There are quite a few things you can do to build muscle. But achieving significant muscle gains does not happen quickly. Even if you workout everyday in a gym like Jetts Gym it doesn’t always give you the results you want fast. Muscle growth occurs at a much slower rate than gaining fat, which is why you should keep track of your diet and training.
Proper bulk takes time and effort. But there are things you can do to help make the process faster and more feasible. We’ll talk about what these are in a bit.
Gaining Too Much Too Soon During a Bulk
Yes, it’s very likely for someone to gain too quickly during bulk phase. But the thing is, this person isn’t necessarily gaining muscle, but instead, they’re gaining fat. Muscle can only grow so fast so if you’re consuming more calories than what your body needs, then it will begin to store excess calories as fat. As a result, your cutting phase will become very difficult.
Lean individuals and newbies should target a gain of 0.5 to 1 lb per week. Heavy individuals can healthily gain 1 to 2lbs per week.
You should monitor your weekly weight gain, so you can ascertain that you are eating enough calories and at the same time, so you can check that you are not gaining more than the ideal range.
Tips to Help You Maximize Muscle Growth
1. Start from a lean state.
In a lean state, your body fat should be close to 10% for males and 16% for females. The leaner you are, the more positively your body will respond to your bulking effort. Your body will be more likely to start using net calories as fuel for training, recovery and muscle growth.
2. Eat calories progressively.
You should consume more calories than what you burn. To lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit. To gain weight, you need to have a calorie surplus.
But instead of merely eating anything you need to make sure you are consuming more healthy foods and that you eat progressively so you can monitor the rate at which you’re gaining weight as well as maximize your muscle to fat ratio.
3. Consume protein-rich foods.
It’s crucial to make sure you are eating enough protein (0.8-1.0 grams of protein per lb of body weight). You need more protein to aid in muscle recovery and growth.
4. Consume carbs to fuel your hard workouts.
Your body will need fuel for your workouts and carbs allow for more efficient and high intensity weight training. Carb-rich foods include potatoes, rice, grains, pasta and bread.
5. Train regularly.
Training muscle will boost training volume. If you want to have massive legs, you need to train your legs more than once a week.
6. Train close to failure.
When you’re aiming for muscle growth, you should push the muscles to near failure. So take every set to close to failure. Push sets hard but don’t do so to a point that you are no longer focused on technique.
7. Get enough sleep.
You need sleep for your muscles to grow and recover and at the same time, improve hormone production which also boost muscle growth and metabolism, as well as aid in fat loss. Aim to sleep for 7-8 hours.
8. Keep track of your weight gain.
You should monitor your rate of weight gain so you can be sure that you are gaining weight at a level that maximizes growth of muscle without gaining excessive fat.
If you’re a skinny guy who wants to bulk up, this video is for you: