When you're aiming to build muscle and find yourself either at step one or even hitting a plateau, there are some tips and tricks you can use in your everyday routine that will help kick start the process. Building muscle means dedication and passion to having a healthy lifestyle and healthy body but that also means taking the time in order to actually build up muscle. Do you have what it takes to build up muscle and reach the goals you have set up for your body? Here are several ways to build muscle right now to start seeing changes in your lifestyle and mindset.
1. Keep your training under an hour
While it may make sense to train for hours on end at the gym or home when you want muscle gain, this is actually the exact opposite you should be doing. Instead, focus on keeping it short (under an hour if at all possible) but intense. Building muscle means pushing your body to its limits but you don't want overdue it when it comes to training, or you might injure yourself accidentally. Gaining weight and shaping it into muscle means working hard, not overworking your training time and body.
Remember to also stay properly hydrated while doing these intense workouts, too. You should be staying hydrated with water constantly everyday even when you're not working out but it is especially crucial during "crunch time" while you're doing reps and weights.
2. Meal planning is a must
There are all sorts of ways to build muscle, but this is a must if you want to see actual results from all your hard work. While you're trying to gain muscle you want to be properly eating on top of staying hydrated otherwise your body will remain unhealthy and you won't be able to really build muscle in the process. Meal planning mostly consists of understanding your caloric intake and your metabolism. If yours is on the faster side, you'll want to aim for five to six meals throughout the day that are about two to three hours spaced apart because otherwise you won't be able to gain the weight you'll need for muscle. If your metabolism is on the slower side, you will want to consult with a nutritionist but know that your caloric intake still needs to be properly balanced to allow for lean muscle gains and not bad weight gains.
Once you have the calorie goals you want to achieve, make sure to plan out your meals in advance. There are meal planning solutions out there for you such as Jax Sports Nutrition as ways to build muscle and actually see the progress without burning yourself out.
3. Remember to eat often
In the same vein of meal planning and understanding your caloric intake for better gains, you need to make sure that you are indeed eating more often to up your calories. Sometimes weight lifters think they are eating enough when in reality they are missing out on a calorie crunch and hit a plateau with your muscle building. The best foods for ways to build muscle are protein like lean ground beef, chicken, and fish. But remember to eat more often throughout the day on top of eating the right foods as part of your meal planning.
4. Always have rest days
Doesn't it just make sense to workout everyday with intense routines under an hour and keep on your meal plan? Unfortunately, this type of mentality leads to burn out, or worse, severe injury. You need to let your muscles and body rest in order to repair itself. Not only that but it's also best to save up that energy for the gym so you'll have great workouts that help you accomplish certain goals to make your ideal weight. If you're constantly doing intense workouts and always "on the go," your body won't have enough of that energy stored away. You can always alternate the type of workouts you're doing to have easier days compared to others or you can incorporate rest days where you don't go to the gym or do a workout at home.
However, if you think you have hit a plateau and think you need to workout even more, change your rep range. This is actually ideal to do every three to four weeks anyway because it pushes your body to new limits for better gains.
Restful sleep is a big key in the process of building muscle. You do all of your rebuilding and repair while you are asleep. If you aren’t getting enough sleep then you won’t have adequate time to optimally build muscle like you are working so hard to do. On a minimum, you would want to aim for between 7 and 8 hours of sleep a night. This doesn’t mean lying in bed for 7 to 8 hours, it means actually being asleep and staying asleep! If you have trouble sleeping or staying asleep, then come get free samples of sleep aides to get the restful sleep you need and deserve.
5. Keep focus on your progress
Last but certainly not least, keep your eye on the prize. You've been working hard, challenging yourself with intense workouts, upping your reps and seeing the type of progress and gains you wanted to see so don't start losing focus now. Some people get into a set routine and think they don't need to challenge their body any longer but you still need to keep track of your meal planning and caloric intake as well as make sure you're changing up your workout routine in order to get the most out of your muscle gain. You've already put all this effort into building muscle, why lose focus now?
There are several ways to build muscle and these are only a handful but they happen to be some of the best advice you'll find out there. Building muscle and seeing progression is very doable for anyone when you keep on reps, hydration, and meal planning. Fortunately, one of those main parts of muscle gain is already taken care of for you at Jax Sports meal planning program.
