Besides losing weight, gaining muscle is another one of the biggest things that people say they want to accomplish with their exercise and dieting. Muscles represent power so it is natural that all kinds of people, not just athletes, want to achieve a physique that radiates this kind of strength. Some people find it hard to gain muscle and others find it difficult to maintain it, but the fact is that you need to start considering how simple it can be by stripping back all the information you have learned and simplifying your training.
There is so much contradictory information that your head can become overloaded with advice that is either incorrect or harmful. Gaining muscle is not as hard as some would make it out to be. While there is a lot of dedication and hard work involved, the actual steps are really easy. If you are struggling to add mass with muscle and are finding yourself not making gains as easily, check out these easy training tips to help you achieve your fitness goal.
Eat Leaner Meats
While working out is an integral part of the muscle-building process, much of your progress will come in the kitchen. That is why you need to improve your eating habits, but more specifically, by eating leaner meats. Meat has a high amount of protein, which is essential for muscle tissue building and repair, but it can also contain high amounts of fat and sodium. Chicken is a go-to for bodybuilders, athletes, and physique competitors, but you want to choose leaner varieties. Skinless, boneless chicken breast maintains a good level of protein but cuts down on saturated/trans fats as well as sodium.
Other meats like fish (tuna, salmon, mackerel) are also very helpful for muscle building, but avoid high-mercury content varieties like canned tuna. Similarly, add protein from seeds and nuts for a simple snack throughout the day.
Add Supplements for Additional Support
Building muscle through your diet is a major part of the process, but sometimes you need a little extra support. Supplements can help you get that extra serving of protein, or vitamins, or missing nutrients without going overboard on caloric intake. The people behind Wilson Supplements believe that there are numerous ways to help your muscle-building goals. Pre-workout helps you stay energized in the gym, amino acids will make protein-synthesizing much more effective, and protein powder adds those extra servings you may have missed.
Supplements are a good way to aid your dietary needs, but it is also useful to remember that they should not be used to replace them. This is a helpful way to give your body what it needs outside of the gym.
Stay Hydrated
Hydration is always key when building muscles. While water weight seems to irk nearly everyone who steps on the scale, it pales in comparison to lifting, running, or exercising while dehydrated. Dehydration will make muscles appear more defined, but it is very unhealthy. The cells of your body need water to maintain their proper function, like circulation and blood pressure, as well as your organs, so drinking 8 glasses a day is mandatory.
Of course, depending on your activity levels as well as measurements (height, weight, body fat), you may need more or less, but water is the essence of life and a crucial part of building muscle. Getting the right amount of water lets your body process foods and nutrients, and it keeps the function of muscles working so you can get good results from your workouts.
Focus on Compound Lifts
In the actual process of working out to build muscles, you need to understand what types of lifts are most beneficial. The two main distinctions are compound and isolation. Compound lifts are workouts that target multiple muscle groups, while isolation lifts focus on a single group or a smaller, select group of muscles. Compound lifts include the big three, which are squats, deadlifts, and bench press, and these help target nearly every muscle in the body.
Back, glutes, quads, calves, deltoids, biceps, triceps, etc. so focusing on these lifts helps maximize the amount of effort you can put in. Isolation lifts are still good and work well as accessory exercises for your routine, but compound lifts are most beneficial for overall muscle growth.
Improve Your Form First
Impressing people at the gym by overloading the bar or trying to push a PR when you are not ready is going to result in injury and a bruised ego. Ego lifting is a huge problem, not because your gym crush saw you embarrass yourself, but because it neglects proper form. Focusing on doing the movements properly at lower weights ensures a safe understanding of the mechanics of working out. This applies to lifting, running, swimming, rowing, and any manner of sports, which is why coaches hammer on the fundamentals of form.
You might not want to drop the weight from the bar to master the right technique, but it will help you progressively increase your lifts, avoid injury, and add muscle in a controlled manner. Lifting with and without proper form could be the difference between a quality workout week in and week out, or weeks/months away from the gym where you are losing muscle mass.
Avoid Working Out Too Much
The last piece of advice is similar to focusing on form. Trying to outdo yourself is fine if you do it within reason, but pushing your body beyond its natural boundaries is only going to result in problems. Overexerting yourself during workout sessions can result in injury, fatigue, or worse. It is always good to know how far you can push yourself and not to overdo it. Take rest days, and keep your workouts from stretching on. The longer your body is under tension or pressure, the higher the risk of injury, so be smart and know your limits.
When you read advice like this, you start to realize how simple it actually is to gain muscle and workout more effectively. You do not need 100 tips on core blasting moves, you just need tried and true advice that people from all levels of athletic skill and prowess have been using for years.
