Does sex affect muscle growth?

by Shannon Clark

Ever wonder if your sex life has to come at the expense of your ability to build muscle mass in the gym? If so, you aren't alone. Many people wonder if regular bedroom time is something that's really going to hurt their progress and some are even willing to make sacrifices if it's true.

While it is definitely true that there is a connection between sex and muscle building, it's important to understand fully what this connection is.

Here are some important factors to think about.

Zinc And Testosterone Levels

Potentially one of the most critical connections between sex and muscle building is the zinc status within the body. Whenever a male has an orgasm, zinc will be released in the semen. Zinc is a critical nutrient that is required for proper sperm growth and development and when levels fall short, infertility is often the consequence.

In addition to this, zinc also plays a key role in muscle development as well, as it is closely tied in with total testosterone levels. When zinc levels are low in the body there is more likely to be a noticeably lower sex drive as well as a difficulty shown with generating more lean muscle mass.

So then because zinc is lost through orgasm, if you're frequently having sex but not replacing this lost zinc through your diet, it is very likely that you're going to fall into that deficit.

In order to prevent this from happening and make sure you not only maintain healthy libido levels but also keep progressing towards your goal of muscle building, you'll want to fill your diet with foods rich in zinc such as oysters, shellfish, wheat germ,liver, cashews, pine nuts, and pecan nuts.

Sex and Strength Levels

The next connection to know about when it comes to sex and muscle building is the connection it has with your strength levels. If you've ever taken notice of yourself, most guys will find that immediately after sex they feel very relaxed and often want to fall asleep.

At this point there is a very high release of oxytocin in the body, which serves to really relax you and could cause you to feel slightly weaker than before the sex took place. This relaxation phase does not last for an extended period of time, however, and you will return to your usual hormonal levels in the body, but the take home message is that trying to attempt a training session immediately after you're involved in sexual activity may not be the best of approaches.

Aim for at least a 3-4 hour time span afterward to allow the hormones to normalize again and for you to recover your strength and energy.

Impacts Of Sex On Overall Testosterone Levels

With the issue of zinc and the effects on testosterone aside, another correlation to look at is the overall impact of frequent sexual activity on testosterone and libido levels. For most men, the more frequently they are engaging in sex, the higher their libido levels tend to be. If a large break is taken for whatever reason, at first libido will increase, but over time if release is not achieved, levels may begin to drop.

Studies have also demonstrated that when testosterone levels are elevated in the body, it has a positive impact on libido levels. Therefore, when testosterone levels are higher, this will, in return, keep you interested in sex and the act of sex will serve as a positive reinforcement, further maintaining the cycle.

Since testosterone levels are one of the primary predictors of muscle growth and development, having higher levels in the body will help to induce greater muscle gains.

Obviously the workouts must be performed in conjunction to simulate the muscle growth response, but doing everything possible to maintain high testosterone will work to your benefit.

Sex and Focus

Finally, the last impact of sex on muscle building is going to be with regards to your focus levels. Maintaining focus both in the gym and out for the actual gym sessions will be critical to see optimal results. In some extreme cases if you become too fixated on sexual activity, you may prioritize this ahead of regular workout sessions, which will then have a large impact on the overall results you experience.

Obviously this will be to the extreme and most people will have no trouble maintaining a normal balance between the two, but if you feel like you may be pushing the barrier between an unhealthy balance it is worthwhile to seriously consider.

For many people this will never be an issue as their workouts are directly tied in to their desire to become more sexually appealing as they workout for a large part to look good for members of the opposite gender. So by keeping up with their workouts regularly, they will help promote the chances of frequent intercourse.

Conclusion

So next time you find yourself questioning what the impact of sex is on your muscle building efforts, keep these points in mind. The good news is that those who do take a more active role in regular workouts and maintaining a good diet are far more likely to be healthy and thus experience fewer sexual problems such as pre-mature ejaculation or erectile dysfunction, so you won't have to worry about either of those impacting your overall ability to perform in bed.

As with anything in life, balance is key and as long as balance is achieved, you should have no worries about maintaining a healthy sex life while making the absolute most of your muscle building efforts in the gym.

Original Source: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/does-sex-effect-muscle-growth.htm

What You Should Know To Start Building More Muscle

by Coach Todd

There are many ways that building muscle is good for the body. Doing it can improve your overall look, strength and conditioning for the long term. It can be quite enjoyable, as well. Read on to find some excellent tips to get you building muscle in no time.

Make sure you have enough vegetables in your diet. Avoid concentrating solely on carbs and protein; do not forget your veggies. Veggies have nutrients that other foods high in carbs and proteins do not. In addition, they are excellent sources of fiber. Your body uses fiber to process protein more efficiently.

Creatine should be considered when building muscle. This supplements helps you train longer and harder when taken in combination with a diet rich in proteins and carbs. Talk to your doctor to find out if this type of supplement is an option for you.

In order to maximize your muscle-building progress and reduce the risk of injuring yourself, put together a reasonable workout schedule and stick to it. Newcomers to the world of muscle building must restrict themselves to two intense workouts weekly, whereas experienced fitness buffs can perform three such workouts every week.

Limit your workouts to no more than 60 minutes. The body begins to produce more cortisol, a stress hormone, after sixty minutes of working out. Cortisol blocks testosterone and puts to waste any of your efforts to build muscle. Making sure that workouts are less than an hour helps you to get the best results.

Make a careful and frank appraisal of your body's capabilities and limitations at the start of a muscle-building program. This is a good place to start for establishing your regimen goals. When doing this evaluation, focus on your composition and body weight.

Squats, dead lifts and bench presses are the three essential muscle building exercises. Those are movements that will allow you to achieve fitness more rapidly, and continue to build muscle. Although you can perform other exercises in your routine, these should be the ones you focus on.

This article has given you crucial advice for building muscle and improving your life. Building muscle can make your body look great and help raise your self-esteem. If you can stay on track and keep your dedication strong, you will notice changes in the way that you look, your physical functioning, and an increase in your strength.

Original Source: http://weightloss4weightloss.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/what-you-should-know-to-start-building.html

Tips On Preparing A Body Building Workout Routine Schedule

by Darren Lintern

The advantages that a body building workout routine offers to someone are abundant and extremely positive as muscle building features determination and discipline as a foundation. Thus, it is essential that there's a bodybuilding exercise schedule workout that one can follow.

In selecting or preparing a body building workout routine, you ought to take note of the following:

Food Preparation - The food intake needs to comprise of carbohydrates, protein, and essential acids that the body utilizes. This food will provide fuel to the body to maintain healthiness and to function well.

The requirement to gain muscle mass is critical in order to achieve your objective set in the muscle building workout. If you desire a good looking and lean muscled physique, then eating meats, dairy products, and greens is essential. Combine with various vitamin supplements to allow your stamina to keep up with the workout schedule that you've mapped out for yourself.

Weight Training Routine - There are no definite rules on preparing a workout program. The physical body build will affect the style of workout that suits an individual. It may be circuit weight training or split routine, dependent on what your personal time can adapt to.

The split routine can allow someone to exercise for instance on lower or upper body regions on alternative days. The circuit weight training offers progressive phases on the body areas that need working on, for example, starting at the upper torso extending to the lower regions of the body as the workout plan moves forward.

One more factor that can affect the body building workout routine is the equipment that will be utilized on the workout. Bodybuilders can select between machine weights or free standing or a combination of both. Finally, a recovery cycle shouldn't be taken for granted. Sooner or later, over-training can do more harm than good.

Original Source: http://goarticles.com/article/Tips-On-Preparing-A-Body-Building-Workout-Routine-Schedule/729271/

Kettlebell workouts the best way to get in shape at home

By Chris Rivers

Kettlebell workouts are a great way to get fit, tone up, and lose that unwanted fat belly, but one thing that really stands out and makes kettlebells the fastest growing workout routine around today is that this one piece of equipment is so versatile.

While performing strength training exercises, it will also help you boost the capacity of your lungs and heart. You can perform high rep sets of kettlebell swings, jerks, clean and snatches, and these exercises can surely make you sweat in just a couple of minutes. Since these workouts are helpful in improving your cardio strength, it will also help you burn unnecessary calories in your body. Instead of spending a couple of months engaging in an exercise program for weight loss and muscle building, you can do KB exercises instead to hit two birds with a single stone.

If you only ever consider the above i'm sure you can already see the amazing benefits and bonuses a quick KB session can offer.

Aside from the benefits mentioned above, exercises are also helpful in improving the body's flexibility. Regular kettlebell workouts can help improve flexibility without doing poses for a long period. Working out with KB's can be done at any given time. This is because you do not have to spend hours working out. Performing the exercises at least 20 minutes daily can already help you improve your stamina, strength and flexibility. This is the reason why it is the most recommended exercise for those with very busy schedule and have shorter workout times.

Surprisingly and unlike other fitness programmes kettle bell training is very moreish, this is mainly due to the fact that the workouts don't take forever to complete, are a personal challenge to you and can be done every ware and anywhere imaginable. Because of their unique size and exercises you are not limited to just training at home or in the gym; if the sun is shining get out there into the fresh air and swing your kettle bell, you'll be amazed at how refreshing and therapeutic it really can be.

Also it's inexpensive. You can buy the equipment for as low as $30 and train every with it and thats a big saving on hefty gym memberships.

Original Source: http://bestweightlossadvice1.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/kettlebell-workouts-best-way-to-get-in.html

Muscle Building Techniques: A Super-Hero Inspired Body Building Routines

by Bernice Eker

Give your muscle building workout some twist and let these superhero-inspired routines take you to enjoyable sessions. Here are muscle building techniques to shun boring exercises away and welcome a hero training in sculpting the body.

You may not have the extra strong faculty to fly, hurdle, jump and leap skyscraping buildings, but you will certainly look and feel as if you can with these muscle building techniques and routines. Now, to the gym!

1. Superman Back Extension - From the name itself, you can easily discern how this type of exercise is employed. But for the benefit of those wondering how this muscle building workout is executed, you simply have to lie facedown at a back-extension position with both feet secured and anchored. The lower hips are supported with a leaning and inclined platform to keep you from falling face down. Next, grab a pair of dumbbells keeping the abs and the midsection tight for optimal outcome as you raise both arms until the body comes to a straight line position making you look like superman flying. Hold to the position for few seconds and finally, lower yourself down. This will help you achieve a well trained and defined core, works the lower back and other targeted muscles. Do 10 reps with this type of superman-enthused routine.

2. Spiderman Pull up - This type of muscle building routine is stirred by the superhero, Spiderman. All you have to do is grab a pull up bar with a handle grip. Raise your arms at a distance a bit apart from the shoulder width. Pull up with the use of your right hand with the right leg and knee bent concurrently. This workout routine gives a perfect picture of Spiderman climbing a wall - but this time one knee is lifted towards the bar. Once done and your chin reaches the top of the bar, you can repeat the same procedure with your left hand and knee in motion. This kind of body building routine helps strengthens the torso, arms and legs.

3. Thor's Hammer - This is considered as an excellent complete workout in building muscles specifically the biceps. This is done in a standing position with a barbell and your palm facing up. Start the routine by curling the weight up the shoulder and lifting the bar overhead. Next, you need to rotate your palm from a face up position to face forward as you try to push the weights as high as you can reach. It is important to note, that in a routine like this, twisting the wrists plays a major role in shaping and sculpting the forearms and the biceps all at the same time. Once done, you can switch arms and repeat the routine for a maximum of 10 reps on each side.

4. Hulk Super Leap - This position does not need any kinds of equipment. All you do is stand on a mat with the hips and knees bent in a halfway squat position and both hands arch on the side. Swing both hands overhead as you blow up upwardly. Upon the blast, immediately go back and land to your original half squat position.

These are some of the muscle building techniques one can perform in making your seemingly ordinary workout an extra-ordinary and hero-like body building training.

Original Source: http://goarticles.com/article/Muscle-Building-Techniques-A-Super-Hero-Inspired-Body-Building-Routines/1487146/

How to Get Lean Muscle - 3 Signs of a Crappy Muscle Program

by Cheng Kee

There are heaps of "professional" personal trainers or bodybuilders who claim they hold the holy grail of muscle building knowledge, when all they did was take short cuts to get to where they are. A lot of bodybuilders copy each other and copy the same rubbish that they promote. All they're doing is further casting a darker shadow over the muscle industry that's already dominated by the shady supplement pushers. The only thing that's proven to work is a good muscle exercise program, but even they are hard to find too. If you see a muscle program with one of these components, it's crap and you should avoid it.

1. Have exercises that don't have an order

All the good muscle exercise programs will have an order to their exercises, whether you see it or not. They will workout the entire body and will usually incorporate the same muscle group, but exercising it in different ways. For example, a good muscle program will recommend that you do a hamstring curl at 15 reps x 3 sets at a 311 tempo. Then it will tell you to do a hamstring extension at 15 reps x 3 sets at a 311 tempo, taking a rest after all that. A substandard muscle routine will not see the importance of superimposing a related exercise on the same muscle group, giving you a set of exercises that will only stuff up the way your muscle grows, leading to slower gains.

2. They will talk about rest

This is something that's only been realized in the last decade or so by fitness experts, but rest and recovery is one of the most important aspects of building muscle. It's useless if you get a muscle program that gives you a set of exercises to do if it doesn't tell you how long you should rest in between each exercise. Because yes, it is important. Think about it. If you didn't have a set time to rest, a workout could vary significantly. You could end up adding on an extra 20 minutes to half an hour to a workout, simply because you were daudling between exercises. Also, if you take too long a rest, you lose workout intensity, meaning your muscles don't work out as hard as they should, meaning slower gains. Rest is important to a work out if you want to build consistent muscle.

3. Demonstrations

Have you ever tried folding paper origami by instruction books? It's bloody hard! A lot of guys can visualize the finished product, but it's often hard to see the path to get there. It's the same for working out. There are a lot of effective exercises out there that will expose weakness in your body and strengthen them, but it's pointless if we don't know to do them. Professionals seem like their speaking a different language sometimes when using the technical body part name when talking about an exercise. The good professionals will cut all that fancy crap and show you how to do the exercise properly. They can't rely on us to follow actors in tough movies. That's what's caused the proliferation of injuries in the first place: inproper understanding of lifting motion.

It's all common sense really, what you should find in a muscle program. It's just that us guys sometimes get deluded by pictures of other guys who've been there and done that and got the results. Or so they say. We have to really keep our eyes open for the gold amongst the scams. They have to contain information about rest, ordered exercises and demonstrations of the exercise. That is, unless if we like working out and getting no where.

Original Source: http://goarticles.com/article/How-to-Get-Lean-Muscle-3-Signs-of-a-Crappy-Muscle-Program/1335068/

Muscles Need more than Protein

By: Lou Schuler & Ian King

The mythology surrounding protein and muscle building could fill a book, even though the science is fairly straightforward. Your muscles are made of protein (except the four-fifths that's water), so you have to eat protein to make them grow. You also have to eat protein to keep them from shrinking, which is why men trying to lose fat without sacrificing muscle do best when they build their diets around high-quality, muscle-friendly protein from lean meat, fish, eggs, poultry, and low-fat dairy products.

But if you're young, lean, and trying to gain solid weight, a lot of extra protein may not help as much as you think. Protein has qualities that help weight loss and may curtail weight gain. First, protein is metabolically expensive for your body to process. Your body burns about 20 percent of each protein calorie just digesting it. (It burns about 8 percent of carbohydrate and 2 percent of fat during digestion.)

Second, protein creates a high level of satiety, both during meals and between them. In other words, it makes you feel fuller faster and keeps you feeling full longer between meals. (This effect does wear off as you grow accustomed to a higher-protein diet, so it may not have an impact on long-term weight gain or weight loss.)

Finally, if you eat more protein than your body needs, it will learn to use the protein for energy. You want your body to burn carbohydrates and fat for energy, obviously, so a body that's relying on protein for energy is like a car that's using pieces of its engine for fuel.

The best weight-gain strategy is to focus on calories first, protein second. You should make sure you're eating at least 2 grams (g) of protein per kilogram (kg) of muscle mass. A kilogram is 2.2 pounds, so a 160-pound guy weighs about 73 kg and should take in a minimum of 146 g protein a day. But that's just 584 calories of protein, the amount you'd find in 15 ounces of chicken, two salmon fillets, or a 28-ounce steak. A protein-powder shake can amp up your totals, as well. If you need to eat more than 3,000 calories a day to gain weight, you'd better have some sweet potatoes with those steaks.

Original Source: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/muscle_building/Muscles_Need_More_than_Protein

How much protein do you consume on a daily basis?

How to Get Lean Muscle in Under 10 Minutes a Day

by Cheng Kee

Some men spend virtually their entire lifetimes working out in a gym, forgetting the reason they decided to start working out in the first place. For the babes, for the confidence, for the attention from the boss, whatever your reason, don't forget it; it keeps you grounded and reminds you that working out is not your life.

You can, in fact, get a decent, muscle building work out in under 10 minutes per day. Yep, you read that right. 10 minutes. Now, if you're someone who's worked out before, you'll know how hard it is to gain weight, especially dry muscular weight. You would think that you would need to work out 3 or 4 days in the gym for between 30 to 45 minutes. Fortunately it's been physically proven that you can do so in much less time. You're about to learn how to get lean muscle in under 10 minutes a day.

This background information might be new to some men, but you are required to understand this if you want to gain lean muscle in under 10 minutes a day. The only reason why we gain lean muscle in the first place is because our bodies adjust to the weight that is imposed upon it as we lift. Whether it'd be body weight, free weights, or gym equipment, our muscles will grow according to which ones are stimulated, how heavy the weight was and how long the force was imposed for. It's common sense really; remember elementary physics and the law that says a stationary body has two equal and opposite forces on it at the same time? That's basically how muscles grow. The bigger the weight, the bigger the muscle, right?

Not completely. If you worked out with a really heavy weight for an extended period of time, your body will not appreciate it. You might sustain injury and lower muscle gaining potential. So to an extent, the shorter and more intense your workout is, the better your gains. Of course, you have to also take into consideration, the amount of rest your taking with respect to how much exercise you've done, as well as providing your body with the necessary amount of energy to fuel your lean muscle gains and the building blocks, ie. protein to physically increase the amount of muscle you have.

You now have the basis for creating or finding a muscle routine that can help you learn how to get lean muscle in under 10 minutes. There is obviously a lot more to it, but now you can tell mates that you know why they shouldn't waste their lives away in a gym, when they have a life to live. Eating more, working out less and getting more muscle... what could be better?

Original Source: http://goarticles.com/article/How-to-Get-Lean-Muscle-in-Under-10-Minutes-a-Day/1304749/

What is Lean Muscle and How Do You Get It?

Becoming lean and muscular is the holy grail of fitness.

The Hollywood celebrity look is often placed on a pedestal and for good reason. Look at movie stars like Brad Pitt, Ryan Reynolds, and Taylor Lautner. Then look at the people around you. How many people among your family, friends, and coworkers have achieved this kind of physique? Chances are few to none. The reason for this is simple. Everyday people either don’t know what it takes to get into this type of condition, don’t care enough to do so, or both. Almost everyone I know falls into one of these three categories. When you think about the build of the stars I mentioned, one of the first things that comes to mind is “lean muscle”. But what is lean muscle?

What is lean muscle?

This phrase gets thrown around a lot and I don’t particularly like it because quite frankly, there is no such thing. There aren’t two distinct categories of muscle where one is lean and the other is fat. When people say lean muscle, they are referring to having a decent amount of muscle while being lean at the same time. People associate lean muscle with someone like Taylor Lautner. While he does have muscle, his muscle is no leaner than that of a sumo wrestler. The difference is that he is leaner than a sumo wrestler and the reason why his physique is much more impressive than that of the sumo wrestler is that sculpting it goes way beyond just putting on muscle.

Let me get back to the three categories of people I mentioned.

My goal is to help the people in the first category: those who are willing to put in the work, but are misinformed. You see, you can’t just put in time at the gym and expect to get a Hollywood body. Many people workout regularly and they might have sufficient muscle, but they are still a little chubby. They think that if they keep pushing hard at the gym, eventually the flab will go away and they will look like Ryan Reynolds. Unfortunately, this is not going to happen unless they take a synergistic approach and focus on what they are doing outside of the gym and the timing of these activities.

Getting lean and muscular requires a two-pronged attack.

The thing is it’s very difficult to attack both at the same time. This is because the activities that are best for burning fat hinder muscle building and vice versa. So here’s what I’m suggesting. Have days when you focus strictly on fat burning and days when you focus strictly on muscle building. My plan of attack is a 5/2 weekly split between fat burning days and muscle building days. So five days a week, I focus on fat burning and give it my all. The other two days, I focus on muscle building and completely ignore fat burning! You can tweak the ratio based on your goals, but I’m more focused on remaining lean and staying at low body fat levels, so the 5/2 split works very well for me.

How is this different from bulking and cutting?

The traditional bodybuilding bulking and cutting method calls for months of overeating and getting huge and then only a few weeks of cutting to try to get lean. This won’t build an ideal physique because the constant calorie surplus from the bulking phase will inevitably result in fat gain that’s difficult to reverse in only a few weeks. So what you’ll end up with is the big puffy look that’s a little over-the-top. What you want to do instead is to focus the majority of your effort on getting lean because this is the driver behind the ideal Hollywood physique.

My method accomplishes this because for 5 out of 7 days a week, you’re just shredding fat. And then you devote a couple of days to putting on a respectable amount of mass that looks good and suits your frame, not too much. Also, because you’re spreading out the calorie surplus days and being strategic about it, overall long-term fat gain will be minimal. This is your path to the Holy Grail. So if you find yourself asking “what is lean muscle and how do I get it?” the answer lies in this path. Stay tuned to my next post where I discuss exactly what I do on my fat burning and muscle building days to make sure I’m constantly working towards this ideal physique.

Orignal source: http://www.fitnessbreakout.com/just-for-fun/what-is-lean-muscle-and-how-do-you-get-it

Does Protein Shake Help in Building Muscles?

Looking for a healthy body?

Start doing regular workouts. There are many people who do not know the importance of working out. Working out is a good way to stay fit and healthy. People of all age groups should do workouts on a daily basis. There are some important points one has to keep in mind before starting a good workout regime. If one check outs this article, one will also get to know why it is important to include protein shake in diets of those who do workouts regularly.

Why are proteins important?

Proteins help in building muscles of the body. Proteins supplements are available in different flavors. One can choose a flavor of his own choice. Some of the flavors of proteins that one will find are chocolate flavor, apple flavor, strawberry flavor etc.

There are many brands of protein shakes. One of the things that one has to look for in a protein shake is quality. The quality of the protein shake should be really good. Another thing to look for in a protein shake is price. The price should be reasonable. Buy a protein shake that comes with a low price. One can compare the price of all the products available in the market.

One should take the right amount of protein. One can ask a fitness instructor on the amount of protein one should take daily. One should not take excess amount of protein. Many body builders all around the world take protein supplement in order to build up their muscles. Some of the natural sources of proteins are eggs, red meat, milk etc.

Users who are interested in muscle building and body building should be very careful of what diet they take. One of the most important nutrients is protein. And according to experts, protein from whey is considered the best option for muscle building. There are various companies that manufacture this products. However, all are not good enough. Therefore, it becomes necessary for users to conduct a protein shakes test before buying any product. Users can acquire the best product in the market by doing that.

There are many sources from where one can get ready made protein supplements. If one is looking for the best protein shake, one should buy it from the web. There are several good and reliable websites that deal in protein shakes. It is advisable to check the price and cost of deliver before buying the product.

Original Souce: http://goarticles.com/article/Does-Protein-Shake-Help-In-Building-Muscles/7629970/

Muscle Building

Muscle building is an excellent choice for a workout routine. If you are interested in building muscles look into specific routines that you can follow in order to build muscles in your body. If you are already a little on the heavy side, you may think it would be harder for you to build muscles since it would take you a lot of hard work and determination in order to have a body that you can boast to the world.

If you want to take Muscle Building seriously then you would want to remove the fat and replace it with muscles, therefore you need an exercise routine that will help you burn fat as well as build the muscles in your arms, chest, legs, and back. Remember each person is different, so ensure you do your research to find out the exercise sets dependent on your body type.

Another big factor is diet so you will more than likely need to change your diet, cut down on junk food and fast food, and try and to eat nutritiously. It is important to change your diet because; you will need to have the proper energy to do the regular workout plan. It is important for any bodybuilder to be aware that building muscles require lots of patience and determination. Muscles cannot be built and then stop the routine you have. You will need to stick to a workout plan that you will need to maintain up until you build the muscles and then gradually change the exercise routines according to how you see fit.

Muscle building is very easy, if you have access to the right tip and follow them as stated. Before now, most people have tried to build muscles and have been unsuccessful, this is very common. The reason for this is that, either they don't have access to the right information or are not following them seriously. There are some tips you must take note of, if you want to build muscles successfully and quickly. Some of them include working hard, eating the right food, training consistently and resting properly.

One of the most important ways to build muscle quickly is by eating the right food and in the right way. If you really want to build muscles, you will have to eat more of protein food and less of carbohydrates. Avoid unhealthy fat, eat healthy fatty foods. You can eat protein foods like boiled or baked chicken, beans and turkey. Also carbohydrate foods like brown rice and whole wheat bread. If you must use oil when cooking, use olive or coconut oil, do not use groundnut of vegetable oil. You should also consume lots of vegetables and drink plenty of water.

The second tip is to work hard, take your routine seriously. Try always to do your daily exercise until you are unable to continue, this will stress your muscles and provide more opportunity for growth. One very important exercise you must add to your routine is weight lifting, without this you won't be able to get a good result quickly. Also you will have to work out consistently; you can't do your routine once a week and expect to get the same result as someone who does his routine three to four times a week.

Another important bodybuilding tip is having enough rest. After your daily routine, it is advisable to rest for at least 24 hours as this will allow your muscle to heal and grow. If you don't allow your muscles to heal before you continue with your workout, you might injure them thereby making growth difficult. Do not lift heavy weights every day. Also you should sleep for 7 to 8 hours a day, because your muscle grows best during sleep. Another very important tip is to take a week off after 8 weeks of extensive workouts.

Follow the above tips strictly and in less than two weeks you will see a tremendous improvement in your muscle growth. You don't have to work out for months before seeing result.

Your workout routine will need to change to help you maintain muscle. Your focus should be on 8-10 repetitions per set, but the weight should be moderate, not moderately heavy. So, what does moderate weight mean? It means you should be able to fully complete all 10 reps without too much struggle, but enough struggle to feel a little burn. This is very hard to explain in words, but you will know the feeling when you feel it.

When you no longer want to gain muscle, you should have a good sense of your body and how it feels under physical stress. You should know when your muscles are fatigued. You should still feel a good pump, without taking your muscles to failure. Your goal is to give your new muscles a reason to stick around. The reason why your body gained muscle in the first place was because you placed unusual stress on your muscles on a regular basis, and the body responded naturally by increasing in size. Now, you must still give your body a reason to hold onto muscle because you still have a workout program that puts moderate resistance on your muscles.

Remember your body still needs protein to feed the muscle you have. If you deprive your body of protein, you will lose a good amount of muscle fast. Use a good quality whey protein powder daily and drink plenty of water. Your muscles also need lots of water to survive. Sleep should be your next focus. Surprisingly, your body won't need the same 8-9 hours of sleep to maintain muscle the way it did to gain muscle. You still need the recovery, but your body will now recover faster because your body will not be stressed to the same degree.

Original source: http://goarticles.com/article/Muscle-Building/7634736/

10 Tips to Build Muscle Fast

Some people spend years trying to put on muscle or get more toned, but just can’t seem to make it happen. Others see themselves in the mirror wearing a swimsuit, and realize that they want to get more toned or fill out some muscle, but just don’t know where to start. Whether you want to bulk up, get more curvaceous calves, enhance your chest, or achieve any other muscle building goal, you’re about to get 10 tips to build muscle fast.

Muscle Building Tip #1: Lift

In “How To Build Muscle,” you learn that the only way to significantly increase muscle is to cause muscle fibers to tear, and the only way to do that is to subject your muscles to external forces to which they’re not accustomed. So unless you have a heavy manual labor job like moving or construction, you must get your hands on barbells, dumbbells, and weight lifting machines to see significant muscle building progress.

Muscle Building Tip #2: Go Multi-Joint

Unless you’re already very muscular, single joint movements like biceps curls or triceps extensions do not build muscle quickly. Instead, you should use multi-joint exercises like cleans, deadlifts, squats, and bench pressing. Not only do these exercises work more muscles in less time, but they also allow you to use much heavier weight than you can lift with single-joint exercises.

Muscle Building Tip #3: Go Heavy

Most people who are trying to build muscle do not use an adequately heavy weight. You should be lifting in the range of 8-12 repetitions per set, performing 3-8 sets per exercise, and using a weight that leads to muscle failure by the end of each set. One of the reasons that bodybuilders exercise with a partner is so that someone is there to help them when the weight gets too heavy to lift with good form. If you don’t have a workout partner, you can simply stop when you get too tired to lift with good form, rest a few seconds, then keep lifting to complete the set. This is a better way to build muscle than using a weight that allows you to comfortably complete a set without reaching muscle failure.

Muscle Building Tip #4: Avoid Cardio

Your body requires calories to build muscle, and if you are doing a significant amount of cardio exercise like running or bicycling, you are burning calories that your body could otherwise be using to build muscle. So if you want to build muscle as quickly as possible, only use cardio for a brief 2-5 minute warm-up, and then focus on weight training only.

Muscle Building Tip #5: Eat

To put on one pound of muscle, you need to consume at least 3,500 extra calories. Since an achievable rate of muscle gain is 1-2 pounds per week, you will need to be eating 500-1,000 extra calories per day to get 3,500-7,000 extra calories each week. But rather than indiscriminately shoving food down the hatch, try to consume calories from healthy protein sources like grass-fed beef, healthy fat sources like avocadoes and coconut milk, and healthy carbohydrate sources like sweet potatoes and yams.

Muscle Building Tip #6: Supplement

In “Do Muscle Building Supplements Work?” I review several popular muscle building supplements. The top two most effective supplements you should be consuming to gain muscle quickly are 1) a high quality protein powder and 2) a creatine supplement. Other popular muscle-building supplements, such as nitric oxide or beta-alanine, will achieve small results, but will not be as effective as the highly proven protein and creatine supplements.

Muscle Building Tip #7: Rest

If you work a muscle too hard, too many days in a row, the muscle fibers will become too damaged to properly repair and grow. To build muscle quickly, you must completely fatigue a muscle group, but then give it time to rest. Typically, a muscle needs at least 72 hours to properly repair from a muscle-building, weight training session. A good rule to follow is to allow for complete absence of soreness in a muscle before working that muscle again. For example, do a shoulders and chest workout on Monday and Thursday, a leg workout on Tuesday and Friday, and a back, arms and abs workout on Wednesday and Saturday.

Muscle Building Tip #8: Recover

While you are resting, be sure to give your body what it needs to properly recover and put the muscles into a state of optimal growth. Activities that can enhance recovery include ice baths or cold showers, compression clothing, massage therapy or foam rolling, stretching, breathing exercises, and adequate sleep.

Muscle Building Tip #9: De-Stress

High levels of stress can quickly drain testosterone, an anabolic, muscle-building hormone, and increase levels of cortisol, a catabolic, muscle-damaging hormone. If you find yourself at work or school with a constantly high heart rate, moody personality, shallow breaths or high body temperature, it’s likely that you’re too stressed for optimal muscle growth. Teach yourself to relax, breathe deeply and plan out your day to give yourself more time and less stress.

Muscle Building Tip #10: Address Hormones

If you are above the age of 30, hormonal deficiencies can slow your rate of muscle gain. If you feel your muscle gain is too slow, or have any of these symptoms, consider going to a doctor to test your hormone levels and address any imbalances or deficiencies.

 

Reference: http://getfitguy.quickanddirtytips.com/10-tips-to-build-muscle-fast.aspx