Tired of working out 5 days a week for little or no results, waiting for the day you just wake up and your body is all muscle? Sick of the muscle guys owning the place? Does this sound like you?
Apart from the genetically gifted, the majority have all been there at one time or another. Far too many gym newbie’s are in search of the ‘holy muscle grail’, that secret tip that all the muscle men seem to know! The reality is, there are no secrets, sure you still have to train hard and push yourself but there is more to building muscle fast than lifting heavy weights. Arguably more important factors come into play such as what you eat, when you eat and rest, YES REST.
Now you are probably thinking to yourself:
Relax… Let’s answer these one step at a time.
What should I eat, how much and when?
When you lift heavy weight you break down muscle tissue, this is called ‘Micro Trauma’. After a workout your body is in repair mode. During this time your body is feeding your muscles with nutrients to try and help them grow bigger and stronger.
Up to 30 minutes after your workout is a great time to increase your protein intake. Ever heard of protein shakes (basically protein supplement and milk)? These are a great way to replenish the much needed nutrients so vital to building muscle fast.
In general, try to eat little and often and not binge eat! Start to increase your carbohydrates (to gain weight) and up your protein increase (to help muscle development).
Some great post workout power foods are: banana, yoghurt, fish oil
What supplements should I take?
Scattered around your gym you may see big barrels with promotional adverts and leaflets along side them claiming to be an aid to many things such as weight loss, toning and building muscle. These are called nutritional supplements.
Supplements are used and endorsed by many of the worlds top athletes and should be considered by anyone serious about building muscle fast.
When you are in a rush or you really don’t feel hungry enough to eat 4 chicken breasts this is when they are really helpful.
You can find nutritional supplements in most decent sports shops but the market leader is Maximuscle. They provide an excellent range of nutritional supplements to fit most people’s needs.
How should I train and how often?
You are probably thinking the more the better, makes sense right? Wrong! Ironically, training 7 times a week will probably make you worse off than if you were to train 3-4 times a week.
I see it far too often, the new guy religiously hits the gym 5-7 times a week and 6 months down the line all he seems to have achieved is weight loss and maybe slight toning. That’s because they didn’t follow their ABC’s or more to the truth they didn’t ever know them.
The main word is REST. After a training session your body is frantically trying to repair the damage you have just caused to it by lifting those Kgs. How can your body ever repair itself if you constantly put it under strain?
To allow your body to repair try staggering your workouts so that you go every other day.