15 Tips for those who want to build muscle

I struggled with not being able to get any results from working out for a long time. Until one summer, all I did was study about how to workout. I read books, lessened to podcasts, and searched the Internet; but in the end I had to try and find out about most of everything on my own. Here are a few things I learned on my own throughout the years:

1. Stay focused on 1 goal at a time – many people make the mistake of trying to accomplish too much at one time; usually they end up not being able to accomplish there goal and do not strive to go any further. The best way to encourage yourself is to make short-term goals, these short term goals lead up to your long term goals.
2. Increase the weight you are lifting whenever you get the chance – when you exercise and plan on building muscle, it is essential to make sure you are lifting as much weight as you can. But make sure you are also getting 8 to 12 reps during each set.
3. Eat more calories – it’s quite simple actually. The more calories you consume, the more energy you have to lift your weights during your weight training and recover. This also means you will be eating more food, so expect you grocery bill to go up. Eat on bigger plates and drink out of bigger cups.
4. Create your own calorie/protein shakes – this is a great way to cheat in getting all of your veggies, fruit, and protein. Put a lot of the food you dislike in it.
5. Sleep – make sure you get at least 8 hours of sleep to make sure your body recovers fully from your workout. Note: the best time to be sleeping is anywhere from 10 pm – 8 am.
6. Get a decent home gym or get a gym membership – having proper equipment to workout with is essential in growing muscle.
7. Eat a lot of protein – make sure to have some throughout the day, but most importantly make sure you have some right after your workout (40-60 grams if you can)! This is KEY to making sure you get significant muscle growth.
8. Have variety in your workout – Do new types of exercise programs every so often, you can even switch programs every 4-6 weeks if you want. This promotes muscle growth because you are giving your muscles a challenge to adjust to one program. You can also do this on your own by changing the amounts of sets or reps you are doing and by changing the rest length in between each exercise.
9. Eat Carbs – It is true that you should have little man made food, but carbs also have there benefits for muscle growers, mostly that it provides energy. The best carbs to eat are potatoes.
10. Eat Veggies – veggies promote getting all of the vitamins you need to insure healthy growing, just like your mother told you; but in this case we are specifically talking about muscle growth. I would suggest anywhere from 5-10 vegetables a day.
11. Eat Fruit – Fruit promotes natural energy that your body needs throughout the day and also keeps your body running smoothly.
12. Have some vitamins too – While you could be having several vegetables a day, you still may not be getting all of your vitamins. To ensure you get all of the vitamins you need, I suggest a multi-vitamin. Also, recent studies have shown that fish oil promotes healthy fat loss.
13. Don’t trust the magazines unless you really know what your doing – I’ve read so many magazines over the years, and if there is one thing that I have learned it’s not to trust the magazines. They are always coming up with scams and flashy ways to try and trick people in to getting their magazines just to make more money.
14. Do the most important exercises first – You have most of your energy at the begging of your workout. So if there is a certain muscle you want to make sure your get a lot of growth in, do it at the beginning of your workout.
15. Keep your intensity at its highest – Intensity is important because it determines how sore you are at the end of a workout, which means you will have more muscle growth. Intensity depends on reps, sets, intensity past failure, intensity at rest (1 min for example), intensity of workout (your workout plan), and mindset (most important of all).