Building Muscle Fast
Most people who start working out often wonder what the secrets are to building muscle fast. The reality is, there are no secrets in this game, there is only hard work and smart training.
What I have here are the main four areas one must master to start building muscle fast. Many people get one or two of these areas down, but fail to excel in the other areas, making their progress unsatisfactory.
Proper Training is Important
There are tons of different programs out there that can help people with building muscle fast. A great one is Rippetoe’s/5×5 Type Work Out which is one of the best work out programs to gain muscle. This basic program can help build a lot of strength and size in a short period of time.
Another great type of work out is the pyramid workout. Basically, you start out with a weight that you can do for 10 reps. Then you increase the weight so you can only do 8 reps. Increase again so you can only do 6 reps. Finally you finish the exercise with doing 4 excruciatingly hard reps.
For those of you who want a muscular and defined look, my personal favourite is definitely Visual Impact Muscle Building. The program takes a lot of care in explaining the different types of training methods to obtain a muscular, but also defined “Hollywood” type physique in the fastest way possible. If that is the look you are going for, it is definitely worth checking out.
The bottom line is, get a good program and do it consistently. Results come from weeks and weeks of accumulation of work, and takes dedication.
Diet: Eating Surplus Calories, High in Protein
It doesn’t matter how hard you train in the gym, if you aren’t eating more calories than you burn, you won’t gain muscle. You need a caloric surplus. A good rule of thumb I use for hardgainers is to multiply your bodyweight by 22 – aim to eat that many calories per day to aid in building muscle fast.
Try to stay away from sugary garbage and instead focus on complex carbs like rice and oats, and lean meats. High calorie foods like pizza, lasagna, burgers, and steaks can also be used if you are still having trouble gaining weight.
While we’re on the topic of diet, if you are struggling with getting rid of pesky belly fat then check out this video. There could be some important dieting principles you are missing out on.
Protein is also very important for building muscle fast. Make sure you are minimally eating 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight.
Rest: Sleeping Enough, Living Stress-Free
If you are going to be building muscle fast, you need to allow your muscles to recover as fully as possible. This means that you should be sleeping at least 7 – 8 hours per night, and aim to go to bed before 11pm.
Also, during the day try and remain as stress-free as possible. Try not to let daily frustrations or obstacles affect you too much. Have fun, and laugh a lot. This will keep your body in a relaxed state which is beneficial for building muscle.
A Note on Supplements
Supplements are the least important of the other three areas. However, they can be helpful. The two supplements I recommend for building muscle fast are protein powders and creatine. Both these supplements are proven to be safe and effective. Take both of these post workout to replenish the muscles with protein and creatine.
If you are on a budget then don’t waste your money on other supplements. Some others are helpful, but most are a waste of time, and are not needed for beginner’s.
Those are My Tips for Building Muscle Fast
From here on in, it’s all about hard work and dedication to continue on your program and diet to get the results you desire. Building muscle fast is definitely possible (I’ve done it) but it doesn’t come easy – if it were, everyone would be doing it.
Hey nathan, couple of questions.
When your cutting can you eat stuff like lasagne?
i usually workout in the morning, but yesterday i worked out in the afternoon and felt soo weak, is there a reason for that?
is it true what rusty said that stuff like sit-ups wont make increase your abs size?
what is the difference between beta-alanine and creatine? which is the better one?
Lastly, in your opinion what is the best AB workout you could do?
Thanks
James,
Depends what your cutting strategy is.
A) I follow Caleb Lee’s approach (#1 Diet guy), of going low-carb for the most part which definitely rules out lasagna.
B) However, some people can get results from just limiting calories (Look up the twinkie diet) and eating whatever they want.
I’ve found best results from option A.
I’d choose creatine over beta alanine – I use beta if I have long/high volume workouts, but creatine almost all the time
For one of the best ab programs/reports click here (Rusty’s free report).
And about that quote you have, I don’t believe it’s true. I’m of the school of thought that lower reps generally bring out definition. Adding 10 reps to each set each week would be insane… After a month you’d be doing over 40 reps per set which makes no sense.
Also is this statement true?:
“To achieve maximum definition, this method of training will reduce body fat over the entire body, and also reduces it over specific muscles — thus bringing out the ‘cuts’. To achieve this, the number of continuous repetitions per muscle group and per workout needs to be drastically increased. This is done progressively adding 10 reps (or 5) per week to each set of each exercise.”
Hey Nathan, sites looking good!
I don’t know if it’s because I’m near my genetic potential but I find that eating a calorie surplus only seemed to lead to fat gain
These days I much prefer staying lean year round. For a lot of skinny guys I think there is a danger of the dreaded “skinny fat” syndrome if the calorie surplus is overdone so it’s important to keep an eye on the mirror and your measurements to make sure that it is lean muscle you are gaining rather than just weight.
Michael
Hey nathan i’ve been working out seriously for about 7 months and i cant make any gains in my arms. I’ve tried doing alot of isolation movements but thought i might be overworking them, but recently i have been just doing compound movements with a 3 day split and still not making any gains. do you have any ideas?
Well have you been gaining body weight?
Yeah i’ve gained about 15 lbs mostly in my chest and partly in my back and legs and at about 14 percent body fat
I made great progress when I started slowing down my tempo on some arm days and working on my form… Take a look at a great video from Jay Cutler here.
Try that out for a bit man. The size will come. Other than that, I’d give chin-ups (palms facing you) a try. But emphasize the top portion, and go past your chin to get the biceps working.