Having a greater percentage of lean muscle mass improves your appearance and daily functioning. Lean muscle makes your body appear toned and firm. Muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than fat tissue, so it helps you manage your weight. It also contributes to your health and daily function by boosting your stamina and making every day tasks more manageable. To build lean muscle mass, you do not have to aspire to be a bodybuilder or work out like one. Combining a healthy, protein-rich diet with a moderate amount of exercise is the best way to encourage lean muscle mass development.
Exercise
Step 1
Perform regular resistance training at least two times per week. Target all the major muscle groups through a full-body routine or use splits----working only one or two muscle groups for a day---to train more often.
Step 2
Use weights heavy enough to induce muscular fatigue in eight to 12 repetitions. Choose free weights such as dumbbells and barbells when possible. They require stabilizing muscles to work along with the primary muscles being targeted, resulting in more overall muscle development, according to Anthony Ellis, a fitness expert on the Iron Magazine website.
Step 3
Give worked muscle groups 48 hours or more between sessions. Facilitate muscle growth and repair by honoring the muscles' needs to synthesize the breakdown of fibers induced by training. Without this rest time, you will not experience maximum muscle building.
Diet
Step 1
Eat a sufficient number of calories. Determine whether you want to gain weight in muscle, or simply stay around the same weight and enhance your body composition. For the former, eat about 250 to 500 calories more than you burn daily to feed muscle growth. If you seek to maintain weight, balance your caloric intake and burn rate. Do not starve yourself or risk cannibalizing the very muscle you want to build upon.
Step 2
Eat often. Break your daily calorie goal up into five to seven mini-meals each containing a balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Start your day with breakfast---or a pre-workout protein shake if you workout in the early morning hours---and continue to refuel every three hours to keep a constant flow of nutrition and energy pumping to your muscles.
Step 3
Make protein a priority. Eat between 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day says Kristine Clark, PhD, RD, of Penn State's Center for Sports Medicine on the Oxygen Magazine website. The exact amount depends on the intensity and frequency of your workouts. The recommendations are the same for men and women, so a 150 lb. person should seek to eat between 100 and 135 grams daily. At each of your mini-meals, go for about 15 to 30 grams. Ideas include 3 oz. of chicken breast which contains 27 grams of protein, two scoops of whey protein in water or juice for 20 to 40 grams of protein, or five scrambled egg whites for 20 grams.
Step 4
Make one of your protein meals coincide with your workout. Sip a soy or whey protein shake about 15 minutes before you train, enjoy part of it during your session and complete it within an hour of finishing, recommends Dr. Melina Jampolis, a San Francisco physician nutrition specialist and CNN expert.
Step 5
Choose other healthy, whole foods that contain minimal refined grains, sugars, saturated fats, trans fats and sodium. Go for carbohydrates such as steel cut oats, brown rice and quinoa to help sustain glycogen in the muscles, which provides a source of energy for your workouts. Eat vegetables which offer important vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to support muscle building. Consume monounsaturated fats from plant oils and nuts and omega-3 fatty acids from salmon and flax seed to support hormone production that encourages muscle growth. In a March 2005 issue of Muscle and Fitness, Mike Francios, a winner of the renowned bodybuilding competition The Arnold Classic, suggests chicken breast, brown rice, olive oil and broccoli as a perfect meal composition---the exact serving amounts depend on your calorie goals.
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