Five Great Pointers to Build Muscle Up Fast

If you want to get twice as good at something, what would be the best way to go about it? I can think of two primary approaches. The approach you select will be somewhere along this continuum: performing one activity twice as well (or 100 percent better), or doing 100 things 1 percent better. I think that most people try the former approach, but the latter is much more realistic.

Taken a step further, to make each of these 1 percent building blocks more effective, you could also alter things that occur outside of your workouts. So you focus on modifying your habits and making tiny improvements in many areas that will stack on top of one another to give you huge benefits.

So here are 5 minor lifestyle changes you can make to help you build lean muscle.

1) Replace Aerobics with High Intensity Interval Training

Aerobic exercise has a negative impact on mass gaining because it burns glycogen and branched chain amino acids (BCAA). Rather, focus on HIIT sessions for fat burning, for example a 400-meter sprint followed by a 400-meter recovery jog, repeated 3 more times. Intervals make for much more effective muscle workouts.

2) Increase Total Time Under Load (TTL)

Instead of focusing on the quantity of reps, concentrate on the total time your muscles are under load. Try spending 2 seconds on the negative contraction, 1 second at neutral (bottom of the exercise), and 1 second on the positive contraction. Lengthening the negative is an easy way to overload muscles and promote muscle weight gain.

3) Eat More Fish

Not only is fish high in protein, it is also a natural source of essential fatty acids, which are vital for both your muscular health and your overall health. Essential fatty acids make your muscles more sensitive to insulin, so they aid glycogen storage and increase the absorption of amino acids into your muscles, while also preserving glutamine storage.

4) Recovery

Your body will only build muscle up by repairing it in response to your workouts. When your muscles are repaired, they are made stronger than before to respond to the higher stress levels put on them. If you don’t allow your muscles time to recover, they can never rebuild.

5) Try Something New

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. Commit to yourself to read a new (as in current and scientifically backed) exercise book every six months. You’ll pick up new approaches and new tips to add to your workouts.