30 Essential Tips For Building Muscle
Gaining lean muscle shouldn’t be a guessing game, just as losing fat isn’t rocket science.
Here’s my list of tips to help you gain muscle:
- Ensure you’re eating in a surplus of calories i.e. consuming more calories than you’re burning.
- Progressively overload your training volume – as in, increase the amount of weight, sets or reps you perform on an exercise, gradually, over time.
- Perform minimal cardio/keep energy expenditure limited OR alternatively, offset this by consuming more calories.
- Prioritize your hydration by consuming 1 Litre per 20kg of total bodyweight, per day.
- Ensure you sleep 7-8 hours per night.
- Place as much emphasis on mobility, recovery and myofascial release as you do on training.
- Supplement smart, especially with protein powder where appropriate and creatine monohydrate.
- Perform the majority of your repetitions within the 6-12 range.
- Make sure your workouts are centred around compound lifts.
- Train each muscle group multiple times per week.
- Ensure correct technique, full range of motion and emphasis on time under tension.
- Try working in different tempos, as dictated by the choice of weight and desired rep range.
- Find a training program that is suitable for your desired goals, as well as sustainable, depending on your lifestyle and commitments.
- Consume 10g of Fibre per 1000 calories consumed.
- As a minimum, consume 2 grams of protein (in terms of nutritional value, not weight) per 1kg of total bodyweight.
- Stop following the workouts of elite/professional level bodybuilders and fitness athletes.
- Train at a time of day that will both ensure that you’re training at peak performance and that you can sustain over the long term.
- Ensure that you’re incorporating deload weeks into your training cycle.
- Keep your body fat at a reasonable level: Under 15% for males and 20% for females.
- Use the scales as an objective guide to measure your progress, alongside measurements, pinch tests, body scans and training performance.
- Don’t avoid consuming the macronutrient, Fat. Try to consume 1 gram of fat per 1kg of total bodyweight.
- Ensure your total caloric intake is comprised of an appropriate amount of Protein and Fats, whilst filling the remainder of your calorie budget with carbohydrates.
- Try to rotate your meals and food sources periodically, that way you won’t get bored of your food choices which potentially causes you to go off track.
- Make sure you’re performing the big three lifts: squats, bench press and deadlifts. Do them well. Do them often.
- Get as strong as possible, whilst facilitating correct and safe form.
- Consistency. Consistency.
- Take some time off from training altogether, to allow your mind and body to recover and recharge.
- Employ a personal trainer for their expertise and knowledge.
- Enlist the help of a training partner to help keep you accountable.
- Incorporate bodyweight movements such as dips, push ups, pull ups into your training regime.
Hope you guys enjoyed the list and it was both clear and concise! May the gains be with you.
