So you want to enter a muscle gaining anabolic state and do it quickly? Here are a few little known secrets about how to build muscle fast.
1. Eat Enough Calories
Whenever you talk about how to build muscle fast, the focus is on getting enough proteins in your diet. Little is said, however, about the other important factor – eating enough calories.
While it is true that muscle needs branched chain amino acids in sufficient quantity while you work out to gain mass, that alone will not ensure that you bulk up rapidly. Your body requires calories to fuel the various functions, and in the absence of enough of them in your diet, your system will break down muscle fibers to provide energy for cellular functions.
To grow and build muscle fast, you need the right combination of protein and total calories in your daily intake. You can conveniently calculate how many calories you must consume by multiplying your body weight in kilograms by 10, then adding 1000 to 1500 calories to this figure.
Because it can be difficult to eat that much in two or three big meals, many serious bodybuilders who are working on how to build muscle fast through strength training will eat 10 to 12 smaller meals over the course of their day, in between workout sessions.
2. Carbohydrates Matter
To provide fuel to your muscles for exercise, you need glucose. Glucose is a breakdown product of carbohydrate digestion. You must not only provide adequate glucose for the current exercise session, but also replenish muscle stores (in the form of glycogen) so that you’ll gain muscle bulk and be able to perform future workouts.
Your metabolic goal is to replace all the glycogen that is broken down by your muscles during exercise, as well as providing adequate reserves so that the system is never tempted to breakdown muscle to generate enough energy. When you eat enough carbs, your body continues in an anabolic (muscle building) phase.
Carbs work through the hormone called insulin, which is a powerful muscle building hormone. By stimulating your pancreas to release insulin, a high carb diet will promote protein production and gluconeogenesis which leads to glycogen stores increasing in muscle fibers, making them swell up and grow bigger.
3. Protein Is Also Vital
It is virtually impossible to build muscle fast if you don’t eat enough protein. Branched chain amino acids in a high protein diet are the building blocks for new muscle fiber production. Without these blocks, you simply cannot build muscle. It’s like trying to construct a house – but without bricks or wood!
Your ideal requirement of protein while bodybuilding is 1 to 2 grams daily per pound of bodyweight. If you weigh 150 pounds, you need 150 grams of protein every day in your diet. It is convenient to break this down into small servings taken through the day. Chicken, fish, whey protein and eggs are excellent sources of protein for muscle building.
4. Eat Many Small Meals
With the average calorie requirement during active muscle building being around 3500 to 4000 calories, you might have to break down your intake into 6 meals of 650 calories each.
Now it may appear as if 650 calories isn’t much, and you can easily manage it without much planning. But it is better to follow a disciplined and planned approach towards your bodybuilding diet because you need to space out your meals evenly through the day to prevent sudden surges and dips in blood levels of your hormones like insulin.
Maintaining blood glucose levels more or less constant over the course of the day, and ensuring adequate concentrations of amino acids at the time of your workouts are of paramount importance in how to build muscle fast.
5. Consume Good Fats
Too many bodybuilders make the mistake of thinking that all fat is bad. It is not. Fats are important for your muscles to grow. The blood levels of testosterone, an anabolic hormone, are directly related to your fat intake.
The only exception to this rule is just before a show, when many bodybuilders will trim down their fat intake to look good on stage. But at this level, they cannot expect to gain muscle.
6. Load Up On Calories Pre-Workout
Slow burning carbohydrates are helpful just before a workout because they will provide enough energy for your muscles during exercise. Since these slowly digested carbs like pasta and rice take a while to get converted into glucose, you should eat them around 30 minutes before beginning your session.
The benefit of loading up on calories before a workout is that you can continue each session for longer and avoid an energy crash afterwards. For the best results, mix in a serving of protein or take a protein shake.
7. Eat Well After Workouts
After each workout, make it a point to eat fast burning carbs and proteins. A convenient form is a protein shake with extra sugar mixed in it. Other supplements can sometimes be helpful in building muscle fast. The reason for this boost in amino acids and glucose is that workouts break down and destroy muscle fibers, which get rebuilt or replaced during the rest period that follows.
A single serving of a protein shake can provide around 45 grams of protein and 75 grams of glucose. Taking this drink shortly after you finish a workout can deliver the best results.
8. Drink A Lot Of Water
Dehydrated muscle will shrink rather than grow. Muscle size is considerably smaller when adequate water intake does not follow bodybuilding exercise. You should make it a point to always drink plenty of water and fluids during your body building effort.
9. Use Supplements
Body building supplements are a secret to how to build muscle fast. While it is possible to develop muscle without them, it is definitely faster when you use protein powder, creatine, glutamine and multi-vitamin dietary supplements.
10. Get Enough Rest
Without rest, your muscles will not grow. It may sound paradoxical when you ask about how to build muscle fast and are told to take adequate rest. But the fact is that muscles grow bigger and stronger during the rebuilding phase between workouts.
By ensuring enough time between exercise sessions and a sufficient concentration of muscle building nutrients in your diet, you will ensure that your muscle building effort progresses at the fastest possible rate. For a detailed bodybuilding plan that will help you devise a personalized program to build muscle fast, check out this website on Jason Ferruggia’s best selling course.