Weight Loss: How To Build More Muscle In The Next Three Months

By Russ Howe

Every single day as a Personal Trainer I am asked how to build muscle by guys looking to pack on some additional size. Some have struggled for years, others are just starting out. Either way, this is an issue which has the vast majority of gym users confused.

Now we're going to end this nonsense and nail down the basic, proven rules.

Before you start you need to work out your overall goal. Do you want to lose body fat or do you want to focus on size and strength? Most guys want to have both benefits but we'll explain today why you need to make a choice so you don't get stuck in that awful middle ground where you don't fully commit to either and, as a result, don't get the results of either.

The fact is this goal makes it harder for you to succeed. If you're not used to training you may find that you get the best of both worlds for the first month or so but after your body adapts to your new training lifestyle those results slow down. You need to make a choice.

Why? Because you cannot do both at the same time long-term. The general rule is that in order to build you need to work at a calorie surplus, whereas to cut you need to operate at a calorie deficit. So doing both becomes somewhat impossible, you see?

If your fitness program is that of an athlete, you have great genetics and your nutrition plan is so good that your quest to get fit is literally dominating your life, it is possible to structure a plan of course but for the overwhelming majority of people who simply want to train after they go to work or around their family life, it's not feasible.

Decide what you wish to focus on, set your diet to that goal accordingly and then you are truly ready to begin. Net we need to structure your workout program. We will show you:

* What exercises will allow you to get the quickest results?

* How many days per week should you use the gym?

* How many reps and sets are optimal?

Put the focus of your workouts on big, compound movements. These multi-joint movements require the most muscle fibres to perform, therefore resulting in greater size and strength gains, too. Bench press, squats and other compound movements are simple yet ideal. Don't spend too long working small muscle groups by themselves, i.e. there is little point in performing five sets of an isolation exercise for your forearms...

Another common mistake is to train too often. When you're trying to build there is a great need for rest. Training no more than four days per week is best, and you should also be splitting each day to hit a different muscle group than the one before. You may wish to train every day once you begin enjoying the buzz from working out, but this leads nowhere. Rest days are in fact growth days.

People get lost, however, when it comes to the number of reps. For hypertrophy (muscle growth) the optimal number of repetitions is 8-12. Once you can push beyond twelve reps you need to increase the resistance. If you fall below eight reps it's too heavy. That easy system, combine with it's focus on progression, will keep you on the straight and narrow.

So there you have it. You wanted to know how to build muscle and now you have the facts. Take your time, set your goals and follow our easy list of workout strategies. You will see huge gains with the laws of size and strength training at the foundation of your workout routine!

About the Author:

Bio: Russ Howe PTI is a trusted fitness coach. See how to build muscle with our new video guide giving the 5 principles to a more muscular physique and the best shoulder building exercises.

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