How to Build Muscles

Build muscles by focusing on increasing strength, rather than size. Size depends on genetics and body type, while strength focuses on a stronger foundation. When working out, use a seven-second tempo for lifting weights—three seconds to lift, one second to pause and three seconds to lower the weight. This helps increase muscle protein synthesis and reduce risk of injury. Nutrition If you want to build muscles, eating a healthful diet can help. A nutrient dense diet with proteins, carbs, healthy fats and vitamins and minerals supports muscle growth. It also helps you create a calorie surplus, enabling you to add muscle mass. Muscle growth occurs when the rate of protein synthesis is greater than the rate of muscle protein breakdown. Nutrients like protein fuel muscle protein synthesis and decrease muscle protein breakdown. A boiled egg provides 6.28 grams of protein and contains the amino acid leucine, which research shows stimulates muscle protein synthesis. A handful of nuts provides protein and beneficial monounsaturated fat, and a tablespoon of peanut butter has four grams of protein. Vitamin B12, found primarily in meat and dairy, is an important nutrient for building muscle. It helps your body make red blood cells, which carry oxygen to your muscles and other tissues. Staying hydrated is also critical for muscle building, because water carries nutrients to your cells. Exercise A healthy diet and regular exercise are the best ways to build skeletal muscle. Muscles are attached to bones by tendons and contract to move the body through physical tension or resistance. This contraction stimulates the release of hormones that increase muscle size and strength. It also strengthens bone density and improves mood. To increase muscle mass, exercise should be done two or more days a week. Doing exercises that target all major muscle groups is important. Each workout should have enough repetitions or “reps” to fatigue the muscles and cause a muscle-building “pump.” Generally, doing 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps of each exercise is considered optimal. Aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, biking, swimming and even lawn-mowing can help build muscle. It’s important to do a variety of aerobic exercises, as well as strength training. Strength training should be done with weights or a barbell that is heavy enough to tire the muscles after only about 12 to 15 repetitions. Sleep When people are working to build muscle mass, they often focus on diet and exercise. While these two are very important, many overlook one crucial aspect of achieving their goals: sleep. During a workout, muscles are challenged to handle more weight or resistance than they normally do. This causes microscopic tears in the muscle tissue, which then activates cells to repair the tear by creating new muscle protein strands. This process, known as muscle hypertrophy, leads to increased muscle size and strength over time. During sleep, your body restores glycogen, which is the fuel that muscles use during exercise. The body also releases growth hormones during sleep, which help promote muscle development. Studies show that getting a full night of restful sleep (7-9 hours) regularly is essential for promoting muscle growth. One night of poor sleep can significantly reduce muscle protein synthesis, and therefore decrease muscle gains. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to ensure that you’re getting enough sleep each night to promote muscle growth. Supplements In addition to solid nutrition, resistance training, and hydration, muscle-building supplements can be a valuable asset to your fitness journey. However, it is important to manage expectations and recognize that they cannot replace the fundamentals of muscle gain. Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are essential for a number of functions in the body including protein and glucose metabolism, growth hormone, and creatine synthesis. BCAAs also serve as a precursor for nitric oxide, a potent vasodilator which helps with blood flow and delivery of oxygen to the muscles during exercise. Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that supports muscular endurance and protein synthesis. Vitamin B12, on the other hand, dials down fatigue and lends a helping hand to hemoglobin (aka blood cells that transport oxygen to your muscles). Lastly, citrulline and beta-alanine are a powerful combination that improves training performance, energy, and recovery and is found in many pre-workout supplements. Bygga muskler