Building Your Muscles

Let's face it, every time you look at your body you always find something that needs improvement, even if no one else thinks so. Probably one of the biggest areas that gets this kind of criticism is your muscles, specifically your arms, chest and abs. Every guy goes to a mirror, flexes and thinks, "I want bigger muscles!". Well lucky for you I have the answer for you. See the results you want in as little as 2 weeks! Just follow my helpful hints and I'll guide you to those muscles you've always wanted.


First decide what you want to do, either tone your muscles or build your muscles.  If your answer stick around for future posts about how to tone, but for now we are going to focus on building that muscle mass.  Well obviously the first step is start training, weight training to be exact.  A fun fact not everyone knows is while you are at the gym you actually don't build muscle!  It's true, you are actually destroying your muscles and tearing them!  But don't worry thats a good thing, your muscles begin to grow in the recovery process.  So that is where we will begin, what you should do AFTER a workout and during the day as well.


Eat, Eat, Eat!


To gain any kind of mass you will need to increase your daily calorie consumption.  Specifically foods with a high protein content such as meat, chicken and eggs.  Keep in mind you can't just eat high protein foods, you have to have a well balanced diet.  Be sure to include your vegetables, carbohydrates, fruits, and yes even some fats.  Some good examples of things to eat would be things such as spinach, bananas, brown rice, whole wheat products, oats, olive oil and many more foods, it's up to you!


In the muscle recovery process there is nothing quite as important as protein.  Protein helps heal your muscles and supply them with nutrients they need.  The standard is you should consume 1 gram per pound of body weight.  Now with this said, that would be a lot of steaks in one day so instead almost every person trying to build you will see consuming a shake like drink during the day or right after their workouts.  These are protein supplement shakes.  There are two types of protein you can get, Whey or Casein, both with advantages over the other.  Keep posted for posts giving you the best supplement advice!


Whey protein is to be consumed directly after your workout or within 30 minutes after.  Whey is fast absorbing protein, usually fully absorbed within 45 minutes, and aids in the repairing of your muscles.  You will notice that your muscles won't hurt as much thanks to the protein.


Casein is a very slow absorbing protein.  You would not take this after a workout, but instead around bedtime.  Consuming it right before bed allows it to settle and slowly work its way through your body, repairing the muscle fibers.


So now you know what to do after a workout and during the day, but what do you do for your actual workout?  It is actually quite simple, focus on certain muscle groups on certain days.  For instance spend one day and focus entirely on your biceps and triceps.  When determining weight to lift, aim high.  Aim for around 6 reps at a relatively high weight and do it for 3-5 sets.  When working out, machines are great, but when it comes to building mass machines are NOT the answer.  Using free weights and bars allow you to move in a free range of motion.  This works your muscles way better than being constricted on a machine.  Don't get me wrong machines are great, but if your looking to gain size fast free weights are your best bet.


Want an actual workout plan guaranteed to work?  Stay tuned for posts of the actual workouts!






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