If your goal is to have a powerful and well-developed muscle mass, which arouses more than one envy, get to work and follow these tips to gain muscle with health avoiding common mistakes in your diet and in your training.
Genetics play a role but if you want bulky, steel muscles, you can achieve it by being consistent and working hard to achieve it. Sometimes we think that starting to go to the gym, spending hours of endless sessions in the gym or training strength with the maximum weight possible is the best way to have the dream muscles, but this is not always the best way to reach your goal.
Developing muscle mass in a healthy way implies not only the necessary intense training, but also respecting rest periods and following a proper diet that feeds those muscles that, it must be remembered, grow when they are at rest.
How to increase muscle mass in a healthy way
Training, feeding and rest are the three pillars on which a stage should be based whose purpose is to grow your muscles. It should always be a well-defined stage in time, that is, if you consider that your muscles should increase a little more, give yourself a period, for example 6-8 weeks, to follow the advice to gain muscle in a healthy way that we propose.
1. Increase your calorie intake
During the muscle growth stage you should follow a hyper caloric diet because you need to have plenty of energy to carry out an effective training and so that your muscles have the necessary nutrients that allow their development. If you lack enough energy, your muscles will pull on their own reserves and enter the catabolic phase, destroying muscle mass, just the opposite of what you want. To give you an idea, you should increase your calorie intake by 500 – 800 Kcal. Daily if you are a man and around 300 – 500 if you are a woman.
2. Follow a varied diet and eat six meals a day
It is a basic premise to increase muscle volume with health. The protein , essential for building muscle tissue you should predominate, but hydrates , main source of energy and fat in minimal proportion and always unsaturated, must also be present in your menu. To prevent your body from working “in a vacuum” and always have energy, it is important to divide your daily food intake into 5 – 6 meals. In your diet, also increase your fluid intake, especially water, because adequate hydration is essential for your muscles to gain volume in the healthiest way possible.
3. Don’t abuse supplements
A protein shake or an isotonic drink that provides you with mineral salts and extra hydration after training are excellent aids that will contribute to the development of your muscles, but supplements are just that, an extra that should not be abused. Consult with your doctor or nutritionist any questions you have in this regard and resolve your doubts before starting to consume supplements.
4. Plan your training
It is not a matter of hours but of a training program to gain muscle in which you work both the large muscle groups and those areas in which you want to achieve greater growth. To obtain good results it is important to have the help of a coach or monitor who knows how to direct your effort and establish appropriate series, repetitions and rest times according to your physical characteristics. You must avoid overtraining, which only leads to possible injuries and the exhaustion of your muscles, something that would slow down their development.
5. Control the weight you work with
It is a common mistake to want to accelerate the growth of the muscles by working with loads higher than those advisable. If you want to gain volume in a healthy way and without damaging your muscles, start working with a weight no greater than 65% – 70% of the maximum weight you can lift in one repetition. The idea is that your muscles can complete, with their load, a series of at least 6 – 7 repetitions. Increase the effort little by little because, only then, will you gain muscle with health.
6. Get enough rest
After a hard workout, nothing better than sleeping for eight hours. That restful sleep is the best “supplement” so that your muscles grow while they recover from the effort and you can relax the muscles after an intense workout. It is also advisable to leave at least one day of rest between two strength sessions.
