Whether you want to transform your health, improve your physique and appearance, or gain functional strength for day-to-day life, adding lean muscle mass to your body is something you should be focusing on. Sadly, many people fear weight gain and shy away from trying to achieve this. Remember, fat gain and muscle gain are very different. Gaining lean muscle mass is good for your body as it will not only help you keep your overall body fat percentage lower, but it can also contribute to boosting your insulin sensitivity as well, making it easier to manage your Type 2 diabetic symptoms.
So how do you go about building muscle? To do this successfully, you will need two things…
- A workout program providing an overloading stimulus.
- A diet plan providing a few more calories than you need to maintain your body weight.
Get these in order, and you will be on track to building lean muscle mass. This said, there are a few things you can do to take your results to a whole new level. Let us go over what these are so you can maximize your results…
1. Time Your Carbohydrate Intake. When it comes to adding carbohydrates to your diet plan, add them before and especially after your workout period. This is when your body is most likely to use those carbs. Eat them at other points in the day, and you may find you are putting on more body fat and less lean muscle as you are not maximizing your nutrient window.
Around 50% of your total carb intake for the day should come in the meal before your workout, your post-workout shake, as well as your post-workout meal.
2. Focus On Compound Movements. Next, when you do hit the gym, think compound movements. These are going to give you the best bang for your buck so to speak, allowing you to work multiple muscle groups at once.
These exercises include moves like…
- squats,
- deadlifts,
- lunges,
- bench press,
- shoulder press,
- bent over rows,
- pull-ups, and
- pull-downs.
Focus your time on these, adding isolation exercises to the mix only once these are completed. You will not build more lean muscle mass doing bicep curls all workout long.
3. Think Frequency, Not Volume. Finally, when planning your workout sessions, think frequency, not volume. While it is great to be doing multiple sets each workout, it is better to hit the gym more often than go overboard each workout session. Do too much each workout session, and it will take you a long time to recover, which will slow down your progress…
- 15 to 24 sets each workout is the most you should aim to do.
- some people may even get away with less – 12 to 15 sets per session.
Keep these points in mind, and you can feel confident you are on your way to muscle building success. Do not fear scale increases – if its muscle you are gaining: perfect.
