There are many avenues you can take to build muscle mass. However, eating a balanced low-fat diet and increasing the amount of weight you lift during weight training, helps you accomplish this goal in a healthy way. By supplementing higher protein enriched foods, which helps to build and maintain muscle within the body and substituting lighter weights with heavier weights during your exercise routine, you will begin to see a significant increase in the size of various muscle groups you exercise on a regular basis.
Learn how to accelerate muscle growth by implementing a variety of muscle building techniques.
Steps
- Eat more organic protein enriched foods. Lean chicken, lean beef and fish provide your body with the protein it needs to burn more calories and create lean muscle through a process known as "the thermic effect." Your body works harder and burns more calories to break down high-density, high-protein foods than it does when processing carbohydrates and fats. Organic beef also contains a variety of essential vitamins and minerals, which help the body build muscle. It contains protein, vitamin B12, heme iron, zinc, creatine and carnosine and omega-3 fatty acids.
- Consume a variety of plant-based proteins like soybeans, peanuts and legumes. These proteins come in a variety of different forms. Find the versions with fewer additives and preservatives. The fewer additives and preservatives the body has to work at breaking down, the more efficient the body is at building muscle.
- Eat more green leafy vegetables like broccoli and spinach. Broccoli contains phytochemicals, which help to protect the body from cancer. It also contains a solid amount of soluble fiber, and is low in calories, which contributes to fat loss. Spinach protects the body from muscle and bone loss. It also protects the body from cardiovascular disease and cancer because of its high nutritional content.
- Use flax seeds and not flaxseed oil. Flax seeds are a good source of omega-3, fiber and protein, while flaxseed oil does not contain fiber and is highly unstable. Flax seeds also contain a solid amount of omega-3 fatty acids, which help reduce inflammation. Reducing inflammation within the body is important when building muscle, for 2 reasons. Muscles won't be as sore after intense workouts and the body will be able to heal muscles at a faster rate.
- Replace regular rice and whole grain rice with quinoa. Quinoa is a grain that has more protein and more fiber than rice or oats. Purchase the white grain version, which is better quality than other variations.
Take Protein Supplements When Daily Diet Lacks Sufficient Protein
- Check the bottle for the recommended dose for your age group and gender. Make sure the bottle has a product seal that has not been tampered with or broken.
- Take protein supplements on days when your diet is lacking a sufficient amount of protein. Once a month passes, take measurements of the area of the body you are working on to check muscle growth. A 4 week time-frame is recommended because it takes most people 4 weeks to begin seeing results.
- Decrease the amount of protein supplements you consume, on days you eat a sufficient amount of protein. Make sure to adjust your protein intake to meet the recommended daily dose.
Increase Lifting Weight
- Switch out weights you usually train with for heavier weights. Use slow concentrated movements when performing repetitions.
- Cut the amount of repetitions you do of various exercises in half. Instead of doing 16 to 20 repetitions, do 8 to 10 repetitions with heavy weights. Using heavier weights and fewer repetitions helps accelerate muscle growth.
- Increase the weight you use for varying muscles groups gradually. For 1 month, perform the exercises with the same weight. Once 1 month passes, increase the amount of weight you are lifting.
Tips
- When you increase the weight on various muscle groups, give the muscles time to recover. Allow the muscles time to rest at least 1 to 2 days before performing weight lifting exercises for the same muscle group.
- Drinking sips of water during workout helps to build muscles; your body is made of 70% water. Be sure you have water during workouts.
Warnings
- Failing to wait a few days in between exercising muscle groups can result in pulled muscles and a possible injury.
- It is important to follow the recommended daily dose labeled on your protein supplements. Taking more than the required dose for an extended period of time can cause various health problems such as loss of appetite and osteoporosis.
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Sources and Citations
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