Today, I’m going to share the 3 critical tips to help you build muscle mass…FAST.
I call this the “3-Step Muscle-Building Blueprint.”
Muscle Mass vs Muscle Strength
First I want to explain really quick the difference between muscle MASS, aka muscle SIZE, and muscle STRENGTH.
Strength and size. These 2 things are obviously correlated with one another. Generally, bigger muscles tend to be stronger muscles, and vice versa. But strength and size are NOT the same exact thing.
Once in a while, you’ll see a video of a skinny little guy who can squat like 600 pounds…which is a lot more than most big-looking guys can squat.
So I just want to put that out there. If you want to build muscle mass…that means muscle SIZE…
Then you need to TRAIN mainly for SIZE. Yes, you want to build your strength too…but if your main goal is size, you gotta train mainly for size.
And now, here are 3 tips to help you do just that.
Tip #1 To Build Muscle Mass Fast
Tip #1 is lift weights with HIGH VOLUME and MODERATE-HIGH INTENSITY.
So yes, lifting weights helps you to get bigger muscles. That’s obvious.
But if your goal is to build muscle SIZE, to get the best results you need to lift with the appropriate amount of VOLUME and INTENSITY. So let me explain what that means.
Volume means the amount of lifting you do. How many reps and how many sets. If you do bench press for 3 sets of 2-6, that’s pretty LOW volume. If you do 5 sets of 8-12 reps, that’s pretty HIGH volume.
And intensity means how heavy the weight is for you. Let’s say that you are capable of bench pressing 200 pounds for 1 repetition. Well, benching 180 pounds is pretty high intensity. That’s 90% of your maximum. But benching 120 pounds is pretty low intensity, since that’s only 60% of your maximum.
In general, if your goal is to build STRENGTH…then you want lower volume and higher intensity. Here you want to do super-heavy sets of 1-5 repetitions.
And if your goal is to build SIZE…then you want a little bit lower intensity and higher volume. And here you want to do sort of heavy sets of 8-12 repetitions.
You still want to lift heavy weights, but you’re going to have to drop the weight a little bit in order to be able to lift it 8-12 times instead of 1-5 times.
So you’re lifting weights, but you’re lifting specifically for SIZE first, and strength second.
That’s how you build muscle mass.
Tip #2 To Build Muscle Mass Fast
Tip #2 is eat more nutrient-dense food.
There is no way around this one. If you want to build new muscle, you need to give your body something to actually make that muscle out of. And that something is food.
More specifically, nutrient-dense food. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a guy eating doritos and he thinks it’s ok because he’s “bulking.”
Chips and candy will NOT build muscle, guys, they will just make you fat.
Instead you NEED to focus on healthy, REAL natural foods. That means meat and sweet potatoes.
And finally, I’m a big fan of gaining weight SLOWLY over time, to keep you bodyfat low. That way, your muscles will stand out more, they’ll “pop,” instead of looking soft and fluffy because they’re covered by a thick layer of blubber.
Tip #3 To Build Muscle Mass Fast
Finally, tip #3 is rest and let your body recover.
Do NOT glaze over this part of the video. That’s what a lot of people do: they get excited about lifting weights, they’re on the fence maybe about eating more food, but they don’t really put much effort into rest and recovery.
Big mistake.
Your muscles don’t GROW when you’re at the gym, gentlemen: in fact the OPPOSITE is true. At the gym is where you break down your muscles.
It’s at night, when you’re sleeping soudnly in your bed with plenty of amino acids in your bloodstream…THAT is when your muscles actually grow.
So get 7-9 hours of sleep. Don’t overtrain. Meditate if you’re stressed out.
Click here to read my blog post on post-workout recovery.
Or, if you’re on your phone, look for that link in the description BELOW the video.
Trust me…
If you have been working out for a while and haven’t seen much increase in muscle size, there’s a good chance that your RECOVERY is the limiting factor that’s been holding you back.
So go to the gym, work hard, eat well, and give your body plenty of room to grow.
And that, my friend, is your simple 3-step muscle-building blueprint.