Sure Shot Muscle Building Techniques – a 3 Step Guide

We all know muscle building is not easy. Muscle building requires your sincere efforts and your time. You must be motivated and be consistent in these efforts by following a strict regimen.  There are several muscle building techniques one can adopt. The first step and most important step in muscle building is weight training which should be done in a correct manner. This includes your work out routines and the actual exercises that you will do. Your routine must include exercises that give your entire body a good work out which target your shoulders, chest, lats, forearms, biceps, triceps, abs, calves, hamstrings, quads and gluts. The oft used muscle building technique with respect to working out involves lesser repetitions of fewer sets of heavy weight lifting combined with more sets of lower weights with greater repetitions. For example, about 3 to 4 sets of heavy weights with 6 to 8 repetitions along with 5 to 6 sets of lighter weights with 18 to 20 repetitions. The heavy weight reps stimulate the muscles whileas the light weight reps pump more blood and strengthen blood vessels. There may many different exercises and machines for each of your muscle groups. Exercises that require your body to use more than one muscle are compound movements.

Muscle building can be achieved effectively by carrying out compound movement centric exercises.  Some of the most effectual compound movement exercises are squats, dead lifts, the bench-press and the military press. These exercises work muscles of a particular group all at once and thus, take care of each part of your body.

The second step is to give keen attention to your diet. This is probably as important as the weight training that you will undertake. You must consume more calories, in order to fuel your intense workouts. It is vital that you have more calories than your body would need to burn off, thus generating a caloric surplus. This surplus of calories is used to restore muscle tissue that has been damaged during the exercises. A combination of protein and fat in your diet leads to better muscle building. This is because proteins help in providing amino acids which build and repair muscles.  The body demands amino acids when put through an intense work out. You must get one gram of protein per pound of body weight every day from unprocessed and natural food. If not you should use a whey protein supplement in the form of powder or bars.  Along with proteins, you must incorporate fats in your diet. Popular belief states that eating more fat makes one fat. Contrary to this urban dietary myth, fats actually are very crucial to the body as they produce the necessary proportion of hormones and also prevent muscle breakdown. However, you should avoid saturated fats, and these are the fats that cause coronary diseases and other ailments. So concentrate on foods that contain unsaturated fats, which are the Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs). Also stay away from all junk food and anything high in sugar like candy, cakes, ice-creams etc. Another tip is to eat more often, by dividing your daily food intake into smaller portions.  By having long gaps between meals, your body will instantly start to break down important muscle tissue, which would hamper muscle building. This method would provide constant nourishment to your body throughout the day, and thus would not put a burden on your digestive system all at once.  You must also drink a lot of water in order to keep your muscles hydrated. Taking a multi-vitamin supplement is also advisable, enabling your diet in being more balanced. 

The third step is to get sufficient sleep and rest. The body does not build muscle as you work out, but it does build muscle when your rest! Hence, steer clear of the temptation of over training as your body needs enough time to rest and recover from these intense work outs. You must learn to listen to your body; so if you feel pain, do not keep working out through the pain. A dull pain would be your body telling you it needs rest. A sharp pain could mean a pulled or a twisted muscle; so now it’s time to stop.

Last but not the least, dedication, consistency and patience are imperative toward successful muscle building, as results take time. Follow these steps and the results will be there for you to see.