How do I gain muscle? A question I get asked all the time. The simple answer? Eat, lift, and repeat! Now if you want a few more quick Tips on Building Muscle that I’ve learned throughout the past decade then keep reading!
6 Tips on Building Muscle
Protein
I think it’s only appropriate that we start out with protein, EAT ENOUGH OF IT! Protein is the building block of muscle. There’s also a ton of research around how much to eat and various “opinions”.
My choice? I shoot for .7 grams to 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight while building muscle.
If you weigh 150lbs this would mean you’ll want to be eating at least 105 grams to 150 grams of protein a day.
You can’t start a car without enough fuel and you can’t build muscle without enough protein.
Lifting
Compound Exercises! These are going to be lifts like squats, bench, deadlifts, and so on that incorporate more than 1 muscle.
Do you need them to build muscle? No. Do they help? Absolutely. Compound exercises involve more muscle tissue.
Sleeping
SLEEP & REST! Your muscles can’t grow without these. Think about it, if you’re in the gym constantly tearing up your muscles and you don’t give them time to repair, how will they grow?
If you hurt yourself, you rest. Sick, you rest. Workout your liver too much, you rest. Your body needs time to heal/repair itself (repair sounds cooler in this context!).
Building muscle doesn’t get easier than this one, all you have to do is sleep!
Cardio
Compensate for cardio. You’ve probably heard that cardio kills gains before and while that can be true, I personally don’t think you should ever stop doing cardio.
What I do think you should do is to factor into your diet any form of cardio you do and eat more. Walk an extra mile or two that day? Eat another 1-200 calories. Cardio is great for the heart and a strong heart muscle is a good one for longevity in this game!
Fat
Don’t worry about a little FAT while building muscle! Unless you’re turning into Tim Allen in the Santa Clause you have to realize that with weight gain there’s going to be some fat gain.
Gaining 1-2lbs a week is fine, anything more than that and I would take a look at your diet.
Green
If you’re still having trouble gaining weight then pack up and move to Amsterdam or (insert legalized state here). I think you get where I’m going with this.
I hope at least one of these helped you out! Let me know some other tips that have helped you all out below in the comments.
Check out our 9 Foods You’re Probably Overeating next!
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I have a question about number six about the location stuff. I am always having trouble gaining weight. Is location that important? I live in Eastern North Carolina. Do I really need to move East?
Also, does living near a beach help with gaining weight and getting stronger? Or does it really matter? I’d like to know these things because I am having trouble sticking to my routine and getting stronger. I’ve always been skinny and a bit underweight.