Tips for building muscle

Date published: 04 December 2012

People work out for many different reasons. Some see the gym simply as a necessary chore to ensure they’re getting enough exercise in the week, while others adhere to a strict training schedule and devote a portion of their spare time to building their fitness levels.

For those of you training to become a personal trainer, one of the issues you’ll definitely have to deal with when in your new career is advising clients on how to build muscle. Even if you’re starting your career in one of the many potential gym instructor jobs available to you with your training this is something you must be aware of.

You may also be trying to build muscle yourself too, so here are a few tips on how to do just that.

Diet

Diet is important when trying to build muscle; as is the number of times you eat each day. Try and eat five times a day with intervals of between 2-3 hours. This will ensure you remain saturated with the amino acids and glycogen from protein and carbohydrate sources which are vital to push abnormal muscle growth.

Overtraining can be counterproductive

You need a break when you’re training hard. If you’re upping your exercise regime and training more often it’s important that you give yourself some time off. Don’t do any more than two consecutive days as overtraining can reduce muscle weight. Your system will also need a break too. To build muscle it’s likely that you’ll be doing high intensity training. If so, once you’ve completed a period of 4-6 weeks, give yourself a break for a week or reduce your intensity for a couple of weeks. While you may feel like you’re dropping off a little this will actually promote new muscle growth.

Gym time

When working out, try and focus your efforts on compound movements like squats and presses. This will maximise your efficiency of effort and enable you to work as many muscle groups as possible in fewer sets. The fewer sets you do at high intensity, the more time you’ll have for recovery.

Protein

Quite simply protein is vital when trying to build up muscle, so make sure you drink a protein drink after each training session. If you’re looking for something a bit more natural than protein shakes, a glass of full-fat milk is often just as beneficial!

The Training Room Competition

If you think you know your fitness foods then make sure you check out The Training Room Blog for a chance to win an indoor bike worth £300. All you need to do is answer a question on nutrition and you could transform your winter work-out!