Are you having trouble opening a pickle jar? Does carrying your laundry up the stairs leave you winded? Many people believe that cardiovascular exercise is enough, but building muscle can both help you lose weight and stay healthy. The ideas in this article will help you to build muscle simply and easily, so keep reading!
Aim for a high number of reps with medium-intensity weight when you train. For each individual exercise you do, try to do a set of 10 to 15 reps, resting less than one minute in between each set. This causes lactic acid to build up in your muscles, which makes you “feel the burn” while stimulating growth.
When attempting to build muscle mass, it is important to ingest the right foods. If your efforts to add bulk are stagnating, it could be because you have an insufficient nutritional intake. To add bulk, you need to consume at least 4000-6000 calories each day from foods, which are calorie dense. Some examples of calorie-dense foods are pasta, nuts, eggs, bagels, trail mix and steaks. Since vegetables have low calorie-density, keep their intake to a minimum.
Patience is the key. You are not going to develop rock hard muscle mass overnight. You are going to have to work long and hard to get the results that you hope for. Do not allow yourself to become discouraged if you are not seeing the results you hoped for. Keep your goals reasonable and safe.
Having a dependable training partner is very important when building muscle. This partner can help spot you so that you can pump out those few extra reps that you could not do on your own. It can also help if your training partner is stronger than you because this can push you to work even harder.
Do not attempt extreme cardio training with weight training. Done within reason, this combo can be truly beneficial for your health, but when done in extreme fashions can contradict one another minimizing the results that you see from either one of them. Pick one to focus on and stay committed to working on it regularly.
Adequate rest is important to your muscle-building program. Your body can perform the job of recovering from muscle fatigue best when you are resting, so make sure to get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. Failure to do this can even result in serious injury if your body becomes over tired.
You need to be focused on what you are striving to achieve when looking to build your muscles. Do not train for endurance and focus on cardio when trying to build muscle mass. Cardio and weight training are a great combination, but they will contradict each other if you have excess cardio in your muscle building routine.
Stretching after a workout will help to repair muscles and decrease any muscle soreness. If you are under the age of 40, every stretch should be held for a minimum of 30 seconds. Older people–those over the age of 40–should hold each stretch for a minute or longer. This can ensure your safety while building muscle.
Eat plenty of protein when you are on a muscle-building regimen. Be sure to eat whole proteins with every meal. A good rule to follow is to ingest one gram of protein for each pound of body weight. Good sources of low-fat protein include fish, low-fat milk and lean red meats.
A great tip for growing muscle that is often overlooked is getting an adequate amount of sleep. Your body heals itself and changes while sleeping. Therefore, if you don’t get enough of it, you aren’t allowing your body the chance to do these things. If you are working out hard, aim for at least eight hours of sleep, if not more.
Avoid comparing yourself to others at the gym. It can be useful to watch other people to see their form, new exercises, or new types of equipment, but direct comparison is not helpful. This is because everyone has a different body type; what works for you may not work for others.
You must make sure that your overall daily calorie consumption is adequate. There are many calculators available, some even online. They can help you to determine what your intake should be based on your muscle mass goals. When you know this number, increase the protein and carbs in your diet to reach your daily caloric intake goal.
If you are just starting to get in shape, you should not work out more than twice a week. This will give enough time for your muscles to heal and expand. As you get more experienced, add a third session every week. You should not train more than three days a week unless you become a professional bodybuilder.
Once you put this information to work, the pickle jar will be under your control and you’ll be able to run up and down the stairs all day long! Having a fit and healthy body starts with taking care of it, which includes both cardiovascular exercise AND muscle building. Good luck!
Comments are closed