{"id":2343,"date":"2025-02-18T11:55:18","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T00:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/6-essential-tips-for-building-muscle.html"},"modified":"2025-02-18T11:55:19","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T00:55:19","slug":"6-essential-tips-for-building-muscle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/6-essential-tips-for-building-muscle.html","title":{"rendered":"6 Essential Tips for Building Muscle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether your goal is to get bigger and stronger or improve power and explosiveness for sports, you want to see progress \u2014 and pronto.<\/p>\n

But building muscle efficiently requires more than just putting in time at the weight rack.<\/p>\n

Along with your strength-training regimen, diet, and lifestyle choices all play important roles.<\/p>\n

For those seeking muscle-building tips, here are some strategies to get you started.<\/p>\n

Pro tips:<\/strong> Check out the programs on muscle-building Beachbody On Demand \u2014 LIIFT4, LIIFT MORE, 6 Weeks of THE WORK, Body Beast, 645, and more \u2014\u00a0 and see which one is right for you.<\/p>\n

For those seeking tips on\u00a0how to\u00a0gain muscle, here are some strategies to get you started.<\/p>\n

1. Perform Multi-Joint Exercises<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Resistance training is the most efficient way to build lean mass \u2014 especially if you pack your workouts with big, compound (multi-joint) moves like the squat, bench press, lunge, and pull-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can certainly build muscle with all types of moves, but a strong base in multi-joint efforts, at least some of the time, is a good idea,\u201d says Michael Ormsbee, Ph.D., interim director of the Institute of Sports Science & Medicine at Florida State University.<\/p>\n

Science agrees: Compound exercises cause the greatest increase in testosterone, a key muscle-building hormone, according to researchers at the University of Connecticut.<\/p>\n

2. Don\u2019t Just Lift Heavy<\/h2>\n

When you lift heavy weights or do explosive exercises like sprinting, you target the type II muscle fibers we discussed earlier.<\/p>\n

But studies show that type I fibers (aka slow-twitch \u2014 the kind used in endurance activities) also have growth potential, so don\u2019t ignore them.<\/p>\n

Once every week or two, target those type I fibers\u00a0with low-weight, high-rep work (e.g.,\u00a03\u20134\u00a0sets of 15 or more reps per exercise).<\/p>\n

Or simply follow a Beachbody program such as Body Beast,\u00a021 Day Fix, P90X, 22 Minute Hard Corps, or The Master\u2019s Hammer and Chisel, which have that kind of variation built in.<\/p>\n

3. Get Plenty of Shut-Eye<\/h2>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

Shoot for a minimum of 7 hours a night. Getting less than that on a regular basis can cause you to rack up sleep debt, which can put the brakes on protein synthesis (aka muscle growth) and increase protein (read: muscle) degradation, according to a study by Brazilian researchers.<\/p>\n

Plus, you won\u2019t reap the full benefits of the human growth hormone, the levels of which spike while you\u2019re in dreamland.<\/p>\n

Have trouble sleeping? Try these natural tips on how to get good sleep tonight.<\/p>\n

4. Increase Weight Responsibly<\/h2>\n

You need to challenge your muscles to trigger growth, but you also need to be smart about how you go about it.<\/p>\n

If you increase the amount of weight you\u2019re lifting too quickly, you\u2019ll increase your risk of injury.<\/p>\n

But if you do it too slowly, you\u2019ll shortchange your results or hit a plateau.<\/p>\n

So how do you strike a balance? Pay attention to the effort you\u2019re exerting.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re lifting with perfect form, and your last few reps of an exercise feel similar to your first few, you know it\u2019s time to reach for a heavier weight.<\/p>\n

5. Allow Time for Recovery<\/h2>\n

\"group<\/p>\n

Muscles grow between workouts, not during them, so make recovery a priority. In practice, that means eating healthier, consuming\u00a0more protein, and not overtraining.<\/p>\n

Take at least 1 to 2 days off per week to allow your muscles to fully recover.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraining too often or at too high an intensity too frequently \u2014 without rest and recovery \u2014 can actually hurt your muscle-building efforts,\u201d says Ormsbee.<\/p>\n

Your move: Take at least 1 to 2 days off per week to allow your muscles to fully recover, and maximize the effectiveness of your downtime\u00a0by doing light cross training (e.g., hiking, cycling) or activities like foam rolling and yoga.<\/p>\n

If you are patient, focused, and consistent with your workouts and recovery, you will see results.<\/p>\n

6. Eat More Protein<\/h2>\n

Now that you\u2019re lifting weights, you need to consume more protein to promote muscle repair, recovery, and growth since amino acids (the building blocks of protein) are necessary to build muscle tissue.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re planning your high-protein meals,\u00a020 grams of protein is the optimal amount\u00a0generally accepted for muscle growth.<\/p>\n

Research has found that the\u00a0body\u00a0doesn\u2019t use much more than 20 grams for muscle building at any one sitting.<\/p>\n

Around 80 grams of protein per day (or four meals containing 20 grams of protein each) is about right for most people.<\/p>\n

If you want to calculate the optimal protein amount for you and your goals,\u00a0Beachbody recommends\u00a00.5 to 0.9 grams of protein per pound of desired lean\u00a0body weight per day, depending on\u00a0exercise intensity.<\/p>\n

(The harder\u00a0the workout, the more protein\u00a0is needed\u00a0for growth and recovery.)<\/p>\n

If you have ambitious muscle-building goals, shoot for the higher end of the range by adding one or two protein-rich snacks to your day.<\/p>\n

Nutritional Tips for Muscle Building<\/h2>\n

\"timed<\/p>\n

In addition to consuming more protein, there are a number of nutritional steps you can take to bulk up responsibly.<\/p>\n

1. Increase calories<\/h3>\n

\u201cNo one can be in a significant calorie deficit and\u00a0gain muscle,\u201d says Albert Matheny, M.S., R.D., C.S.C.S., co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab.<\/p>\n

To find out\u00a0how many more calories you should\u00a0consume\u00a0to gain weight, determine\u00a0how many calories you need to maintain your current weight \u2014 your baseline \u2014 then add 300.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re following a muscle-building program like Body Beast, add the recommended calories outlined in the guide.<\/p>\n

2. Strike the right mix of macros<\/h3>\n

Whether your\u00a0calories come from\u00a0carbs, fat, or\u00a0protein goes a long way in determining\u00a0whether\u00a0your weight gain comes\u00a0from muscle or from fat.<\/p>\n

An easy and relatively fast way to gain muscle is bulking up first, then leaning out.<\/p>\n

Using this method, you only have to focus on one thing at a time \u2014 building, then\u00a0getting lean, versus trying to increase mass\u00a0while simultaneously limiting\u00a0fat gain.<\/p>\n

To increase weight gained from fat, your macros\u00a0should emphasize\u00a0carbohydrates and fat, since it\u2019s the most calorically dense macronutrient.<\/p>\n

The bulk of that\u00a0fat should come from\u00a0unsaturated sources\u00a0such as avocado, olive oil, and salmon.<\/p>\n

3. Focus on post-workout nutrition<\/h3>\n

Generally, you should consume about 20 grams of protein with some carbs shortly after a\u00a0workout.<\/p>\n

One way to get the right mix\u00a0is with\u00a0Beachbody Performance Recover, which\u00a0combines time-released proteins and phytonutrients to aid\u00a0recovery and reduce muscle breakdown.<\/p>\n

During the post-workout anabolic window, you\u2019ll also want to limit fats, which can slow the absorption of protein.<\/p>\n

While there is some recent research\u00a0that suggests\u00a0the window\u00a0may actually extend up to\u00a0several hours following exercise, there\u2019s no harm in getting nutrients in early as long as you\u2019re sticking to your overall caloric and macronutrient goals.<\/p>\n

3 Factors\u00a0Affecting Muscle Growth<\/h2>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

These are the main\u00a0criteria dictating increases in muscle size or hypertrophy \u2014 and two of them are outside your control.<\/p>\n

Sex<\/h3>\n

Simmer down \u2014 we\u2019re talking gender. The male\u00a0persuasion unsurprisingly has a decided advantage when it comes to building muscle.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s due in large part to far greater levels of testosterone and a higher red blood cell count among men\u00a0than\u00a0women, who typically have to go to more extraordinary lengths to gain size.<\/p>\n

Genetics<\/h3>\n

Similar to the\u00a0way it governs how much hair you get to keep, heredity determines how much muscle you can develop.<\/p>\n

Thanks to genetics, a segment of the populace are born with a higher number of type II, or fast-twitch, muscle fibers, which have the greatest potential for growth.<\/p>\n

Training specificity<\/h3>\n

The factor\u00a0you can change \u2014 and the one we\u2019ll spend\u00a0much\u00a0of this article focusing on \u2014 is the overall approach you take to your\u00a0workouts.<\/p>\n

There are different protocols that distinguish lifting for mass from lifting for strength.<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, lifting very heavy weights in low volume is how to\u00a0gain strength, and lifting moderately heavy weights in high volume is how to\u00a0gain muscle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether your goal is to get bigger and stronger or improve power and explosiveness for sports, you want to see progress \u2014 and pronto. But building muscle efficiently requires more than just putting in time at the weight rack. Along with your strength-training regimen, diet, and lifestyle choices all play important roles. For those seeking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2344,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fitness"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2343"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2345,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2343\/revisions\/2345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}