Asking for advice on how to build muscle can seem rather daunting. This is largely due to the severe jargon which surrounds unfamiliar new techniques like body weight workouts and high intensity interval training but it is also something which needn't be so confusing.
Despite the huge strides forward we have taken in the fitness industry, if you harbor dreams of building cold, hard, lean muscle you would do very well to return to the basic fundamental rules of size and strength.
This consists of:
1. Multi-joint exercises outperform isolation exercise every day.
These are your biggest exercises and they include moves such as the barbell squat, deadlift and bench press.
Any compound exercise will recruit more muscle fibers than an isolation move, therefore you'll gain more size over a shorter period of time.
2. Know your rep range.
Several key studies have revealed that the eight to twelve repetition range is optimal for building muscular size and strength.
This weight will change on each exercise, of course, but use this rep zone as a guide to tell you if you are lifting heavy enough to see progress.
3. Change your program as you progress.
If there was one thing that held people back in the gym more than anything else, it's consistency.
The number one way to keep building new gains is to hit your body with a resistance which it cannot handle comfortably. Yet, for some bizarre reason, many men do the same program for years and stick largely to the same weights on their biggest exercises. Variety and progression are the keys to success.
4. Don't forget to sleep.
Sleep is vastly under-rated by most gym users. You must remember that the body undergoes it's major rebuilding phase during the hours of a deep sleep.
Neglecting to go to bed at a decent hour is one of the top reasons why most men find it hard to develop a bigger body. Eight to ten hours is the optimal time to aim for. Less than this and you are asking for problems.
Imagine trying to build on a plot where the foundations were not yet set. Your construction would be constantly falling down again, that's exactly what you're doing to your body by not allowing rest.
These time tested, established techniques set the foundations for how to build muscle as far as relevant scientific research goes. While it's easy to over complicate things and turn any gym program into a science lesson, the basics of techniques such as hypertrophy, high intensity interval training and fat loss are primarily the same as they were a decade ago.
Despite the huge strides forward we have taken in the fitness industry, if you harbor dreams of building cold, hard, lean muscle you would do very well to return to the basic fundamental rules of size and strength.
This consists of:
1. Multi-joint exercises outperform isolation exercise every day.
These are your biggest exercises and they include moves such as the barbell squat, deadlift and bench press.
Any compound exercise will recruit more muscle fibers than an isolation move, therefore you'll gain more size over a shorter period of time.
2. Know your rep range.
Several key studies have revealed that the eight to twelve repetition range is optimal for building muscular size and strength.
This weight will change on each exercise, of course, but use this rep zone as a guide to tell you if you are lifting heavy enough to see progress.
3. Change your program as you progress.
If there was one thing that held people back in the gym more than anything else, it's consistency.
The number one way to keep building new gains is to hit your body with a resistance which it cannot handle comfortably. Yet, for some bizarre reason, many men do the same program for years and stick largely to the same weights on their biggest exercises. Variety and progression are the keys to success.
4. Don't forget to sleep.
Sleep is vastly under-rated by most gym users. You must remember that the body undergoes it's major rebuilding phase during the hours of a deep sleep.
Neglecting to go to bed at a decent hour is one of the top reasons why most men find it hard to develop a bigger body. Eight to ten hours is the optimal time to aim for. Less than this and you are asking for problems.
Imagine trying to build on a plot where the foundations were not yet set. Your construction would be constantly falling down again, that's exactly what you're doing to your body by not allowing rest.
These time tested, established techniques set the foundations for how to build muscle as far as relevant scientific research goes. While it's easy to over complicate things and turn any gym program into a science lesson, the basics of techniques such as hypertrophy, high intensity interval training and fat loss are primarily the same as they were a decade ago.
About the Author:
Writer bio: Discover more proven rules teaching you how to build muscle and how to perform high intensity interval training effectively for immediate gains on the exclusive training website from top online strength coach Russ Howe PTI.
