A Beginner’s Guide to Muscle Building

If you’re starting a weight training routine, you can end up overwhelmed by all the advice you will get. When you step foot into the weight room you’ll notice people taking many different approaches to lifting to increase muscle mass.

If you ask someone for advice, be careful because the technique that works for one person might not be effective for a beginner

Also, if you are thinking about using the routines listed in some of the bodybuilding magazines, remember those guys work out at a nearly inhuman level that the everyday person is not capable of.

Like anything else good in life, adding muscle takes time, but there are some helpful hints that can help you get past some of the hurdles that many people commonly encounter.

Don’t Try to Keep Up With Others

When you are first starting out, you might see some people throwing around massive amounts of weight. The 20 pounds you are curling might seem tiny compared to the 60 pounds you see someone else doing. Don’t have that mindset, though. You are not there to compete and you can’t afford to have a big ego if you’re going to stay with your workouts long enough to make good gains. Focus on what you are doing and on maintaining good form.

If you work out using good form, meaning no swinging the weights wildly and maintaining good posture, you will soon enough be able to add weight to the exercises in your routine. Proper form should always be your first concern for muscle growth

Keep Track of Your Progress

It’s a good idea to keep a workout log. If you write down the weight, repetitions and sets of each and every exercise, you will be able to easily assess what you have done, and how much progress you are making. Too many people start out their resistance exercise routines without any order or way of measuring success.

You should start off your weight lifting routine by having a set schedule that you follow every week and by keeping track of every pound that you lift in the gym. Having a record of your exercises and weights used will allow you to tweak your schedule down the road to improve the gains that you make.

Proper Nutrition

You have to have an adequate intake of protein if you want to experience substantial muscle growth. Many people quickly make gains when they first start lifting weights, but those gains soon taper off. If you are going to consistently lift weights in hope of putting on muscle, you will have to up your protein intake.

In addition to eating more lean protein foods, you might want to buy a quality whey protein mix to take immediately after your workouts

Studies have shown that taking in 20 to 40 grams of protein via a protein shake immediately after a hard workout session, rapidly increases muscle growth. Your muscles grow in response to the damage you cause during a resistance workout. If your body doesn’t have the protein it needs to repair the damage, you will not gain any muscle mass at all.

Keep these tips in mind as you begin working out with weights. If you learn to emphasize good form, keep track of your workouts and improve your nutritional intake, you won’t have any problems gaining muscle.

Article written by Phillip Burns of UltimateFitnessGear.com, your best source for the Shaun T Insanity Workout getinsanity.com.

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1. 

   Dustin Freeman says:

   December 12, 2010 at 5:13 AM

   I was looking for some info on muscle building and found your blog. It was a good read and I saved it for future reference
2. 

   Daine Evanson says:

   February 3, 2011 at 4:17 AM

   Fantastic posts & Good a site….