Living a healthful life is a choice. On the same note, deciding to engage in strength training to build muscle is a choice, one that puts you on the path to being leaner and stronger while you build the physique you desire. But how do you get started? Here are some great tips in muscle building that could improve your life. Read the tips to figure out how to build muscles to your satisfaction.
If you want to build muscle, give yourself enough time for recovery. It may seem tempting to go full steam ahead, but your body needs time off so you do not hurt yourself. Stick to a muscle-building routine that is about three times a week; beginners may need to start with twice a week.
A great way to build muscle is to pay close attention to nutrition, and eat a good amount of protein and carbohydrates. By eating every two hours, and ensuring you get no less than 1.5 grams of protein for each pound of your own weight and no less than 2 grams of carbohydrates per pound. You will have the nutritional tools necessary to build muscle.
It is extremely important that you stand correctly when doing standing exercises, such as overhead presses and squats. These exercises call for a type of athletic stance. In order to achieve this, you should stand with your feet at about the width of your shoulders. Then, slightly point your toes outward, bend the knees, and arch your lower back. Always make sure that your eyes are looking forward.
Do not work out for more than an hour. Your body starts producing excess cortisol, the stress hormone, after 60 minutes of a workout session. Extra cortisol may block testosterone and your efforts at muscle building can be wasted. An excellent method of ensuring you maximize your workouts is to keep workouts at less than an hour long.
Consuming a protein shake after working out is very important. The protein shake gives you body the nutrients it needs to be able to rebuild muscle fibers and help your muscles to grow faster and stronger. Protein shakes should have a ratio of 2:1 of carbohydrates to protein in order for them to be as beneficial as possible.
To help in building lean muscle mass, try mixing up your rep counts. If you normally do 6-8 repetitions, try doing 4-6 repetitions. Your muscles will be forced to adapt in a different way, and you will give your routine a fresh kick. In this way, you will build your lean muscle mass faster.
Measure body fat, not body weight. Do not get discouraged if you are attempting to build muscle and you do not see a change in your weight. You can lose fat while you gain muscle, resulting in a weight that does not change. A better indicator is measuring your body fat. If your weight is holding steady (or even increasing) while your fat levels are dropping – you are gaining muscle.
Some moves should not be done with excess weight, so be careful which ones you choose to do with heavy loads. You can risk serious injury by doing neck work, dips and split squats which can involve dangerous joint positions. Keep heavier loads for bigger exercises like rows, presses, squats and deadlifts.
Make sure your deltoids are fully engaged. By having middle deltoids that are developed, your shoulders are wider and thicker. Make sure lateral raises are above the parallel point in order to get the most out of your deltoid exercises. Begin laterals several inches from the hips in order to decrease the involvement of supporting muscles, such as the supraspinatus.
One very important you can do for your muscle building program is to keep a training diary. Keep a log of what kind of exercises you do, the amount of weight you are lifting along with any changes. This way you won’t forget your routine and any increases in weight or other changes you have made. Your progress will go forward if you keep track of everything.
It’s very important that when trying to build muscle you get the proper amount of rest. You need to give your muscles a chance to recover so they can grow bigger. Ideally you want to give the muscles that you just worked on at least 48 hours of rest.
Consider trying out Romanian Deadlifts. Hamstring curls are great for working the hamstrings, but they only utilize movement at a single joint. However, Romanian Deadlifts let you utilize an additional amount of weight, and they work through the entire hamstring muscle, rising into the glute-ham at the origin of the hamstring.
You need to be committed and dedicated to building muscle. If you have those characteristics, success will soon follow. Apply the ideas from this preceding paragraphs towards your muscle building regimen, and you are sure to witness good results in front of the mirror soon.
