How to Bulk Up Faster
In many sports, being slender with a low body fat percentage is advantageous, but in some sports such as football, throwing (shot put, hammer throw, etc.) and power lifting, increasing muscle mass or bulk can be advantageous. Gaining bulk quickly requires following a proper diet and workout regimen, but even when following such a plan, it can take several weeks or months to make significant gains in body mass.
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Instructions
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Eat more calories than you burn each day and eat plenty of protein. If you do not consume more calories than you burn, you cannot gain weight, so aim to eat up to 1,000 calories more than you burn each day. Building muscle requires protein so it is important to eat a lot of protein such as chicken, turkey, dairy, and protein shakes or supplements; aim to eat about 1 gram of protein for each pound of body weight.
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Lift heavy weights at least three times a week. One of the principles of building bulk is lifting large amounts of weight that force your body to respond by increasing muscle mass. Aim to do lifts that engage major muscle groups like the bench press, bicep curls, tricep extensions, lat pulls, squats, and leg curls with eight or fewer repetitions. The amount of weight should be enough to bring you to complete fatigue in eight or fewer repetitions.
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Lift to exhaustion. If you lift weights and compete all of your lifts without becoming fatigued, your muscles your body will not need to adapt by building more muscle. Aim to lift until the muscles reach failure.
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Limit aerobic activity. Aerobic activity is great for strengthening the heart and losing weight, but it is counterproductive to building bulk. You don't need to forgo aerobics all together, but don't regularly do aerobic activities that last longer than 20 or 30 minuets. To build bulk as fast as possible you may wish to stop aerobic activity altogether.
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Get adequate sleep and rest between workouts. The body needs time to recuperate after heavy lifting workouts. When you sleep it reduces calorie burning and gives the body time to build muscle mass. Allow at least one day of rest in between workouts using the same muscle; for instance if you bench pressed on Monday don't do it again till Wednesday at the earliest.
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Tips & Warnings
Your goal when adding bulk should be to build muscle mass and power along with some extra fat; putting on pure fat weight is possible by eating excessive amounts of food, but gaining pure fat is unhealthy.
Certain body types gain bulk more easily than others; naturally slender people will typically have more difficulty gaining muscle mass and building fat stores.
References
- Photo Credit "The champion in a fitness center". image by Andrey Kiselev from Fotolia.com
