Feb
25
How To Build Muscle: 4 Basic Principles
February 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment
People in the gym and people I’ve trained come to me with questions about how to get bigger and they have their heads chock full of stuff that’s just misinformation.
There are many correct ways to build muscle, but also many wrong ways.
In this article, I’m going to give you the principles that will allow you to build muscle properly and consistently.
1. Progressive Overload
Your muscles will adapt to whatever conditions you put it under.
Because your muscles adapt, you must continue to overload them. They will adapt by getting bigger and stronger.
In order to make gains week after week, you must increase the load in various ways.
This can be done by decreasing rest between sets, adding more reps, adding more weight, etc.
2. Progressive Variation
This isn’t “muscle confusion”. Your body builds neural pathways to your muscles to do the same motion efficiently. The more you do it, the better you get at it.
So doing the same exercise week in and week out for the same muscle will increase you ability to do that exercise, but not your growth.
Your body has found an efficient way of doing the exercise without adding more size.
3. Rest
Yes, go to sleep. The mistake I see most people making when building muscle or doing any type of training is Overtraining. When it comes to jumping higher, running faster, or building muscle, less work is better.
Muscle isn’t built in the gym. It’s built when you sleep and the next day when your body repairs itself through the release of hormones.
So if you want to build muscle properly, it’s absolutely imperative that you get 8 or 9 hours of sleep each night. Train hard, and then get the heck out of there. Give your whole body, central nervous system, hormonal system, and muscles, time to recover before you hit it again.
4. Nutrition
This means getting the right amount of carbs, the right kinds of fats, and proteins.
Your calorie requirements depend on your age, weight, body fat, and level of activity.
Find out how many calories you need a day to build muscle and consume that amount each day by eating the right foods.
Implement these strategies for consistent muscle growth in your routine.
Learn more about how to build muscle. Stop by Mitch Graves ’s site where you can find out all about muscle building programs and how to completely transform your body.
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