Lifting weights is a good way to make yourself look better, feel better and build confidence. Working out can be fun. You’ll enjoy the workout, the results and all of the benefits that come with building muscle. The beginning step is to find a routine that is effective for you. Read the following article for advice to help you get started.
Adapt your diet in function of how much you exercise. Eat the amount that you need to gain a weekly pound. Find some ways to take in more calories. If you have not gained any weight within two weeks, try eating even more.
Remember to warm up your muscles correctly if you want to increase muscle mass. As your muscles gain strength, they can become prone to injuries. By warming them up, injury can be prevented. Do five or ten minutes of light exercise before lifting, followed by a few light to intermediate sets of warm-up lifts.
Consider all the potential problems of the long-term use of creatine in your bodybuilding regimen. Stay away from these supplements if your kidney is not healthy. Creatine can also bring on cardiac arrhythmias, muscle cramps and muscle compartment syndrome. Creatine should be especially avoided by the young. Try to ensure that you use the supplements safely if you decide you are going to integrate them into your workouts.
Build Muscle
Don’t work on enhancing the size of your muscles if you are taking part in a marathon or participating in extreme cardio workouts. While a good cardio workout is key to staying fit, trying to build muscle while doing a lot of cardio is counterproductive. An intensive cardio workout essentially cancels out your attempts to build muscle. To increase muscle mass, focus on strength-training and reduce the amount of cardio you perform.
Protein is one of the building blocks of muscle growth. Getting enough protein is easier if you use protein supplements and shakes. These products are especially effective as part of a bedtime or post-workout routine. You must consume about one shake a day. On the contrary, if gaining mass is also your goal, you should consume as many as three a day.
Compound exercises will help you obtain the best possible muscle growth. These are exercises that use several different muscle groups to perform a single lift. Bench presses, for example, work the chest, shoulders and triceps at once.
Repair and build your muscles by making sure to stretch post-workout. If you are under the age of 40, every stretch should be held for a minimum of 30 seconds. Stretches of no less than 60 seconds are recommended for those over 40 years. This can ensure your safety while building muscle.
Many people mistakenly increase protein to build muscle. This can lead to an additional amount of calories than you need, and if you aren’t exercising hard, you might gain fat instead of the muscle that you want. Increase your protein intake slowly, adding a couple hundred calories at a time every few days. Your body will be able to keep up with the increase this way, using the extra protein to grow muscle.
Work opposing muscles at the same time by performing exercises that work the chest and back or quads and hamstrings. This gives one muscle group a break while you work the opposite and also ensures that you don’t train unevenly and create muscle imbalances. You can increase the intensity of your workout to make up for spending less time in the gym.
It feels great to be healthy, and building lean muscle is an important part of that. You’ll be happier with your progress towards fitness if you add weight training exercises to your fitness routine than if you just do cardio exercise. Combine these two routines, exercise regularly, and before long, you will see positive results.
