Muscle tissue enables you to perform daily movements, sports-related movements and explosive moves such as sprinting or jumping during training. Having increased muscle mass will not only improve your appearance and fitness, but it will also help your body to burn calories at a faster rate. To allow your muscles to build, you need to engage in strength training, eat a nutritious and protein-dense diet and allow time for your muscles to rest and recover.
Step 1
Begin a strength-training program for your entire body. Include your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, abdominals, biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest and back. Split your training into upper body and lower body, or choose three muscle groups to exercise per session.
Step 2
Perform heavy weights and low-repetition training to build muscles. Use weights that you can only do six to eights repetitions with. Perform one to two sets of three to five exercises for each muscle group. Rest your muscles for at least 24 hours before performing another session of strength training. Muscles repair and grow during rest days.
Step 3
Improve your eating habits to support muscle growth. Eat a serving of lean protein with every meal. Lean protein comes from turkey, soy and whey supplements, skinless chicken breasts and fish. Choose foods and snacks that contain nutrients without added calories and fat. These foods can be found in the vegetable, fruit, whole grain and dairy group.
Step 4
Employ variety in your workout plan. Performing the same routine over and over will cause your muscles to hit a plateau, and you will stop seeing results. Change the type of exercises you perform, increase the weight you use as the exercises become easier and up the amounts of sets performed.
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