For most people forcing themselves to go to the gym every day, it’s because they’re trying to lose weight. But not you. You go to the gym for a more driven purpose – to gain muscle and build a phenomenal physique.
However, if you’re new to the gym and don’t quite know what you’re doing, you can find yourself fighting an uphill battle. While hard work is an essential piece of the puzzle, you also need a direction in which to aim your efforts.
That’s what we’re here to provide. Keep reading for our top tips on how to build muscle quickly and efficiently.
Table of Contents
1. Focus on Compound Lifts
First, make sure you’re putting most of your time and energy into the most effective exercises for building muscle. These exercises are the ones that require multiple joints and muscle groups. They’re known as compound movements.
Compound movements include the essential lifts, such as:
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Bench press
- Shoulder press
- Pullups
- Bent-over rows
- And more
These lifts call upon the most muscle fibers, allow you to move the most weight, and build muscle mass and strength the fastest.
2. Lift Heavy
Next, an essential part of learning how to build muscle is learning how to adequately tax your body. This means lifting weights heavy enough to challenge yourself.
However, this does not mean lifting so heavy that you’re cheating your reps or performing lifts incorrectly. Learning how to get a powerful physique is just as much about using proper technique as it is about working hard.
3. Consume a Surplus of Calories
Next, let’s talk about your muscle-building diet. In order to gain mass, you need to consume a surplus of calories to fuel muscle growth. However, the quality of calories is very important, especially if you want to avoid gaining excess fat as well as muscle.
We recommend focusing on healthy, whole foods, such as:
- Lean meats (chicken, tofu, turkey)
- Complex carbohydrates (whole grains, oats)
- Fruits and veggies
- Beans, seeds, and nuts
Look at your diet as fueling an expensive performance car. You wouldn’t put cheap fuel in it, so don’t do it do your body.
4. Use Progressive Overload
Progressive overload is absolutely vital for building muscle. Progressive overload is the science of increasing your workload slowly over time in manageable increments. For example, if you bench 100 pounds for sets of 10 in the first week, push for sets of 12 the next.
However, progressive overload can include increased weights, reps, sets, etc. Just make sure you’re performing better each week.
5. Be Consistent
Finally, learning how to build muscle means learning how to dedicate yourself to your goals. You can’t expect to make a lot of progress if you skip half of your workouts each week.
If you have big goals, you need a level of commitment to match. Create your workout schedule and make it a priority.
Want More Tips on How to Build Muscle?
Learning how to build muscle quickly isn’t exceedingly difficult. Ultimately, it comes down to your work effort and willingness to learn. We have no doubt that you’ll succeed.
And if you want more advice, be sure to check out some of our other articles. Our blog was designed for people like you striving to perfect their bodies.
