Weight training to gain muscle is often called bodybuilding. Bodybuilding is a competitive sport and a recreational pastime for many men and women. However, you don’t have to be a bodybuilder to benefit from bigger muscles. Bigger muscles are stronger, more resistant to fatigue and injury and burn more calories when you exercise as well as when you are at rest, which can help with weight management. There are a number of important factors to consider when weight training to gain muscle.
Exercise Selection
The best exercises for gaining muscle size are the ones that allow you to lift the heaviest weight and that use multiple muscles and joints within the same exercise. These exercises, called compound exercises, give you the most “bang for your buck” when you work out. Some of the best compound exercises for gaining muscle include the bench press, barbell bent over row, dumbbell shoulder press, chin/pull up, squats and dead lifts. Isolation exercises such as dumbbell flies and tricep kick backs are useful for finishing off a workout but, according to Robert Kennedy, author of "Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding: The Complete A-Z Book on Muscle Building" they should only make up around 20 percent of your total training volume.
Workout Frequency
To develop your muscle size, you need to train your muscles often enough to encourage them to grow but not so often that they don’t have sufficient time to recover. According to research done by Tudor Bompa and described in his book “Serious Strength Training,” the ideal period of recovery for each muscle group is five days. This means adopting a five day cyclic workout schedule rather than the traditional seven day cycle most people use. While considered optimum, the five day cycle may not fit into your work or school schedule, so using a seven day cycle is an acceptable second-best choice.
Sets, Repetitions and Recovery
Most bodybuilders perform multiple sets of multiple exercises per muscle group in the belief that this is the best way to maximize muscle growth. Muscles are worked from a variety of angles to ensure full and balanced development. Developing bigger muscles requires a combination of heavy weights lifted for lower repetitions and lighter weights lifted for higher repetitions. The accepted repetition range for increasing muscle mass is from 6 to 12. The lower end of the scale develops strength whereas the higher end develops endurance. The combination of these two lifting parameters will encourage maximum hypertrophy, or the increase in the size of muscle cells.
Other Considerations
Your workout is important, but it is only the trigger for growth. Your body also builds muscle in the periods between workouts. Adequate sleep and a good diet are essential in providing your body the resources it needs to devote to muscle growth. You need to consume a diet rich in protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals so that your body has a rich supply of essential bodybuilding nutrients. If your body is not given the fuel it needs for repair, your workouts will not provide the results that you want.
Genetic Individuality
Everyone responds differently to exercise. Some people find it easy to gain muscle, while other people find it a frustratingly slow process. If you are a slow gainer, you should pay extra attention to your rest, recovery and nutrition regime to maximize your results from working out. Some people, called Mesomorphs, can develop bigger muscles in spite of their poor training and lifestyle choices rather than because of them. Slow gainers, called Ectomorphs, can build muscles, but it will be a more difficult process requiring greater focus and determination.
References
- "Serious Strength Training"; Tudor Bompa, Mauro Di Pasquale, and Lorenzo Cornacchia; 2002
- "Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding: The Complete A-Z Book on Muscle Building"; Robert Kennedy; 2008
- "Designing Resistance Training Programs"; Steven Fleck and William Kraemer; 2003
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