The Foundations Of Building Muscle

By Russ Howe


Most people who go to the gym are completely lost by the science and jargon which often surrounds training and diet. In fact, we lose count of the number of times people ask us how to build muscle on a daily basis. As fitness instructors this is probably our second most popular query behind only how to lose weight and keep it off. We get to see just how many people out there are struggling to get results.

These steps are all tried, tested and proven.

Whether you are a pretty experienced gym goer or a complete newcomer to the world of fitness, you will find the foundations of solid training here today.

* Know your diet

* Supplements are useful but not essential

The fact is most people neglect the basics in favor of searching for a miracle solution to their problems. By failing to nail down the basic, proven foundations of building a better body, however, you ruin your potential and actually hold yourself back considerably.

The first thing to do is sort out your diet. That's right, even when you are trying to gain size you need to diet. Most people think they can just eat whatever they want when they are trying to add weight but this is incorrect. Remember you don't just want to add weight, you want to build muscle.

There is no one 'best' way to diet. Despite all the trainers out there trying to sell their 'best ever plan' to you, there are numerous ways to get results in the gym. You simply have to get the basics right and that's what we're going to show you today. One of the best diets around is known as the 3-5-2 plan. To work out how many calories per day you need to pack on some size, multiply your target weight (in pounds) by fifteen. So a 180 pound guy would require around 2700 kcals in total.

The 3-5-2 system gets it's name because it means 30% protein, 50% carbohydrates and 20% fats. It's good knowing what total calorie target to aim for, but it's even better knowing exactly how many grams of each macro nutrient to look for.

Multiply your 2700 calories by 30% and you will see how many of your daily calories come from protein. In this case it's 810. To work out carbs and fat simply do the same equation with the relevant percentages.

To convert your protein calories into grams so you know how much to eat, just divide that 810 by four. This gives you 202g. For carbohydrates, take your carb calories and divide by four. When it comes to your daily fats, take your fat calories and divide it by nine. This will give you a complete breakdown of how many calories to eat per day and how much of it needs to come from protein, carbohydrates and fats respectively.

Next we need to talk about supplements. It is very easy to get lost in the supplement market, with every product telling you that it's better than anything else. If you get your diet sorted out first, you will realize that you don't need most of the products you might be wasting your money on right now.

Two very valuable, proven supplements when engaging in a muscle building diet and program are creatine monohydrate and whey protein. Both are proven and both do their job. The protein is especially useful as it allows you to reach your calorie target easier throughout the day, too.

Now that you are a little more up to speed on the two foundations of how to build muscle you will be able to reap hugely enhanced results in the gym compared to those who fail to sort out the basics before diving in head first. If you are serious about changing your body, now is the time to do it.




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