Everybody works out for different reasons. Some people want to get fit, some want to burn off those stubborn few pounds of fat they’ve been holding onto since the holidays, and some just want to improve all around health and wellness. From an aesthetic standpoint however, one of the main reasons why people hit the gym multiple times each week, is because they’re looking to build muscle.
Building muscle and getting jacked may seem easy according to so-called “influencers” on Instagram with impeccable physiques who judge people who dare to eat out with friends or enjoy a beer or two at the weekend, but the truth of the matter is that it’s not. Building muscle is a long drawn out and arduous process that requires patience, hard work, motivation, and determination.
There are no quick fixes when it comes to bulking up and getting jacked, but if you put the work in, are patient, and know what you’re doing, you can still see some very impressive results.
To help you in your quest to get jacked beyond belief, here are 4 hacks for massive muscle growth.
Consume protein with every meal
Perhaps one of the most obvious, yet most important, tips when it comes to building muscle, is to ensure you’re getting enough protein.
Protein is arguably the most important of all three macronutrients (the other two being fat and carbohydrates) as it plays key roles in countless physiological processes. People looking to build muscle will be especially interested to learn that protein plays a key role in muscle growth and recovery. Without sufficient amounts ofprotein, our muscles wouldn’t repair and rebuild themselves after a workout, no matter how hard we trained.
To help maximize your gains, aim to consume a source of protein with every meal. Ideally, per day, you should aim for between 0.6 and 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight.
Eat more
If you want to bulk up and add some serious muscle mass to your frame, you are going to have to get into the habit of eating more.
In order to build muscle, you need to put your body into a caloric surplus which basically means that you need to consume more calories than your body is able to burn off at maintenance.
Aim to consume a meal every 3 hours or so, making sure to eat healthy and balanced meals containing plenty of nutrients.
Food will not only assist with muscle growth and recovery, it will also fuel your workouts so you’ll become more efficient in the gym when lifting.
Don’t skip those compounds
For those of you who are looking make those gains, compound exercises should be the backbone of your training routine.
A compound exercise is basically an exercise that works several different muscle groups at once. For building muscle, this is ideal because by working several muscles at once you’re maximizing muscle tissue overloading which results in greater levels of muscle hypertrophy.
Barbell bench press for example, is a compound exercise because it not only targets the pectoral muscles, it will also work your triceps, your core, and your delts. With that one exercise, you are essentially training 4 major muscle groups at once.
Train heavy
As well as compound exercises, you should also train heavy when you’re lifting.
Heavy training will challenge your muscles concentrically and eccentrically, which in turn will result in greater amounts of rips and tears in the muscle fibres, which means greater levels of muscle hypertrophy.
When we say train heavy, you should only train heavy for you. Rather than lifting weights where you hit failure after 12 – 15 reps for example, you should instead choose weights which result in you reaching failure after 4 – 6 reps.
After 2 warm-up sets, aim for 4 – 5 sets of 4 – 6 reps per exercise.
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Milos Ilic
Personal Training & Nutrition
