Building muscle mass is crucial to leading a healthy and active lifestyle. It prevents bone loss, diabetes, heart diseases, and fat gain caused by muscle loss. Read on for five tips to help build your muscle mass.
1. Regular workouts
Engaging in frequent exercise can help improve your muscle mass significantly. Regular workouts increase the formation of myofibrils, which enhances your muscle fibers’ thickness. This leads to hypertrophy or muscle enlargement. Be sure to train hard during your workout sessions, as muscle fatigue leads to more muscle gains.
Be specific to reach your goals faster. This entails targeting a particular muscle group during a training session and aligning your routine to the particular goal. For instance, if you want to build your biceps, you could engage in specific workouts such as concentration curls, hammer curls, or bicep curls that directly load this muscle. Consult your coach or therapist for recommendations on the best exercises, especially if you are a beginner in muscle training.
2. Eat proteins
One of the easiest ways to bulk up is by including proteins in your meals. Your body breaks proteins into amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. The amino acids are then used to repair and grow new muscle tissues. To help achieve your target muscle mass, be sure to consume at least one gram of proteins per 454g of body weight. Some sources of whole proteins include;
- Dairy products such as milk, quark, cheese, and yogurt
- Red meat, including beef, lamb, and pork
- Poultry including ducks, chicken, and turkey
- Fish
- Eggs
Consider speaking to your physician for suitable supplements such as whey, soy, or skim milk to boost protein levels and improve your muscle mass.
3. Get adequate sleep
Did you know that you could get the biceps and triceps you desire by having an eight-hour sleep? Your body produces a muscle-building hormone that significantly increases muscle mass when you sleep. Sleeping also helps your muscles relax, which makes repairing damaged tissues and muscle gains more effective.
4. Stay hydrated
Along with adequate sleep and frequent workouts, you should make drinking a lot of water a habit. When muscle training, your body loses a lot of water through sweating, which impairs muscle recovery and, in turn, reduces your muscle mass. Water transports protein and other nutrients needed for muscle growth around your body. Other benefits of staying hydrated include;
- Lubricating the joints
- Eliminating waste from the muscles
- Keeping the muscles energized
- It helps your muscles tolerate pain
- Speeds up recovery time
5. Increase your calorie intake
Increasing your calorie intake can be difficult, especially when you often monitor calories to lose weight. However, building muscle mass entails gaining weight and not losing it, so you should consume more calories than you burn. With low-calorie intake, your body inhibits new muscle growth.
To get your desired muscle gain results, be sure to consume at least 200 to 500 calories a day. Consider getting your calories from proteins to ensure that any weight gain is from the muscles.
Endnote
Muscle building boosts your self-confidence, builds strength and stamina, and improves your emotional state. Implement the above tips to get the most of your muscle-building routine.
