Maybe you’ve been working out at the YMCA for several months now, and yet nothing seems to be happening, and you’re not gaining enough muscle mass. If you’re thinking that something is wrong with the gym equipment, it’s unlikely, and you should instead consider the following.
Work on Different Parts of Your Body
One of the keys to gaining muscle mass is to work on all the major muscle groups in your body. Even if your main objective is to get a six pack or bigger biceps, it’s essential that you work on all of them so your body has balance. Second, it’s important you realize that human bodies are built differently, so while one routine works perfectly for one it may not for the other.
In this case the value of a personal trainer will come in handy since he or she can develop a fitness routine that will suit your needs. Personal trainers are provided by most fitness centers so it should not be a problem, but if you’re working out on your own, you’ll need to develop a training program that will focus on all the muscle groups in your body. Remember that people are built differently so you’ll need to find out which one works best for your body.
Keep Track of Your Workout Progress
You also need to keep a training log, otherwise you’ll never be able to figure out how far you’re progressing. Note how much weight you’re losing, how many calories you’ve burned, how you’ve been able to increase your reps and sets, and how you feel about each workout. If you are able to monitor your progress, you’ll be motivated to keep working out and gain muscle mass.
Train with Fervor and Intensity
If you want to gain muscle mass, you need to work for it. You must do workouts at least four days a week, working up a sweat. You can’t just go through the motions, or go full blast one day and slack off the next as gaining muscle mass requires dedication. In other words, don’t cheat yourself or you’ll get half-baked results. This is where the aforementioned training log will come in handy since it will serve as an inspiration for you to keep going.
Focus on Muscle Building
One of the most common misconceptions is that problems with muscle mass development have to do with their metabolism. In fact, it’s most likely due to improper diet and not working out in the gym enough.
What you need to do is make the most of muscle building, and this means taking protein shakes or powders. The more protein your body has the bigger your muscles get due to protein synthesis. However, your body uses up a lot of these proteins for other things like producing hormones. That’s the reason why you need to add protein shakes to your diet.
You Need to Eat
You cannot gain muscles unless you eat meat, around 1 gram of protein per lb. of body weight. So if you’re 160 pounds you’ll need to eat 160 grams of protein daily. For the rest of your meals, split them between fats and carbohydrates. Aside from working out in the gym you also need to eat more to gain calories.
Here’s the formula for determining how many calories you need. If you weigh 160 lbs., multiply that by 12, which would be 1920, the number of calories you need. Now multiply 1920 by 1.6 to determine your resting metabolic rate, in this case 3072.
Next, multiply amount of minutes you engage in weightlifting by 5. So if you lift weights 60 minutes a day, that would be 300. Next, multiply the minutes you spend playing sports or aerobics by 8. If that’s 60 minutes, the answer would be 480. Add 300 to 480 =780 and divide this by 7, which is 111. Next, add your metabolic rest rate (3072) to 111 for your everyday calorie intake requirement. Add 500 to the total for the number of calories you need gain a pound a week.
Also remember that you need to work on the large muscle groups in your body, especially if you’re just starting out. But if you’ve been working out for a while, you should focus on the major muscle groups such as your legs, chest and back. As you work out in the gym, focus on pull-ups, dead lifts, squats and military presses. You’ll also want to do at least three sets with 8 repetitions with a minute of rest for each. Don’t forget to drink 20 grams of whey protein powder after working out.
So if you’re going to work out in LA Fitness or another health fitness center, make sure that you keep these things in mind, and you’re sure to gain those muscles and lose those unwanted pounds at the same time.