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The Basics of Building Muscle Mass
The quest for building muscle mass has been taken up by one generation to the next, by one pimply-faced teenager to the next and on up through the age ranges to people with careers, family, children, grandchildren and social security checks. A lot people want more muscle mass, and many of these people are asking how.
Surely, as there are as many answers to this question as there are self-proclaimed gurus doing bicep curls in front of the mirror at gyms across
America , there are just as many people who are confused about the process of building more muscles.
This article simplifies the means to gaining muscles. Follow the advice here and the hardest of hard-gainers should see something happening in the mirror other than ribs poking through a layer of flab.
The Training
You will need to work your body against a resistance. Let’s make one thing clear: the resistance does not have to be a dumbbell, barbell or a weight machine. Done the right way, your own bodyweight can become effective tools in your muscle-building quest.
To develop muscle mass, your training must meet two main criteria:
1. You must train with enough volume.
The resistance training must be in done with sufficient duration and frequency (volume) to cause micro cellular destruction, resulting in associated inflammation and triggering the development of satellite cells into mature muscle cells. This is an essential process to remodeling muscle cells and increasing the overall size of the muscle group.
2. You must continue to get stronger.
This resistance also must regularly meet and exceed a physiological tension threshold. In other words, you must strive to increase the resistance often. This ensures the nervous system responds to the heavier load by triggering key hormonal releases that encourage muscle rebuilding. Additionally, within the muscle cells, more contractile elements are developed so that your muscles can continue to work against the heavier resistance. These contractile elements, called myofibrils, are essentially responsible for muscular contractions. The increase in these contractile elements adds to the greater volume of muscle mass and function.
The Nutrition
No great architectural structure can be built without sufficient building material. Likewise, you cannot build a muscular body without sufficient building material – food. Furthermore, no great architect would build a great structure using sand and water; instead, the highest quality material is used to build sky scrapers, mansions, bridges and temples. So, too, should you avoid low-quality calories and, instead, choose high-quality, nutrient dense foods to build your body. It is your temple.
Too many aspiring “physique architects” rely too much on foods that are dense in calories but are voided of nutrients. A plate of pasta is dense, and is a favorite among many athletes, but it is incomplete in natural vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients (plant-based nutrients), enzymes and fibers. A plate of pasta, breads or carbohydrate-based sports drinks may contain the calories needed for energy, but they don’t provide the necessary tools and material to facilitate appreciable muscle building.
You need good natural sources of proteins, nutrient-dense carbohydrates and fats. Look to whole, fresh foods for the best choices. Avoid process foods that are mostly stripped of natural vitamins, minerals, and other vital nutrients. Don’t underestimate the roles of these natural nutrients in your quest to build muscles.
The Recovery Lifestyle
This is not just recovery between your workouts. Surely you’ll need to recover between the bouts of exercises and training sessions, but you’ll also need to live a lifestyle that is conducive to your body’s regeneration.
It is away from your training sessions that your muscles rebuild and grow. Therefore, it is critical that you optimize the body’s environment for this process. Below are 3 main lifestyle points to keep in mind:
1. You need to sleep adequately.
Staying up late or going out beyond your bed time can significantly dampen your muscular gain. Continually sleeping for less than 8 hours a night can also slow down your progress, not to mention predispose you to adding unwanted fat to your midsection.
2. Regular meal scheduling.
You need to eat well and eat regularly, feeding your body sufficient macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fats and water) and micronutrients (natural vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, enzymes and fibers). The biggest mistake is not eating on a regular schedule, skipping meals when it’s time to feed. Eat appropriately at regular intervals, every three hours.
3. Keep toxins out of your body.
You need to avoid drinking too much alcohol, smoking, and drug use. Also, avoid stress, as it can deplete your immune system and impede on your muscle gains, not to mention open you up to potential diseases. |
