By Three fundamental aspects need to be taken into account when building muscle mass
The first factor is lifting weights and pivoting between the accumulation and intensification phases.
This means you must train to gain strength, as well as to increase your muscle mass.
The number two factor is protein.
That also includes cabs, vegetable and fat intake.
Protein is your best macronutrient for fat loss and muscle building.
But we must not forget that there are other food groups to include for health and longevity purposes.
Recovery. Muscles grow when they are in recovery, not during your training sessions.
You may actively recover by doing low-impact activities, such as yoga, walking and cycling.
These are critical factors for building muscle mass.
If you consume more calories than you need daily, you will accumulate fat stores — not just muscle mass.
There needs to be a balance of both to gain positive results — while avoiding as much excess weight gain as possible.
The individual must determine how many calories they can get away with daily.
It’s also important to know what volume of training you do to compensate for that with your food.
Aim for a diet regime that contains healthy, clean and natural protein sources, carbs and fats.
These macros are needed to create a healthy balance of hormonal responses in the body that triggers muscle-building potential, healing and repair.
Protein is essential, but I don’t want to leave out carbs, vegetables and fat.
All the food groups work together to provide your body with the best environment to gain muscle and maintain health.
When it comes to training, both heavy and moderate lifting is essential for growth and to ensure your nervous system doesn’t become burnt out from excess training.
Structured programs with proper technique and tempo are necessary.
Going to the gym with a training program will give you optimal muscle-building potential.
There is no doubt that lifting weights in a gym is critical.
However, I don’t think you can get the same results at home with bands or minimal weights.
We’ve all had our fair share of lockdowns, leaving us with no other alternative.
At the time, it was realistic, but if you can get to the gym and use the necessary equipment — you’ll get there faster.
If you want significant gains, you have to lift both heavy, adding plates regularly, and a high volume.
This is the most straightforward explanation for accumulation and intensification (as mentioned above).
Rest is when the body can repair, rejuvenate, and start building again.
The next time you go to the gym, you will be able to lift more, train more intensely and build up as the weeks, months and years progress.
This is when the magic happens.
Rest means you allow the muscles to repair by not lifting weights but staying active with light exercises.
The low impact can be walking, yoga or bike riding.
As long as it’s not excessively intense, you will succeed at keeping those muscular gains.
Many people misinterpret my instructions not to perform cardio when building muscle mass.
What I mean by this is that your primary aim should be to lift weights, your diet and recovery — not to perform excessive, strenuous and debilitating cardio for fat loss.
This will not help you gain muscle mass in any way at all.
There are specific weight training methods that can trigger fat burning and intensity — but that’s another article.
If you want to gain mass, you MUST prioritise your weight training.
Leave the HIIT when it’s time to shed body fat — and that’s when you acquire the size you want.
You must perform HIIT with extreme caution.
Stick with very low-intensity cardio so that you can still keep fit and not sacrifice losing muscle mass.
Unfortunately, losing muscle does happen, and it’s more than likely for hard gainers or anyone with an Ectomorph body shape. It also occurs as we age.
There is no right or wrong macro-nutrient level for a particular person.
You can go by the general census mentioned in many reference articles.
I use my palm as a speculative way to gauge my protein intake.
I also intermittently fast and train in a fasted state to trigger HGH.
I have found that this is the best way (for me) to gain strength and muscle mass without body fat increases.
There is no carb cycling, deprivation or sacrifices in food quality here.
These are the added benefits of fasting for longer durations of time.
Again, this is another topic, but I wanted to mention another method if you were concerned about fat gain.
Do consider the three critical aspects of gaining muscle.
Nutrition is just one factor, but lifting weights and recovery is just as important.
The three make it easier to work in succession, aiding you towards achieving your goals.
What’s your primary body re-shaping goal for 2023?
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