5 Ways to Build Muscle Fast
Let’s face it. You want muscle and you want it now. You do not want to wait years. Trust me, I understand how you feel. There’s nothing worse than pumping away for months only to have someone ask you if you work out. It sucks doesn’t it? I was in the same boat. After doing a little research, I found 5 tips proven to pack on muscle fast! If you follow these tips, you can gain a predictable 1-2 pounds of muscle per week. And soon, you’ll be turning heads and will have people asking for your advice. Ready? Let’s begin!
1. Use compound exercises using free weights. Isolation exercises are not going to cut it my friend. You want to stick with the big exercises here. Here are some examples: • • • • • •
Bench Press Dips Military Press Squat Dead Lift Pull Ups
Power exercises like this will help to pack on slabs of muscle. You can handle a lot more weight with these movements. Try and lift as heavy as you can while using good form. Use low reps too.
2. Avoid plateaus. Lifting the same amount of weight week after week will get you nowhere. Your body will stop growing. You need to focus on progression by either increasing the weight you lift or the number of reps. Keeping a training journal will help you to remember what amounts of weight you’re lifting. Once you get to the point where you absolutely cannot go any further then it’s time to switch up your exercises. Doing this will ensure you keep progressing. “Everything works but nothing works forever!” Your body can adapt rather quickly so it’s good to keep your body guessing. There are a lot of different variations out there. Example, instead of flat bench, do incline!
3. Lift explosively, intensely and heavy! If you want to be big you need to lift big. That also means with everything you’ve got. Simply look at bodybuilders or power lifters. There’s a direct correlation between how much they lift and the size of their muscles. Try to lift explosively while slowly lowering the weight. Most growth will occur on the negative portion of the rep. Try for a rep range between 6-10. If you can do any more than 10 make it heavier! If you can’t complete 6 reps the weight is probably too heavy. Again, this all gets back to progression. Keep your workouts brief but focused. Know what you need to do, and get in there and do it!
4. Ensure proper rest. Your muscles don’t grow in the gym. They grow when you’re resting! Once you’re done working out let nature take its course and repair your muscles. This can be accomplished by getting enough sleep. Even taking “power naps” during the day will greatly help with this. Trust me, it works! So keep your workouts brief and infrequent to make sure you get enough recover time. I know that it’s kind of counterintuitive to think otherwise but this is where instinct comes in. Make sure you get at least 8 hours of sleep per night and give enough time between each workout.
5. Eat like a champion. Speaking of recovery, working out is only half the battle. Nutrition accounts for the rest. You not only need to be consuming enough calories but also the right types of calories. Just eating junk will pack on more fat than muscle. You also need to focus on high amounts of complete protein from animal sources. Try and eat 1 gram of protein for each pound that you weigh (minimum). So beef, chicken, turkey, milk, eggs, fish, protein bars and powder are all good sources. You should try and eat every 2-3 hours. When you eat more than you need your body will use these calories to build new muscle. That’s why a surplus of calories is so important.
Putting these 5 tips into action will guarantee you results. They really helped me and I know they’ll work for you too. The real secret here is consistency. You need to make a plan and do it without fail. If you want more info on how to build muscle there’s a short video I highly recommend by Ben Pakulski (IFBB Professional). Click here to check it out.