How Can I Get Muscle: The No Non-Sense Approach To Building Muscle

Everyone has heard the standard cookie cutter answers to gain muscle - get stronger, use free weights, do complex movements, train your legs, do full body workouts, eat a lot.

What do you do when you do that and it all still doesn't work? Here's the no non-sense approach to gaining lean mass and packing on muscles along with common mistakes that athletes make.

BUILDING MUSCLE = Work + Nutrition + Recovery.

MISTAKE #1 - TRAINING

If you want to build muscle, you need to get your ass in the weight room. And you got to be doing things the right way. Skip the curls and get in the big compound movements. We've all heard that before. But to get bigger and gain muscle -- you need to add VOLUME to your workout. You're not going to get BIG by only maxing out. Doing 3-5 sub-maximal sets of 10 reps seems to work alright. Keep it simple. You need 1-2 of these big movement cycles per muscle group or about 50-60 total reps. Add this on after you do your strength/power work.

If you don't have time to do both strength + volume sets then you're gonna have to pull something out of your program. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Cut your strength volume by a couple sets, if you're doing 5x5 strength before your hypertrophy work, do 3 sets of 5 while keeping up the intensity. Just lift those sets heavy and keep the intensity up.

MISTAKE #2 - NUTRITION

This is where a lot of athletes make mistake #2. They don't get in enough calories. Eat a well balanced diet (You can find a well balance diet info anywhere). To gain lean muscle mass -- Drink a gallon of whole milk a day on top of a solid post workout shake. Make sure your shake is packed with muscle building proteins and glycogen replenishing carbohydrates. Adding a creatine blend could be beneficial. Creatine one of the most researched supplements out there proven to improve your power production. Don't make a mistake that most athletes make by only using protein as their post workout shake. You need the carbohydrates coupled with protein and creatine to build muscle. Take a protein-carbohydrate shake before you lift and after you lift. If you still aren't gaining weight, you can add a protein-carbohydrate shake during your lift. This will guarantee that you build lean muscle mass.

MISTAKE #3 - RECOVERY

If you want to gain weight, tone back your other work. I'm talking the supplemental conditioning. Doing some aerobic work like a stationary bike for 20 mins after weights can help with your recovery but the harder shit limit to 1-3 times a week. This doesn't mean you have to take the escalator. Just when you are going to push yourself.. limit that type of work to 1-3 times a week. It's still important to stay athletic and part of being athletic is being in shape. After you do your conditioning, make sure you get in a solid post workout shake that has a blend of carbohydrates and protein. This will turn you from a catabolic (muscle breakdown) state into an anabolic state (muscle building state). I recommend a 3:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein because it has the optimal blend of carbohydrates to protein post workout to speed up your muscle recovery by restoring glycogen and improving protein synthesis. And yes you can build muscle from conditioning.

MISTAKE #4 - THINKING YOU ARE A 'HARD GAINER'

Gaining muscle takes a lot of work. You must be persistent about training hard and getting your nutrition in. Don't have the idea that you are a hard gainer. There's too many guys out there who think they are a hard gainer when in reality they aren't lifting hard enough or they aren't eating enough. You think you are a hard gainer? Add some more volume to your training. Still not gaining weight? Add another shake in after your meal. Keep track of your workouts and your nutrition. You should try to gain 1-2 pounds of muscle a week as that seems the most athletes can gain before gaining fat. Beginners can gain about 3-4 pounds of muscle a week. Set weekly goals and beat your PRs. Keep your workouts fun. If they start getting boring switch your exercises. You aren't gonna get big if you are putting in half ass efforts in the weight room so you might as well do something you'd like to do. Just make sure you get that VOLUME in.

Simple Fitness Exercises

Grooming is a measurable part of our liver. Staying fit is one way to increase your life expectancy. Muscle building exercises are good for accelerating your body mass and bone density as you age. Most of us have learned what to do when it comes to exercise. The job is where and when to get the job finished. With a fancy mode, making exercise a routine should not be a problem.

Weight gain exercises are preferable for bodybuilders. As you age, especially when you hit the age of forty, you start to retrogress muscle mass. For women especially, bone and muscle mass gain becomes difficult. When the body is in necessity of calcium, it can rob it from your muscles. Building muscles does not exclusively increases muscle tone but also their strength.

Here are some uncomplicated toning exercises that can be done anywhere and whenever you want to. in the house, at the office, or on leisure, you can do these easy yet extremely impelling exercises.

1. The Bridge Butt Lift

Is an easy way to tone your buttocks. Lay down with feet flat on the floor, legs should be shoulder width apart. Place your hands down, on either side of your body. Pushing with your feet, squeeze your buttocks muscles and lift your buttocks off the floor. Hold the position for a count of five to ten and release down to the floor.

2. Squats

Squats work the back muscles, the hamstring muscles and the quadriceps. If you aren't sure of proper form, you can use a chair. Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Push your butt back as if you were preparing to sit in a chair. Keep your abs tight and your upper body straight. Once you reach the chair level stop and hold the position for a count of ten to twenty and release. At the lowest point, place all of your weight on your heels for balance and maximum toning.

3. Reverse Lunges

Lunges work the quadriceps muscles. It can be hard for people with knee problems. A reverse lunge still tones the right muscle groups but with less pressure on the knee. Stand with feet together and arms at your sides. Take one leg and move it backwards until you are in lunge position: front leg bent at a 90 degree angle and back leg extended until you are on the ball of your foot. From this position lower yourself down until the back knee almost touches the floor. Hold for a count of twenty and return to starting position.

4. Push ups

This is a classic toning exercise that works all areas of the arms plus the chest muscles. If you aren't comfortable or strong enough to perform a push up on your toes, lower your body to your knees. Be sure your arms are tucked into the body and your back straight as you lower and lift your body. As you get used you can progress from a count of ten to even thirty.

5. Crunches

Abdominal muscles can be worked every day to build strength and abdominal muscle tone. Lying on the floor in sit up position, lace your fingers behind your head. Squeezing your abdominal muscles, lift your upper body until your lower back is about to come off the floor. Hold for two to five counts and return to starting position.

These five exercise moves can be done whenever you have time. The best thing about exercise is that its effects are cumulative. Even five or ten minutes at a time will work to your advantage.

These muscle toning exercises can be done whenever you have time. The best

thing about exercise is that its effects are cumulative. Even five or ten