Fastest Ways To Build Muscles

For the athlete interested in putting some strength and size on prior to the coming season, or the bodybuilder bulking for an upcoming show, building muscle fast is critical. While there are no real shortcuts to packing on muscle mass, there are ways to make the work more efficient.

Training

According to bodybuilding coach and author Stu McRoberts, the most efficient way to build large muscles with weights is the use of heavy barbells, used to perform multi-joint, compound-movement exercises. Among the exercises recommended by McRoberts are the squat, deadlift, bench press and bent-over row.
Coach McRoberts claims that these exercises, by allowing the athlete to lift more weight at one time, create an increased metabolic demand on the body. This leads to an increased production of testosterone, the hormone responsible for muscle building in the body. By doing so, these exercises lead to a faster gain in muscle production and mass.

Nutrition

Mark Rippetoe, owner of "Wichita Falls Athletic Club" in Texas, and a 30-year veteran strength coach, is a proponent of the concept that in order to get stronger, you have to get bigger. In this vein, he suggests in his book "Strong Enough?" that athletes interested in packing on a lot of weight need to eat a minimum of 4,000 to 5,000 calories per day. In order to gain muscle, he claims, you need to worry about gaining weight, period. Worrying too much about not gaining any fat will prevent you from building muscle as fast as you are able. Rippetoe suggests packing on the weight, then worrying about leaning out and reducing your body fat levels. To do so, he recommends a diet high in protein, complex carbohydrates, and dietary fats. In response to the common complaint that dietary fat is unhealthy, he offers several studies as evidence that dietary fats and cholesterol are necessary precursors for testosterone production, making them far less a health risk than previously believed.

Supplements

While effective strength training and good nutrition are the most important elements of building muscle fast, once these are tuned in, the use of nutritional supplements can expedite the muscle-building process.
According to Dan Benardot, PhD, a sports nutritionist and author of "Advanced Sports Nutrition," the single most important nutritional supplement that an athlete can utilize for building muscle fast is a simple protein supplement. The use of a high-protein shake, immediately following a strength training workout, according to Dr. Benardot, will extend the duration of a post-workout insulin surge, leading to increased post-workout muscle gain. While other supplements may or may not provide benefit to muscle-building, Benardot claims, protein is the most proven of supplements.