My 5 Top Tips to Build Muscle!

1   1) Hit Compound Exercises

Building muscle quickly will not work doing isolation exercises like bicep curls or tricep extensions unless you are already very muscular. Compound exercises like pull-ups, squats, bench pressing, or deadlifts will be much more effective. These exercises will not only work muscles in less time, but will also allow you to use much heavier weight than you would with any isolation exercises.

2) Go Heavy! 

A lot of people that try to build muscle do not use heavy enough weight. Pick heavy weights and go to failure for each set. Failure means until you can’t do anymore even if I put a gun to your head! One of the reasons bodybuilders have a partner is so there is someone there to help them when the weight gets too heavy to lift with good form. If you don’t have a workout partner, just stop when you get too tired to lift with good form, rest a few seconds and then keep lifting to complete the set. A Personal Trainer will help motivate you through your sets and make sure that your form is correct!

3) Do Less cardio

Your body needs calories in order to build muscle so if you’re doing a significant amount of cardio like biking or running, you are burning calories that your body could otherwise use for muscle building. If you want to build muscle as fast as possible, limit your cardio to a brief 2-3 session of HIIT CARDIO.

4) Eat Enough Calories

To increase your muscle mass you have to consume more calories than you burn. Instead of shoving any old food down your throat, try to get your calories from healthy protein sources like grass-fed beef, healthy fat sources like coconut milk, avocados, and healthy carbohydrate sources like potatoes and yams. You should be eating 6-7 meals a day!

5) Rest

To build muscle quickly, you need to fatigue a muscle group, but then give it time to rest. If you work a muscle too hard, too many days in a row, those muscle fibres will become too damaged to properly repair and grow. Typically, a muscle needs at least 72 hours to properly repair from a muscle-building, weight training session. A good rule to follow is to wait until you are no longer sore in a muscle before working it again. Also, MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET ENOUGH SLEEP!

Hope you have found this blog interesting! Remember a Personal Trainer is a great way to help you achieve your goals and get you into shape using the correct training techniques and nutrition!

Rich Palmer PT

www.richpalmerpt.co.uk

“making your fitness goals a reality”