How to Build Muscle Fast
In recent decades, weight loss was a huge deal for everyone and all the resources to reduce a person’s weight in the fastest way possible have been exhausted. The advance of technology has brought about certain methods that work well for most people.
However, in the past few years, people have been shifting their focus from losing weight to shaping up their bodies into a ripped and more buffed figure. Bodybuilding has become the new trend for many people and more are becoming interested with it.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a skinny guy who desperately wants a six-pack, an average-sized guy who would like to add more muscle mass, or you’re someone with a slightly bigger-than-average figure who wants to get rid of excess fat and replace it with muscle mass, following a natural process for bulking up is no walk in the park. It may be challenging, but it doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
Bodybuilding is a challenging endeavour with various approaches. You may try to experiment with which one is the most effective for you, but you will have to invest money, time, and effort for something that may turn out to be ineffective for you.
What you really need is the right training guide, a great diet with well-balanced nourishment, and some discipline with your unhealthy habits to get the results that you want in no time.
Bodybuilding checklist
No one can get their ideal figure overnight. Most of the work will have to be done in the gym or during your training. Aside from that, your bodybuilding journey includes getting proper nutrition, enough rest, and discipline when it comes to your daily habits.
Here’s a checklist that will give you a general idea of the things that you need to remember and practice during your bodybuilding journey.
- Lifting must be progressive and strategic.
- Squats, deadlifts, and compound movements are necessary to target the triggers for muscle building.
- Get as much sleep as you can.
- Focus on protein but complement your meals with the right amount of carbs and calories.
- Consistency is key.
- Eat more, train more.
Bodybuilding essentials
Proper training
The start of a bodybuilding journey for each individual may be unique depending on where they have to start off. Some people who need to trim down first and get rid of excess fats have to go through weight loss before adding muscle mass. For people who are too skinny and would like to get ripped, the primary focus should be getting properly nourished first. Basically, bodybuilding is about creating new muscle fibres and replacing the old ones. Heavy resistance training is exactly what you need to achieve this, which is why weightlifting is a major component of your physical training.
The strategic approach to training would be assigning a workout platform specific to a body part, each day for five days a week. Work on 16 sets for 4 different routines. Some recommend doing it to failure, while others suggest to really listen to what your body tells you, especially when you’re only just starting your training.
Proper nutrition
To get ripped and build lean muscle you need the best bodybuilding meals that are packed with foods that are high in protein. Be sure to stock your fridge and pantry with foods high in protein, including chicken, lean beef, steak, eggs and nuts so that these high protein foods are always on hand when you need them. A high protein diet that is also balanced with quality carbs, and fats are recommended for best ripped and lean muscle results.
Protein is almost synonymous to bodybuilding. It’s the main focus when it comes to nourishing your body during bodybuilding training. The best sources of protein are beef, chicken, shrimp, and dairy products. While protein is the major component of a bodybuilding diet, it still needs to be complemented with the right amount of fats and carbs. Filling up only on protein won’t give you the best results.
Some protein-rich foods which are excellent for muscle building
Beef
It’s common knowledge that among the different animal protein sources, beef has the most value. It’s also a great source for amino acids, especially for leucine which plays a great role in muscle building, together with zinc and other muscle-building nutrients like creatine. Nutritionists say beef from grass-fed cows is generally leaner.
However, there’s no significant difference compared to conventional beef when it comes to protein quality. Some characteristics that need to be highlighted, though, is that, one, lean beef contains less fat and two; it has more omega-3. Innovations in food technology allowed the possibility of isolating the protein content of beef and producing it in powder form, which is more convenient for some people.
Salmon
Sea food is also a great source of protein. Salmon may not have as much protein value per serving compared to beef, chicken and turkey, but it’s a good option if you want to have a little surf and turf theme going on for your week’s meal plan.
Although it may run short of protein compared to other sources, salmon makes up for it with its abundant long-chain omega-3 fat content. Protein value doesn’t really have a huge difference when wild salmon is being compared with farmed salmon, but the fat content difference can be highlighted.
Whey
Aside from casein, whey protein is another type of protein which is present in dairy products. Milk is an excellent source as it contains up to 20% whey, but the best source of whey protein is ricotta cheese. It is very rich in glutamine, which is an abundant amino acid in the muscle.
Whey also contains a significant amount of branched chain amino acids that fuels working muscles during training. What makes it a good nutrient for muscle building is that it is easily absorbed by the body and increases blood amino acid levels very quickly. This is exactly what your body needs in order to process repairs for muscle fibres, especially after working out.
Soy
The common protein source that we know is usually found in animal sources, but there are plant-based proteins that serve as a good alternative, especially if your budget is tight with food. Soy is one of the best protein sources. It contains all of the essential amino acids that the body needs.
In fact, it is almost as good as whey when it comes to protein value. The biggest difference between the two is the leucine content. Leucine is a main component for protein synthesis and whey contains about 15% more leucine than soy. Other food supplements that are good soy protein sources include edamame beans and tofu.
Pea protein
Another popular pant-based source of protein is peas. It contains huge amounts of branched amino acids and glutamine which are vital for muscle building. It is easily absorbed and processed by the body, making it a good protein source.
What makes it even better than other plant-based protein is the fact that it doesn’t inhibit the absorption of other vitamins and minerals in the digestive system. Additionally, it doesn’t taste grassy and earthy like other plant sources; in fact, peas taste good and have a mild texture. It can be taken in supplement form, making it convenient for people who are not really huge veggie-eaters.
Proper supplementation
Getting properly nourished is an important factor in achieving your body building goals fast. One thing that can expedite the process is by taking food supplements on top of a well-balanced diet. Although it is not entirely necessary, some people find it effective.
- Whey protein – as discussed earlier, whey protein is a good bodybuilding nutrient. And since it is present in supplement form, a lot of people consider it a good alternative to food. It’s also affordable and convenient, especially since you don’t have to prepare or cook it in order to absorb its protein value.
- ZMA – Zinc Monomethionine Aspartate is an excellent food supplement for bodybuilding. For some people, it improves the quality of their sleep, which is important for muscle recovery after strenuous training. This can also cause aggression and enthusiasm for working out.
- Creatine – The role of creatine is to assist the transfer of energy in a cellular scale. It increases the amount of Adenosine Triphosphate or ATP in the body. As your body produces more energy, you will have enough to do more reps. This leads to better results with your training, thus, expediting muscle growth.
Proper recovery
For a lot of people, rest is not as important as training. The truth is, your muscle needs to recover from your strenuous training and recovery only happens when you’re resting or asleep. You have to avoid exhausting your muscles, as much as possible.
It is also not recommended to focus on training one specific body part too frequently as it may cause significant impairment to your muscles. It disrupts the natural recovery process for your muscles and it may lead to overtraining syndrome.
A lot of training guides will suggest that you workout to failure, but others believe that it may not be what’s best for your body. Training to failure might impair your recovery process. You must respond to what your body is telling you. Push yourself hard and explore how much training your body can actually take but know your limitations. And never ever train an aching muscle as it may lead to permanent damage.
Additional tips to help build muscle fast
Track your calorie intake
This may seem like a tedious activity, but it actually works for a lot of fitness enthusiasts. It shouldn’t be too hard tracking your calorie intake and consumption these days since there are numerous mobile apps that you can use to do it.
What you need to know about your calorie needs is that it depends on your age, current weight, lifestyle, and even your gender (since hormonal factors work differently for men and women). The rule of thumb is that your daily calorie requirement is just your weight in pounds multiplied by a factor of 20. This is why calorie tracking is important so you’ll know if you’re achieving your daily requirement or not.
Do compound exercises for big muscle groups.
A good approach to resistance training is that starting with big muscle groups jumpstarts the process of building up your muscles. This means faster and more muscle gains. The most common muscle groups that are involved in muscle building are chest, back, and leg muscles. Doing compound exercises for these muscle groups for a minimum of one day a week can expedite the muscle building process.
Resistance training involves weightlifting. This needs to be done progressively so your muscles can slowly adapt to the increasing load. Constantly changing the weights that you use for lifting may confuse your muscles and shifting to a much heavier load might shock it.
The recommended increments would be 10 pounds a week. Of course, this is only a suggestion. You can do lesser increments, depending on how fast your body adapts to the increased load.
Why increase the load? It’s the only way to encourage muscle growth and increase in strength. Staying at the same load won’t really do much for your muscles. Adding more weight will send signals to your muscle causing them to grow more muscle fibres.
Be creative with your workout routines
Constant changes with your workout routines are not recommended. You have to avoid confusing your muscles as much as possible. But, it doesn’t mean that you can’t change or alter your existing routines every now and then.
If you’re current workout platform requires you to train a couple body parts three times on a daily basis, you can try to switch it to 4-5 days a week focusing on one body part a day. That way, you can put emphasis on training a specific body part without overworking it. You can do chest on Mondays, legs and arms on Tuesdays, back on Wednesdays, and so on.
Avoid full lifts, especially if you’re only starting out.
Instead of doing a full lift, do it in a partial manner. You can do it about a third of the way on your first set, then increase another third of the way on the second, then do the full lift on the last set. Then you can reverse the load progression. You can do more weight on the first set and gradually decrease it as you progress. Doing full lifts may shock your muscles and cause serious injuries.
Try to be more informed about the supplements you are using.
Recommendation from other friends won’t be enough. You have to do your own research to gather more information about the food supplement that you are interested in taking. What is effective with others may not provide the same results for you.
Try Anabolic Cooking
Proper nourishment is necessary in your bodybuilding journey and it has been emphasized a few times earlier. However, a lot of fitness enthusiasts find it a bit challenging to be excited with their food, especially since most of the food that goes with training is not as delicious as you expect them to be. Most muscle building foods are bland and boring. Then again, despite its unappealing taste, you will still be forced to deal with it since it’s necessary for their muscle building goals.
Fortunately, that doesn’t have to be the case anymore. The Anabolic Cooking book is a guide to creating recipes that are specifically designed to promote maximum muscle gain while making sure that you actually enjoy your food. The ingredients used in most of the recipes in this cookbook are readily available in your kitchen and local supermarket. These recipes are also cost-effective and they don’t take much of your time from the preparation down to the actual cooking process.
More than its nutritional value, these recipes offer variety to your otherwise boring meal plan, which are basically just the same 2-3 recipes you alternately prepare in a week.
Training to gain muscle mass is already challenging in itself. You don’t want to torture yourself by denying your taste buds a well-prepared meal, rich in savory flavours and overpowering aroma. The Anabolic Cooking will definitely help you be more creative with your muscle building meals to add more spice and flavour to your bodybuilding journey. For more information about the Anabolic Cooking book and products, check this site.
