How to build muscle is one of the most commonly asked questions when it comes to fitness.
There are 3 requirements to build muscle:
1.) Progressive Overload,
2.) Recover Fully,
3.) Proper Nutrition.
Disclaimer.
I am not a doctor or a medical practitioner.
Any information in this article is purely based on my experiences and interpretations of information provided to me at the time of writing and is meant only for educational purposes.
Please consult your doctor before you apply any information from this article to your life.
What Is Progressive Overload?
Progressive overload is ‘to train harder than last time’.
It is only in this way that the body knows it should build muscles (get stronger) for the next time.
How Do You Progressively Overload A Muscle?
Here are some things you can do to progressively overload a muscle:
- Increase the Weight.
- Slow the exercise down
More repetitions with the same weight.
Here are some other things for advanced lifters to do for progressive overload:
- Rest Pause – Rest 10 seconds after you set and perform the exercise again.
- Pre-Exhaust – An example, if you were targeting the back, you would do pull-ups and then finish with chin-ups.
- Force Negatives – Use momentum or an outside force to help you to the top of the movement, then slowly lower the weight.
For additional information on how to progressively overload, CLICK HERE.
How Intense Do You Go?
Your intensity during the workout will be different depending on your muscle memory.
However, training harder than last time will build muscle regardless.
If you are just starting to work out, going to failure isn’t necessary.
If you have been training for a while you’ll have to find different ways to keep the muscle guesting.
If you are a beginner or have been training for a year generally aim for 1 – 4 reps until failure.
No matter how experience you are, training harder than last time will work.
How Often Should You Aim To Workout A Week?
How often you work out a week depends on your goals.
3 days a week is a good start. From that point, you can decide if your body needs more or less days for recovery.
From my experience, building muscle can be built from training every day to training 1 time a week.
The key is to train harder than last time and give your body time to rest.
How Do You Reach Failure?
To reach complete muscular failure you must exhaust the 3 levels of strength. The 3 levels are:
- Positive Strength
- Holding Strength
- Lowering Strength
What Is Positive Strength?
Positive strength is used when you are pushing and pulling.
It is also the weakest out of the 3 levels of strength.
An example, doing repetitions on the barbell curl until you can not possibly do another rep without sacrificing your form.
What Is Holding Strength?
Holding strength is used when you are holding a weight at the position of the most resistance during that exercise.
This is the second strongest level of strength.
An example, doing a barbell curl and holding the barbell halfway through the movement until you can not hold it there any longer.
What Is Lowering Strength?
Lowering strength is used when you do a negative in an exercise.
This is your strongest level of strength because you can lower more weight than you can lift.
An example, doing the barbell curl and lowering it slowly and controlled. You will probably have to use force negatives to exhaust this level of strength.
For more information on the 3 levels of strength, CLICK HERE.
How Do You Recover For The Best Result?
To recover faster from your workout for the best result you can do these 4 things:
- Sleep
- Walking
- Cold Immersion
- Stretching / Yoga
How Much Sleep Should You Get?
This completely depends on your body, for building muscle though anywhere from 7 – 9 hours should be enough.
We all heard the term beauty sleep, that is because the body rejuvenates itself when it is resting.
If you can’t get much sleep per night try to take a nap during the day.
I find 20 minutes is perfect for me, I don’t feel tired after I wake up and I feel energized.
How Much Walking Should I Do?
Walking is amazing for recovery because your body is designed to walk far distances.
A good start would be 5000 – 7000 steps a day. This is around 1 hour to 1 and a half of walking.
For more information CLICK HERE.
How Do You Do Cold Immersion For Recovery?
Cold immersion can be done by taking a cold shower or going into a cold bath.
To see the benefits of cold immersion try to build up to 2 minutes in a cold shower.
This is enough time to activate your sympathetic nervous system which helps lower chronic stress and help the muscle recover faster.
However, cold immersion can limit muscle growth.
It reduces the amount of inflammation created from your workout which signals the body to build muscle after recovering.
From my experience, cold showers didn’t hinder my progress.
Make your judgment and leave a comment about your own experience with cold immersion and the effects it has on building muscle for you.
If you would like to know more benefits of cold showers, CLICK HERE.
How Often Should You Stretch Or Do Yoga?
A good start for doing stretching or yoga is to do anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes a day.
A good guideline is not to turn the stretching or yoga into a workout itself.
For the types of stretches or yoga, try the Surya Namaskar mantra.
The Surya namaskar mantra (sun salutation) stretches most of the body, which allows the body to relax and supports the flow of blood to the muscles to recover faster.
To learn step by step click the video below.
STEP BY STEP SURYA NAMASKAR FOR BEGINNERS | Learn Sun Salutation In 3 Minutes| Simple Yoga Lessons
For more information on the benefits stretching has on the body, CLICK HERE.
How Genetics Play Apart in Your Recovery.
Genetics plays a big part in who we are and especially in how fast we recover.
The faster you recover the faster you can build muscle.
A good way of telling if you have good genetics for recovering is to look at your parents. If your parents gain muscle easily, then you’ll likely be the same.
The best way to know if you have good genetics for recoverability is to work out and find out for yourself.
In essence, there are 3 categories for your ability to recover:
- Good (Few People Have This)
- Alright (Most People Have This)
- Bad (Few People Have This)
What Does A Good Ability To Recover Mean?
A good ability to recover means you don’t need to prioritize rest as much to build muscle.
What Does An Alright Ability To Recover Mean?
An alright ability to recover means you have to be mindful of rest to get the most out of your workout.
What Does A Bad Ability To Recover Mean?
A bad ability to recover means you have to be vigilant about your recovery and can typically mean more rest days in between your workouts.
What Nutritional Lifestyle Do You Need To Build Muscle?
Your body is versatile when it comes to nutrition.
For building muscle all you need to focus on is protein intake and how much food you eat in a day.
How Much Should You Eat In General?
How much food you eat in a day depends on your goals.
If you want to gain weight/bulk up, eat 200 calories – 500 calories more per day.
While eating in a surplus you will gain fat so be mindful and take your time to gain the weight.
If you want to maintain your current weight and switch the fat to muscle over time (main gain).
Aim to eat your caloric maintenance requirements. I find this to be the easiest way to stay in shape and build muscle.
If you want to lose weight while gaining muscle you must be in a caloric deficit, and eat 100 – 600 calories less per day.
When eating in a caloric deficit be careful that your body isn’t burning your muscles for calories.
This will be more common when you restrict larger amounts of calories you eat in a day and when you weigh less.
However, you could still build muscle with a heavily restricted diet but losing rapid weight has a chance of leaving you with flappy skin. Mindfulness is paramount in this endeavor.
To find out your caloric maintenance requirements use this Calculator.
You can also find your caloric maintenance by using this forum:
Body Weight (lbs) x Level of Activity.
Low Activity – 12 Calories x Per Pound of Body Weight.
Moderate Activity – 13 – 14 Calories x Per Pound of Body Weight.
High Activity – 15 Calories x Per Pound of Body Weight.
How Much Protein Do You Need Per Day?
The amount of protein you need per day highly depends on how much you weigh.
However, if you weigh more than you would like then don’t eat as much protein that is recommended for weight.
Instead, eat the amount of protein needed to sustain the weight you wish to be.
If you would like to bulk up, just eat 10 grams more of protein that is recommended for your current body weight.
Down below is a graph explaining how much protein you need to eat.
The left column is your body weight.
The middle column is the bare minimum amount of protein you need.
The right column is the most amount of protein you need for your body weight.
For more information on what protein is and how it affects your body, Click Here.
What Should You Strive To Eat?
You should strive to eat what suits your needs and goals.
If you have a sweet tooth then find a way to incorporate healthy alternatives such as blueberries.
If you want to eat for health, then find healthier substitutes for what you are already eating.
A good start is to know what you shouldn’t eat, such as:
Take out food
Process food
Refine sugary foods such as; donuts, sweet rolls, pies, and other sweets
Sodas
High concentrated sugar condiments such as; ketchup, barbeque sauce, and others.
Now for most of us in the West that is at least 80% of our regular diet.
To get around this, aim to cut out the sodas and the processed sweets first.
This will get you a step closer to having a healthier food lifestyle.
What you should eat is vegetables, nuts, fats, and some carbs but not so much fruit.
Try to eat a bare minimum of 7 cups of Vegetables per day along with your protein source.
A Personal Tip: When it comes to eating vegetables and you don’t like eating them, make a veggie drink.
It is extremely helpful to make a veggie drink. With a vegetable drink, you can chug it back and get it over with.
For more information on how much vegetables you should have, CLICK HERE.
Conclusion.
Building muscle is easy when you know what to do. The 3 things you need to know on how to build muscle are:
Progressive overload – Training harder than last time.
Prioritize rest –Sleep for 7 – 9 hours, walk for at least 5000 steps, and take enough rest days to feel fully recovered.
Prioritize Nutrition – Eat enough protein (0.7g x your body weight), cut out processed sweets and sodas, and eat at least 7 cups of vegetables.
In summary, if you train harder than
and eat enough protein. You should
see progress.
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