Some people feel like they’re doomed to be the before picture, with the beach bully kicking sand in their eyes. It’s not just tall, thin people that find it difficult to build muscle, some more portly ones also have a problem. Almost everyone who has failed to increase their muscle size, no matter how hard they tried, makes muscle building mistakes that are quite common. It’s often not for lack of effort, but sometimes too much effort is focused in the wrong area, which impedes muscle development. Rather than turn to drugs and unhealthy techniques, here are a few changes that make it easier to get the physique you want.
Are you working out long hours?
Putting more effort into your workout is important, but that doesn’t mean putting more hours into it. If you workout for long hours every day, it can deplete muscle mass. Gaining muscle tissue requires enough effort to make microtears in the muscle. When they heal, the scar tissue gives them more strength and dimension. If you’re working out every day, you aren’t giving muscles a chance to heal. They need between 48 and 72 hours to do that. The stress of overworking muscles can also affect the immune system.
The food you consume makes a big difference in muscle growth.
You need the right materials to build a strong house and the same is true to build muscle tissue. If you don’t have enough protein in your diet, you won’t get the results you want. If you want to build muscle and lose weight, you can’t cut calories back too much. You still need enough calories and protein to build muscle tissue. If you’re trying to gain weight and build muscles, don’t depend on junk food and sweets to help you gain weight. You still need a high protein, healthy diet to boost muscle growth. The diet should contain 30% of the calories from protein, 50% from carbs, and 20% from fat. For every pound of body weight, you need 0.8 to 1.5 grams of protein. The more active you are, the more grams of protein per pound.
Have snacks before and after working out.
You need snacks that contain protein and carbs before a tough workout and afterward. The pre-workout snack helps boost your energy and the post-workout snack helps with recovery and to build muscle tissue. If you’re consuming a protein snack, do it earlier in the day. If you eat right before bed, it doesn’t build muscle but increases fat. Consume carbs early in the day, to restore glycogen reserves burned at night and replenish the body. As the day wears on, get fewer calories from carbs, slowly tapering off at dinner.
- You need cardio, but too much cardio will diminish your ability to build muscle tissue. Cardio burns large amounts of calories, but they come from burning lean muscle mass, not just fat.
- Get adequate sleep. When you sleep, your body repairs the microtears and builds muscle tissue. Lack of sleep also reduces the amount of testosterone, HGH and IGF, necessary for building muscles.
- Stay hydrated. You can lose as much as 2 liters of water every hour you work out. That can leave you dehydrated, which makes you tired. Dehydration also increases cortisol, lowers HGH and reduces testosterone.
- Maximize your workout time by doing compound strength-building exercises. Compound exercises work multiple muscles, ligaments, and tendons simultaneously, making your workout more efficient.
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