Last Updated on June 6, 2020 by Nick J-Pepe
Work hard, eat healthily, drink enough water, relax and sleep well. This is the magic muscle growth course that we are made to believe can help change your slim self into a big muscled giant.
The question is, can adhere to these guidelines religiously result in muscle growth? The answer is obviously no. Everybody is built differently and the amount of exercise and food that can trigger a positive change in their body muscle mass differs.
If you have been religiously doing what you supposed to do to gain more mass, but you haven’t seen any positive results, it is time you changed the rules to your benefit. Learn and master these 5 proven tips on how to grow muscle mass and enjoy the benefits.
Train more
The reason you aren’t gaining muscle mass even after dedicating your whole self into workouts is likely because you aren’t doing enough training. According to experts, when you multiply the number of reps and sets you have been doing, the result you get will determine the number of muscles you will likely gain.
Training for strength is different from training for muscle mass. Training for muscle mass requires less training intensity and less weight lifting. To gain muscle mass, you must reduce or increase your lifts to sets of 3 to 6 of about 10 to 20 reps.
Increase protein intake
You need to know how much protein to gain muscle you should take. Eating excess proteins can disturb the workout process while eating less can make it almost impossible to work out.
When exercise, your body breakouts muscles to gain enough energy. The protein you eat helps to build the proteins back. So, no matter the exercises you are doing, eating enough protein is ideal for healthier muscle gain.
A research done in the University of Stirling confirmed that for weightlifters to gain more muscle mass, they must eat around 0.25 to 0.30 grams of protein in every kilogram bodyweight of a meal.
Some of the best foods that can deliver such amounts of protein include:
- Eggs—you should eat at least 2 to 3 eggs before you work out.
- Greek Yogurt—you should at least drink a cup of yogurt before engaging in weightlifting workouts.
- Protein powder—you have to take a scoop or two of protein powder before starting your workouts.
Eat more calories
Calories are the fuels needed by our bodies to work out. If we don’t take enough calories while weight lifting, chances are that we won’t achieve our muscle-building goals. According to studies, every goal-oriented weightlifter should consume more calories than they burn every day.
You have to remember that if your body realizes that it does not have enough supply of calories, it will decrease its muscle-building routine. In other words, if your body does not get enough proteins and calories, it won’t function as required which can result in muscle loss.
No matter your muscle gain goals, you are advised to eat at least 250 to 500 calories each day. Doing so often increases the chances of you building muscles in bulk.
A study done in Pennington Biomedical Research Center in 2014 confirmed that people who ate high-calorie protein diets gained about 45% calories muscle more muscle while people who ate low-protein diets containing the same amount of calories stored up 95% more calories as fat.
Take snacks before going to bed
Casein protein absorbs into the body slowly, so it stores enough amino acids to your muscles and for more extended periods when in comparison with other plant proteins.
According to a Medicine and Science in Exercise and Sports study, it was confirmed that consumption of more casein protein before going to bed increased amino acid circulation for more extended hours which significantly assists in muscle growth at night.
Some of the best snacks you can eat at night before you go to sleep include:
- Pre-bed casein;
- Try Cottage cheese;
- Casein-based protein powder;
- Milk;
- Greek yogurt;
Get adequate sleep
Above all, after a weary and tiresome day working out, you should get enough sleep. After a heavy workout, your muscles need to relax and cool off to recover.
Sleeping one of the best ways that can help your muscles recover as while sleeping, your body discharges human growth hormone, which assists in the growth of muscles and prevents the release of the stress hormone known as cortisol.
A study done by the American Medical Association confirmed that 5 hours of sleep each day could help cut the levels of testosterone levels by up to 15%.
Conclusion
We have outlined some of the best ways on how to build muscle mass easily. Each of these tips is backed by studies to be effective and reliable.
For best results, it is always great you combine your workout with the right supplement. You may as well need to consult with a professional in this industry if you aren’t sure what to do.