Introduction
Most people who are lean by nature have plenty of difficulties in gaining weight due to several reasons. Those factors are sometimes external or self-induced. They can be genetics, food habits, high metabolism, type 1 diabetes, medications or treatments, etc,.
Here is a list of quick tips to Build your Muscles
- Consume as many healthy calories as possible
- Include natural carbs
- Stay hydrated
- Maintain a sleep routine
- Include more protein in your diet to gain lean muscles
- Schedule your workouts
- Give ample recovery time
- Get help from a personal trainer or an App to track your progress
- Create a new workout pattern after a while
Reasons why you are not gaining muscles
There could be umpteen reasons why you aren’t able to gain that extra muscle for a long time, even though you are consistent in your workouts. Here is the list of mistakes you could possibly have been making all this while.
- Working out for too long or overtraining.
- Not concentrating on a healthy diet.
- Continuing the same workout for a long time without making any changes to them.
- Taking up more stress and letting external factors affect your peace of mind.
This article will help you understand the basics and the reality and reasoning behind gaining muscles with a few tips that will be helpful to you.
First of all, there are two major types of gaining muscles called bulking and lean mass building, and they are briefed to you here.
What is bulking?
Bulking is a very old technique of consuming as many calories as possible to gain muscles, used by bodybuilders for bodybuilding competitions. It is a traditional method that is outdated in today’s world.
What is lean mass building?
This could be an unfamiliar term for many people as this technique has been gaining popularity among fitness freaks in recent years. Lean muscles are nothing but solid muscles with lesser fat. This is highly recommended because this requires more focus on food intake, and one cannot hog into everything.
5 tips to build your muscles
The most important tips for gaining muscles is no rocket science, but it requires consistency. You can follow the tips mentioned below if you would want to gain muscles.
1. Increase your proteins
Maintaining muscle mass requires a healthy diet, particularly one rich in high-quality protein. The recommended intake of protein is 0.6 to 0.9 gm per kilo of your body weight daily.
You can receive enough protein, enough carbohydrates for energy, and the other necessary elements you need to maintain muscle and promote general health by eating balanced meals full of nutrient-dense foods from all the food categories.
2. Proper sleep
This is an important factor that most people forget. Since building muscle occurs while you sleep, getting good sleep is essential for growing muscles.
Human growth hormone (HGH) is present in your body at its peak level while you are sleeping deeply. HGH promotes fat-burning, metabolic acceleration, and muscle growth. Soft tissue cannot fully heal if your sleep is interrupted because HGH is not present. That is why you are advised to get proper peaceful sleep for 8 hours minimum.
3. Required recovery time
Recovery time is one key factor in the growth of your muscles. It is important to have adequate resting time between your workouts. It is not necessary to train every day of the week; rather, you can workout on alternate days. This will help your muscles to rest and grow consistently.
4. Practice muscle-gaining workouts
Resistance training is the best way to workout if you are aiming to gain muscles, such as bodyweight exercises.
You need to look after muscle load as you are supposed to train your muscles with more load than what they are usually accustomed to.
You must gradually overload your muscles as they adapt and get stronger. In other words, you need to workout with more resistance in order to further your muscles’ adaptation. When it comes to bodyweight training, this entails moving on to a more challenging variation of the exercise once you can perform all 12 reps without any issues.
5. Calorie surplus
This is the basic mechanism that helps you to gain muscle. A calorie surplus is a phenomenon of consuming more calories than you usually burn daily. With this, you will be able to support the growth of muscles in your body.
Workout rules that you need to know to gain muscle
There are a few basic workout rules that you need to know if you want to gain muscle before you step into the gym or start working out. Regardless of the fact that you are working out in a gym or at your home, it is essential to know these tips before you begin.
- Understand your body type first
- Reduce your Cardio time
- Lift weights and do more reps
- Maintain a proper workout form
- Consume food appropriately
Did you know?
According to research, it is said that gaining 500gm a week represents a healthy weight gain. This might differ in both men and women. On average, with this rate, it is highly possible for any individual to gain an average healthy weight of 10 kilos in a year.
Food to consume for healthy muscle gain
As a consumer, we see many food products available in the market, both natural and artificial. But the best way is always to consume natural food that is easily available and accessible to you rather than spending thousands on artificial weight gainers.
There is more food you should consume if you want to gain muscles naturally. Here is a list of them for you.
- Eggs
- Greek Yogurt
- Lean Beef
- Shrimp
- Cottage cheese
- Soya beans
- Beans
- Quinoa
- Chickpeas
- Peanuts
- Tofu/Paneer
- Dry fruits
- Brown rice
- Salmon
If you are someone who is keen on bodybuilding or fitness, then there is a high possibility that you might have come across this experiment that occurred at Colorado University in May 1973 on Casey Viator, who was only 21 at that time. The objective of the experiment was to observe the amount of muscle gain that happened over a period of 28 days using natural food and training him every other day.
Happenings
During the first week, Casey gained 12.36 Kg of solid muscle, which is in seven days. On average, he has gained 1.76 Kg every day. As a result, Casey Victor gained 28.67 Kg of muscle mass gain in 28 days. This was gained with regular exercise and naturally available food.
The findings/ results
Casey Victor was a bodybuilder who wanted to gain weight for a certain goal, but an ordinary person with an average muscle mass cannot gain the exact muscle mass as he did.
Slam your insecurities
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Takeaway
If you are one of those people who have been worrying about the fact that you couldn’t gain weight/muscle, then you have been doing something wrong in the process. But it is not impossible to gain muscle for anyone unless there is a medical condition. To get professional help in this weight-gaining process, you can join SLAM Fitness and avail of our services for the best results.
FAQs
1. What is the largest muscle in the body?
The Gluteus maximus is the largest and heaviest muscle in the body, and it is located in the hip joint.
2. How long does it take to build muscle?
It differs from individual to individual as it might take 2 months for a beginner while it might take 3 weeks for an experienced bodybuilder.
3. What protein builds muscle faster?
Whey protein is said to have more amino acid leucine that is required to build any muscle when compared to any plant-based protein powders.