Adopting certain dietary habits and fitness routines can increase the amount of muscle you have. The degree of ease in which you can do this might differ depending on your natural body type. Regardless, doing it the healthy way takes patience and commitment. You might consider working with a personal trainer or another professional well-versed in fitness issues for guidance.
Free Weights vs. Machines
To optimize muscle growth, you want to engage as much muscle fiber as possible. You can accomplish this by using free weights like dumb bells and bar bells, rather than machines says bodybuilder and fitness expert Anthony Ellis, writing for "Iron Magazine". When you use free weights, you not only engage the specific muscles you are working on at the moment, you also engage other muscles needed to assist the engaged muscle in weightlifting activities. Using machines will not engage these secondary muscles.
Workout Guidelines
The National Strength and Conditioning Association recommend strength training about two to three times per week. Each workout session should consist of about eight to 10 exercises for all major muscle groups with each exercise consisting of two to three sets. Ellis recommends using weights heavy enough that you can only do four to eight repetitions per set; this will build muscle faster than using lighter weights for more repetitions. Resist the urge to train more than this recommendation. Muscle growth occurs during periods of rest, when it repairs itself from the damage done during weight lifting sessions.
Protein Considerations
Your body uses protein to build muscle tissue. Protein foods contain amino acids, the building block of this nutrient. Your body can produce some amino acids on its own while the rest must come from the foods you eat. Complete proteins contain all of these essential amino acids in the proper proportions. Fitness expert Travis Van Slooten, founder of the web site Men's Total Fitness, recommends eating complete proteins at every meal to optimize muscle growth. Animal proteins represent the best source, but choose healthier ones low in fat such as skinless chicken and turkey, lean cuts of red meat, egg whites, low-fat dairy products and fish. Ellis recommends eating one gram of protein for every pound of body weight.
Diet Tips
To increase muscle mass, you want to eat more calories but not so many that your body just ends up storing them as fat. Ellis recommends eating 18 to 20 times your body weight in calories to build muscle. Van Slooten recommends eating every 3 hours to boost metabolism. Eating smaller meals more frequently will also help your body utilize the calories more efficiently. The NSCA says research has shown eating shortly after a workout boosts protein synthesis and reduces protein breakdown.
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