Things You'll Need:
- Patience
- Discipline
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Step 1
Exercise
If your goal is simply to build muscle, and not to lose weight, then you will want to primarily lift weights. Cardiovascular exercise is great for the heart and the body in general, but if your goal is to simply put on muscle, then you will want to minimize the amount of cardio you are doing.
So how do you begin to structure your weight workout? First determine how many days per week you want to workout, and how many days you are able to workout. A common beginner’s mistake is working out too frequently, which can actually lead to muscle loss. A good goal to aim for is 3-5 weights workouts per week. Each workout should last no more than an hour, any more and you risk overtraining.
Each workout you perform in the matter of a week should emphasize each part of the body equally. The body grows best as a unit, so working the body in its entirety throughout the week is the best way to put on muscle quickly. Too many beginners simply workout the “beach muscles” (chest, arms, abs) and fail to train the rest of the body, which can impair results.
A good workout split will work each muscle group once per week, but, if you’re a beginner, you can get away with performing upper body/lower body type workouts where you may be exercising the same muscle group twice per week.
Here is an example of a workout split that exercises each muscle once per week:
Day 1: Chest/Shoulders/ Triceps
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Back/Biceps
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Legs/Abs
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest
For each major muscle group (chest, back, legs) you should aim for about 12 sets per workout, and minor muscle groups (shoulders, biceps, triceps, calves), you should aim for around 6-9 sets. For each set, you should perform 8-12 repetitions. On the last set of each exercise you perform, you should fail on the last few repetitions (in other words, your spotter should have to help you perform the last few reps). For each exercise, perform 3 sets.
To illustrate these concepts, pretend we are doing the chest/shoulders/triceps workout mentions above. For chest, you will perform 4 exercises of 3 sets for a total of 12 sets (4 x 3 = 12). -
Step 2
Diet
Your diet is almost just as important as your exercise routine when it comes to adding muscle. The key parts of your diet that you will want to pay attention to are your caloric intake and your protein intake.
1. Calories
To gain muscle weight, your caloric intake (how many calories you eat) will need to exceed your caloric output (how many calories you burn). You need to determine how many calories you are burning throughout the day. You can find calorie calculators on the web, just search for “metabolic rate calculator”. Calculating your basal metabolic rate will give you the amount of calories that your body burns outside of any physical activity. Add about 200-300 calories to this number to include the amount of calories you burn during your workouts and add another 400-500 calories to cover everyday activity that burns calories (walking, cleaning, working). This is your caloric output. To gain weight, you will need your caloric intake to exceed this number. To gain one pound you need to consume 3500 excess calories. So if you want to gain one pound in one week, you will need to add 500 extra calories per day.
2. Protein
Your muscles are made up of proteins, so it only makes sense to increase your protein intake to increase lean body mass. Aim for 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. So, for example a 160 pound per would need 240 grams of protein per day. After workouts, you will want to consume some sort of protein source, as this is when your body is most primed for protein absorption. Whey protein is the best form of protein to consume after workouts, and is available at your local supplement store. -
Step 3
Recovery
This part is pretty simple. You need to allow your body time to recover. Muscle grows while you rest, not while you work out! So take off a few days a week from your work outs and rest. Also, make sure you are getting at least 8 hours of sleep each night.
