If it’s a new year, and a new you, then one of the things you might be trying to change is your body. Over the last year or so, making gains has become more important to both men, and women, than it ever has been before. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Once you get into body sculpting or building, it really does become a way of life. Sometimes however, it just doesn’t go your way. There are many different ways that you might be trying to make gains, but your body just isn’t having any of it. If you’re struggling through this at the minute, then we’re here to help you. With just a few minor tweaks to your workout regime, you could be making those all important gains before you know it.
External Factors
There are many external factors that could be holding you back. One is the amount of sleep you’re having. When sleeping, our bodies are repairing and renewing, something your muscles vitally need if you want to make any form of gains. Whenever you workout, micro tears appear within the muscle, when they heal, the muscle gets bigger and stronger. So, if you’re not giving your muscles enough rest during sleep, the whole healing process is going to take longer, and definitely won’t be as effective. Experts recommend that you get around eight to nine hours sleep per night. Not only will it help with muscle repairs, but it’ll help with your overall motivation. The more energy you have from a well rested nights sleep, the more effort you’re going to be able to put into your workout. Something that a lot of people might not realise will affect their gains is smoking. Studies have shown that smoking not only decreases the output of your cardiovascular system, but inhibits muscle growth as well. Switching to and E-cig from companies such as Ecigwizard could be all you need to start piling on the pounds of muscle. Not only that, but smoking is actually an appetite suppressant. The more you smoke, the less you’ll eat. Even if you think you’re eating enough, you won’t be eating to your full potential. The amount of calories you’re consuming is one of the most important parts to muscle gains, something we’re going to explore in the next paragraph.
Diet
You should already be pretty clued up about what you should be eating, and what might be doing you harm. If you’re just starting out with the whole body building thing, and you know you don’t have any weight behind you, then the first thing you need to do is eat absolutely anything and everything to put the base weight on. Even if it is five McDonald’s a week, all you need to think about is the calories. A lot of experts might disagree with this, but it is the quickest way of building the fat that you can turn to muscle. As soon as you get to a reasonable weight, you need to switch straight to clean eating, and a lot of it. If you’ve never meal prepped before, it is about to become a way of life for you. The main thing you need to be supplementing your diet with for muscle gain is protein. Chicken, broccoli, spinach, etc. are all great foods to be including in your diet. Swap white pasta and bread, for brown, and make sure you’re eating smaller meals, more times a day. Expert recommend five small meals, packed with nutrients and protein a day. It is important to have a post workout protein shake after every session at the gym. It promotes muscle gains by accelerating the healing time of the muscle.
Workout
The workout is where all the magic happens. If you aren’t putting in 110% effort into your workout, you’re not going to get anything in return. First of all, you should be training around four times a week if you want to make any improvements. Each session should last around an hour. If you want to make muscle gains, you need to be focusing on higher weights, at lower reps. You should be worthing with a weight that by the end of your first set, you’re struggling to hold up. Have a thirty second rest between reps, and push yourself to the absolute limit. Your arms or legs should be jelly by the time you’ve left. It is important to make sure you’re varying which muscles you’re working. One day do arms, the next legs, and the next back. Keep rotating to give the sore muscles time to heal, and even body mass all over.