Many people try out different workouts to increase their muscle mass and look stronger and more toned. But more often, they end up gaining strength rather than muscle mass. Consequently, they lose motivation. It is essential to know that building muscle takes time and cannot happen in just a few months, especially if you’re a beginner. The muscle-building process is powered by progressive strength training and a protein-rich diet. Health supplements like protein powder combined with other micronutrients in your meals aid in fast recovery and muscle repair.
Over time, you’ll notice significant muscle growth and change in body composition.
- Structure Your Workout Rightly
For building muscle, you need to lift weights. However, don’t think that lifting the same amount of weight every time will cause muscle growth. You need to have the right workout plan and consistently increase the weight load. Beginners can start by including 2-3 full-body strength sessions every week that target big muscle groups like legs, back, chest, and shoulders. Ensure that you are taking a day of rest between those total body workouts. As you become more advanced, you need to increase the frequency of these sessions.
- Pay Attention to Your Diet
The building block for all muscles and tissues is protein. To gain muscle, you need to consume a bit more calories than you expend. 10-35% of your diet should be made up of protein-rich food items. For example, if you are on a 2000 calorie diet, 200-700 calories should come from protein. Foods that are dense in protein are:
- Meats
- Legumes
- Tofu
- Eggs
- Milk products
- Nuts and seeds
Many times, people are not able to meet all their protein requirements from food sources alone. A simple way to increase protein is to consume a protein powder shake after your workout. It’s a very convenient way to get lots of high-quality protein after completing an intense training session.
- Modify Your Warm-up
One of the worst mistakes one can commit is to expend all your energy on the warm-up for lifting heavy. For example, most people, especially beginners, start by doing multiple warm-up sets using light weights. By the time they proceed to their main session, they don’t have the energy to lift heavy. So, what you can do here is increase the weight in the second and third warm-up sets. It will save your energy and simultaneously prepare your body for the heavy load.
- Don’t Neglect Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates provide your body with energy to function optimally. Your body can train hard only when it has adequate energy. Eating carbohydrate-rich meals like rice, pasta, beans, whole grains, and starchy vegetables will provide you with sustained energy. Thus, you will benefit from an enhanced performance at the gym. Make sure to include a carb source like fresh fruits along with your protein shake after completing your training.
- Sleep Well to Build Muscle
The right amount of sleep for every person varies. Ensure that you are waking up the following day feeling refreshed rather than groggy. Meanwhile, depriving yourself of sleep can stop protein synthesis from taking place. Protein synthesis refers to the process of muscle growth. The human growth hormone aids in the muscle-building process, and its level increases when you’re sound asleep. If you don’t get enough sleep, all the hard work you’re putting into building muscle can go to waste.
Remember that muscle growth does not happen in a short time. You should be consistent with your training and nutrition to see your body transform.