The Truth About Building Muscle



Posted: Monday, January 05, 2009

by

There's a lot of "expert" advice out there, much of it given by folks who know NOTHING about building muscle. In this article, I'll give you "the truth about building muscle." It's really very simple.

A muscle needs three things to grow (I'll give you a "bonus" fourth thing at the end). First, a muscle will not grow unless it has to. You can force muscle growth by stimulating muscle fibers through any means, but the most common method is through progressive resistance weight training, where you constantly push ever-so-slightly harder on the muscles by one of three ways:

  1. Increasing weight
  2. Increasing reps and/or sets (i.e., volume)
  3. Decreasing time between sets
All three of these things, taken separately or together, add up to increased intensity and muscles respond to that! If you increase intensity enough, you will be SORE the next day.

Secondly, a muscle needs proper nutrition. The rule of thumb is that your diet should consist of 50 percent complex carbohydrates, 30-40 percent protein, and 10-20 percent "good" fats (unsaturated, and definitely NOT trans fats).

The best way to find out what you need in order to build muscle and lose body fat is to monitor your eating patterns for at least a week. If you've held a steady weight, this is your "maintenance" level. Add 500 calories or so of mostly high-quality proteins from sources like eggs, milk, beef, fish, and chicken ("flesh foods"). If you start to lose muscle definition, reduce your caloric intake by 10-15 percent.

Eating smaller portions more frequently than the "standard" 3 meals-a-day is best. Aim for taking in 20-40 grams of protein per meal, spread across 5-7 meals.

Finally, the third component muscles need to grow is rest. Often, we become overzealous and train too frequently, with too many sets, or without adequate rest between work outs. If this is you, you're over-training. In fact, most of us over-train in terms of weight training.

LESS is usually MORE when bodybuilding.

You may in fact need only 3 total work outs per week of about 30-45 minutes. Follow guys like Franco Columbu to see how he packed in a full bodybuilding routine into very short work outs.

Finally, the fourth "secret" component (a "bonus" if you will) of building muscle is the right mindset or attitude.

Often, we place artificial constraints on our futures by saying things like,

It's all hogwash. There was a bodybuilder in the 80s who splashed onto the national scene. His name is Tim Belknap. He is short and suffers from diabetes. He managed to make it to the top of the amateur bodybuilding scene.

Surely, you can gain a few pounds of muscle and lose some body fat. Don't make excuses! Just do it.
Bill is an expert in the fitness field. If you have a fitness-related question, Ask the Fitness Unguru. For even more muscle-building and fitness tips, visit Muscle-Build.com.
This Article has been viewed 57 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by straight talk
 3 years 14 days ago.
111 fans. Follow straight talk on twitter!
I'm sure that those interested in the topic presented will find your article informative and interesting.
Please log in to respond to this comment.
» left by Bill Davis 2 years 229 days ago.
5 fans. Follow Bill Davis on twitter!
Robert, I am so sorry that I didn't respond to your comment until now! I didn't even know this feature existed...

Thanks for the kind comment.
Please log in to respond to this comment.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.