How to Gain Muscle Effectively and Naturally: Tips and Workouts

Are you a skinny guy who is trying to build muscles because you feel that it would improve your overall look? Perhaps you are a guy who has just lost a lot of weight and you would like to start building muscles now in order to improve your body further.

You may be an average guy who has decided that you would like to improve your body. No matter what type of guy you are, it does not matter. You want to know how to gain muscle effectively and you want to start soon.

A lot of men become inspired to gain muscle after they have seen some celebrities become ripped. Some of them have started like a lot of men but because of their perseverance (and perhaps, money), they were able to get the bodies that they have always wanted.

The average guy needs to make more effort to reach his dream body but you can do it. How to gain muscle? You will know as you continue to read.

Losing Weight

You would like to become informed about how to gain muscle immediately and you can do it if you want to, but ideally, you need to lose weight first if you are not skinny, to begin with.

If this is not your case, just jump to the next headline.

First, you need to reach your ideal body weight before you can start improving your muscle growth and overall physique.

You cannot just stop eating to lose weight.

You have to do this gradually.

Trim your body fat by constantly hydrating yourself. Make sure that you consume enough water and only eat food products that are good for you.

Trimming down the fat from your body does not mean that you are going to give up eating good fat. On the contrary, you can still consume good fat as this can lower your total body cholesterol. What you can do is to eliminate extra carbs and sugar from your diet. That donut may seem harmless right now but the extra carbs that it can give you would require a long exercise routine that you have no time for.

Take note that if you are a skinny guy, you also cannot bulk up immediately. You need to know how to gain a bit of weight before you start building muscles all over your body.

It is evident that building muscle may take time. If you would be patient, all of your hard work will pay off.

How Fast Can You Gain Muscle Naturally?

If you want to do the natural route to gain muscles, this means that you will not take steroids and any other medications that will increase your muscle rate, expect that you are going to gain about 1 – 2 lbs. of muscle every month.

To build muscles that you want to keep naturally, it is best that you choose to eat enough proteins and do a workout regularly.

If you feel that you can become one of those guys that you see in magazines in as little as 3 months, you know for sure that you need something else to make this possible. Perhaps, the natural way of building muscle is not the best option for you.

If you want to know how to gain muscle naturally and effectively, you can continue reading.

Doing Strength Training

One of the things that you are going to do in order to start building muscle is to do strength training. Expect that you are going to gain a few pounds in the process but do not assume that these pounds are muscles.

When you do strength training and take supplements at the same time, your body is going to retain more water.

You can pack on muscles through strength training but do not expect that you are going to be invincible say, after a month of doing your strength training and other routines.

It may take a year before you truly notice how much your muscles have changed as compared to before. The year may be hard but the more that you become into it and the happier you are with the results, the more inspired you will be to continue with the rest of your training.

Bulking Up The Muscles

You want to know how to gain muscle and bulk up. Do not worry, here are some other tips that will help you out:

1) Improve and learn how to maximize building your muscles

If you have more protein in your body, it is only natural that you have more components that your body can form. You can get protein from the food that you eat but your body uses it for a lot of other purposes.

For example, protein is used to make your hormones. Without proper hormones, you will not be able to build muscles. At the same time, you will feel tired and moody all the time.

The key here is to eat enough protein depending on the type of muscle training that you are doing.

You need to eat protein faster than your body can use up all of the stored protein in your body for the rest of your body functions which is 1.2-1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.

2) You need to start eating meat

If you are a regular meat-eater, this will not be a problem. You get a lot of protein from meat products. The amount of meat you will eat will highly depend on your overall weight. Remember, that you will need 1.2-1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.

Some of the factors that will be considered are the following:

1. Your overall weight.
2. The number of minutes you spend in lifting weights.
3. The number of calories you consume every day

3) Work on the bigger muscle groups first.

If you are just beginning to increase your muscles, any amount of workout that you do will be enough to lead to protein synthesis. If you have been lifting for quite some time, the lightest workout can already make a difference with your various muscle groups. Some muscle groups are bigger than others and they are more evident when they are firm. The biggest muscle groups to work on are the following:

1. Back
2. Chest
3. Legs

There are different exercises that you can include in your workout to effectively improve these large muscle groups. Your knowledge on how to gain muscle will be sufficient for exercising.

4) Take the right supplement that will help improve the muscle growth of your muscle groups well.

A lot of supplements contain essential amino acids. Amino acids are effective in getting rid of the toxins that may cause further issues in the body. Take note that supplements are not made the same way. There are some that are better than others. Check the reviews of the supplements first before you make the right choice.

The main supplements you will probably use are:

• Creatine Monohydrate
• Caffeine
• Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs)
• Citrulline Malate
• Whey Protein
• Glutamine
• Fish Oils

There are some supplements that are best taken before your work out, during your work out and after your work out. Get to know these details first before making the right choice.

There are some people who choose to create their own shakes. This is okay too as long as you have done enough research about the ingredients you are going to place, it will not be a problem. But this is more than we can cover in this article.

5) Do not lift weights every day.

This is one of the most common mistakes committed by men who are trying to build muscle for the first time. Even women who have just started lifting make this mistake too.

Remember that instead of exercising a little every day, you can take a full exercise routine today, then a full-body rests the next day.

This will give your muscles enough time to recuperate.

A challenging workout will increase the protein synthesis of your body which can lead to muscle growth. Remember that your muscles will not grow while you are lifting weights because you are actually tearing them that way.

The muscles will grow back bigger and stronger while you are recuperating so make sure to take a rest every other day.

6) Feed your body with enough carbohydrates after you have worked out.

Studies now show that people can actually build muscles faster if they would supply their bodies with enough carbs after working out (Consuming 1.1–1.5 grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight (0.5–0.7 grams/pound) within 30 minutes after training results in proper glycogen resynthesis)

The meal that you will eat after you work out should slow down the protein breakdown of your body so that the protein will last longer and you have a chance to build bigger muscles.

There are easy sources of carbs that you can take after meals – quinoa, oats, buckwheat, bananas, sweet potatoes, beetroots, oranges, blueberries, grapefruit, apples, kidney beans or chickpeas.

7) Take food every 3 hours.

People have always been advised that they need to eat 3 times every day in order to have enough energy to last throughout the day. Breakfast is meant to give you the energy to start your day. Lunch will allow you to still peak even if you have already done work and come dinner time, you will be eating enough nutrients to give your body the proper supply it needs to work with while you sleep.

It may seem simple enough but remember that if you are working out, you should take food every 3 hours. This will make sure that you will have enough protein to last throughout the day.

This does not mean that you are going to take more than enough calories for every meal that you take. For example, you need to eat 5grams of protein for breakfast. You can take 2.4 grams of protein for your first breakfast early in the morning and another 2.5 grams of protein again for brunch.

This is better than taking 5 grams of your first breakfast and 5 grams again for brunch. You might get too much protein in the process and you have to avoid this.

8) Drink Milk.

Do you know that milk can be effective in helping you build more muscles? If you have never known this information before then you are learning about it now. Milk will lessen the protein breakout of your muscles. You can choose to have a bowl of oatmeal with skim milk before you go to sleep in the evening then you can also eat something light in the morning.

It will be hard to adjust to this new routine especially if you are already used to doing something else before you sleep at night but if you want to build muscles, you have to be diligent in doing it. Muscles will not suddenly spring from your body. You have to work hard for it.

9) Increase your frequency to build your muscles so that it will grow.

If you would only workout once a week, how will you expect your muscles to grow? There is a very big chance that you will not be able to form the muscles you have always wanted. You can first start with easy exercises. The weights that you lift would have to start at beginner levels but the more frequent that you work out, the heavier the weights are going to be.

As your body gets used to the exercises that you are doing, it will stop reacting and you have to level up, do something more so that it will start improving yet again. You are not recommended to target the same muscle group every day but you can rest a certain muscle group while you target a different one. It will make a lot of difference.

Remember that you can only do this if you have been working out for a long time. If you are just a beginner, you still need to take about 3 – 4 full rest days a week. You cannot pressure your body into doing something that it cannot do just yet.

10) Just take it easy.

Men who are naturally skinny may burn more calories as compared to the average man. It can be hard if you are trying your best to work out but the scale shows that you are losing a few pounds. You can focus on working out and exerting the right amount of energy to things that really matter to you.

This is also the same for men who may be on the heavy side or are of average weight. There will be moments when you just want to gain your muscle goal but you have not reached it yet. Instead of getting frustrated about it and abandoning the whole idea, you can simply take it easy. Building muscles will always take time. Do not assume that you are just going to get your desired muscles easily.

The Traits You Need to Stay Focused

You cannot achieve your goals if you would not make any effort to become productive. These are just a few traits that you need to have in order to make it possible for you to reach your muscle goals:

• You should know what truly matters. There are so many things that will distract you from going to the gym or just working out at home. There will be moments when you would rather drink with your friends but if you know what matters to you, you will find time to exercise and gain those muscles. Always.
• You have a plan. In order to increase your productivity, you are going to formulate a plan that will allow you to do all of your responsibilities effectively. You would finish a task at a certain time so you can start with another one. You can do jogging in the morning before preparing to go to work and go to the gym after. This will always depend on the schedule you have.
• You are always able to make decisions easily. If you are focused on your main goal, you will always make fast decisions to save the rest of the day. You already know that things do not always go as planned. For example, you have to do overtime in the office because of a new task that you have to finish immediately. Instead of just giving up on your plan to exercise at the gym, you can make a mini session at home doing the exercises that you are meant to do for the day.
• You have the ability to solve the problems that may arise. If you notice that your muscles are not growing as much as they are used to, you can research and make changes to your routine or you may immediately seek the help of a professional who can help assess your current situation so that this problem will be resolved at the soonest possible time. You do not like wasting time so you try to solve everything the moment that you can do it.
• You have the right work out tools at home. Why are you going to rely on the gym so much? The moment that you know your routine, you can exercise in the comfort of your own home. Of course, the moment that your muscles get bigger, that is the time when you can start going back to the gym again because you need more hardcore equipment.

If you would have all of the traits mentioned above, you are armed to start training to build those muscles effectively and naturally. How to gain muscles? It will take time but with proper effort and diligence, you will reach your goals soon enough.

How to Gain Muscle properly? Get Proper Training

How to build muscle is different from undergoing the training in order to build your muscles well. When you train, the first thing that you will learn is this: the growth of your muscles will depend on your height and your bone structure. You may aspire to become the next Arnold Schwarzenegger but if you do not have the right genes for it, you will not be able to reach this goal.

Your maximum muscle size will depend on your height. The taller you are, the bigger your muscles are going to be. To know how to gain muscle well, these are some of the programs that you can check:

5 x 5 Workout Program

This is a type of program that will allow you to improve your strength and build muscles at the same time. You can focus on three types of exercises for both your upper and lower body and do these exercises 5 times. After you are done with the routine, you can do some more exercises if you can still do it. This program is recommended for those who have been trying to build muscles for quite some time. For more information, read our 5 x 5 workout program post.

FST – 7 Training Program

This is a type of program that is meant to target your fascia tissue. This is the muscle that connects your surrounding muscles to other parts of your body. This will help your body become stronger so that you can do more strenuous exercises, in the long run, to build your muscles further. Stretching the muscle tissue will provide the right nutrients to the tissue.

Split Training

This can be done for both the upper and lower parts of the body. This is one of the trusted programs that people consider to know how to gain muscle well. You will be required to hit the muscle groups that you are targeting twice every week to achieve optimum muscle growth. This program is best for beginners. If you have managed to reach this point and you are wondering which program you can do to know how to gain muscle, this is the best one to try.

Body-Weight Beast Training

Body-Weight Beast is a collection of total body movements designed to gain muscle, annihilate calories and slash stored fat. The side effect of tons of heavy weight training is a pain. Over time when all you do is train heavy (70-90% of 1RM), your body breaks down and can become systemically sore… The cure is spending time doing Body-Weight ONLY exercises. This Body-Weight Beast program is 4 weeks of full-body strengthening mixed with cardiovascular training, resistance conditioning, core development and metabolic bursting. So find here the complete program manual with videos.

Gaining muscles can be hard for some people and it can be easy for others. Your body type can also determine how long your muscles will stay in your body if you quit working out. If you want to know how to gain muscle, you also have to know how to maintain them. Reaching your desired muscle growth does not mean that you are going to have it forever. Have fun with working out and do not rely too much on supplements to make your muscle growth more natural.