When we talk about building muscles, what do we mean? Do we mean increasing the size of our current forces, or do we mean increasing the weight of lifting weights and becoming more assertive? How do you define muscle gain?
In many cases, the concept of muscle training is not very clear in the eyes of many students, which will lead to randomness in training, nutrition, and supplement consumption. By accurately defining what you want to accomplish, you can take the proper steps towards your goal.
For example, how you train hypertrophy differs slightly from strength, explosiveness, etc. These specific goals, technically speaking, belong to the category of “muscle building,” which can provide contextual clues for creating structures and crazy methods.
This two-part series will introduce training, nutrition, and supplements for men trying to build muscle.
What is muscle gain?
For the sake of clarity, in this series, when we refer to muscle building, we define it as the hypertrophy adaptation and response to muscle fibers through progressive overload. Essentially, gaining muscle is the act of strategically putting pressure on muscles and then allowing them to recover so that their size and strength can grow.
In the case of muscle training, size and strength are not mutually exclusive. If the muscles are in a state of hypertrophy (enlargement), the power will increase unequal. The rate of strength increase will vary depending on the training method we choose to use.
This is why you will see different growth rates of strength in all methodical training methods. Therefore, whether your training is purely for hypertrophy, strength, or explosive power, muscle fibers will grow and continue to strengthen—just at different rates depending on the training method you choose to use.
Author’s Note: Like other recovery methods, nutrition also plays a vital role in muscle gain rate. When we discuss muscle exercise in this series, it is essential to remember that although these aspects are not necessarily muscle exercise by definition, they can play a crucial role in affecting the speed at which we build muscle. Remember the bigger picture!
Basics of muscle gain
For muscles to grow, we need to adjust multiple variables to prepare for success. When the goal is to add power to your frame, try to eat enough of the entire “wing.”
Let’s discuss the three basics of muscle training that everyone needs to consider to progress.
- Look for quality training programs for muscle training
Is it simple enough? This aspect has been ignored by countless weightlifters. Your training plan can determine the speed at which you build muscles. It is important to realize this.
Importance: A good exercise plan will consider the multiple training variables required to build muscle, such as progressive overload, the appropriate increase in training volume, and a system to track effort. And these are just a few main aspects. If you follow a training program that does not have these aspects, it may be worth rethinking what you are following or hiring a coach to help you.
Weightlifters usually go wrong: Weightlifters train often but do not gain muscle due to a lack of consistency in their plans. Program jumping is the death of muscle gain. This requires frequent jumps from one program to another to find the “best” or “perfect” plan, no matter what it is.
Social media can affect program jumps and a lack of patience and understanding of how muscles are built. Without a consistent plan to track progress, we will sell our muscle-building capabilities.
- Consider nutrition when gaining muscle
You can go to the gym and use your current diet to train and build muscle. This is because you are applying new stimuli to your body, and as you continue to do so, your body will adapt.
Why it matters: After the time frame we call “Novice Gain” (a rapid increase in muscle/strength due to the novelty of weightlifting), muscle training becomes more and more difficult. Just like training, we eventually need a little more to continue to make progress in this case; this is a nutritional strategy.
By calculating the total daily calories, macronutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrate), and even the time you eat, you can speed up your muscle building. For example, if you are not tracking your macros, not eating enough, or getting enough protein, you will build muscle much slower than your peers are aware of these.
Protein is essential to account for when muscle building is the goal. Adequate protein intake can help you add quality muscle when at maintenance and in a surplus, and it can help you preserve lean muscle mass when eating in a deficit.
There are many different ways to get more protein into your diet. In addition to animal sources like beef, poultry, fish, and dairy, there are a variety of protein powders to choose from. Whey protein and casein protein are great options for those who consume animal protein. There are many different plant-based proteins available for vegetarians and vegans, including those made with pea protein, soy protein, hemp protein, and more. Many post-workout recovery formulas contain protein and muscle-supporting nutrients like BCAAs and other essential amino acids.
Learn more about the importance of nutrition on training:
- The Top 3 Sports Supplements for Men
- Best Nutrition Habits for Workout Recovery
- How Important Is Meal Timing Post-Workout?
Where Lifters Go Wrong: What works when you start will only go so far. The more stress we place on the body through physical activity, the more we need to be mindful of fueling ourselves from a nutritional standpoint and how that aligns with our goals.
For example, muscle is built in a caloric deficit much slower than when eating at maintenance or a slight surplus. We can accurately align our goals with how we eat to add quality muscle that we’re trying to build by accounting for nutrition.
3. Remember That Recovery (Sleep) Is Key for Muscle Building
To build quality muscle, it’s not enough to go to the gym, train, and eat decently. We also need to remember that recovery aspects like sleep can play a significant role in muscle building.
Why It’s Important: As we sleep, our body releases human growth hormone (HGH), which plays a significant role in muscle growth and strength adaptations. Additionally, sleep can enhance our recovery and growth through muscle protein synthesis, which is our body’s means of utilizing protein to rebuild and repair muscle fibers (amongst many other things!).
On top of these two key elements, in REM sleep, the body also tends to increase blood flow. Increased blood flow is beneficial for transporting useful recovery products to muscle fibers. Also, sleep helps muscles relax, which can relieve tension placed on them throughout the day and with training.
In addition to sleep, recovery methods like getting massages, taking ice baths, using saunas, and practicing meditation can help support our muscle-building goals.
Where Lifters Go Wrong: Lifters often nail the first two keys above but forget how important sleep and other recovery protocols are. Great training plans can only go so far if we’re not providing our muscles with the tools they need to recover and adapt.
Additionally, a great diet can fall short when a recovery aspect like sleep is off. Inadequate sleep can cause an increase in hormones like cortisol (stress hormone) which is detrimental for muscle building and growth. For context, cortisol is catabolic—which means it breaks down molecules—and an increase in this hormone can impede our body’s muscle protein synthesis.
Understand the Muscle-Building Basics
In the next muscle-building article, we will go over these three points above but dive into specifics, and best recommendations for ensuring you’re nailing all of these muscle-building basics and making progress.