Good Nutrition

If you want to build up good solid muscle mass, you need to give your body the right fuel. The trick is to eat plenty, but not too much! If you eat too much then you’ll only get fat, and you don’t want that!

To work out the number of calories you should eat each day, multiply your lean body weight by 19. For example, if you weighed 220 pounds and had 10% body fat, you could calculate it as 220-10% (198) x 19 = 3,762 calories.

Also, you need to ensure you are eating a lot of good quality protein sources, for example meat, fish, eggs, etc. In addition to this, you must eat lots of decent quality complex carbohydrates, such as oats, whole grain bread. Also, make sure you eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. Stay away from sugar and refined carbohydrates like white bread and cakes.

Weight Training

With weight lifting exercises, the most effective exercises are Compound Exercises. These are the best way to exercise your muscles because they use multiple muscles at the same time, thereby maximizing your time spent working out.

A good example of a compound exercise is the bench press, as the movements involved make use of the shoulder muscles, chest muscles, and also the triceps.

Resting As Hard As You Train

Although training hard is important, so is resting. I can’t emphasise enough just how important it is. A good basic rule to go by is to have 4 to 5 days rest for each body part between workouts.

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Change Your Rep Range

The chances are you have a standard gym routine that you use most of the time. You do the same repetitions every time. Instead, try varying the number of repetitions you do. For example, if you usually do 6-8 reps, why not do 4-6 instead, or maybe do more, as many as 20.

However, you won’t be able to stay at 20 repetitions for too long, but it will give your body a bit of variety. In the longer term though, you should aim more towards heavier weights with less repetitions, because this will build up the most muscle mass.

Change Your Speed

The chances are that you also tend to do your exercises at pretty much the same speed each time. Try altering your speed, as this will force your body to use your muscles in a different way.

For example, when doing bench presses, one thing to try is to use a light weight but lift them fast. This will stimulate the type 2 muscle fibers, and will also boost your stamina and strength.

On the other hand, try experimenting with doing your exercises ultra-slow. Performing exercises in a very slow and controlled movement forces your body to use muscles in a different way. Your muscles will be working incredibly hard to lift the weight at such a slow speed.

Vary Your Exercises

Boredom is a big factor when it comes to failure in the gym. To prevent this, try to vary the types of exercises you do. So for example, if you’ve been using barbells, try switching to dumbbells instead, or vice versa. One important thing to remember though is to always record every change you make to your workout routine, because otherwise you may lose track of what you’re doing and the results you’re getting.

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Understanding Your Body Type

Do you have the right genetics to build up big muscles? Don’t despair if you don’t think you do, because this is just a starting point, to give you an idea of how best to train to develop your muscles. The three main body types are Endomorph, Mesomorph and Ectomorph.

Endomorph

If you’re an endomorph, your frame will naturally big and you’ll probably have quite a round face with a slow metablism. You find it easy to put on weight. You may find it reasonably easy to build up your muscles, but they can stay hidden under layers of fat.

So the way an endomorph should go about building lean muscle mass, is to first build up the muscles, and then lose the weight. This is why it can take an endomorph a bit longer to achieve the body they want.

Mesomorph

Mesomorphs are naturally muscular people. They have low body fat, and a naturally toned muscular appearance. If you have this body type, you will find it very easy to put on well-defined muscles.

Ectomorph

Ectomorphs tend to naturally be skinny, have slender shoulders, and be low in muscle mass. For this reason, they will find most difficult to put on muscles, or even any kind of weight. However, if this sounds like you, don’t despair. You can put on muscle, it will just take you longer and more effort, that’s all.

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To Begin Strength Training…

You should always begin by warming up. This must include 5-10 minutes of light cardio exercise, or alternatively do lighter versions of each of the workout movements with lower weights.

Things to keep in mind:

- Do 1 to 2 exercises per muscle group.
- Start with 15-16 repetitions.
- Always rest for at least 1 day between workout sessions.

Which Exercises To Do

Below is a list of exercises, arranged by muscle group:

- Back: seated row machine, back extensions, lat pulldowns
- Chest: bench press, chest press machine, pushups, pec deck machine
- Bicep Muscles: bicep curls, hammer curls, concentration curls
- Shoulders: overhead press, lateral raise, front raise
- Lower Body Area: Squats, lunges, leg press machines, deadlifts, calf raises
- Abdominals: crunches, reverse crunches, oblique twists, pelvic tilts
- Triceps: tricep extensions, dips, kickbacks

Sets, Reps & Weights

The weights you use and the amount of reps you do all depends on what the end result is that you want from your exercise routine:
- Lose Fat, Build Muscle – Use the maximum weight that enables you to do only 10-12 reps for 1 to 3 sets. Rest for 30-60 seconds between sets, and take 2-3 days off between workout sessions.
- Build Muscle Mass – Use the heaviest weight that enables you to do only 4 to 8 reps for 3 or more sets. Rest for 1-2- minutes between sets, and take 2-3 days off between workout sessions.
- Muscular Endurance & General Health – Use the maximum weight that enables you to do 12-16 repetitions for 1-3 sets. Rest for 2-30 seconds between sets, and take at least 1 day off between your workout sessions.

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