In order to know how to get strong muscles, you need to evaluate your daily life first. That is to ask yourself how much activity you have every single day, what your eating habits are, and how much exercise you do if any.
After you do it, you can then think about how to make your muscles strong.
Now, why is this essential to know beforehand?
Because when you talk about making your muscle strong, you’re talking about how to strengthen your muscles, which means that your body shows musculature – at least at some level. And what you want to do is to make them bigger and tight.
Also, It is always good to keep in mind why it is important to strengthen your muscles. Today many people lead sedentary lives and suffer from chronic medical conditions. There are also certain emotional pathologies caused by low self-esteem, illness and depression. For this reason, training your body is one of the most common and most successful recommendations that we can receive.
How to get strong muscles
The way of having your muscles grow and getting them strong like a rock is not just hitting the gym, it’s about getting the apropiate training whether you’re working out in a gym or at home. That’s the core concept.
I know that building muscles may sound like a very strenuous task. But it is rewarding in the long run. Not only for the end result (a strong and healthy body) but while you train, you also release stress, and you feel that your life has a purpose.
So, building and strengthen your muscles is much more than just having a good physical appearance. It can become your lifestyle. Therefore, we want to detail more in depth about what you can find in the muscle-building world.
Benefits of strengthening muscle
Strength training includes a wide range of activities, from lifting weights at the gym to push-ups. The benefits offered by this type of activity are numerous. Toning muscles helps you lose weight, improve flexibility, and increase mobility.
When you strengthen your muscles you can have more energy to do your daily tasks. In the same way, they make you more resistant to diseases.
But there are other additional positives to be gained from strength training workouts that you may not yet know about.
Sleep better
There have been studies, demonstrating that building muscles can improve the quality of your sleep. These studies showed that people who work out can develop a better sleep because the training reduces the high levels of anxiety, depression and stress. And these factors, when they are present in you, affect your sleep considerably.
Better mood
As we said above, working out reduces harmful factors such as depression. This happens specially when you do cardio because the endorphins influence your mood.
Beside that, when you get used to working out, you can see for yourself that your plan of training is working, which gives you satisfaction because you are getting results. This automatically boosts your self-esteem.
Pain Management
When you work out, you live an active life. This means that your body resistance and stamina are improving as well. So whenever you go through some illness, your body can respond to it better. You may feel sick, but you can notice that thanks to your training, you are able to manage your pain with success.
Muscle building goals
It is important to set realistic goals before starting your training. These goals will not only give you a sense of purpose but will also motivate you to follow the previously outlined training plan.
Set a 5-year Goal
The first goal you’re going to set for yourself won’t be reached for several years, but it gives you something long-term to reach for that will help keep you motivated to keep going. This goal should be difficult enough that it will take a lot of work over a long period of time to reach it, but easy enough that you will be able to get to it in about 5 years.
Your 5-year goal is going to look different from everybody else’s. It could be to get your body measurements to a certain size, your muscle percentage to a certain number, or your 1RM up to a certain weight.
Whatever your 5-year goal, be as specific as possible so you know exactly what you’re aiming for. This helps in the long run and right now as you continue the goal-setting process.
Set Monthly Goals
Break down your 5-year goal into 60 months and it becomes significantly easier to reach. Rather than simply going for one long-term goal, you are now able to focus on just one goal per month. This not only makes the process less overwhelming, but it also helps you feel motivated to keep going as you reach your goals every month and see your progress much more often.
To make things easier, you may want to focus on just one part of your body every month. If, for example, your goal is to reach a certain 1RM for every exercise, make your goal for February to add a couple pounds to your squat. While you should still be working the other parts of your body, allowing yourself to focus on one per month will simplify your process.
Set Up Rewards
What’s something huge that you’ve always wanted but never allowed yourself to get for whatever reason? Set that up as your ultimate reward, that you will indulge in only once you reach your 5-year goal. This may involve taking a vacation, or buying a new vehicle. Whatever it is, set this up as your reward, and it will help you self-motivate.
You’ll also want to set up smaller rewards at the beginning of every month that you can enjoy if you reach your goal for the month. These should be smaller goals that will keep you motivated during that month. It could be something like going to see a movie at the end of the month or buying yourself something you can add to a collection.
Once your goals and rewards are in place, you’re ready to get started as a muscle builder. If you’re not sure what goals are reasonable, then ask a muscle builder you know to help you set goals. You could also look for online muscle-building communities to find out more about what are attainable 5-year and monthly goals.
Now that you’ve assessed your current situation, got the all clear from your doctor and set some clear and precise goals for your muscle building efforts, it’s time to start looking at the day to day things you need to do to see the results you’re looking for.
In the next part we are going to look at foundational nutrition guidelines for muscle building.
Muscle building training
There are actually two basic types of training when it comes to muscle building training: Total body training and Split training.
Total body training uses exercises that incorporate the whole body or else multiple muscle groups while split training involves focusing on just one muscle group at a time, so that you cover your entire body over the course of a week.
Although there are certainly advantages to total body training, most body-building professionals and experts agree that split training is the best way to build muscle over the long term.
This is because split training allows you to focus intensely on each muscle and muscle group so you can maximize the results of each workout. It also gives each muscle group more time to recover which can limit soreness.
One of the most important things to remember when doing split training is that you need to make it part of a daily or nearly daily routine so that you can cover every muscle group by the end of the week.
You’ll also need to make sure you have your days divided in such a way that you have 2 to 3 days in between exercising each muscle group.
This is a brief overview of the types of training that most people use to build muscle and increase strength.
5 Tips to build muscle fast
Simplicity
Don’t try to complicate things. That’s one of trait we humans shows when we do any activities. As for fitness, most people with the best body building started when they were old (40s, 50s). Their training was natural and prety simple. Their routine involves working out three times a week. And their sessions were 5 series of 5 repetitions and 5 series of 10R.
So, your focus should be in improving your daily training with more sessions as you progress.
Consistency
This is the most important part. As everything in life you commit to what you start if you really want to see good results. So when you start your training, you must keep going forward. No matter if muscles are not growing fast, you have to keep training hard and let it the muscles take their time to grow.
Patience
Building muscles is simple. Sadly, it’s not as easy as pressing a button. It takes time, specially for beginners. If a body has never been put under a recurring training, it will need time to adapt to the new way of life.
Now, if you already have an active life, your muscles can grow faster. So in the most optimal conditions the body can produce 10 g of muscle per day. But never expect to gain 40 pounds of muscle in 30 days. It won’t happen!
Keep a journal
We are the subject of our own testing. So monitor and track your training plan as you go in order to adjust to results you’re having.
This is the best way to know if your training is working. If you don’t like to use journal or don’t like to write, use your smartphone or tablet. You can do several voice records reporting your daily or weekly progress.
Progressive overload
This is essential when it comes to body building. If you’re not working out with progressive overload, you’re not doing anything because your muscles react to the load and volume of your training.
So if you’re working out with more weight on a progressive scale, your body will adapt to that kind of training. But if you try to cheat or are not committed to, you will have not good results at all.
Frequently asked questions
There are a few reasons why muscle building is so difficult. The first mistake most people do is approach it with the wrong mindset.
Simply put, to build muscle the way you want it to, you need to create a muscle-building lifestyle, and focus on that task. At that point, building muscle becomes more than just what you do when you go to the gym.
The other reasons people have a hard time building muscle is that they don’t get the right workout plan, and don’t have the right diet, because what you put into your body will have a huge impact on what your body can do, which is why diet is such a vital part of muscle development.
The correct exercises, on the other hand, will properly impact the muscles in such a way that they will gain growth just as you want.
Muscle growth is an extremely slow process. Your body adds muscle very slowly, and even if you do everything right, you cannot change that biological fact. It takes years to gain a significant amount of lean weight.
You may see some good results in certain areas in just a month or two, while others may take much longer to develop. Much of your muscle development also depends on genetics that determine the exact shape of the different muscle groups in your body.
Generally speaking, it is possible to add about 1 to 2 pounds of lean muscle mass per month. For beginners who have never trained before, it is possible to beat that rate only slightly, as the body has more muscle tissue to develop than someone who has trained intermittently for several years.
Keep in mind that these calculations assume that you adhere to a consistent strength training regimen and consume a sufficient amount of protein each day through your diet. If necessary, you can also supplement your diet with a protein powder made from something like whey protein, casein, or pea protein.
Yes, it is possible. But you need to take the following into consideration: The body needs time to adapt to any training you have. Naturally, each person has different anatomy and responds to training differently. Metabolism also plays an important role. So, it involves a lot of factors.
Later, we will give you 5 training tips to develop your muscles quickly.
To obtain the best results you need to follow a proper training. This is another issue a lot of people don’t realize. They hit gym everyday, train hard, but they get no good results.
So if you spend endless hours working out without having a good plan with proven techniques, you won’t develop muscles no matter how hard your try. If fact, you can injure yourself if you keep on.
That depends on the genetics of each person and factors such as metabolism, eating habits, lifestyle and more. Similarly, there are certain areas of the body that a large percentage of the people find it very difficult to develop. One of them is the chest area.
The chest is one of the areas of the body that represents a challenge for many people. It is normal to notice in any gym how people undergo arduous training mostly focused on that part of the body.
Another difficult pat of the body to train are the calves. How many times have you seen people who are ashamed to show their legs because they are too thin? A lot!
Now, as we implied at the beginning, it all depends on each person. What may be difficult for some, it is easier for others. For example, you can exercise your pecs 2 times a week and get results in a month. While other people can spend months training hard that same area and see no clear results.
Therefore, don’t worry if it’s difficult for you to develop muscles in any part of the body. Let the training run its course. If you are doing it right, the area you are trying to develop will eventually start to grow and become stronger.
It is higly recommened that you work out in a gym because they usually have all the equitment necessary for your training. They also have specialized trainers that help you scheme an efficient workout plan. So, look for the closest fitness center to your home or work, and become a member. But first check if they have fitness machines and specialized coaches (trainers)
You can also do it at home if you have the appropriate training equipment. If you don’t have it, you can improvise by using the weight of your body. But if you don’t have experience with workouts before, please don’t do it. It is better that you check in a gym where you can receive supervised guidance.
There are several machines that you can use. Some of them are multipurpose; that is, they serve to develop and tone various muscles. It all depends on the center or gym you choose.
Among the most common machines are: the preacher bench, peck deck (chest contractor openings), leg press, hammer force, leg extension machine, cables and pulleys, bench press, folding machine, etc.
There is a great variety that go hand in hand with the anatomy of your body. Also, there are other factors that come into play such as age, daily routine (sedentary life, physical activity), gender, health conditions (diseases) and others.
Taking into account all these elements, you alongside with a trainer can devise a workout plan according to your needs. Later, in this article we will show you some workouts you can do to gain muscles.
David is a writer and graduate professor. He writes for different websites. With 7+ years of experience in writing and education, David has combined his expertise in teaching with his passion for physical and mental wellness. He researches and writes to bring you valuable information about weight loss, nutrition, fitness, community, society and more.
