get bigger you must eat more than you do now each day, whereas to cut you'll need to eat less. So this is why we must make a choice, depending on our individual goals.
If your fitness program is that of an athlete, you have great genetics and your nutrition plan is so good that your quest to get fit is literally dominating your life, it is possible to structure a plan of course but for the overwhelming majority of people who simply want to train after they go to work or around their family life, it's not feasible.
Once you have set your goal, in this case to get bigger otherwise you wouldn't be reading this article, we can get your diet in place and begin looking at the following aspects of your gym routine:
* What exercises will allow you to get the quickest results?
* How many times per week should you train?
* How many reps and sets are optimal?
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 end that.
Before you start you need to work out your overall goal. Do you want to lose body fat or do you want to focus on size and strength? Most guys want to have both benefits but we'll explain today why you need to make a choice so you don't get stuck in that awful middle ground where you don't fully commit to either and, as a result, don't get the results of either.
If you have had long history of gym training already you will know it's very hard to get both weight loss and strength results simultaneously, which is why you need to set this goal at the start. Those beginning on their fitness journey will be able to enjoy perhaps 2-3 weeks with the results of both fat loss and tissue building, but once the body gets used to your new training lifestyle you too need to make the choice.
Most people assume what they do in the gym will determine whether they get bigger or lose fat. This is incorrect. This mainly comes down to diet. In order to get bigger you must eat more than you do now each day, whereas to cut you'll need to eat less. So this is why we must make a choice, depending on our individual goals.
If your fitness program is that of an athlete, you have great genetics and your nutrition plan is so good that your quest to get fit is literally dominating your life, it is possible to structure a plan of course but for the overwhelming majority of people who simply want to train after they go to work or around their family life, it's not feasible.
Once you have set your goal, in this case to get bigger otherwise you wouldn't be reading this article, we can get your diet in place and begin looking at the following aspects of your gym routine:
* What exercises will allow you to get the quickest results?
* How many times per week should you train?
* How many reps and sets are optimal?
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!
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