We made a list of 25 Tips for Building Muscle in order to help you achieve or maintain one of the main goals and that is, of course, muscle mass.
Here you will find implemented new ideas and perfected some training techniques. Try to find what suits you the best, experiment and above all, enjoy.
1) Small And Big Number Of Reps
When you are using big and small number of reps training method, you are usually switching between a set of a big number of reps of certain exercise (let’s say 12-20) with a set of a small number of reps (let’s say 4-6).
Or you can do a set with a big number of reps of one exercise followed by a set of a small number of reps of a different exercise.
You should use this training method from time to time to kill the monotony and prevent the stagnation.
2) Take A Stand
It can perform certain exercises both sitting and standing. Keep in mind that both options have their advantages.
You should do them standing whenever you can to activate trunk muscle and use the lower extremities to do a few extra reps.
3) Do “Strongman” Cardio
Add an exercise farmers walk in to your cardio. Get a pair of heavier dumbbells in both hands, pull your belly in and walk with long steps until you no longer have the strength to hold the dumbbells.
Rest for 90 seconds each time you reach cancelation. Keep repeating this for 20 minutes.
Not only that this exercise helps you burn calories, it also strengthens your grip and your trunk muscles.
4) Extra Sets
Try to activate the muscle group that falls behind with growth with one or two sets of 20 to 50 reps two to three days after a regular workout for that muscle group.These extra sets bring blood full of oxygen and nutrients into muscle and in that way they are incenting the muscle growth and recovery.
5) Set And Break Record
Breaking personal records is a good way to increase strength and the size of the muscles.
Leading personal workout diary will help you focus on precise goals during your gym exercises.
6) Do Exercises For Traps
Traps are relatively big muscles and you should train them as such. They are activated during most of the big movements like deadlift, straight rowing and shoulder press.
Traps do not need a lot of isolation exercises because they are almost always active.
7) Stretch Till It Hurts
Static stretching of previously trained body part in the duration of 60 to 90 seconds in deep and painful position increases flexibility and recovery and leads to a larger volume of the muscle.
8) Weight Lifting
Do power clean exercise. Weight lifters know this exercise well. It is done with free weights of your personal choice and it affects several main body parts at the same time.
This is an excellent exercise that many people seem to neglect. Add this exercise to your workout for back and traps.
9) Rest-Pause
Rest-pause is somewhat neglected technique that implies doing the sets until cancellation. When you can’t do a single more rep, put down the dumbbell just for a few seconds until you gather some strength (15-20 sec).
Then do a few more reps again till cancellation. Repeat this method one more time in order to get a few more reps.
10) Different Does Not Necessarily Mean Better
Variations can help with the stagnation and int is desirable implementing them in to your workout, but if you are constantly progressing with a certain exercise, do not just cast it away and replace it with another just for the change’s sake.
Find the exercises that work the best for you and keep doing them until you reach stagnation.
11) Warm Up
Scientific research shows that heat entices muscle growth. You can achieve this with sauna or hot bath after the workout.
12) There Are No “Shaping” Exercises
Weight training is used to increase your muscle mass. Diet and cardio are there for the details. Do not mix those terms.
Even if you are doing so-called exercises for shaping your muscles, your focus should stay on gaining muscle mass.
13) Prepare For The Workout
Give your body the fuel it needs for hard work. Take 20g of whey protein, 5g of creatine and 20-40g of slowly digestible carbs 30 minutes before the workout.
14) Prepare For Recovery
Fuel for recovery is also very important. Take 40g of whey protein, 60-100g of fast digestible carbs, 5g of creatine and 5-10g of glutamine within 30 minutes after the workout.
15) Slow Down
Try using lighter weights than usual but let your lifting last 5-10 seconds. By doing this you are getting full contraction and stretching.
When you are doing the workout with lighter weights in this manner, it is far more difficult.
16) Dedlift Till Cancellation
If you are thinking more of muscle growth then strength try doing dedlift in the end or middle of the back training.
Of course, you won’t have as much strength for deadlift after the exercises such as rowing or lat pull, but while lifting, you will be more focused on your back muscles.
17) Make Your Rest Proactive
Do you think that rest is strictly laying in bed? There are a few things that you should do rather than do nothing.
Physical activities of low intensity, such as walking, riding a bike or recreational swimming, can increase blood flow same as stretching and a massage.
18) You Don’t Have To…
Muscle increase guides often say that you have to do squats, dedlift or bench press in order to maximise mass gain.
These are excellent exercises and most of the people gain a lot from them but sometimes it happens that a certtain exercise is simply not suitable for your constitution.
It is not necessary that you do some weight lifting exercises. Simply find the exercises that suit you the best and focus on them during your workouts.
19) Leave The Cardio For The End
If you are combining cardio with weight training, then do it at the end of your workout.
This way you won’t take away necessary strength that you need for weight training.and also you will burn more fat since the strength training already emptied the reserves of glycogen.
20) Use Your Own Weight
Sometimes easy lifting of your own weight can be more challenging than super sets. For example, you can do pushups after an exercise with dumbbells or lunges without dumbbells after leg press.
21) Switch the Order Of Your Favourite Exercises
it is easy to fall into routine with exercises by having the same grip, posture or range of movement.
If we are performing the exercise in the correct form, we will ensure safety and productiveness, but if we slightly change the routine of the exercises in the meaning of posture, grip or range of movement, we will challenge our muscles more.
22) Posing Is A Must
One of the best ways to make a mental-muscle connection is to practice posing in front of the mirror.
Through eight poses, contract your muscles in front of the mirror and feel how, through changing of the poses, muscle sensations change.
The more you pose, the better you will focus on targeting specific muscle groups during the workout.
23) Save Poorly Done Exercises With Super Sets
Sometimes, for some reason, workout simply doesn’t go as planned. If you didn’t stimulate targeted body part in the right way, add a declining super se or super set with more reps.
This addition will have a true shock effect on targeted muscle group.
24) Do Nothing
When the increase of strength or muscle mass stops, stop doing things the same way.
Change the parameters like exercises, reps or frequency of workouts. Among other things, once or twice a year spend two weeks without going to the gym.
Once you return to the gym, you will realise how your intensity is revitalized.
