The biggest problem with building muscle is that it can take a really long time. There are, however, certain ways you may be able to accelerate the process. Use the tips below to make sure you are approaching the muscle building process correctly, and ensure that you are able to pack on more size as quickly as possible.
Check out the tips below to speed up your muscle growth!
For quantity, you need to determine what your daily macros should be. There are various macro calculators online that you can use for a rough estimate to use as a starting point. How you adjust your macros over time is more important than where you initially start.
I discuss this in much more detail in my Mass Gain Protocol ebook available here. Tracking your macros will help keep you in a caloric surplus, which is an absolute requirement when it comes to building muscle.
For quality, you need to make sure you are eating high-quality nutrient-dense foods as much as Top 10 ways to build muscle fastpossible. If you prefer to follow diets like flexible dieting or IIFYM, that is perfectly fine.
However, keep in mind that those were not designed to allow you to eat pizza and ice cream all day, regardless of whether or not they “fit your numbers.”
The whole point of eating food is to get your body the nutrients it needs to grow, few of which can be found in pizza and ice cream. With that said, there is nothing wrong with being a little flexible here and there while still making sure whatever you’re splurging on fits your macros…just don’t make it a habit.
Top 10 ways to build muscle fast The answer is both.
You should be cycling between different reps schemes over time to help your body avoid plateaus and to always keep it challenged. I talk about the several ways to add progressive overload to your workouts in Mass Gain Protocol, but in general, you want to push your body a little further on each workout. Whether that’s one more rep than last time, 5 more lbs, less rest in between sets, etc.
The key is, no matter what weight you use – low or high – the sets should still be challenging. If you switch from doing sets of 4-6 reps to doing sets of 12-15 reps, that does not mean the workouts get easier simply because the weight is lighter. You’re only lowering the weight to allow your body to pump out a higher number of reps. Those last few reps should still be pretty tough. In fact, you’ll likely start to find that higher rep workouts tend to be even harder than lower rep ones despite the weight being lighter.
Long story short, find a program that has you lifting both heavy & light at some point so that you can get the benefits of both. The lower reps will help you get stronger and lead to more size, and the higher reps will help with hypertrophy and focus on growing overall mass.
The difference will be noticeable in a few different areas depending on the person. Your workouts will likely get better with more sleep because you’ll have more energy, focus, and power to work with.
You’ll be able to rebuild muscle fibers even better because the majority of your body’s recovery happens while you are asleep. Plus, you’ll also be able to burn fat more efficiently with the more sleep you get because sleep can help relieve stress in the body. Stress is commonly known to hinder fat loss over time which is why many professionals who work long hours or even college students who are constantly up all night tend to gain weight more easily.
In summary: sleep more. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.
I recommend certain supplements because they can help you fill gaps in your nutrition and take your body to the next level, where food alone can’t get you.
You should always focus on whole food first, but once you are maxed out with the food you can eat, or if your schedule doesn’t let you eat a regular meal at certain times of the day, supplements can be a great help. Meal replacement protein powders like Level-1 can help you reach your daily protein goal which is a must for building muscle, and supplements like creatine monohydrate can give you more power in the gym which will also help you build more muscle.
This is obviously not good if your goal is to build muscle. Therefore, find ways to relieve stress and relax now and then to help lower your body’s stress levels. Whether it’s going to the beach, watching a movie, reading a book, going for a walk, etc, find what works for you and add it to your regular routine.
Trust me when I say this is critical. Stress can stall gains no matter how hard you work in the gym, and there is nothing more frustrating than putting in the work and not seeing the results. If you can minimize the stress you experience on a daily basis, your body will be able to pack on a lot more muscle in a lot less time.
The plan doesn’t have to be super complex or creative. In fact, the simpler it is the better. You just need a roadmap with milestones in place to help you know where you are headed.
You should have a plan for each and every workout, as well as, a long-term plan that outlines where you want to be months and even years from now.
Having a plan for each workout is essential because it gives you a reason to be at the gym and keeps you focused. If you don’t have a plan, you’re much more likely to waste time in the gym or even skip it altogether.
For instance, if you tell yourself you’re going to try to get as many reps as you can on a certain exercise, you’re almost guaranteed to stop earlier than if you were to set a specific rep goal ahead of time.
Your body will stop when it gets tired if there is no set goal. If you do have a set number in mind, you’ll be more likely to push through even when you get tired because you have a clear goal to hit. Obviously your goal should be realistic, but still challenging. Setting a goal to squat 10 reps of 315 when you’ve never hit 315 for 2 reps is not a great idea, but going for 3 reps would be.
As a result your muscle growth will slow down and may even stop at times, both of which delay the rate at which you can build muscle.
This works for burning fat too. It is a big reason why many athletes decide to commit to shows. The show gives them a deadline that they have to meet. They know that if they don’t work hard or they decide to let their diet slip, they’ll be accountable for that on stage.
You certainly don’t need to enter a show (unless you want to!) to make deadlines for yourself, but make sure to set some some marks on the calendar and hold yourself accountable to them. Include a friend or spouse in this process as well. Having someone else involved can help you stay on track when you start to get distracted.
You want to find someone as motivated as you when looking for a training partner. They don’t need to be as strong or as big as you, but having a similar mindset will lead to the best results for both of you.
If they have the physique you ultimately want to have, that’s even better because they’ll likely have more experience and can help teach you what to do.
Make sure you keep up and motivate them during workouts as well. Having a gym partner is a two-way street. By pushing each other you’ll be able to challenge your body and mind more than you usually could alone, which will help you both add more muscle in less time.
There are a few ways it can help. When you workout you actually damage your muscle fibers, which then need to be repaired. Cardio increases blood flow which carries nutrients to your damaged muscle fibers for repair.
Your muscles get bigger and stronger during this repair process. The muscle repair process is comprised of two main systems: nutrients being transported to the damaged muscles and waste products being removed. Increased blood flow can help speed both systems up, which in turn can accelerate muscle recovery and growth.
Cardio can also help you increase your insulin sensitivity. That can help you absorb more nutrients from the foods you eat and turn them into muscle rather than just storing them as fat. This can be key because the longer you are on a bulking diet and the more fat you gain (even if it’s minimal), the more your body will naturally want to start gaining fat instead of muscle. Cardio can help minimize fat gain and maximize muscle growth along the way.
The next question is how much cardio should you do?
I recommend no more than 2-3 HIIT sessions lasting about 20 minutes max, per week. This is usually a good balance of cardio to weight training that gives you the most benefits of cardio without hindering any gains. You can opt to do steady state cardio as well, but I have always preferred HIIT due to its short durations and the fact that there is less of a chance of burning muscle doing it. In any case, monitor your weight and strength to make sure they aren’t being negatively affected. If they are, try slightly reducing your cardio and see if that helps.
An experienced coach will be able to tell you what works, what doesn’t, and give you a customized plan to get you where you want to be. This can save you quite a bit of time in trial and error attempting to learn everything on your own.
Everyone is different so there is always going to be some testing, but the longer you work together with a coach the more they will be able to help you do what works best for your body. Another set of eyes to objectively analyze your progress will also help you when you start to overthink things. Your coach will stop you from making changes too quickly or waiting too long to switch things up.
He/she will give you the ability to train and eat much smarter right out of the gate because they (ideally) have experience that would take you decades to learn on your own.
The true patience mentality will allow you to understand building muscle is a long process, but it doesn’t stop you from going all out everyday. Instead, being patient is just a mechanism to ensure you don’t quit prematurely, because if you do you’ll surely never get where you want to go.
So be patient but not lazy. Understand the big picture will take time no matter what, but be impatient on a day-to-day level to ensure you stay focused and put in the work. If you can master that mentality and combine it with each of the tips above, you’ll waste no time in packing on that muscle you want so bad.
source
Check out the tips below to speed up your muscle growth!
Eat, Eat, Eat
You must eat enough food everyday to build more muscle. Without the right nutrition, you can train as hard as humanly possible but you won’t build any muscle. You want to approach eating from two angles: quantity and quality.For quantity, you need to determine what your daily macros should be. There are various macro calculators online that you can use for a rough estimate to use as a starting point. How you adjust your macros over time is more important than where you initially start.
I discuss this in much more detail in my Mass Gain Protocol ebook available here. Tracking your macros will help keep you in a caloric surplus, which is an absolute requirement when it comes to building muscle.
For quality, you need to make sure you are eating high-quality nutrient-dense foods as much as Top 10 ways to build muscle fastpossible. If you prefer to follow diets like flexible dieting or IIFYM, that is perfectly fine.
However, keep in mind that those were not designed to allow you to eat pizza and ice cream all day, regardless of whether or not they “fit your numbers.”
The whole point of eating food is to get your body the nutrients it needs to grow, few of which can be found in pizza and ice cream. With that said, there is nothing wrong with being a little flexible here and there while still making sure whatever you’re splurging on fits your macros…just don’t make it a habit.
Lift Heavy & Light
Here is the magic question: do you build muscle with low weight and higher reps or heavy weight and low reps?Top 10 ways to build muscle fast The answer is both.
You should be cycling between different reps schemes over time to help your body avoid plateaus and to always keep it challenged. I talk about the several ways to add progressive overload to your workouts in Mass Gain Protocol, but in general, you want to push your body a little further on each workout. Whether that’s one more rep than last time, 5 more lbs, less rest in between sets, etc.
The key is, no matter what weight you use – low or high – the sets should still be challenging. If you switch from doing sets of 4-6 reps to doing sets of 12-15 reps, that does not mean the workouts get easier simply because the weight is lighter. You’re only lowering the weight to allow your body to pump out a higher number of reps. Those last few reps should still be pretty tough. In fact, you’ll likely start to find that higher rep workouts tend to be even harder than lower rep ones despite the weight being lighter.
Long story short, find a program that has you lifting both heavy & light at some point so that you can get the benefits of both. The lower reps will help you get stronger and lead to more size, and the higher reps will help with hypertrophy and focus on growing overall mass.
Sleep
Most people don’t give sleep the love it deserves. Top 10 ways to build muscle fastThe fact is, the more sleep you get the better your results will be. You may still be able to make some progress with 6-7 hours of sleep per night, but you’ll likely see much better results with 9-10 hours per night.The difference will be noticeable in a few different areas depending on the person. Your workouts will likely get better with more sleep because you’ll have more energy, focus, and power to work with.
You’ll be able to rebuild muscle fibers even better because the majority of your body’s recovery happens while you are asleep. Plus, you’ll also be able to burn fat more efficiently with the more sleep you get because sleep can help relieve stress in the body. Stress is commonly known to hinder fat loss over time which is why many professionals who work long hours or even college students who are constantly up all night tend to gain weight more easily.
In summary: sleep more. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.
Supplement
Supplements get a bad rap now a days, because many companies market products that fall shortTop 10 ways to build muscle fast of their promises. As a result, this has made people very weary of trusting any supplement company, even the ones that can actually help.I recommend certain supplements because they can help you fill gaps in your nutrition and take your body to the next level, where food alone can’t get you.
You should always focus on whole food first, but once you are maxed out with the food you can eat, or if your schedule doesn’t let you eat a regular meal at certain times of the day, supplements can be a great help. Meal replacement protein powders like Level-1 can help you reach your daily protein goal which is a must for building muscle, and supplements like creatine monohydrate can give you more power in the gym which will also help you build more muscle.
Relieve Stress
Top 10 ways to build muscle fastThis is obviously much easier said than done, but it is also key when it comes to building muscle. Cortisol is your body’s stress hormone and when it increases due to additional stress, it makes building muscle and burning fat almost impossible to do. It puts your body in a catabolic state, which is the opposite of what you want when building muscle. To make things worse, it will also make your body hold onto fat instead of burning it.This is obviously not good if your goal is to build muscle. Therefore, find ways to relieve stress and relax now and then to help lower your body’s stress levels. Whether it’s going to the beach, watching a movie, reading a book, going for a walk, etc, find what works for you and add it to your regular routine.
Trust me when I say this is critical. Stress can stall gains no matter how hard you work in the gym, and there is nothing more frustrating than putting in the work and not seeing the results. If you can minimize the stress you experience on a daily basis, your body will be able to pack on a lot more muscle in a lot less time.
Plan
Top 10 ways to build muscle fastHaving a plan is something a lot of people talk about and very few people actually do. Without a plan your odds of building muscle are extremely low, and whatever you do put on will be happen slowly.The plan doesn’t have to be super complex or creative. In fact, the simpler it is the better. You just need a roadmap with milestones in place to help you know where you are headed.
You should have a plan for each and every workout, as well as, a long-term plan that outlines where you want to be months and even years from now.
Having a plan for each workout is essential because it gives you a reason to be at the gym and keeps you focused. If you don’t have a plan, you’re much more likely to waste time in the gym or even skip it altogether.
For instance, if you tell yourself you’re going to try to get as many reps as you can on a certain exercise, you’re almost guaranteed to stop earlier than if you were to set a specific rep goal ahead of time.
Your body will stop when it gets tired if there is no set goal. If you do have a set number in mind, you’ll be more likely to push through even when you get tired because you have a clear goal to hit. Obviously your goal should be realistic, but still challenging. Setting a goal to squat 10 reps of 315 when you’ve never hit 315 for 2 reps is not a great idea, but going for 3 reps would be.
Deadline
Setting deadlines works a lot like setting goals for your individual workouts. When you don’t set aTop 10 ways to build muscle fast specific deadline for your goals, they are just hopes. Think about it. If you want to build more muscle but you don’t set any type of deadline for gaining weight, then the next time you feel unmotivated for the gym or you don’t feel like eating that last meal of the day, you won’t do it.As a result your muscle growth will slow down and may even stop at times, both of which delay the rate at which you can build muscle.
This works for burning fat too. It is a big reason why many athletes decide to commit to shows. The show gives them a deadline that they have to meet. They know that if they don’t work hard or they decide to let their diet slip, they’ll be accountable for that on stage.
You certainly don’t need to enter a show (unless you want to!) to make deadlines for yourself, but make sure to set some some marks on the calendar and hold yourself accountable to them. Include a friend or spouse in this process as well. Having someone else involved can help you stay on track when you start to get distracted.
Get A Gym Partner
Getting a gym partner is a great way to help you push harder in the gym. Having someone you know10 ways to build muscle fast and trust with you will make it easier to do things like forced-reps that would otherwise be impossible alone. Sure, you can always ask that other gym bro, but if he doesn’t know what he’s doing, it can end badly.You want to find someone as motivated as you when looking for a training partner. They don’t need to be as strong or as big as you, but having a similar mindset will lead to the best results for both of you.
If they have the physique you ultimately want to have, that’s even better because they’ll likely have more experience and can help teach you what to do.
Make sure you keep up and motivate them during workouts as well. Having a gym partner is a two-way street. By pushing each other you’ll be able to challenge your body and mind more than you usually could alone, which will help you both add more muscle in less time.
Don’t Neglect Cardio
Top 10 ways to build muscle fastYou’re probably thinking that cardio hinders muscle growth, and you would be correct…kind of. The truth is too much cardio hinders muscle growth, but the right amount of cardio can actually help you grow muscle.There are a few ways it can help. When you workout you actually damage your muscle fibers, which then need to be repaired. Cardio increases blood flow which carries nutrients to your damaged muscle fibers for repair.
Your muscles get bigger and stronger during this repair process. The muscle repair process is comprised of two main systems: nutrients being transported to the damaged muscles and waste products being removed. Increased blood flow can help speed both systems up, which in turn can accelerate muscle recovery and growth.
Cardio can also help you increase your insulin sensitivity. That can help you absorb more nutrients from the foods you eat and turn them into muscle rather than just storing them as fat. This can be key because the longer you are on a bulking diet and the more fat you gain (even if it’s minimal), the more your body will naturally want to start gaining fat instead of muscle. Cardio can help minimize fat gain and maximize muscle growth along the way.
The next question is how much cardio should you do?
I recommend no more than 2-3 HIIT sessions lasting about 20 minutes max, per week. This is usually a good balance of cardio to weight training that gives you the most benefits of cardio without hindering any gains. You can opt to do steady state cardio as well, but I have always preferred HIIT due to its short durations and the fact that there is less of a chance of burning muscle doing it. In any case, monitor your weight and strength to make sure they aren’t being negatively affected. If they are, try slightly reducing your cardio and see if that helps.
Hire A Coach
Top 10 ways to build muscle fastI have found this to be one of the biggest ways to speed up muscle growth. Even professional bodybuilders use coaches to keep them on track. It is very easy to get inside your own head. Even the best athletes sometimes want to make premature changes to diets and training which ends up adding to the time it takes to get the physique they are looking for.An experienced coach will be able to tell you what works, what doesn’t, and give you a customized plan to get you where you want to be. This can save you quite a bit of time in trial and error attempting to learn everything on your own.
Everyone is different so there is always going to be some testing, but the longer you work together with a coach the more they will be able to help you do what works best for your body. Another set of eyes to objectively analyze your progress will also help you when you start to overthink things. Your coach will stop you from making changes too quickly or waiting too long to switch things up.
He/she will give you the ability to train and eat much smarter right out of the gate because they (ideally) have experience that would take you decades to learn on your own.
Wrapping Up
At the end of the day building muscle is about patience. Be careful, though. Many people use patience as an excuse to get soft on workouts and let their diet slide because “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Having that mentality can be disastrous and lead to less muscle gain than what’s possible or even an increase in fat gain.The true patience mentality will allow you to understand building muscle is a long process, but it doesn’t stop you from going all out everyday. Instead, being patient is just a mechanism to ensure you don’t quit prematurely, because if you do you’ll surely never get where you want to go.
So be patient but not lazy. Understand the big picture will take time no matter what, but be impatient on a day-to-day level to ensure you stay focused and put in the work. If you can master that mentality and combine it with each of the tips above, you’ll waste no time in packing on that muscle you want so bad.
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