Bodybuilding Fasting
5 Secret Methods to Build Muscle Fast
Learn what popular trainers and supposed experts aren’t telling you about how to build muscle fast!
If you’ve been reading about or trying to build muscle fast, you are probably getting frustrated with lackluster results and repetitive advice. Most “gurus” online and trainers in gyms repeat the same stuff ad nauseam – moderate weights for reps, try to “feel” the muscle working, use these supplements, etc. The thing is, there is merit to some of this advice, but most people are totally missing the boat when it comes to the basic principles of building muscle. It’s become so rare to see people actually doing what works that these methods are almost “secret!”
If you really want to get quick, quality results, and if you want to learn what the big guys did to gain their muscle mass, then read on. You’ll probably be surprised at how simple some of this stuff is, though it’s probably the opposite of what you’re doing right now!
1. Train for Strength, not Size
Yes, you’re trying to get bigger and more muscular, but when you first start bodybuilding, you need to make it a numbers game. You’ll eventually need to worry about feeling this or that muscle work and doing fancy little exercises for this or that, but not now. To make serious gains and make them quickly, you’re going to have to focus on your strength on basic movements.
Which exercises you do specifically is somewhat up to you, but there are a few that you pretty much have to do if you want the quickest progress possible. The first is the squat. No other exercise is like it in its ability to produce quick gains not just in the legs, but in the musculature all over your body. Get your squat up and watch your strength on all other lifts soar, as well.
Other lifts you need to master are the deadlift and bench press. The deadlift is second only to the squat in its ability to produce massive gains, and it’s the exercise that allows you to move more weight than any other. The bench press is arguable the best upper body exercise, though there is some leeway with it. If you don’t have a spotter, or if this exercise tends to hurt your shoulders, you can substitute other movements that involve dumbbells. Just don’t start using machines in its place!
If you’re still skeptical about the merits of building muscle size with big lifts, think about this: If you increase your squat, bench press, and deadlift each by 100 pounds, do you think you’ll get bigger? Of course you will! Likewise, have you ever seen someone who could squat 500-600, bench press in the 400s, and deadlift 600-700 pounds that WASN’T huge? Again, no. This doesn’t mean you need to reach those specific numbers, but to build muscle fast, you MUST focus on getting stronger.
2. Work ALL of Your Muscles
To many people, this is obvious, but depending on which internet training guru you have been reading, you might be brainwashed into thinking that you should avoid directly working smaller muscle groups like biceps, triceps, and shoulders. This is utter nonsense! As you just read, you surely do need to focus on getting stronger at the basic, heaviest movements. However, that does NOT mean you should avoid training smaller body parts with lighter movements afterwards.
For instance, many trainers will try to tell you that curls are useless, and that all you need to build big biceps are chin-ups and rows. Now, it is true that chins and rows involve your biceps, and it’s also true that these are generally more important exercises than curls. But still, why would you avoid doing curls altogether? Let me tell you, I did this for the first couple of years of training, and my arms are just now catching up to my torso size.
In summary, train your big lifts first, and train them as hard as possible, but DO NOT avoid other exercises. If you goal is to get big AND to build muscle all over your body, you need to train your whole body accordingly. Also, follow the same principles as you do with the heavier exercises. Want to build bigger biceps? Get stronger on curls. Bigger side delts? Move more weight on your side raises.
3. Heavy Weights and Low Reps
One thing that almost all of the bodybuilding magazines and unqualified trainers say about training is that using moderate weights for a moderate number of reps is best for building size. Likewise, they claim that using lower reps is “only for building strength.” This is total nonsense! Remember, you should be TRYING to build strength more than anything else if your goal is to build muscle fast. If using lower reps is better for getting stronger (and it is), then that’s exactly what you should be doing to build muscular size!
If you’re looking for that “perfect” rep range, stop – it simply does not exist. The fact of the matter is, you can get stronger in any rep range. If you constantly work at sets of eight, you’ll get stronger in that rep range more than in lower or higher rep ranges, for example. The reason that really big guys often use lower reps is that they allow for more weight to be used, and they also generally allow for overall faster strength gains. What do you think is going to increase your squat faster – doing sets of 5 or sets of 20? They’ll both help you, but the fives are where your real, long-term progress is at.
Overall, a good guideline to follow is to do sets of 4-6 for your heaviest movements such as squats, bench presses, deadlifts, rows, and the like. These are the compound movements which use many joints, many muscles, and which allow you to move the most weight. For isolation exercises such as curls, extensions, and raises, you still need to work on strength, but you should probably up the rep range to around 10-12 at least. Lower is fine if you can handle it, but these types of exercises tend to be harder on the joints with super-heavy poundages.
4. Your Split Barely Matters!
It seems the thing that novice bodybuilders and weightlifters argue about more than anything is their training “split” or schedule. Is full-body best, or is it better to do upper body and lower body on different days? Should you do a body-part split, where you work each muscle group 1-2 times per week? The thing is, almost any training split you use will work to build muscle fast, as long as you focus on making strength gains.
If this sounds odd, try this thought experiment. Say you have two beginner bodybuilders. One trains his whole upper body at a time, twice per week (in addition to lower body, of course). Thus, his chest muscle get worked twice per week. The other trains with a bodybuilding-type split, where each muscle gets worked once per week. Thus, his chest gets trained once per week. If, at the end of eight weeks, the first bodybuilder gained 30 pounds on his bench press, while the second gained 60, who gained more mass on their chest? The second bodybuilder! It doesn’t matter that he worked his chest twice as often – his strength gains determined his size gains.
Now, there are a few guidelines you probably want to follow for your training split if you are just starting out. Unless you are extremely weak, you should not even bother with full-body training. It just takes too much time and energy to warm up and work hard on heavy movements for the entire body. Most people do best starting with upper body and lower body days, two each per week. You might focus on bench press, squat, military press, and deadlift on each of those days, respectively, and follow the main lift up with other upper body or lower body movements.
Once you have trained a certain way for a while, you will get to know your body, your recovery abilities, and other factors better so that you can make informed choices about how to change things up. You may want to go to a body-part split and give each muscle more attention in its own session, or you may want to stick with your same split. Just remember, the whole point of your routine to build muscle fast is to get stronger.
5. Nutrition is more Important than Training
If there’s one piece of advice that even the worst trainers seem to know, it’s that nutrition is key in transforming your body, whether you’re trying to build muscle size or lose body fat. However, their knowledge usually stops there, as the nutritional advice most people are putting out there is just plain garbage when you’re tyring to build muscle fast. Here are some basic tips on bodybuilding nutrition to get you started.
a.) Protein is Key
Protein really is the most essential nutrient for any dietary goal, but especially for building size. Proteins are made up of amino acids. Basically, your body breaks proteins down into these individual building blocks and then uses them to build its own proteins – new muscle tissue!
b.)Carbs for Energy
You can try to build muscle on a low carb diet, but it’s probably not going to happen. Even people who have tried very high-calorie diets focused on only fat and protein have reported that they still made better gains when eating carbs. The key is to eat complex carbohydrates, and to eat them at times that your body can best use them – in the morning and around your workout.
c.)Don’t Neglect Fat
Low fat diets are thankfully going out of style as people realize how important they are for overall health and hormone functions. This advice applies doubly to a bodybuilder. You cannot build muscle optimally if you are depriving your body of this essential nutrient. Besides, eating enough fat (even some saturated fat!) is key for optimal testosterone production. Don’t skimp on the healthy fats from nuts, oils, seeds, and lean meats.
Gain Size and Strength with the Best Muscle Building System
Now that you know these five “secret” methods to build muscle fast, you need to find a program that implements them all into a comprehensive, proven, and easy-to-follow plan. Knowing how to build muscle is one thing – sticking to a system and giving it your all is really what produces quick, drastic results.
Check out IntelligentMuscleBuilding.com to find the best, most comprehensive system for building muscle through proper training, nutrition, supplementation, and recovery techniques. Stop with your lackluster gains and frustration in the gym, and start getting what you want out of your efforts.
About the Author
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