To be fast you must be lean. Cheetahs, the fastest animals on earth, can reach speeds of 70 M.P.H. But only because they are very lean. The same principle applies to humans. It’s easy to observe that the athletes winning the races are very lean.

In general, for given muscle power and leg speed, the lighter the load, the faster the speed. Athletes with a higher percentage of body fat will run slower than they could run if they were leaner. But how does one become leaner?

There are many different opinions on this subject, some not helpful, some even dangerous. The following review of a few food facts and new research reveals sensible, safe ways for an athlete to become leaner and stronger.

First, some basic food facts:

There are three basic food groups:

1) Proteins build muscles, organs, bones, enzymes, immune cells and many hormones.

2) Carbohydrates are fuel for immediate use.

3) Fats provide insulation, cushioning and calorie storage and help build cell membranes and some hormones.

All foods can be converted to fat if you eat too much of them. Excess carbohydrates, proteins and fats will make you fat. A little known fact is that most of the proteins that we eat are turned into carbohydrates and used for fuel or stored as fat. For example, 83% of any whey and soy proteins that are eaten are not used to build body protein, but as carbohydrates.

Here’s why:

The protein in food is made up of amino acids strung together like beads on a chain. When a protein food source is digested, the amino acids are released and absorbed in the small intestine. Some of these amino acids can then be used as building blocks that are recombined to build the required proteins for the body. Only amino acids that are available in the correct proportions can be used to build body protein.

How much of the protein that is digested and absorbed is used to build body proteins?

That depends on the source of the protein. Most people think that if they eat 30 grams of protein that all of those 30 grams will be used by their body to form new proteins or to replace the proteins that are naturally lost each day. This isn’t actually what happens.

Each protein source is made up of different amounts of individual amino acids. Each protein source has a different percentage of its amino acids that can be used to build body protein.

A chicken breast (raw, boneless and skinless) is about 23 percent protein. Therefore 3 oz (85 g) of chicken breast would contain about 19.5 grams of protein. (In a healthy individual, about 2-8% of the protein is indigestible, leaving at least 18 grams of digestible protein.) What is important to realize is that of this 18 grams, only about 30% of it (about 5 grams) is actually “used” by our body to make or synthesize new proteins. The rest (about 13 grams) is broken down and becomes a source of calories.

If you examine whey protein, only 16% of the amino acids are used to build proteins in the body. Therefore 84% of the amino acids are not used to build protein and just become a source of extra calories!

Also it is important to understand that if the amino acids in a protein source or an amino acid formula are not used, in addition to releasing calories, harmful nitrogen waste is released which must be eliminated by the body. (Excess nitrogen waste can stress the liver and kidneys, especially as we age.)

Although all of the food groups (fat, protein and carbohydrates) can be used as an energy source, only protein can provide the essential amino acids required to build body protein. (Carbohydrates are the preferred source of energy for the body.)

So how do you get a lean body?

First. Use carbohydrates prudently. Except during heavy training, avoid products containing high fructose corn syrup. Instead of consuming sports bars and drinks with high fructose corn syrup, eat natural and unprocessed foods, including fruits and starchy vegetables.

Second. Avoid all refined grains (white flour, white rice and most baked goods). They are poor food sources for everyone.

Third. A void most processed foods and “fast” foods. Read food labels. If additives, preservatives, colorants, chemicals, flavorings, seasonings, etc., are listed, pass them by.

Fourth. A void all foods with trans fats, deep fried foods and margarine.

In general, eat mostly healthy, natural, unprocessed foods: fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, non-processed meats, beans, and eggs. Eat like our cave man ancestors. (Eliminate sugar and processed foods.)

What Body Type Are You? (Men Only)

1. Your ability for weight gain/loss sounds most like

A). I can’t gain weight easily, in the form of fat or muscle

B). I can gain muscle easily, and gain very little fat

C). I gain fat easily, I might have some muscle tone, but it is hard for me to become “ripped”

2. My bone structure is

A). Small

B). Medium to large

C). Large

3. I gain muscle

A). Slowly, I resemble a long distance runner

B). Easily-it is easy for me to become ripped

C). easily, but I rarely look ripped

4. My body most resembles

A). Short torso, long limbs, narrow chest and shoulders, long thin muscles

B). Large chest, long torso, solid lean muscles

C). Short neck, large stature, round face, soft looking

5. As a child I was

A). Thin

B). Average

C). Chubby

6. In the sun I tend to

A). Burn easily

B). Tan well

C). Burn and then tan

7. If I pig out for a whole week without working out, I will

A). Stay the same, or maybe lose a pound or two

B). Stay about the same

C). Gain weight

8. If I diet for a week without working out, I will

A). Lose weight

B). Lose a few pounds, but look the same

C). Stay the same

9. I mostly resemble

A). A runner

B). A bodybuilder

C). A football player

10. My fat/muscle ratio is

A). Low fat/ low muscle

B). Low fat/ high muscle

C). High fat/ high muscle

Answers:

Mostly A’s – Ectomorph

If you fall into this category you are probably a lean, tall, frail person who can’t gain weight easily. Since this site is about bodybuilding, I’m sure this is not the look that you are going for. However, not all hope is lost. People who are ectomorph’s need to add more calories to their diets. Be careful not to add the calories into one or two big meals, because your body cannot use them all up as fuel to add muscle. It is a better idea to spread these calories out into 5-7 meals per day. Also watch out for what types of foods you are eating. It’s easy for people with high metabolisms to go out and eat fast food all the time, because it doesn’t affect their weight. But, when you are trying to gain muscle, eating high quality foods counts just as much as when you are trying to lose weight. You can have a fat intake up to 30% of your diet, but try to get most of it from quality fats such as fish and vegetable oils. When it comes to exercise, ectomorphs should limit their cardio activities and focus more on lifting weight. When lifting you should aim for lower reps using heavy weights. Resting between sets is important, as well as resting between workouts to give you’re muscles time to grow. The best exercises to do are heavy compound movements such as dead lifts, squats, bench press and pull downs. The main focus should be to put on mass, and worry about definition a little later.

Mostly B’s – Mesomorph

If you belong to this category, consider yourself lucky. This is the ideal body type for bodybuilding. It is not extremely difficult for you to gain or lose weight, and you can pack on muscle quickly. People in this category should aim for 4-6 well balanced, healthy meals per day. Your fat intake should be around 20% of your daily calories, and you should try to consume 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body mass. Remember, just because you are blessed with the ideal body type, doesn’t mean that you can slack off by eating extra dessert and skipping workouts. As you get older and these habits become engrained, you will begin to notice trouble areas on your body, and ailing health. When you are at the gym you should strength train 2-3 times per week, and do aerobic activities either daily or every second day. Since every person is different, you should prioritize your workouts to the best of your own personal advantage.

Mostly C’s – Endomorph’s

If you are an endomorph you are probably rather round or soft looking. You may have muscles but you have very little tone. To achieve the bodybuilding look that you desire, it is extremely important to focus both on healthy eating and exercise. You are probably going to have to cut calories from your daily diet. Start by eating smaller portions, more frequently throughout the day (every 2-3 hours), about 4-6 meals a day. Having your last meal 3-4 hours before you go to bed is an easy way to cut down on calories and speed up weight loss. Be sure to eat a lot of lean protein and high fiber foods, such as beans, whole grains, brown rice, fruits and vegetables. When it comes to exercise, you should be doing at least 30 minutes of cardio activity 5-6 days per week and strength training two to three times per week. Make sure you get at least 2 days rest in between your strength training workouts. You can focus on major muscle group exercises such as dead lifts and squats, and you will also want to incorporate isolation exercises for more tone.

Body Building Resources @ Body Building Info [http://www.inforesearcher.com/body-building.php]

It’s important to understand that the body has a very cool and effective ability to adapt to anything. At the same time, when it comes to increasing physical enhancement, our bodies need a change of stimulus; we have to alter patterns of movement and increase the amount of resistance placed upon the body. The body will only respond when it has a demand placed upon it that it has never dealt with before; this is referred to as the maximum overload principle.

Understanding How the Body Responds to Physical Stimuli

By alternating stimuli and forcing the body to work to adapt, we increase the number of muscle fibers that are broken down and we write new neurological patterns in the brain. This ultimately makes us stronger, faster, and more efficient. It will also increase proprioceptive awareness, help with weight loss, increase lean muscle, and enhance cognitive function.

Periodization Training – What You Need to Know

The key to achieving all this is periodization training. Periodization training is a type of program that has set goals which are divided into a series of cycles. A periodization training program can be set up differently for everyone; it’s only dictated by the individual’s personal goals. Again, the focus of each cycle is personalized to the client’s unique fitness goals or training goals. Any protocol can be altered according to the individual’s specific goals, but your body needs a chance to adapt to one before moving into another phase. It will typically take about 4-16 workouts for an athlete or fitness client to adapt to their workout plan, and this is the ideal point when exercises should be altered or changed.

Customize Your Periodization Training Program

Here are a few examples of how simple it is to alter or customize your training program in order to maximize the benefits: (your trainer can guide you in customizing your program effectively)

• Increase or decrease the number of repetitions per set, or the number of sets of each exercise (depending on your goal)
• Increase the amount of resistance
• Shorten the rest period between sets, exercises or training sessions
• Change the order of the exercises, or the types of exercises
• Increase the speed at which you complete each exercise

Supporting Evidence: Periodization Training Gets Results

The most cited study conducted on the enhanced benefits of periodization training (as compared to non periodization training) was done at the Human Performance Laboratory at Ball State University. It shows that a periodized strength-training program can produce better results than a non-periodized program.

Don’t Expect Results from Repetition Alone

I cannot emphasize enough just how important periodization training is any to anyone looking to increase and improve their strength, speed, endurance, stability, or any other fitness goal they’ve set. Following the same program month after month will leave you stuck in the mud, expecting results that you are not going to get from sticking with the same routine repeatedly. Einstein said it best – his definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So, get on it! Start periodizing your routines, meeting your goals, and enjoying the results that you deserve to have.

Bruce Lee emerged on the scene in 1959, here in the United States.

He was not a huge man when he arrived in Seattle. Weighing just under 130 pounds.

In fact, he was born a sickly boy with an undescended testicle and a female name. His mother… a very superstitious woman gave him the name of Li Jun Fan so that evil spirits would not snatch him away. (In the Chinese culture male children are more valued than the female ones.)

With all this going against him it’s almost impossible to believe that later on he would become the proverbial — Charles Atlas cartoon character.

You know the one, he gets sand kicked in his face, starts training, working out hard and before you know it…he’s got muscles and he’s taking care of himself on the beach!

Lee spent his entire life turning his small frail body into a large weapon but he did more than that. You see, most people did not view the Chinese as a physically strong people, in fact they were perceived to be house workers and day laborers. A small and weak race was the American perception of the Chinese at that time. Most martial arts were still unknown including the Chinese style of boxing which Bruce was about to introduce to Westerners

Kung fu was up until this point unknown to Americans. So when Bruce Lee burst on the scene with this fast punches and high kicks — every nerd and underweight male had a new hero!

Many people wanted to learn kung fu and so the Bruce Lee workout and training program started. Some of the more famous of the Bruce Lee students were, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, and many others. Soon every Westerner was learning — Jeet Kune Do. This is the name that Bruce Lee gave his martial art, translated it means — “the Way of the intercepting fist.”

He loved to train and he was constantly trying to improve the Bruce Lee workout program. He was what you could call a fitness freak. He involved himself in running, lifting weights, using isometrics exercise and electrical impulse to stimulate his muscles while he slept. (Bruce Lee even wanted to add speed and power during his sleep.)

Bruce Lee was also very much into proper nutrition and the Bruce Lee diet consisted of taking vitamins, ginseng, royal jelly, steroids and even liquid steaks (prior to 1980s steroids were actually legal to be to take in the United States.)

Although the Bruce Lee workout was never intended to make him look like Arnold Schwarzenegger or even a pro bodybuilder, it is easy to see that it was effective in developing a ripped muscularity that most people today would love to have.

Unfortunately Bruce Lee died at the age of 32 under strange circumstances and controversy in his mistresses house of a supposed brain edema. The autopsy revealed that the cause of death was a strange reaction to a prescription painkiller called — Equagesic. What really stands out about the Bruce Lee workout and training is that through all his many obstacles he was still able to overcome them and achieve his goal of becoming a martial arts legend and movie star.

If you’re a teenager or a parent of a teenager that looks for facts and things to learn about weight training for teenagers then you’re reading the right article. The tips and advice mentioned below will give you an overview of the many things that surrounds strength training for teens such as answers to the questions “Is it normal to let a teenager lift weights?” or “Does the teenager need to orally take supplements?” or “What foods are allowed in weight training for teenagers?”.

It is normal when kids want to perform a weight training program. It’s even recommended for weight loss by doctors especially if the young adult is on the verge of obesity. The sad thing about weight lifting exercise and workout is that others start doing the routines when they’re already older or when their bodies turn to jiggle a lot because of too much fat. In physical exercises, the earlier the better is the key. Teenagers need to know how to take care of their health and body appearance as early as possible. Strength training for teenagers can do a lot of wonders in the child’s lifestyle.

There are a lot of benefits and advantages on weight training for beginners. Probably the most important of them are the benefits that clearly affect their health. Listed below are the health benefits of weight training exercises to teenagers:

• The muscle building training strengthen the teenager’s body particularly his or her muscles and bones. This will help reduce any forms of osteoporosis or any lower back pains in the future.
• Lifting weights can boost the metabolism of the teenager.
• Strength training activities are great to fix or to improve the coordination or balance problem of a teenager.
• The activity can definitely tone the muscles of the teenager. It will not just boost their energy; it will also boost their self confidence.
• Workouts and exercise routines can keep the teenager occupied so there’s just a small window of opportunity for bad elements like drugs and too much alcohol to worry about.

The following are some tips and tricks for a teenager or a teenager’s parent to do and follow for a safer routine for the children.

• Consult the doctor. If you’re a teenager who wishes to start weight lifting programs, you should ask your parents or guardians to accompany you to the doctor. Consultation is important to avoid any health risks in the future. Of course if you have a heart ailment, the doctors can advice you on what types of routines can both benefit your heart and will keep it away from heart strains.
• Research about bodybuilding. Teenagers are eager and impulsive by nature. And though, these qualities are adorable, it can also create harm. If the teenager decided to enroll in the gym for fitness training then you need to do a research about it. You have to know what types of routines your body can handle. Make sure to know your strengths and weaknesses so you’ll have an idea what to improve and what to enhance. You also need to research the variety of nutrition that you need to take.
• As much as possible, say no to supplements. Try to exercise without any help from pills and drugs to avoid health complications in the future.

No person, growing up, says “I want little muscles when I get big.” Why… People like big muscles. All men want big muscles and women want a man with big muscles. If you’re finally ready to get the rock-hard physique of your dreams keep reading, because in the following paragraphs I will tell you how to get big muscles.

Decide Today

The first step of how to get big muscles always starts with a decision. You have to decide for yourself what you want to achieve and then you must take action immediately. Set your goals, develop a plan and then take action. Immediate action does something for yourself conscious mind. It helps you ward off procrastination, which will be the biggest obstacle you face while trying to gain muscle. Decide to today that you will get big no matter what stands if your way. If you do this, you will be successful.

Intensity Is A Must

This second step is very important if you want to know how to get big muscle. To gain massive muscle quickly you must train with extreme intensity inside of the weight room. You must work at a furious pace and drown all outside distractions. When you put total concentration into each rep of each set you’re setting yourself of for unheard muscle growth. Your muscles will hate this new stress being put on them and will have no choice, but to grow.

Don’t Over Train

Finally the last step to getting huge is preventing overtraining at all cost. Make sure you’re getting proper rest between workouts. For most people trying to get bigger, their question shouldn’t be “how to get big muscles,” it should be “how do I stop overtraining, so that I can finally grow?” Remember, muscle doesn’t grow inside of the weight room while your lifting – It grows while you’re sleep, so get proper rest.

Do you remember the hero from movies like Universal Soldier and Timecop, Jean Claude Van Damme?. Jean is a trained martial artist. He’s very well known for his physique and is fondly called as “Muscles from Brussels”. All his movies are of the action genre. These include Bloodsport and Kickboxer.

Building a body like his is no cake walk. One needs to build a healthy routine and follow it religiously. Apart from your intake, your workouts, amount of rest and supplement intake should be well planned. All this done, you bodybuilding process is on the right track.

Van Damme’s Bodybuilding and Dieting Tips

* Many food contains zero calories. Candies and sodas are such items and they should be avoided. Nutritious foods are those with high fibrous content. Eggs, soya products, fruits and vegetables are all very rich in fibrous content. A meal is eaten to increase the rate of metabolism which in turn burns fat. A slow and steady process of body building includes taking around 12 meals every single day.

* Cardio workouts have increased in importance from time to time. This because it increases metabolism and boosts your stamina levels. Cardio exercises can always be performed at home. Simple daily activities like walking, running, cycling and swimming count too. External help can be sought in the form of treadmills and stationary bicycles.

* There are many body weight exercises like pull ups, pushups, different types of dips and squats which help the body build stamina and strength. The most important aspect of the process of body building is rest. Adequate rest is pivotal to build a great physique. Van Damme performs a variety of exercises to maintain that awesome body he has. Bench presses, pull ups and curls are a few of these workouts.

* The whole process of bodybuilding involves a lot of sweat and endurance. The stamina in one’s body can be increased by the consumption of Nitric Oxide. This compound has an amazing effect on the body, preventing it from all kinds of diseases including cancer and heart attacks. Its elements include an anti aging substance which helps the aging process of the human body slow down.

Thousands of people join the gym every single day and one of the most popular questions they ask is, “How to Build Muscle Mass Fast?”

The truth is that there is no special exercise or magic formula to build muscle mass really fast, but there are advanced techniques that you can focus and persist on to build lean muscle mass without gaining too much unwanted fat at the same time giving you that ripped and shredded look that turns heads.

Learning how to build muscle mass is as easy as ABC. You will understand this as you read the following tips.

Tip #1

Break your previous record in every workout

Every time you workout, try to break your previous record. If you bench press 100 lbs last time, try to lift 110 lbs or 120 lbs next time. You need to keep challenging yourself in every workout if you need to trigger body that its under stress which is when the body starts to build muscle mass during repair instead of burning them for energy.

Tip #2

Always train to muscular failure

If someone asked me one single technique to show how to build muscle mass quickly, then this one is very important. Training to muscular failure in every set of every exercise means freaking your body out that it might be in danger. This will trigger your body to be prepared for future hazards by building a lot of muscle tissue in a very short period of time.

Tip #3

Run away from your workout after 60 minutes.

Once your clock reaches 60 minutes, you should stop your workout no matter how many sets are left. Run away from the gym as quickly as you can. In fact, the optimal time I recommend if 45 minutes after which the glycogen stores are totally depleted and whatever exercise you do to build muscle mass will only create a negative result.

Are you satisfied with the 3 tips on how to build muscle mass quickly? These are few of the many things that you need to follow when trying build lean muscle in the fastest time possible. Who said that building muscle mass is easy? If that was the case, everybody in the gym would be a bodybuilder in just a few months.

That is not the case isn’t it?

If building muscle mass is a goal of yours, this is your lucky day because I am about to simplify the process down to 3 easy to follow steps. The challenge of building muscle mass in this day and age is there is so much bogus information floating around out there that it is difficult to know what is fact and what is fiction. You start to follow one piece of advice and when that doesn’t work you move on to the next, and the vicious cycle begins. As I pointed out earlier, building muscle mass can actually be broken down into 3 simple to follow steps, so let’s get to them.

1. Dedication and Proper Mindset

The first step in building muscle mass is having dedication and the proper mindset to start with. Without this, you’re destined for failure. Your probably asking yourself this question right now, “Sure, that’s easier said than done”. Guess what, you’re exactly right. However, there are many ways you can help get yourself into the proper mindset to succeed in your muscle building endeavors.

The first thing you must do is set goals for yourself, but make these goals specific. Don’t just write, “I want to build muscle mass,” but instead write, “I want to build 8 pounds of muscle mass in 1 month.” Do you see how much more specific that is? You will feel much more compelled to work towards that specific goal than for the more general one. Once you have written your goals, post them in a place where you will see them everyday, and be forced to read through them. This will keep you focused on a daily basis.

The day-to-day process of building muscle mass can become mundane, so it’s important to have a strategy to raise your intensity level before entering the gym. Visualization is a great tool to use to raise your focus and intensity. Throughout your day or before you workout, visualize yourself having success in the gym. That may be you see yourself finally getting that 7th rep of 235# on the bench press on your last set or reach a new max on the squat. Whatever you visualize, be very specific. Visualize every detail about the situation. The more detailed you can be in your visualizations the more success you will have with this technique. Pro athletes in every sport utilize this technique to reach their goals, so there is no reason why you shouldn’t be using it either.

Building muscle mass can be achieved while training by yourself, but it is much easier to maintain your focus and dedication if you have a training partner that is counting on you being at every workout. The trick is picking a good partner because if you pick a bad one this can have negative effects on your muscle building quest, as well. The most important thing you must look for in a partner is that they have the same dedication and desire towards building muscle mass, as you do.

These techniques should help you maintain your motivation towards building muscle mass. Now that you have step 1 mastered, let’s move on to step 2.

2. Proper Weight Lifting Program

The second step in building muscle mass is to follow a proper weight lifting program. If you do a search on any of the popular internet search engines, you can easily find a dozen or more weight lifting programs that all claim to pack pounds of muscle on your frame. Some of these programs may work, but many do not because they forget to focus on one simple principle. In order to build muscle mass, you must build strength. Think about it; have you ever seen a 225# bodybuilder maxing out on the bench at 150 pounds? I didn’t think so. As your strength improves, your muscles adapt by growing bigger.

The best way to increase your strength and therefore build muscle mass is to ensure the core of your weight lifting program consists of compound lifts such as the bench press, squat, dead lift, chin-ups, dips, etc. These lifts will allow you to lift the maximum amount of weight which will in turn recruit the most muscle fibers resulting in greater improvements in strength and muscle mass.

To achieve the greatest improvement in strength and therefore muscle mass, you should do all your lifts for 2-3 sets of 5-7 reps. This rep range has been shown to maximize strength and muscle mass gains. For your main muscle groups such as your legs, chest, and back, you should do about 3-4 exercises for a total of 6-8 sets for each muscle group. For your abs, triceps, shoulders, and biceps, you should do an additional 2 exercises for a total of 3-4 sets for each muscle group. The reason we do less exercises for the latter is that they have already received some work during the compound movements we did. A good workout split would be to train three days per week with day 1 being Legs/Abs, day 2 being chest/shoulders/triceps, and day 3 being back/biceps/forearms. This should be all the training you need to reach your goal of building muscle mass.

Now that you know how to develop a proper weight lifting program for building muscle mass, it is time to move on to the last and final step.

3. Proper Muscle Building Nutrition

The third and final step in building muscle mass is ensuring you eat correctly to maximize your muscle building potential. Without proper nutrition, you will never reach your full potential. You must feed your muscle with enough nutrients for them to grow.

In order to build muscle mass, you have to create a calorie surplus of between 300-500 calories above your maintenance level. This simply means you must eat more calories than you burn, so there is enough energy left over for building muscle mass. The simplest method for calculating your caloric requirements is the basic multiplier. For this method, you simply multiply your bodyweight by 17-20 to give you the amount of calories you will need to consume to create a calorie surplus within your body. This will work fairly well for the majority of people with average body types. There are other methods, but they are beyond the scope of this article.

The timing of your meals is also very important because you are going to need to eat every 2-3 hours your awake for a total of 5-7 meals per day. Each meal should consist of approximately 40% lean protein, 40% complex carbohydrate, and 20% fat. Your muscles require protein to grow, so eating every 2-3 hours ensures that there is always a good supply of protein to fuel muscle growth and keep you in an anabolic (muscle building) state. If you don’t supply your body with all of its protein requirements, it starts breaking down your muscle tissue to get this protein, which is exactly what you don’t want to happen.

I hope you can see that nutrition is a vitally important component of building muscle mass.

Well, there you have it. These 3 steps of dedication, proper weight lifting program, and proper muscle building nutrition are all that is required to start building muscle mass. Now all you have to do is hit the gym and put what you’ve learned here about building muscle mass to use. Good luck!

If building muscle mass is a goal of yours, this is your lucky day because I am about to simplify the process down to 3 easy to follow steps. The challenge of building muscle mass in this day and age is there is so much bogus information floating around out there that it is difficult to know what is fact and what is fiction. You start to follow one piece of advice and when that doesn’t work you move on to the next, and the vicious cycle begins. As I pointed out earlier, building muscle mass can actually be broken down into 3 simple to follow steps, so let’s get to them.

1. Dedication and Proper Mindset

The first step in building muscle mass is having dedication and the proper mindset to start with. Without this, you’re destined for failure. Your probably asking yourself this question right now, “Sure, that’s easier said than done”. Guess what, you’re exactly right. However, there are many ways you can help get yourself into the proper mindset to succeed in your muscle building endeavors.

The first thing you must do is set goals for yourself, but make these goals specific. Don’t just write, “I want to build muscle mass,” but instead write, “I want to build 8 pounds of muscle mass in 1 month.” Do you see how much more specific that is? You will feel much more compelled to work towards that specific goal than for the more general one. Once you have written your goals, post them in a place where you will see them everyday, and be forced to read through them. This will keep you focused on a daily basis.

The day-to-day process of building muscle mass can become mundane, so it’s important to have a strategy to raise your intensity level before entering the gym. Visualization is a great tool to use to raise your focus and intensity. Throughout your day or before you workout, visualize yourself having success in the gym. That may be you see yourself finally getting that 7th rep of 235# on the bench press on your last set or reach a new max on the squat. Whatever you visualize, be very specific. Visualize every detail about the situation. The more detailed you can be in your visualizations the more success you will have with this technique. Pro athletes in every sport utilize this technique to reach their goals, so there is no reason why you shouldn’t be using it either.

Building muscle mass can be achieved while training by yourself, but it is much easier to maintain your focus and dedication if you have a training partner that is counting on you being at every workout. The trick is picking a good partner because if you pick a bad one this can have negative effects on your muscle building quest, as well. The most important thing you must look for in a partner is that they have the same dedication and desire towards building muscle mass, as you do.

These techniques should help you maintain your motivation towards building muscle mass. Now that you have step 1 mastered, let’s move on to step 2.

2. Proper Weight Lifting Program

The second step in building muscle mass is to follow a proper weight lifting program. If you do a search on any of the popular internet search engines, you can easily find a dozen or more weight lifting programs that all claim to pack pounds of muscle on your frame. Some of these programs may work, but many do not because they forget to focus on one simple principle. In order to build muscle mass, you must build strength. Think about it; have you ever seen a 225# bodybuilder maxing out on the bench at 150 pounds? I didn’t think so. As your strength improves, your muscles adapt by growing bigger.

The best way to increase your strength and therefore build muscle mass is to ensure the core of your weight lifting program consists of compound lifts such as the bench press, squat, dead lift, chin-ups, dips, etc. These lifts will allow you to lift the maximum amount of weight which will in turn recruit the most muscle fibers resulting in greater improvements in strength and muscle mass.

To achieve the greatest improvement in strength and therefore muscle mass, you should do all your lifts for 2-3 sets of 5-7 reps. This rep range has been shown to maximize strength and muscle mass gains. For your main muscle groups such as your legs, chest, and back, you should do about 3-4 exercises for a total of 6-8 sets for each muscle group. For your abs, triceps, shoulders, and biceps, you should do an additional 2 exercises for a total of 3-4 sets for each muscle group. The reason we do less exercises for the latter is that they have already received some work during the compound movements we did. A good workout split would be to train three days per week with day 1 being Legs/Abs, day 2 being chest/shoulders/triceps, and day 3 being back/biceps/forearms. This should be all the training you need to reach your goal of building muscle mass.

Now that you know how to develop a proper weight lifting program for building muscle mass, it is time to move on to the last and final step.

3. Proper Muscle Building Nutrition

The third and final step in building muscle mass is ensuring you eat correctly to maximize your muscle building potential. Without proper nutrition, you will never reach your full potential. You must feed your muscle with enough nutrients for them to grow.

In order to build muscle mass, you have to create a calorie surplus of between 300-500 calories above your maintenance level. This simply means you must eat more calories than you burn, so there is enough energy left over for building muscle mass. The simplest method for calculating your caloric requirements is the basic multiplier. For this method, you simply multiply your bodyweight by 17-20 to give you the amount of calories you will need to consume to create a calorie surplus within your body. This will work fairly well for the majority of people with average body types. There are other methods, but they are beyond the scope of this article.

The timing of your meals is also very important because you are going to need to eat every 2-3 hours your awake for a total of 5-7 meals per day. Each meal should consist of approximately 40% lean protein, 40% complex carbohydrate, and 20% fat. Your muscles require protein to grow, so eating every 2-3 hours ensures that there is always a good supply of protein to fuel muscle growth and keep you in an anabolic (muscle building) state. If you don’t supply your body with all of its protein requirements, it starts breaking down your muscle tissue to get this protein, which is exactly what you don’t want to happen.

I hope you can see that nutrition is a vitally important component of building muscle mass.

Well, there you have it. These 3 steps of dedication, proper weight lifting program, and proper muscle building nutrition are all that is required to start building muscle mass. Now all you have to do is hit the gym and put what you’ve learned here about building muscle mass to use. Good luck!