Muscle growth, Muscle growth, Muscle growth!
Every gym rookie has one goal in mind, to build muscle. About 80% of males in the gym are in their to build muscle, but I cant even begin to tell you how many times somebody asks me for advice, and time and time again they are doing the same crap that is counter-productive towards building muscle.
First lets make sure your on the same page as me... You want to build muscle right? So make your goal "muscle growth" and start acting, lifting, eating, and living like that is your goal. I personally feel weight loss can be more difficult then muscle growth due to the restrictions. Think about watering a plant, first you plant the seed and then you water it. If the plant doesn't grow after a few days of watering it, do you stop watering it? No you keep watering the plant until it grows, so even if initially you do not see visible changes in your body do not give up. There are four basic tips for muscle growth and they are as follows.
Tip#1
Cut the cardio:
- There is no reason why you should be doing a large amount of cardio when your goal is muscle growth, you are being counter-productive, and expending calories that your body needs. Cardio is great for overall health and fat loss, and I even recommend you still do some (at a very low intensity for shorter periods of time) to keep your body/heart healthy. Just don't over do it!
Tip#2
EAT EAT EAT:
- Don't be afraid to eat! I ask some guys what does their diet look like and it seems that they consume less calories then me while I am cutting for a competition or photo-shoot. Simple, if you want to grow you MUST eat more calories then you burn. Wait a minute, that doesn't mean that you should go and stuff your face with complete garbage because foods like cake, cupcakes, chocolate, pizza may be high in calories, but they are low in nutritional density. That's right, you will get the calories, but calories that provide very little benefit to repairing muscle tissue. Consume single ingredient foods. What are those you ask? Duhh... Foods that only have one ingredient, foods that are whole and not processed.
Don't shy away from carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are your bodies primary energy source providing you eat enough of them, if you don't your body will then tap into other areas of your body for energy which will not only result in you NOT gaining muscle, but also potentially losing muscle.
Tip#3
Rest is important:
- One of the most overlooked factors of muscle growth is rest/sleep. When trying to gain muscle, you want to be in and out of the gym as quick as possible. Get your shorter intense workouts in so that you can get out and eat your post workout meal.
Sleep is key so do not skip out; make sure you are getting a minimum of 7 hours of sleep. Many of you guys really fail to realize that the growth does not occur when you are in the gym, it occurs at night when you are in bed sound asleep. You get your greatest pulse/spike of GH (Growth Hormone) shortly after falling asleep. Don't skip sleep, all factors are equally as important as the other.
Tip#4
Lift Smart & Heavy:
- Lifting intense and heavy is key to build muscle. You must always stress the muscle greater than the previous workout, so that your body has a reason to grow. That is right, if you don't give your body a reason to grow, why would it? If you are lifting properly you will grow.
Ensure you are using proper form when lifting to stress the muscle you are working as much as possible. Remember you could be lifting as much weight as you want but if your form is terrible you are losing the benefits of the lift, you are better off dropping the weight lighter and lifting with better form. Sure you could bicep curl 50lbs but if your using other muscle to get the weight up and only really lifting a 50lb dumbbell with 50% of the lift coming from your bicep, you are only really getting a 25lb stimulus on the muscle. You are better off lifting 30lbs with strict form, only using your biceps and not your legs and back to get the weight up using 100% effort from the bicep.
Every gym rookie has one goal in mind, to build muscle. About 80% of males in the gym are in their to build muscle, but I cant even begin to tell you how many times somebody asks me for advice, and time and time again they are doing the same crap that is counter-productive towards building muscle.
First lets make sure your on the same page as me... You want to build muscle right? So make your goal "muscle growth" and start acting, lifting, eating, and living like that is your goal. I personally feel weight loss can be more difficult then muscle growth due to the restrictions. Think about watering a plant, first you plant the seed and then you water it. If the plant doesn't grow after a few days of watering it, do you stop watering it? No you keep watering the plant until it grows, so even if initially you do not see visible changes in your body do not give up. There are four basic tips for muscle growth and they are as follows.
Tip#1
Cut the cardio:
- There is no reason why you should be doing a large amount of cardio when your goal is muscle growth, you are being counter-productive, and expending calories that your body needs. Cardio is great for overall health and fat loss, and I even recommend you still do some (at a very low intensity for shorter periods of time) to keep your body/heart healthy. Just don't over do it!
Tip#2
EAT EAT EAT:
- Don't be afraid to eat! I ask some guys what does their diet look like and it seems that they consume less calories then me while I am cutting for a competition or photo-shoot. Simple, if you want to grow you MUST eat more calories then you burn. Wait a minute, that doesn't mean that you should go and stuff your face with complete garbage because foods like cake, cupcakes, chocolate, pizza may be high in calories, but they are low in nutritional density. That's right, you will get the calories, but calories that provide very little benefit to repairing muscle tissue. Consume single ingredient foods. What are those you ask? Duhh... Foods that only have one ingredient, foods that are whole and not processed.
Don't shy away from carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are your bodies primary energy source providing you eat enough of them, if you don't your body will then tap into other areas of your body for energy which will not only result in you NOT gaining muscle, but also potentially losing muscle.
Tip#3
Rest is important:
- One of the most overlooked factors of muscle growth is rest/sleep. When trying to gain muscle, you want to be in and out of the gym as quick as possible. Get your shorter intense workouts in so that you can get out and eat your post workout meal.
Sleep is key so do not skip out; make sure you are getting a minimum of 7 hours of sleep. Many of you guys really fail to realize that the growth does not occur when you are in the gym, it occurs at night when you are in bed sound asleep. You get your greatest pulse/spike of GH (Growth Hormone) shortly after falling asleep. Don't skip sleep, all factors are equally as important as the other.
Tip#4
Lift Smart & Heavy:
- Lifting intense and heavy is key to build muscle. You must always stress the muscle greater than the previous workout, so that your body has a reason to grow. That is right, if you don't give your body a reason to grow, why would it? If you are lifting properly you will grow.
Ensure you are using proper form when lifting to stress the muscle you are working as much as possible. Remember you could be lifting as much weight as you want but if your form is terrible you are losing the benefits of the lift, you are better off dropping the weight lighter and lifting with better form. Sure you could bicep curl 50lbs but if your using other muscle to get the weight up and only really lifting a 50lb dumbbell with 50% of the lift coming from your bicep, you are only really getting a 25lb stimulus on the muscle. You are better off lifting 30lbs with strict form, only using your biceps and not your legs and back to get the weight up using 100% effort from the bicep.
