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Building muscle is not as easy as you may think—it takes a solid plan that involves patience, persistence, and dedication. Many factors affect how you build muscles, especially as a beginner. These factors include your diet, the exercise you opt for, and the rest you have.
However, with the right amount of resistance training, nutrients, and supplements, you can gain muscle faster than you imagine. It’s not just about the physical looks; gaining muscle can boost your strength and energy. Also, it can help you lose weight fast and safely.
How to Build Muscle as a Beginner
The most effective way to build muscle is through exercise or, more specifically, resistance training. There is a difference between exercising to stay healthy and building muscles.
You must be strategic and eat enough protein and calories while also engaging in regular weightlifting. When you combine these effectively, you’ll see results in no time.
Below are some of the best ways to build your muscles as a beginner.
1. Squats
Squatting is one of the most practical ways for a beginner to build muscles. This muscle-building exercise can help you gain muscle in many areas of your body. Through squatting, you will develop the muscles around your posterior chains.
Regularly squatting will help you develop the muscles of your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. In a short time, you will improve your body strength and increase your muscle mass. Some examples of squatting you can try include
- Barbell back squat
- Front squat
- Bulgarian squat.
Generally, it's always a swell idea to stick with weights that guarantee 1-3 reps of exercise. Simply put, optimal weight gain is ensured when you lift and work out with weights that guarantee not more than three repetitions of exercise.
Lifting heavy weights will strengthen your muscles by forcing them to rebuild as you continually increase their challenges.
Your week-to-week progressive overload can look like this:
- Week 1 Barbell Squat: 4 sets of 6 reps at 150 lbs.
- Week 2 Barbell Squat: 4 sets of 6 reps at 155 lbs.
You’ll get stronger in a short time when you maintain this plan. For a bigger physique, replicate the weekly exercise while eating enough protein and calories.
2. Deadlifts
Lifting is a joint exercise that can help you gain muscles in the right places. Deadlifting builds the muscles of your hamstrings, glutes, and quadriceps. It is a compound exercise that builds muscles in several areas instead of targeting a specific location.
Generally, deadlifting involves using heavy weights. When trying to lift a weight, start with easy ones. It’s advisable to begin with a more miniature barbell before trying a bigger one. A good rule of thumb is to start with a weight that is twice or thrice your body weight.
3. Bench Press
The bench press is an upper-body workout that targets the shoulders, shoulders, and triceps. It’s mostly for muscle and strength-building. Some of the variations of bench press you can try include
- Traditional bench press
- Incline bench press
- Narrow grip bench press
- Decline bench press
Note: You don’t have to do all these exercises at once; you only need to pick the ones that suit you. Don't engage in challenging exercises to avoid overloading and stressing your muscles. Start with two variations, get used to them, and try others when you have seen some progress.
4. Overhead Press
The overhead press is an upper-body exercise that targets the shoulders, triceps, and core. Engage in this exercise regularly for a visible result. Overhead press will not only help you build muscle, but it will also help you develop maximum strength.
5. Pull-ups and chin-ups
Pull-ups and chin-ups can be challenging to practice, but they are excellent options for building the muscles of your arms, shoulders, and back and developing your upper body muscles.
The Importance of Building Muscle
Apart from gaining more strength and physical appearance, there are many other important reasons to build muscle. The benefits of building muscle are infinite.
It increases the density of your bones, boosts your metabolism, and improves your posture and athletic performance. Here are some ways muscle building can benefit you and your overall well-being.
- Increases Bone Density: Muscle building and resistance training can automatically increase bone density. It works by stimulating the activity of the bone cells by tightening the muscles and stressing the bones. This is important because it reduces the danger of fractures and osteoporosis as you age.
- It Boosts Your Metabolism: Muscle mass is an essential factor that boosts metabolism. This is because the tissue in the muscle is active under metabolic conditions. As a result, gaining muscle can enhance your body system and burn calories. This is important to maintain and manage your weight.
- It improves Strength and Energy: Generally, building muscle mass can improve your energy and strength, which involves improving your athletic performance. You can lift weights and engage in other sports-related activities when you gain the right muscle.
- Age-Related Muscle Loss Protection: We usually experience muscle and strength loss as we grow older. However, building muscle mass and engaging in resistance training can avoid this age-related issue. It can also preserve your functional independence and reduce the chances of age-related problems.
- Improved Overall Mental Health: Resistance training and building muscle mass has a lot of benefits in improving your overall mental well-being. These exercises can help you decrease the signs of depression and anxiety. Also, they can positively impact your cognitive function and increase low self-esteem.
- It Reduces the Risk of Diabetes: Research has proven that resistance training and building muscle mass can regulate blood sugar by improving insulin sensitivity and, in other words, improving your overall metabolic well-being and reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
5 Tips to Maximize Your Muscle-Building Journey
So, you've mastered the exercises to maximize your muscle-building journey. Now it's time to review some proven tips you should adhere to guarantee ongoing training demands. First, resting is essential to building muscles just as much as exercise and an adequate diet.
Below are some tips to help you stay on track in your muscle-building journey to prevent losing the muscles you’ve already gained.
1. Sleep 7+ Hours
Sleep is underrated. However, your muscle gain will only be complete with adequate recovery from the mechanical tears they've endured. Your body kicks into action when you're asleep and repairs every damaged fiber.
Coincidentally, your hormone levels shoot up, especially during your shut-eye time. For instance, studies show that men see a boost in their testosterone levels the longer they sleep. And if you remember anything from high school biology, you ought to know higher testosterone levels are linked to muscle hypertrophy.
2. Eat Enough Proteins
To build muscle, you need healthy and adequate protein consumption. If a resistance workout should comprise half of your muscle-building strategy, a healthy diet should include most of the other half.
There is a strategy called bulking and cutting. Bulking is about eating more calories than your body uses or burns, which allows you to build muscle. Cutting is the other stage, which involves reducing the amount of calories you consume to balance out the fat level in your body.
At either stage, you must keep doing your resistance exercise consistently. The most important thing when consuming calories at the bulking stage is protein. You can target 300 to 500 calories, but don’t take a break from working out.
3. Eat More Calories
In addition to consuming more proteins than your body metabolizes, keeping your body in a caloric surplus is essential. Caloric surplus simply means ingesting more calories than your body burns.
To properly pile muscle mass, it's a no-brainer that you've got to keep your body in a caloric surplus. Otherwise, the body will simply break down essential nutrients, including Amino Acids, limiting bodily growth.
4. Warm-Up your Body Before Exercises
Warming up before a workout is necessary; even footballers usually warm up before playing on the pitch. Failing to warm up may affect your performance and muscle building.
Properly warm your body to improve muscle blood flow, enhance body temperature, and boost cognitive function. Failing to warm up may affect your overall activities, resulting in weak muscles, and you may sustain injury in your connective tissues and muscles.
5. Work Out 3+ Days Per Week, At Least
At a minimum, you will need to train at least three days per week. Aim to train for up to one hour or more per day. Doing so will fuel enough training volume and stimulate the body's muscle-building.
Many workout programs may sell that you can build muscle with 10 minutes of exercise every other day (or whatever gimmick/offer they tell you). However, that is simply not the case. The human body is stubborn and will strive for homeostasis (balance) whenever possible. For that reason, losing weight and gaining muscle can be challenging.
Final Thoughts
Building muscle as a beginner can be very challenging. However, you can see visible results quickly with a popper plan, persistence, dedication, and patience. Learning how your body system works is essential to help you build muscles effectively.
The key is to stress parts of your muscles regularly and consume adequate calories, specifically protein. By experimenting with exercise, you should know what works and what does not.
References:
- Brad J. Schoenfeld, Jozo Grgic,2 Derrick W. Van Every, and Daniel L. Plotkin. (February, 2021). National Library of Science. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7927075/
- Micheal Dasinger. (May, 2023). Is it Ok to Strength Train if I Have Diabetes? WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/strength-training-diabetes
- Steph Heath. The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle Mass. EveryoneACTIVE. https://www.everyoneactive.com/content-hub/gym/muscle-mass/
- Jared Meacham. (August, 2024). How to Gain Muscle, No Matter Who You Are. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness/how-to-gain-muscle
- Men’s Health. (January, 2022). The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Building Muscle. Men’s Health. https://www.menshealth.com/uk/building-muscle/g751477/beginner-guide-to-building-muscle/
