So you want to know how to build muscle mass fast? Well, let me tell you…
So many people want to know how to build muscle mass faster than yesterday but they don’t have the discipline to put the work in to get it. This is a shame because it’s one of the most important things that you can do for yourself.
If you don’t take the time to properly train your body then you will never be able to reach your true muscle mass potential. This is why it’s crucial that you make sure that you don’t skip out on any training routines unless you have a valid exemption. Exemptions are family emergencies and listening to your body so you don’t overtrain, but that’s a subject all in iteself.
You can’t expect to get big in a week, if you don’t train consistently your won’t achieve your goals. A tight schedule is no excuse neither, you can either get up earlier or spend a couple of evenings in the gym, or switch to a home workout if going to the gym throws your work/life balance off the scale.
When you want to build some serious muscle in the shortest time possible you need to concentrate on the exercises that will provide the most muscle stimulus. You need to focus on compound movements and more importantly than all this – up your calorie intake. There are many different ways you can achieve these two goals, but, this is perhaps the most tried and tested way of achieving them.
Heavy Weights With Low Volume
The best way to start your workout routine is by performing exercises with heavy weights with low reps and minimal sets. If you haven’t been in the gym in ages 3 full body sessions per week will get the needle moving. You only need 3/4 exercises per workout. Perform the squat twice a week, deadlift once a week and combine this with 2 bench press sessions. Add in the military press, dips, lat pulldowns and bicep curls twice a week.
Here’s an example of a routine you can follow.
Monday
- Squats 5 x 5 (5 reps x 5 sets)
- Bench Press Heavy 5 x 5 (5 reps x 5 sets)
- Bicep curls 8 x 3 (8 reps x 3 sets)
Wednesday
- Deadlift 5 x 3 (5 reps x 3 sets)
- Dips 5-10 x 4 (5-10 reps x 4 sets- lean forward first 2 sets, go upright last 2)
- Military Press 5 x 3 (5 reps x 3 sets)
Friday
- Leg Press 5 x 5 (5 reps x 5 sets)
- Bench Press light 5 x 5 (5 reps x 5 sets with 505 of Mondays weight – but done fast speed)
- Lat pulldowns 8 x 3 (8 reps x 3 sets)
- Barbell rows 5 x 3 (5 reps x 3 sets, perform on supported bench if preferable
To start the routine choose a weight that is medium heavy. You don’t want it too light, but you don’t want it so heavy you can barely perform the required reps and sets. Leave some room for linerar progression. If you get it too light the first week, never worry, you can adjust the next week.
Lifting heavy is the best way to build solid muscle in a fast time scale. But not at the expense of ruining your joints. Perform the reps in a slow controlled manner except on the fast bench press on the third workout day.
You can’t stay on a heavy routine all year round. Do this until you max out, then keep it there for a week or 2 then cut back the weight down and build back up again, or else start introducing more exercises. But don’t overload your body with an excessive amount of exercises.
In the mass game if your are lifting heavy less volume equals more muscle. Lifting heavy places quite a tax on the central nervous sysstem. If you are perfroming 20 plus exercises and endless sets and performing everything heavy you will burn out your joints and body. Max intensity is only for a short period of time.
Diet Sleep & Water
It’s vital to make sure that you drink plenty of water throughout the day to flush out toxins from your system and to keep yourself hydrated. Muscles are fuller when they ae hydrated.
Rest and nutrients make up the largest slice of the bodybuilding pie so I can’t ensure you are getting adequate rest but I can advise you to consume the proper amount of protein your body needs to bulk up fast. Protein is absolutely essential as it’s the building blocks of muscle tissue. It will also help boost your metabolism, which will speed up the time it takes for you to grow muscle. Check out your exact protein ratios here.
Everything is backed with science but you need to know when to throw out science. Follow your body. The best way to do this is get a calorie counting app and log your food and supplements. You can then use the data, combined with the mirror, the scales and how you feel to determine if you need to up your carbs and protein amounts.
Carbs will help with bulk, protein helps muscle repair, but if you want a fast bulk you need to really up the carbs. Don’t go crazy as your body will find it difficult going from say 250g of carb a day to 500. That would be very taxing. A smarter way would be to eat an extra 50g per day, judge how you are feeling and looking after a week, and if alls well add another 50g. That way you are giving your body time to adapt and not overloading it.
Progress Intensity Increase
One of the biggest things that you can do to learn in the muscle building game is learn to work out more intensively as your training cycle progresses. As you start to lift heavier over the weeks this will naturally occur. To increase the intensity further you can take less rest between sets, or increase the muscle contractions (squeeze) as you lift the weights.
One of the best ways to do this is to resist against the lowering of the weight in the eccentric phases. Fight against gravity and build larger muscles. Don’t waste the rep! Get everything out of it that you can.
Working out harder will help increase your metabolism, which means that you will burn off more calories than usual. It will also help you burn more fat, which means that you’re getting more muscle and less fat. Happy days.
The only problem with this technique is that it will take some time to get used to the pain and work ethic if you haven’t tried it before, but rest assured this method will give you results in the long run. Experienced bodybuilders know how to contract their muscles harder and force them to do more work. More work equals more muscle.
It’s also vital that you get plenty of sleep each night to keep your body and mind running efficiently. There are some things that you should avoid like alcohol and late night TV if you want to excel in life and at bodybuilding.
If you have trouble sleeping here’s an interesting article on the benefits of taking a cold shower just before bedtime.