Follow These Pro Tips to Improve Your Fitness and Build Muscle Faster
If you want to see quicker gains and build muscle over the next few months, it might not be necessary to dramatically shake up your existing workout plan nor is it necessary to follow with precision a thoroughly researched diet plan.
Even little changes could mean bigger results.
Set Yourself Realistic Strength Goals
Instead of wasting your energy on focusing on gaining an ‘x’ amount of muscle, you should be focusing on increasing your strength levels which will result in your body recruiting muscle fibers, which will have a direct impact on the way you look.
Focusing on your strength will ensure that your end goals are more doable, and it will provide more motivation when you’re working out because you have a clear and realistic target.
I would advise choosing 3 stock exercises you want to see improvements in. For example the benchpress, triceps push downs, and squats.
Keep a Food Diary
Just like your training goals, or should I say strength goals, you should keep a close eye on your nutrition.
No matter how hard you train, if you are not getting in enough calories, you will not develop new muscle that you deserve for your efforts.
A food diary can provide you with an objective measurement of how much you’re eating and what you’re eating over the weeks and months. This also allows you to make small adjustments easier if you happen to hit a plateau.
I tend write everything down, when I say everything I mean everything, everything I eat and everything and drink along with all the trimmings!
If you’re not packing on new muscle, it may be a good idea to find gaps in your diet where you can squeeze in more calories.
Compound Exercises
Exercises that involve using more than one muscle group at a time are known as compound exercises. Compound routines include squats, deadlifts and chin-ups. The best thing about these routines is that they use a lot of your muscles, which means bigger mass, thanks to the release of vital hormones like testosterone that work to promote growth. I’m not saying that ditch isolation exercises altogether but it will be helpful to add compound exercises into your routine.
Go to Bed Earlier
Most people neglect this aspect of muscle building but recovery is just as important as your workouts and your diet. By simply sleeping more will speed up your muscle building journey quite significantly.
Have a Pre Workout Supplement or Post Workout Shake
Drinking pre-and post-workout nutritional shakes are a vital if you are looking to gain muscle. Drinking a protein shake alongside your carbs will greatly enhance your workouts. A Shake in the middle of your workout is a great way of getting in some extra carbs and calories and this will sustain your energy levels and allow you to train longer and harder. The best bodybuilding supplements that work, a great add in to get gains.
Work Every Muscle up to 3 Times a Week
Most bodybuilding programs are split up through the week. They involve hitting each individual body part no more than once a week. This in my opinion is an awful long time between workouts and if you can lift weights up to 3 times a week, which I highly recommend, using full body workouts where the whole body is put through the mill, this will definitely speed things up.
This is a great way of hitting every muscle every time you’re in the gym, preferably up to 3 times a week.
If you prefer training more than three times a week, you can try splitting the upper/lower body where you hit each muscle twice a week by performing five sets every time.
By increasing the frequency in which you train each muscle will allow you to build your strength and muscle in a shorter time.
Don’t Forget Your Legs
Say for instance you want to build a massive chest and arms; this doesn’t mean that you should be neglecting your legs.
Muscle imbalances not only look bad they can have an enormous impact on the overall development of your muscles, even on the parts you regularly train. This is precisely why you should be using muscles throughout your body in your workouts to allow for better results.
Increase Food Intake on Your Off Days
The days you don’t train doesn’t necessarily mean that you shouldn’t be eating big. On your ‘off’ days is the time when your muscles are growing and repairing themselves so it makes sense to consume the nutrients your body needs generously.
It’s not going to do you any major harm to decrease your carb intake on ‘off’ days because you don’t need the energy, but it’s important to keep your protein intake high as possible.
Don’t Neglect Carbs
Although many people are on low carb or keto diets these days because they want to lose body fat, you need to do the opposite if you want to increase your muscle mass. It’s quite simple, if you want to get big, you should NOT be afraid of gaining a little fat. Providing that you’re eating clean foods, you shouldn’t expect to gain lots of fat.
I recommend including carbs in your pre-workout meal as well is your post workout meal
Weigh Yourself Every Week
Most people tend to weigh themselves because they are eager to lose weight but your weighing scale is a great indicator to track your muscle building journey.
I recommend weighing yourself once a week on the same day and time, ideally first thing in the morning and after you’ve been to the bathroom, but before eating.
If your weight isn’t increasing, this means you’re not gaining muscle it’s as simple as that! You should be targeting around half a pound every week to minimize major increases in body fat.