Are you wondering why, despite wasting hours in the gym counting rep after rep after boring rep 😴, you still don't have that lean, defined body you've always dreamed of? Well, wonder no more! Building muscle takes time and requires a combination of the right exercise, nutrition, and rest to maximise results. Follow these five steps to reach those hypertrophy goals:-
1. Eat, eat, eat! Building muscle requires a calorie surplus, meaning you need to eat more calories than your body is burning. Hooray, you say, let them eat cake. Well, not quite; although you need additional calories, it must be from suitable sources, so lean protein, carbohydrates, and good fats. Otherwise, rather than building muscle, those extra calories will add fat. Remember to throw in your RDA of fruit, veggies, and dairy to ensure your body is adequately fuelled.
2. Increase Protein. We're not talking about that naughties trend of eating platefuls of meat while skimping on every other food group and winding up with breath that could fell a horse at 100 paces. We're talking lean protein with every meal. A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology recommends a daily amount of 1 gram of protein for every 2kgs of body weight. Eating this amount helps your body build and store new proteins faster; this is important as the more protein our bodies store, the larger muscles grow.
3. Exercise. Ok, that's pretty obvious, but it still needs to be the right kind of exercise. Resistance is the only way to build muscle. Putting muscles under stress causes them to tear. The little muscle fibres then have to call on some of their little fibre mates to join them to help with repair, resulting in muscle growth. Compound exercises are best as these work multiple muscle groups simultaneously. The size of the weights and the tempo are also important. The best way to stimulate muscle growth is by lifting weights around 70% of your 1RM (max you can lift for one rep) at a tempo of 2:0:2, so you lift for 2 seconds and then lower for 2 seconds. Doing three sets of around 40 seconds (10 reps) should be more than adequate.
4. Progressive Overload. It would be far too simple to do step 2 over and over again. Where would the fun in that be? So, we need to progressively overload the muscles, which encourages them to grow stronger. This means gradually increasing the weight, the reps (or length of each set), or the intensity.
5. Rest. Our little muscle fibre mates only join the mass-building party when muscles are resting, so ensure adequate rest is factored into your training regime. You need rest to see the results you want when you want to see them. Giving your body proper time to recover is essential to maximise your muscle-building potential.
Above all, be consistent! You don't need to go to body-building champion lengths of lifting weights for hours a day while eating through 15 chickens, 12 dozen eggs, and a kilo of broccoli to look and feel great with a toned physique. Remember these five steps, and get on and make that habit!
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