Whether you’re looking to gain 10, 20, or more pounds of muscle, here are workout strategies that have helped many pro athletes from the NFL, NHL, MLB gain massive amounts of muscle without drugs or supplements.
By following this advice, you can too!
First, we’ll look at why the best exercises for increasing muscle mass are compound movements that force you to lift serious weights.
Next, we’ll look at a sample week program that implements these movements in a systematic way.
Lastly, we’ll talk about proper nutrition to build muscle.
How to gain muscle – best exercises
Ever seen a bodybuilder do set after set of concentration curls and then try the method yourself?
Why didn’t you get the ‘guns’ that gym rat had? Well, isolation exercises are great for maximizing muscle gains when you have a solid base of strength and core muscles. But before you have that foundation, these exercises aren’t the best way to spend your time in the gym.
And how do you get that first strength and size?
Compound exercises are the solution (combined with enough calories and protein, of course).
Doing heavy deadlifts, squats, military presses, weighted pullups/rows, bench presses/weighted pushups are all great examples of compound exercises that will pack on muscle mass and functional strength.
Performing these exercises triggers a ‘neuroendocrine’ response – basically, your body improves and enhances the brain/muscle connection while releasing substantial amounts of testosterone. Both these factors work together to increase strength and muscle size.
To be safe, be sure to get proper instruction on the key form elements of these exercises (YouTube has many excellent videos detailing the finer points of these exercises).
a sample beginner routine
Before each workout, warm up with about 10 minutes of calisthenics — jumping jacks, easy pushups, pullups, bodyweight squats, etc. — to get your blood pumping and muscles active.
For each exercise, set something close to your ‘working weight’ – a weight that you can lift 4 to 8 times with good form for 4 sets.
day 1
- Excited
- Deadlift – 4 sets of between 4 and 8 reps
- Military press (dumbbell OK) – 4 sets 4-8 reps
- Weighted (or unweighted if necessary) – Pullups 4 sets 4-8 reps
Take rest for a day or two. Remember, don’t overdo it! Your muscles grow when you are recovering, not when you are exercising!
second day
- Excited
- Squats – 4 sets of between 4-8 reps
- Incline bench press (dumbbells are fine) – 4 sets of 4-8
- Weighted (or unweighted if necessary) Rows (hang over a bar at waist height, place your feet on an object around waist height, use a plate on your stomach if necessary) – 4 sets, 4-8 reps
Rest a few more days, then go at it again with the first day’s workout. Give it a try for a few months and see how you do.
Back off on the intensity of the workout, lifting less weight every 5th week. And then, every couple of months, take a week off from training so your body can come back stronger than ever.
a couple details
Don’t go to failure on every set – end the set with one rep left ‘in the tank’. This will help prevent excessive muscle soreness post-workout, allowing you to train more often and avoid overtraining and burnout.
For this hardgainer workout, each day includes a full leg/total body workout (squats and deadlifts) to release testosterone and improve brain/muscle connection/protection, and then a pushing motion followed by a pulling There is speed.
As you can see, it’s best to combine an overhead pushing motion (overhead press) with a complementary overhead pulling motion (pullups), or a more horizontal pull (row) with a more horizontal pushing motion (incline press). This will help prevent any muscle imbalances that result from focusing too much on one particular motion, like the bench press.
Spend no more than 45 minutes on any workout, exercising no more than 3-4 times per week. Remember- your body grows while you are recovering, not while you are exercising.
How to gain muscle – nutrition
Oh yeah, you’ll need to eat a lot too. Eat throughout the day so that your muscles have a constant supply of the raw materials they need to build more muscle.
A well-known powerlifting coach would force his students to drink at least a gallon of milk each day to make sure they were eating enough.
Keeping a diet journal will help you dial in your nutrition and see where you really are.
wrapping it up…
Now you have a good idea about the best exercises to build muscle. Now get out there and get busy!
Source by Ian Nagy
