1. Stretch Before and after Your Workout
Stretching of any kind (getting into a static stretched position and holding it, or moving fluidly in and out of position, also called dynamic stretching), using a foam roller, and getting massages will all help keep your flexibility, prevent injury and improve recovery between workouts.
It’s also a good idea to get loose before your workout, as well as wind down with a few stretches of the body part you’ve been lifting hard that day.
2. Get Your Food Frequently
You should be allotting enough time to devour 5 – 6 small to mid-size meals a day. As long as you’re eating clean, quality meals—especially protein and carbs—you will have the calories to build muscle, as well as the metabolism boost you get from eating so often, to lose fat.
3. Start to Get Some Extra Grub
Start out by reading the usual food labels you usually eat everyday, to see how many calories you have been getting. Then add 500-750 to that number and begin to eat that many calories per day.
In addition, strive to take in right around one gram of protein per body weight, each day. For example, the average 200 pound male would need upwards of 200 grams of protein a day. Weighting on the upside of that number is always best.
4. Drink Protein Shakes Regularly
By surrounding your workouts with nutrition, starting with a high carbohydrate and protein meal about an hour before, you’ll provide your body with vital muscle building nutrients to help provide energy during your actual workout.
You can also put together a protein shake that has a ratio of about two grams of carbs for every one gram of protein, and drink that throughout your workout. Keep in mind that after your workout is a solid time to take another shake. Surprisingly, whole foods aren’t best right after a workout, because they take far too long to digest.
5. Lay off on the Cardio Sessions
Up to 2 days a week of light jogging on the treadmill is a fairly ideal workout for cardio, but make sure to keep it right around 30 minutes per session. To burn fat while sparing muscle, it’s in your best interest to perform intervals—for example, running all-out for a minute, then backing off and doing a light jog for two minutes, continuing this trend for a full 30 minute session, for 3 days a week.
6. Skip a Few Sets
Most lifters who are just starting out tend to overwork their muscles by completely too many sets overall. Aim to do no more then 20 sets per muscle group a workout, even closer to 12 is even better. Your reps should be between 6 and 12 for each set, for the most muscle growth.
Most workouts lasting more then an hour aren’t ideal, try to keep it around 45 minutes per workout. Since you’ll be holding off on high volume, plan to use heavier weights and move through each rep with a consistent speed to stimulate more growth.
Your sets should last between 40 – 60 seconds, to tense the muscles long enough, and work them efficiently to shock them into growing.
7. Switch It Up Entirely
Every 4 to 6 weeks, you’ll need to switch up some part of your routine, whether it’s simply the number of reps you do per set, the exercises you perform, the amount of rest you get between each set or any other training variable. Keeping a workout journal will help you keep track of your changes and record your progress.
8. Try a Full-Body or Split Workout Regimen
By either training the whole body in a single workout, or concentrating only on the upper body for one sessions and the lower body in another, you’ll get the best results, especially just starting out.
Although there are different advantages to both setups, each of them are more efficient then trying to isolate one muscle group in a single session. Focus on lifts that involve the most muscles at one time, such as dead lifts, presses, squats, rows, and pull-ups, for the biggest mass gains
9. Train Your Entire Body
By involving more muscles, either in one training session or one exercise, you’ll release a higher amount of hormones, which will help stimulate muscle growth all day. When you hit each muscle group with roughly the same volume, this will guarantee balanced training, allowing you to grow and progress quickly, preserving flexibility as well as avoiding injuries.
10. Rest, Recover and Relax
Although the ideal amount of sleep is seven to eight hours per night, we sometimes have prior engagements. Feel free to not be so strict a few times a week, but when you do, make sure to schedule in some time to make up for it as soon as you can.
By training no more then 4 times a week, you also allow your body the rest and recovery time it desperately needs. As for your work schedule, do whatever you can to avoid excess stress and anxiety. Chronic nervousness elevates cortisol, a hormone that makes your body store fat and burn muscle, which is definitely not an ideal side effect.
Stretching of any kind (getting into a static stretched position and holding it, or moving fluidly in and out of position, also called dynamic stretching), using a foam roller, and getting massages will all help keep your flexibility, prevent injury and improve recovery between workouts.
It’s also a good idea to get loose before your workout, as well as wind down with a few stretches of the body part you’ve been lifting hard that day.
2. Get Your Food Frequently
You should be allotting enough time to devour 5 – 6 small to mid-size meals a day. As long as you’re eating clean, quality meals—especially protein and carbs—you will have the calories to build muscle, as well as the metabolism boost you get from eating so often, to lose fat.
3. Start to Get Some Extra Grub
Start out by reading the usual food labels you usually eat everyday, to see how many calories you have been getting. Then add 500-750 to that number and begin to eat that many calories per day.
In addition, strive to take in right around one gram of protein per body weight, each day. For example, the average 200 pound male would need upwards of 200 grams of protein a day. Weighting on the upside of that number is always best.
4. Drink Protein Shakes Regularly
By surrounding your workouts with nutrition, starting with a high carbohydrate and protein meal about an hour before, you’ll provide your body with vital muscle building nutrients to help provide energy during your actual workout.
You can also put together a protein shake that has a ratio of about two grams of carbs for every one gram of protein, and drink that throughout your workout. Keep in mind that after your workout is a solid time to take another shake. Surprisingly, whole foods aren’t best right after a workout, because they take far too long to digest.
5. Lay off on the Cardio Sessions
Up to 2 days a week of light jogging on the treadmill is a fairly ideal workout for cardio, but make sure to keep it right around 30 minutes per session. To burn fat while sparing muscle, it’s in your best interest to perform intervals—for example, running all-out for a minute, then backing off and doing a light jog for two minutes, continuing this trend for a full 30 minute session, for 3 days a week.
6. Skip a Few Sets
Most lifters who are just starting out tend to overwork their muscles by completely too many sets overall. Aim to do no more then 20 sets per muscle group a workout, even closer to 12 is even better. Your reps should be between 6 and 12 for each set, for the most muscle growth.
Most workouts lasting more then an hour aren’t ideal, try to keep it around 45 minutes per workout. Since you’ll be holding off on high volume, plan to use heavier weights and move through each rep with a consistent speed to stimulate more growth.
Your sets should last between 40 – 60 seconds, to tense the muscles long enough, and work them efficiently to shock them into growing.
7. Switch It Up Entirely
Every 4 to 6 weeks, you’ll need to switch up some part of your routine, whether it’s simply the number of reps you do per set, the exercises you perform, the amount of rest you get between each set or any other training variable. Keeping a workout journal will help you keep track of your changes and record your progress.
8. Try a Full-Body or Split Workout Regimen
By either training the whole body in a single workout, or concentrating only on the upper body for one sessions and the lower body in another, you’ll get the best results, especially just starting out.
Although there are different advantages to both setups, each of them are more efficient then trying to isolate one muscle group in a single session. Focus on lifts that involve the most muscles at one time, such as dead lifts, presses, squats, rows, and pull-ups, for the biggest mass gains
9. Train Your Entire Body
By involving more muscles, either in one training session or one exercise, you’ll release a higher amount of hormones, which will help stimulate muscle growth all day. When you hit each muscle group with roughly the same volume, this will guarantee balanced training, allowing you to grow and progress quickly, preserving flexibility as well as avoiding injuries.
10. Rest, Recover and Relax
Although the ideal amount of sleep is seven to eight hours per night, we sometimes have prior engagements. Feel free to not be so strict a few times a week, but when you do, make sure to schedule in some time to make up for it as soon as you can.
By training no more then 4 times a week, you also allow your body the rest and recovery time it desperately needs. As for your work schedule, do whatever you can to avoid excess stress and anxiety. Chronic nervousness elevates cortisol, a hormone that makes your body store fat and burn muscle, which is definitely not an ideal side effect.
