How to Build Muscles Fast and Lose Fat - Tips on Building Muscles and Losing Fat

If you are overweight or obese, you may want to know how to build muscles fast. Building muscles and losing fat can be the ideal setup we want in our weight loss program. Of course, we do want to get rid of that flabby tummy or that fat on the elbows or thighs and turn them into well-toned muscles that sculpt our body's natural curves.

You may not be able to convert those fats into muscles, but you can speed up your fat-burning processes in the body by building muscles and burning those fats away. The goal of losing fat and building muscle at the same time can be achieved, but it is important that if you want to achieve this goal, you have to give your time and commitment in really attain it. Here are some things that you may find useful in learning how to build muscles fast and lose those fats.

- Set your goals. This is important in everything that you plan to achieve including weight loss, building muscles and burning fat. Without a clear goal in mind and without the big commitment can cripple your efforts and can make your goals frustrating too. Your efforts should start with a clear goal in mind and a plan to carry it out.

- Choosing your exercise. Choosing the best exercise that fits your goal is another important thing in learning how to build muscles fast and losing fat. The fastest way you can get to your goal in muscle building is doing weight training. However, you have to keep in mind that correct exercises are essential in building muscles fast. If you also target to lose fat and not just build muscles, you must not forget your cardio exercises as well. Although weight training can help in burning calories, your cardio is essential in increasing the fat-burning capacity of your body, and of course, it won't be ideal to tone muscles that are covered with layers of fat.

- Exercise may be an essential component on how to build muscles fast and lose fat at the same time but it is also equally important to consider your nutrition as well. Failing to focus on your diet can indeed make you fail in your goals. Proper diet that complements your muscle building and losing fat should be healthy diet. Go for vegetables and fruits that are high in fiber. Also avoid foods that are high in fats and salt. Go for foods rich in protein and opt for fresh and natural foods and not the processed ones.

- Make it a habit. Losing weight and building muscle is not just something that you can do one time or in a specific period of time. One thing that can make you succeed in building muscles and losing weight at the same time is to make it a habit. Once you make it your lifestyle, you will not find it too difficult to reach your goals and you will find it easy to stay in shape permanently.

- Find a motivation. All your efforts and goals in losing fat and learning how to build muscles fast can be a waste if you do not have a strong motivation that will help you succeed in achieving your goals. Keep monitoring your progress and improvements. Take pictures, monitor your weight loss, and measure. This will help a lot in motivating yourself to do more. 

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How to Build Muscle Fast

Every bodybuilder wants to grow faster. No-one wants to wait for results, we all want results now or if not then yesterday. So it is very frustrating that it takes months or years to build muscle mass. However there are things that we can do to reduce the time it takes us to build muscle. So here are 10 hot tips that show you how to build muscle fast. Here they are:

1. The Overload Principle. This basically means that you have to increase or improve the workload you do every workout. You must constantly strive for improvements in order to keep pushing your muscle to the limits to stimulate growth. By placing ever increasing demands on the body we can force it to continually grow and adapt to the new demands each workout in order to build muscle fast.

2. Your rep range should be between 8 and 12 reps. This range of reps is proven to stimulate the most muscle growth for size. Whilst the 3-6 rep range will increase strength it doesn't always lead to massive size increases. In the 15 plus category you can create muscle growth but it will be in a different type of muscle fiber which doesn't increase in size so much, although your body will gain endurance.

3. Each body part or muscle group should be trained for a maximum of 6-9 sets in any given workout. More than that and you risk over training. This will keep your workouts shorter and sharper and avoid the body releasing catabolic hormones which actually don't help you build muscle. In any case try to keep your workout down to 45 minutes so it is nice and intense.

4. Get enough calories inside you. If you wish to build muscle mass then you need to consume excess calories which can then be used to build muscle mass. Muscle doesn't just grow out of thin air it requires the excess calories to build it. You must eat lots and make sure the calories are from good sources such as rice, breads, pasta for carbs, fish lean white meat for protein and fresh leafy green fruit and vegetables for vitamins and minerals.

5. Increase your protein intake. Protein is required for muscle to be repaired and built. If you don't have enough protein then you won't be able to build muscles fast. You can work out your required protein intake by:

Your Lean Mass Weight (Kg) x 2.75 = Your Daily Protein Requirement
To workout your lean mass weight you need to know your percentage body fat. This can be done at many gyms or an easier method is to simply take one gram of protein for each pound of body weight that you have, this is also a suitable guideline.

6. Consume Fat! This is good advice because it increases the muscle building anabolic hormone in your body. Some people increase this by taking steroids but a good bodybuilding diet can do this to some extent naturally and fats play a role in this.

7. Liquids. A great deal of chemical reactions in the body, such as those responsible for muscle building, require copious amounts of water in order to take place. Therefore it is sensible to take on board more water than you would normally. This is an excellent tip often overlooked when people try to build muscles fast.

8. Take it easy on the aerobic exercise and cardio workouts. This is because cardio workouts release the catabolic hormone that actually can lead to muscle tissue being broken down, the exact opposite of what you want. Also it will reduce the amount of excess calories in your body which you really want to conserve in order to build muscle when you are at rest.

9. My favorite: Sleep. Your muscles can only grow and repair themselves during periods of rest and sleep is clearly a key rest period. Make sure you take a good protein shake before you turn in. The last thing you want to do is starve your body of muscle overnight when you are trying to build muscle mass fast. During sleep growth hormones are released, your muscles experience increased blood flow and your metabolic rate slows down. All of these are ideal conditions for building muscle fast.

10. Be committed. Don't give up on your goals. You won't turn in to Mr. Olympia overnight but if you follow the above guidelines over a three month period then you can experience significant gains in muscle mass. The above tips are practiced by many experienced bodybuilders and I assure you they really do show you how to build muscle fast.

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How to Build Muscle Effectively

It is not surprising that there is a lot of confusion in these modern times on how to exactly build muscle. Besides that, there are just too much information and misunderstanding on how to build muscle such as what type of equipment to use, how long one should spend in the gym, whether or not to use steroids.

Therefore, you must be aware and do your own research on the principles of muscle building.

Despite the information overload out there, principles do not change. For example, you must begin to understand how muscles are formed. Muscles are formed when they are recovering, not when you are in the gym.

When you are in the gym pumping away, you are actually creating micro-tears in your muscles. Therefore, when your muscles recover, they will naturally form better muscle tissues.

Combined with proper nutrition, it will escalate the recovery process of your muscles, resulting in bigger, leaner muscles. This is a principle you must remember.

Therefore, there are a few things other principles and points you must keep in mind in order to build muscles effectively.

1) Do not attempt a low calorie diet.

When you try to lose weight or fat by starving yourself, your body will lower its metabolism rate to preserve energy. Muscle building requires you to burn as much energy as possible. This is exactly why people lift weights. They want to burn as much energy as possible, to create as much micro-tears as possible for the muscle to recover and become bigger.

2) You must have a proper nutrition intake.

Just by lifting weights alone is not enough. You need to know the right nutrition intake to consume. Although many perceive protein to be extremely important and the only nutrition needed, this is not true. Protein is definitely important but effective muscle builders know exactly what and the right amount of nutrition to consume.

3) Muscle building is a long term endeavor

When you start building muscle, you must realize that it must become your lifestyle. Although results can be achieved in a few months using proper methods and routines, you must continue to work and endeavor on this lifestyle. If not, your muscle will slack and eventually it'll be back to square one again. But don't worry, if you can hang on for a few months to achieve the body you want, you won't find this lifestyle difficult.

Therefore, muscle building can be fun and extremely rewarding to boost your confidence and to increase the quality of your life, However you must remember to be practical at all times.

Jerold Smith is a successful body builder. He has compiled information and have tested and tried different muscle building methods, routines and nutrition from years of training. Jerold knows what works and what do not on how to build and gain muscle fast.

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3 Important Tips to Build Muscle Faster - Get Lean and Ripped

Let's face it... building muscle is not the easiest thing to accomplish even despite regular hard workout schedules and trying every type of workout and supplement. 

I struggled for years to gain any significant muscle mass, but over the years in my personal training business and with my own experimentation have found some important things that have helped make significant muscle gains possible even for hardgainers.

So, I'm going to give 3 important tips here so you can start building lean muscle mass faster and easier.

1. Make sure that 95% of the exercises you perform regularly in the gym are big multi-joint compound exercises.  It doesn't matter if your goal is fat loss or building muscle... big multi-joint exercises should comprise 95% of the exercises you do in your workouts if you want to get lean, ripped, and powerful.

It's easiest to think of it in terms of the major movement patterns such as these (focus 95% of your workouts on these):

upper body horizontal press (bench press, pushups, dips), upper body horizontal rows (1-arm dumbbell rows, seated cable rows, bent over barbell rows), upper body vertical pull (lat pulldowns, pullups, chinups), upper body vertical press (overhead dumbbell and barbell presses, barbell or kettlebell clean & presses) lower body squatting movements (front squats, back squats, overhead squats, bodyweight squats, etc) lower body deadlifting movements (regular deadlifts, sumo deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts) lower body single leg movements (lunges, step-ups, jump lunges, etc) abdominal and core exercises (these are important, but still are 2nd priority after all of the major upper body and lower body multi-joint movements... your abs and core will be worked from most major multi-joint exercises anyway)

The other 5% of your exercises can focus on single joint exercises (isolation exercises) such as bicep curls, tricep presses, calf presses, shoulder shrugs, shoulder lateral raises, pec flyes, etc, etc.  However, these exercises are only accessory exercises to do after the main focus has been the multi-joint drills.

2.  Train hard and intensely 3-4 days/week for 45-60 minutes per weight training workout.  Keep your workouts to no longer than 60 minutes as training too much beyond this point can trigger excess catabolism.  You want to stay anabolic, but you still need to train your body hard and intensely enough to trigger muscle growth.

Try a super-set style of workout program to maximize the intensity that you can train.  My favorite combinations are opposing upper and lower body movement patterns that don't interfere with each other, such as squats coupled with pullups as a superset, or bench press coupled with deadlifts as a superset.

Don't underestimate the effectiveness of these types of upper/lower body supersets done with heavy weights and a high intensity.  The first time in my life that I experienced significant muscle mass gains were when I started doing these types of workout combos regularly (although still mixing up my training variables).

These are mainstays of almost any effective workout program -- caloric intake can simply be adjusted whether your goal is fat burning or gaining muscle mass.

3.  Eat clean with quality whole foods... REAL foods instead of highly processed over-hyped supplement powders and bars. 

The quality of protein (and additional nutrition from vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants) are best assimilated by the body from real whole food such as eggs, meats, dairy (preferably raw), fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, etc. instead of from processed protein powders, chemical-laden bars, and meal replacements.

Forget about the hyped up workouts in the muscle mags that only work for pro bodybuilders or people on steroids. Forget about the over-hyped supplement "stacks" that pay the bills for almost every muscle mag... Instead, make these tips in this article part of your lifestyle, and you'll see muscle gains and a leaner, ripped body like you've never seen before!

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Creatine: Build Muscle Rapidly and Achieve Bodybuilding Success

Creatine Review: Including Creatine into your daily nutritional intake and combined with highly effective muscle building techniques you can fast track your way to muscle building success and achieve improved results. Creatine can stimulate muscle growth by providing additional energy and stimulate increased protein synthesis.

Many bodybuilding supplements have a gained a bad reputation over the years, in particular anabolic steroids, but Creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid that has been scientifically proven to help you build muscle and hone your physique so that you become stronger and leaner. It works by helping to boost the performance of your muscles so that they are able to work longer and harder, which encourages the growth of extra muscle fiber. As an added bonus it has also been shown to reduce muscle soreness experienced after workouts therefore enhancing recovery.

Creatine facilitates the storage of water in muscle cells and as a result the muscles become volumized. This enhances the synthesis or creation of protein as well as minimizing the breakdown of protein. Consequently the increased protein synthesis combined with resistance training will enhance muscle growth.

Creatine can be obtained from several different food sources, specifically meat and fish, but you would have to consume large amounts for it to make a difference to your bodybuilding regime. Taking a Creatine supplement is a far more effective way as this allows you to regulate the amount of Creatine you are ingesting.

Building muscle is the primary goal of many people who spend hours pumping weights down at their local gym. Looking totally ripped and muscular as opposed to stick thin and weedy will boost your confidence, self esteem and health and make you more sexually appealing.

Successful bodybuilding requires implementing the correct techniques and nutrition to build muscle, otherwise you will end up wasting a lot of time, energy and money. There are many different techniques, but if you want to build long lasting muscle, incorporating a supplement such as 'Creatine' into your training regime can deliver significantly improved results.

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The Right Supplements To Build Muscle Fast

Most people think that gaining muscle is a case of working out as hard as possible for as long as possible. This is certainly not the case and approaching body building in such a way is likely to lead to disappointment and possible injury. A more calculated and studied approach is the way to get the best results and you should be aware it takes more than working out to build mass muscle.

Your diet, the amount of time you rest and recover between workouts and the type of workouts you do will have an impact on your muscle generation. The use of supplements to build muscle fast is also something that you need to consider as part of your overall bodybuilding routine.

Your body needs protein

Your body needs the energy to workout and it needs protein to repair muscles after the workout. It is impossible to get good returns from a workout involving tired muscles, so rejuvenating these muscles has to be part of your workout plan. Muscle growth comes from the rest and recovery period and this is where your muscles will really develop. This is where the right supplements to build muscle fast will have an impact.

You should be aware that protein, alongside carbohydrates and fat, is one of the main components of the human diet. Protein also plays a vital role in building muscle and if you lack enough protein, you will not be able to build muscle. Food such as chicken, turkey, fish and eggs are good sources of protein but it difficult to know exactly how much protein you are consuming.

Supplements allow you to measure your protein intake

Taking protein supplements that can be measured out ensures a bodybuilder knows exactly how much protein they are taking. This is ideal if you are following a set plan of protein intake.

This is why the supplements to build muscle fast will be protein based, with many bodybuilders taking one directly after a workout. The 30 minutes after a workout are crucial for absorbing protein and if you are at the gym, protein supplements to build muscle fast are ideal.

Protein supplements are convenient for use at the gym

These supplements can be made in advance at home and are quick and convenient to digest. Turkey and chicken may be sources of protein but you may find it difficult to eat these at the gym.

Of all the protein supplements available, whey protein supplements to build muscle fast are probably the most relevant to a body builder. The whey content ensures the protein is digested quickly and that it is of a considerable quality.

There are many aspects to building mass muscle but adding protein supplements to your workout plan will make a big difference to the results. If you want to build muscle fast, adding protein supplements to build muscle fast is a very sensible step to creating muscle mass.

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How to Lose Weight and Build Muscle at the Same Time

It is possible to lose weight and build muscle at the same time, although knowledge of the principles behind the biological processes involved will be needed for it to be achieved effectively. There is more to losing weight and building muscle tissue than simply dieting or exercising, but it is necessary to eat the right diet and to carry out the right exercise.

First, one or two truths: if you want to lose weight and build muscle they can both be done at the same time - in fact should be done at the same time. Secondly, it is impossible to change fat into muscle - you may as well try to change lead into gold. They are totally difference biological substances, and one cannot be changed into another no matter if you had read it 'somewhere' or been told by 'somebody'.

These facts having been established, how exactly do you go about losing weight and building muscle simultaneously?

The Importance of a Calorie Deficit

If you eat fewer calories or burn more calories you will reach a stage where your body is in what is referred to as 'calorie deficit'. That is, you have to burn more calories than you are eating. You are exercising, yet there are insufficient calories in your diet to provide enough energy for both your metabolic needs and your exercise. Your 'metabolic needs' or 'metabolic rate' refers to the calories needed to provide the energy for your heartbeat, breathing, central nervous system, digestion and so on. Bodily processes that must take place for you to live, and they all need energy.

If you jog on a treadmill, do 'aerobics', cycle, swim or participate in any other form of exercise or sport that makes you breathe a lot and your heart beat a lot, then you use up a lot of calories. When you lift weights you use up a lot of calories and you also build muscle tissue that speeds up your metabolism that in turn burns even more calories!

Can You Lose Fat and Build Muscle Simultaneously?

You may have read somewhere that you cannot lose fat and build muscle, but can lose weight and build muscle? Why the difference? In some ways it is true that it can be difficult to lose fat and build muscle, but that only applies if you are a regular bodybuilder or weightlifter. If you were, you wouldn't be reading this, so you can lose both.

A lot has got to do with muscle density and how much muscle bulk you can build on top of what you have already. The vast majority of those reading this will have lots of scope of building on top of what they already have. Here's how.

To lose weight or burn fat you need a calorie deficit as explained. If you eat highly calorific foods such as potatoes, bread, sugars, ice cream, fats and so on, then you will have to carry out a lot of exercise to create a calorie deficit, and you will struggle to lose weight or fat. You will also have very little chance of adding muscle fiber. For that you need protein

If you replace most of your carbs with protein, but still include some fat in your diet because you need fats or oils for your health (fat makes you feel less hungry, helps generate endorphins, and carried the fat soluble vitamins A, E and K), then your food will still be satisfying and nutritious but will contain a lower calorific value. You could even add some high protein supplement.

The Importance of Protein

Eat protein supplements or chicken - chicken is full of protein and nutrition. Your digestive system will break down the protein into carbohydrate for energy and amino acids needed to build muscle fibers. Exercise using a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercises. The exercise will get the blood flowing through your muscles and carry the amino acids to where they must be for muscle development.

Anaerobic exercise is an inefficient way of using glucose from the protein carbohydrates, so you need even more protein for the same amount of energy as aerobic exercise will provide. That means even more amino acids to build up muscle tissue. Aerobics will enable you to rapidly burn fat, converting it to carbohydrates and reducing the fat content of your body, and anaerobics will work certain muscle groups hard, use up more fats and more protein for the same amount of energy, and rapidly build muscle tissue.

The muscle tissue then increases your metabolic rate which in turn burns more fat. That is how to lose weight and build muscle at the same time. It is a combination of a carefully thought out diet, making use of the carbohydrate and amino acids contained in protein, and of the capacity of aerobic exercise to burn fats and anaerobic exercise to build muscles. Ultimately you will gain weight as your muscles grow, but initially you will lose it as your fat disappears.

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How to Gain Weight Quickly and Build Muscle

The disputes over how to best build muscle and gain weight quickly will go on forever.

The continuous debating over how an effective bodybuilding regimen should be designed so as to build muscle and gain weight quickly will most likely carry on until the end of time. Just go through any muscle magazine, scour the Internet message boards, or speak to any sales representative at your local supplement store. It does not matter what you read or who you talk to, just about everyone has something to say about how to build muscle and gain weight quickly.

When you are a newbie to all this, trying to figure out who is an expert and who is not might seem difficult to do. It is no easy job trying to answer the numerous questions that come to mind.

What are the best exercises for energizing my muscles? How long should I workout? How many workouts do I need each week? Is there an optimum rep range? What is the optimal number of sets for each muscle group?

If you are willing to put in some time and effort, these questions can be answered. This article, though, will not answer those questions.

If you get caught up in all of the arguments and confusion you will, in turn, lose sight of the big picture. Trying to figure out the best exercises and rep ranges are important, but not as important as one principle that forms the basis of the muscle growth process.

If you do not concentrate on this principle (or you ignore it altogether), it is simply not possible to build meaningful muscle mass.

The prime factor here is that muscles grow by adapting to stress. Lifting weights causes "micro-tears" within your muscle tissue. Since your body feels like it is under attack, it will begin working to restore those muscle fibers larger and stronger to help protect you in the future.

To build muscle and gain weight quickly, it is imperative that you always concentrate on progressing from workout to workout by lifting more weight or performing more reps. By doing this, the muscles will have no alternative but to continue getting larger and stronger as an answer to the added stress.

So, if you want to get BIG, it is essential to get STRONG!

So, what is the best muscle-building program on the market today?

Nothing more some paper and a pen!

That is right, the fine points of how to build muscle and gain weight quickly do matter, but the final goal of progression transcends them all and will ultimately say whether you succeed or fail.

It does not matter how much time you entrust in the particular details of how to build muscle and gain weight quickly; if you do not ramp up your strength every week, you will not gain muscle.

Take time out to look over how you train. If you have not been concentrating on the number of reps or the amount of weight you are pressing, and trying to refine these areas from week to week, you are missing the most important principle of muscle building.

Some paper and a pen are the most significant tools when you want to build muscle and gain weight quickly.

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Build Muscle, Lose Fat, Get a Six Pack

Building muscle takes a great amount of commitment. You can't expect to see results over night or even over a few weeks. Building pounds of lean solid muscle takes months if not years. This might sound scary and unattainable for you but there is hope. Here we will teach you how to build muscle effectively in the least amount of time. This however does not mean that you will be looking like a bodybuilder after a month. Like said before this process takes time and a strong mental attitude. We can teach you techniques, strategies, and facts about reaching your goals however we cannot force consistency nor will power upon you. Those factors will be up to you, however the rest of the formula is written below! Read on and let your muscles grow!

Your first step is to find an exercise program in other words a list of workouts for the weeks you will be training (you can find many effective workouts under our workouts tab). There are many ways to create your own workout. You can work out 3,4,5,6, or even 7, times a week. You can do full body exercises, you can do a few muscle groups a day, or you can even do one muscle group a day. You can incorporate cross fit training, super sets, and isolation exercises. You can do 12 sets a day or if you want even 25 sets a day. There are limitless possibilities in creating a workout and that is why it is very hard to answer the question of "which workout will be the best for me"? Everybody's body reacts differently to every workout and what might be fantastic for one person may not be nearly as effective for you.

So with all these possibilities of workouts where do possibly start? This question once again plays into the type of goal your seeking, your schedule, and your will. Yet there are a few key points that every workout should follow. These include:

· Never working out the same muscle group two days in a row. During a workout the targeted muscles will break down, you may think that your muscle is growing during your workout but it in fact is being destroyed. The time you spend after your workout is actually the time when your muscle will be repairing itself and growing. This can be called your recovery time. If you workout the same muscle group to often you will never allow your muscle a chance to repair and therefore it will never be allowed to grow. The amount of time needed for recovery varies among many people and is usually around 2-4 days depending on how intensely you worked that muscle out. Finding out your specific recovery time is usually done best by trial and error. When you first start training always allow at least two full days before you exercise the same muscle group again.

· Never workout for more than 2 hours! Just because you do 100 more reps doesn't mean your muscles are going to get 100 times bigger You shouldn't even be working out close to two hours. In reality the amount of time you workout is dependent upon many things, intensity, diet, how long you've been training, routine, even genetics. The higher the intensity of your workout the shorter it should be (generally). When you workout too long you will actually be counterproductive. Two very bad things can happen when you workout too long. One is, due to the extreme depletion of energy during your workout, your body might actually start breaking down your muscle for energy use. This is rare and you wouldn't lose a lot of muscle but you see the point of counter productivity.

The other is much more common and it is overtraining. Overtraining happens over a small extended period of time where you train your muscles before they are allowed to recover. During a period like this you gain no muscle at all. Overtraining is very common among beginners. They go into the gym every day doing set after set after set thinking they are going to get huge however their workouts have a worse effect on them then just staying at home would. In bodybuilding working out does get you strong and muscular but working out too much gets you nowhere. The main signs of overtraining are:

o Trouble sleeping
o Strength Plateau (your strength is not increasing)
o Elevated resting Heart Rate
o Fatigue
o Loss of appetite o Lower concentration

Switch up your routine every 3-4 weeks. During your workouts your muscles start to get accustomed to the routine you are doing. In order to stimulate and shock the muscles switch an exercise for one you've never done or one you haven't done in a while. For example for biceps instead of doing barbell curls do seated alternate dumbbell curls. Keeping your routine fresh and updated will help you increase your muscle mass and strength.

Lift to failure and increase resistance. In order for your muscle to grow it has to be stressed. Make sure that your muscle is burning and exhausted by the time you finish a set. Make sure you cannot do a single more repetion before you put the weight back down. Also do not constantly use the same amount of weight. In order for your muscles to grow bigger you have to periodically be increasing the weight that you are lifting. Heavier weight equals bigger muscles. Benching 135 lbs. 30 times will not give you the same effect as benching 250 lbs. 4 times.

The last key point is to limit the use of machines. Machines control the weight for you limiting the amount of various muscles you put into the exercise. Free weights also stimulate stabilizer muscles which are muscles that keep all your other muscles and other parts in place. Stabilizer muscles also very effectively prevent damage and injury to your main muscles. Some machines are very effective for isolation exercises (one joint movement exercises such as the barbell curl) such as the bicep curl machine and the chest fly machine. Yet, the majority of your workout should be done using free weights, they will make you stronger and make you less prone to injury.

For beginners we recommend a 3-4 days a week workout that involves many compound exercises. (see beginner workouts under our workout tab). To find specific exercises for certain body parts visit our exercise tab in the menu.

Now you got your workout on track so it's time to change the way you eat. Many people think that in order to obtain maximum results during their training they should eat thousands of calories more than their body requires. They always brag about how much muscle they've gained when they fail to see that most of their new weight is fat. Under ideal conditions you can AT THE MOST gain.25-.5 lbs of muscle per week! I know that is not what you would like to hear, but spread out over a year that is 12-24 lbs. of solid muscle! As you gain muscle your body will also naturally retain more water. Per about every pound of muscle gained you will also gain about half a pound of water weight. So throughout the year you can gain 18-36 lbs.! So back towards your diet, eating thousands of calories extra will have no effect on your muscle growth. Yes you are required to eat more in order to obtain muscle mass however you want to do this with obtaining as little fat as possible. There is a point where the extra calories won't be used towards building muscle and they will just be stored on as fat (read our myth of bulking/cutting cycles article for more information).

So step 1 in your diet is to eat more calories than you burn in order to sustain and build new muscle. Remember that no one is the same and this number can vary slightly from individual to individual. A general guide is to eat about 250-500 calories more than you burn. (to find out how much you burn you can use our BMR calculator located under our tools tab in the menu). If you notice that you are gaining more than one pound per week than that extra weight is most likely being put on as fat. You should constantly monitor your weight and bodyfat percentage to know how many calories you should ideally consume.

Once you've figured out your required calorie intake for building muscle you should incorporate a protein, carbohydrate, fat ratio designed to build muscle. A standard ratio for muscle building is 40%, 40%, 20%. Meaning that 40% of your calories should come from protein, 40% should come from carbohydrates, and 20% should come from healthy fats. Always make sure that you are getting around 1.5-2grams of protein per lb. of lean body mass (the 40% of protein should cover that). Lean body mass = Your weight-your weight from fat. You should split your calories up into six smaller meals throughout the day making sure each one has a good amount of protein with it. If you eat six smaller meals a day you provide your body with nutrients all throughout the day so it's easier for your body to rebuild it's broken down muscles. One of these meals should be eaten right after a workout, and about an hour after a workout. During this time the body will absorb protein and other nutrients more quickly to rebuild and refuel itself.

Meals should not be eaten right before a workout. Many people drink a protein shake before their workout but they fail to realize that it takes up to 4 hours for protein to be digested and broken down. Therefore their shake has no positive effects during the workout. In fact it robs them of energy, since your digestive system requires a lot of energy to break down food it takes their current energy and uses it for food digestion. What should be eaten before a workout is a small carbohydrate filled snack. Since carbohydrates breakdown within an hour of consumption eating a granola bar an hour before your workout will supply you with energy that will be able to be exerted into your training. The last meal you eat should be right before bedtime, it should be high in protein preferable casein protein (slowly dissolving protein). During sleep you go 8-10 hours without any nutrients so eating right before bed and right when you wake up is very important!

Now you got your diet set up so it's time to look at other aspects that are important for building muscle. You should sleep preferably 10 hours a day, never less than 8. During sleep is when your muscles are recovering the most efficiently. Lack of sleep can easily lead to overtraining and fatigued muscles. Sleep is crucial to growing muscle.

Drink a lot of water! Your muscles are made up of about 70% water. Keeping your body hydrated is extremely important in trying to build muscle. The amount you should drink varies from person to person but general rules are that if your urine is clear and if you're urinating every hour to hour and a half than you are hydrated. A formula that estimates required water intake is bodyweight x.6 =amount of water (in ounces). Keep in mind that you will sweat during your training and you will be required to drink more during your workout sessions.

Stay stress free! It has been proven that high levels of stress can affect muscle gains. Stay calm and enjoy life! Limit alcoholic beverages. Alcohol drastically dehydrates the body and hydration is very important in building muscle. Squat!! Many people want to get a huge upper body and neglect legs. Squatting is extremely important to gaining all around size. Squats use very many muscles in your body, big ones and small ones, the stimulation of many muscles creates a high increase in testosterone production. More testosterone will equal quicker and bigger muscle gains.

Take breaks! During constant exercise our body's testosterone levels slowly reduce. You should take a week break every month and a half or so to increase testosterone levels and to give your muscles a break. Many times you will notice that after the week break you are able to lift more and lift longer! Lifting heavier equals bigger muscles! Take supplements! Supplements are not necessary but can provide a huge performance boost.

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Build Muscle Fast - Which Foods Build Muscle?

Building muscle fast involves both a bodybuilding diet and a workout routine that is effective. But how do you ensure good results? See there are several tips you need to know. Let's go through some tips here that will help you out with your bodybuilding efforts.

1. Start with your workout, and your appetite will adjust itself

To lose fat and build muscle fast, you simply need to increase your energy output through workouts and as a result, you will naturally eat the amount you need. Most people eat the same amount or even more when they start working out. But their higher metabolism means they burn fat and gain muscle, which means visible results.

2. Increase your weights

The best natural bodybuilding worjout or routine really involves tricking your body into creating more muscle than it strictly needs. The simplest way to start the deception is to lift heavier weights. You can increase the rate at which you bulk up by following a 4-6 week schedule during which you rapidly increase the heaviness of the weights you use. You needn't aim for massive weights. It's sufficient that your muscles feel exhausted at the end of each session. This means even more muscle gain and even more fat loss.

3. A healthy diet to help recovery

Diet is an essential ingredient of your campaign to build muscle fast and get a six pack abs. You will need to consume sufficient antioxidants. This means fruits, vegetables, green powder drinks and even vitamin supplements. So in short, this means no junk food. Switch to healthy food instead and you will not only look better, you'll feel better as well.

4. Eat the foods that build muscle

The foods that help muscle gain include 1) lean proteins such as fish, chicken, lean beef, eggs, and yoghurt 2) the good oils such as omega 3 fatty acids and olive oil and avocados and 3) low GI carbs such as multigrain bread (instead of white), Basmati rice and green leafy vegetables

5. Eat 6 smaller meals a day

Instead of having 3 big meals, have 6 smaller meals, 3 hours apart. This has been proven to result in more muscle gain, less fat and much higher metabolism. So have regular meals, and no more skipping breakfast! Following this simple step is very valuable.

Increasing your muscle mass is not that difficult surprisingly. If your goal is to build your muscle, and build it fast, just study and follow these tips. All of this only takes a little dedication and a little knowledge of your anatomy, so what are you waiting for? A great body can be achieved and when you see the results, you will no longer need motivation to keep going!

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The 4 Supplements That Build Muscle

First off, you do not need supplements in order to gain muscle. Supplements make a 20% difference in your results. It's the hard work, eating whole foods and recovery that is the other 80% to you reaching your goals. There are many people that are muscular without taking supplements, but honestly most of us do not have the time and/or the dedication it takes to eat a balanced diet and work out consistently. This is where supplements come in to play. Supplements do not build muscle for us, but it helps our body receive the nutrients we are lacking to build muscle. You still need to eat properly, work hard in the gym and rest in order to build muscle.

The question many people ask is, "there are so many supplements out there, what should I take?" The answer is not very simple because each supplement is designed to do different things. Everybodys body reacts differently to a supplement depending on each person's needs and bodily chemistry. With that being said, there are 4 supplements that every person needs and you will find them in the cabinet of any bodybuilders home: Multivitamins, Protein Powder, Creatine, and EFA's

Multi Vitamin

With all the processed foods inundating our supermarkets, it's almost impossible to get all your nutritional requirements from food alone. Even if you eat nothing but whole foods, you would have to eat a large amount of food to meet all your nutritional requirements due to the inferior soils used today.

Your body is a complex machine that conducts millions of functions simultaneously. Each nutrient contributes to thousands of essential reactions that make these functions possible such as B12 for healthy red blood cell production, Iodine for thyroid regulation, and B6 for protein metabolism. Being deficient in just one nutrient is detrimental to thousands of chemical reactions within your body, which in turn will make it much harder for your body to run at its full potential.

People who put their bodies under physical stress 3-4 days a week have a higher nutritional requirement than people who live a sedentary lifestyle. I'm sure you've noticed after a hard workout you're very hungry. It's your body telling you it is low on fuel and needs to be replenished.

To make sure my body is not lacking in nutrients, I like to take multivitamins with a higher potency for two reasons:

Some multivitamins use inferior ingredients and not all of that 4000% Daily Value of Riboflavin or whatever it may say will be digested by your body. On the higher potency multi vitamins, I sometimes like to split up the dosage throughout the day as there are some people in the medical field that think there are too many nutrients for your body to digest at one time. My body's demands for nutrients on days that I workout are not the same as the days that I rest. I don't want to be low on any nutrient if my body needs it. I've even heard some people on days of extreme stress like to take two doses a day; one in the morning and one after a really hard workout. The good thing about multivitamins are many of the nutrients such as vitamin C and Vitamin B are water soluble and will be excreted out of you, depending on your body's needs.

A good multivitamin I would suggest is Animal Pak by Universal Nutrition. It is made with ingredients that are easily digestible by the body and they contain a good balance between key nutrients for building muscle, minerals for performance and amino acids for recovery.

Protein powder

We all know in order to build muscle you need to eat plenty of calories and especially protein. The rule of thumb for protein is to consume 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight for muscle building. With any good muscle building plan, you need to spread those calories into 5-7 meals a day to keep your metabolism high and your nutrient intake steady. There are some medical professionals who think the body cannot digest more than 35 grams of protein per sitting and therefore is another good reason to spread out your protein intake. With our busy schedules, it is very hard for any of us to eat that many meals a day and the protein shake is the perfect substitute for 2-3 of those meals.

The three most important times to take a protein shake:

Morning: Drink a shake in the morning as soon as you get up because it is quickly digested. Your body has not had any protein for however long you have been sleeping and if your body goes into a catabolic state it starts to eat away your hard earned muscle. I drink shake as soon as you get up and then 30 minutes later I eat a normal breakfast.

Pre-workout: I prefer to take a protein shake before I workout instead of eating a meal because your body digests whey protein powder within an hour as opposed to chicken or fish which takes your body 2 to 2.5 hours to digest. That way I don't feel bloated at the gym and I know the protein is going straight to my muscles instead of sitting in my stomach waiting to be digested.

Post workout: This is the absolute most important time to take a protein shake. This is the beginning of the all important "recovery" phase. Your muscles have been broken down from a strenuous workout and you need to get protein to them fast in order to repair and build new muscle.

It is important to take any protein powder, but I think whey protein is the highest quality protein for building muscle and as a bonus it's also one the cheapest. Whey contains all the essential amino acids for building new muscle and is also high in bioavailability so our body can digest a high amount of it. Whey is also high in BCAA which are the amino acids, leucine, isoleucine, and valine, which help with muscle recovery and muscular breakdown. You can get a 2 lb jug of Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard for under $23 dollars.

Creatine

Has been known to build muscle since the early 1900's but, creatine was first introduced to professional athletes during the 1992 Olympics. Many English athletes admitted after the Olympics to training with creatine, which angered other athletes as they disputed that "it gave the English an unfair advantage" as they won gold medals in several track and field events as well as rowing. No penalties or disqualifications were passed out by the Olympic committee as they discovered creatine is a naturally occurring nutrient found in every skeletal muscle in the body. They also determined that creatine is abundant in foods such as red meat and fish and it would be impossible to determine if an athlete supplemented or attained it from natural food sources.

Over the last 15 years, creatine has been the most used supplement by athletes and people wanting to gain muscle. The popularity of this supplement is not a surprise as the main function of creatine is to give muscles extra energy to perform strenuous activities. Creatine is essential for short duration, high intensity exercise such as sprints or weight lifting with a max of 8 reps. When muscles are used to lift weights or to perform any kind of work, ATP is broken down to ADP and energy is released. The amount of ATP stored in the muscle will only fuel a maximum effort such as lifting a weight for 10 to 15 seconds. After that, the muscle must rely on creatine to restock its supply of ATP. Creatine promotes intense lifting by replenishing the necessary energy molecule ATP, but there are also other muscle building effects that make this supplement so popular:

Creatine buffers the development of lactic acid so you can train harder and longer. Creatine increases muscle volumization by increasing the amount of water stored in the cells. Do not confuse this with water retention as this is intracellular water storage and not intercellular water retention. This is important as intracellular water storage boosts hydration, resulting in higher rate of protein synthesis. Studies have shown that creatine decreases mental fatigue by increasing the amount of oxygenated red blood cells into the brain. Creatine can increase strength by 5-15% over a short period of time. It's also not uncommon to gain 5 to 10 lbs in a month. Creatine increases the amount of growth hormone release during exercise. Your body naturally releases growth hormones as you exercise and creatine allows your body to lift heavier loads more frequently, which naturally causes your body to increase the amount of growth hormone secretion.

Like any other supplement, there is the perfect time and amount to take in order to maximize the effects of creatine. Many say you should "load" creatine, which means, 5-10 grams a day for 5-7 days, but I don't think you have to do this in order to achieve your desired results. You may achieve your results faster by "loading" your body with creatine, but if you add it to your sports drink before and after your workouts, you will gradually achieve the same results. Absorption time depends on if you take it on an empty stomach and if you take it with a simple sugar like juice or a sports drink.

Creatine only stays in your system for 1 to 1.5 hours and if it is not used it is excreted out of your body. To maximize the short saturation period, you should take 5-10 grams of creatine 45 minutes to an hour before your workouts so your workout coincides with the saturation period. You should also take 5-10 grams post workout as you want to keep your muscles inundated with creatine during the "anabolic window".

Creatine is a must-use supplement because it provides all these muscle building benefits with very minimal adverse side effects. In the early years it was thought that creatine damages your kidneys as it is processed and excreted out of the body through the kidneys, but later research has debunked those claims. Actual side effects are minimal but, in some cases it can cause cramping and an upset stomach. If you drink plenty of water and don't take creatine on a completely empty stomach, this should eradicate those issues.

Essential Fatty Acids

Are important for overall health as well as to gain muscle. There are 2 families of EFA's, Omega 3 and Omega 6. EFA's are fats that cannot be produced by the body and therefore must be obtained through our diet.

Omega 3 and Omega 6 assist with many essential bodily functions:

Heart health- Improves heart rhythm, a mild blood thinner and slows the heart rate.

Vascular health- Increases blood vessel flexibility.

Cell Regulation - Regulates many processes in the cell such as oxygen use, electron transportation and energy production.

Increase Testosterone- Required for healthy testes function.

Improve insulin action- Helps to balance blood sugar levels.

Increase fat burning- Many studies have shown that test groups taking EFA's lose more fat and retain muscle as opposed to the placebo group.

Lower cholesterol- Helps transport cholesterol in the blood stream.

Anti inflammatory- Low grade inflammation (type people cannot feel) increases the risk of diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity and many other conditions.

Strengthen Immune system- Promote syntheses of hormones that are responsible for a healthy immune system.

Shorten recovery time- Help reduce fatigue by helping nutrients pass through cell membranes.

Brain development and function- Needed for proper nerve transmission in the brain.

As you can see EFA's are extremely important for overall health. EFA's are also referred to as Fish Oil as a majority of the food sources are obtained from fish and shellfish. You can also find EFA's in small amounts in food sources such as flaxseed, hemp oil, soya oil, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, leafy vegetables. Widespread food processing has reduced the amount of Omega 3's that are available from these food sources so it is important to supplement with EFA's in order to get the recommended daily amount of 1,000-3,000 mg a day.

Conclusion

None of these products contain dangerous hormones or any substances that are not already in your body. These supplements contain nutrients that help your body release muscle building chemicals naturally and safely. By supplementing these nutrients, you'll be sure your body is working at 100% capacity even if your diet it not perfect.

These 4 supplements will not replace hard work, but combined with a good diet and a workout routine you will be sure to see great results. Like I mentioned earlier, you don't need supplements in order to gain muscle, but they will help you achieve your goals faster.

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How to Build Muscles - A Comprehensive Overview

Most people enter the gym for the first time looking for muscle mass gains having no idea how to build muscles. There is no shortage of advice to be found, either. Magazines, personal trainers, websites, bodybuilding books, etc... each have their own take on how to build muscles, and too many of them have opposing views. This makes it rather difficult for the individual to get proper information. In this article, I will clear up a few factors that contribute the most to muscle building: weight training, diet and nutrition, and supplements.

The first and perhaps most critical factor in building muscle mass is weight training. While at first this may seem obvious, most people use the wrong approach. The key to effective muscle building is performing a smaller number of repetitions and sets using a higher amount of weight. Over time, the maximum weight is increased to put additional stress on the muscle. It's this stress and tearing action that causes the body to fill in the empty spaces during the rest period, and activate more nerve fibers. Workouts should be short and at least 48 hours of rest is needed between working out the same muscle groups. Contrary to popular belief, it's during this rest period when muscle mass is actually gained.

One of the big mistakes new weightlifters make is hitting the machine circuit at the gym with the goal of performing as many repetitions and sets as possible - often extending the workout to an hour or more. Rapid circuit training is not how to build muscles. This type of workout may be effective for losing fat and developing muscle tone, but it will absolutely not build muscle mass. Circuit training is more aerobic than anaerobic and too much sustained aerobic activity can actually have the opposite effect on muscle building.

When learning how to gain muscles, it's important to realize that calorie reduction will work against you. Professional and amateur weight lifters alike consume more meals per day than the average person, and do so in a regimented fashion. Whereas most people are accustomed to eating three meals per day, a weight lifter may eat six or seven. The composition and total calorie content of the meals is also critical. Usually a 40/30/30 split is used between good carbohydrates, high quality protein and good fats for the larger meals, with high protein snacks in between. Meals will also be reasonably high in calorie content, so it's difficult to lose fat quickly while gaining muscle mass.

Supplements also play an important role in building muscle, in particular, high quality protein supplements, amino acids, and high quality natural vitamins. Whey protein isolate is the most important supplement, and is typically consumed following a workout to help the body repair itself during the rest period. Free form amino acids are also an important addition during the post workout recovery period to supplement the whey protein. Finally, good quality natural vitamins should be taken daily to keep your overall nutrition in tip-top shape.

By now you should have a good idea of how to build muscles safely and correctly. Through the proper combination of weight training routines, nutrition and supplements, any aspiring weight lifter can succeed.

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