Exercise Tips for Building Muscle
✦ Doing many reps with light weights do not help much. You must stick to doing 5-6 reps per set and ensure that your final rep is tough. Give a gap of 2-3 minutes between each set. With each set, increase the weights. Lifting heavy weights increases your metabolism rate too. So, begin with light weights, but go on increasing them, as per your comfort. You might want to give up in between, but persistent motivation and dedication can help you in your goal.
✦ Also, it is required to perform certain exercises in order to gain muscle. These exercises include dead lifts, bench press, and squats. Others include barbell curls, dumbbell curls, dips, triceps pull down, triceps extension, wrist curls, etc. There are many exercises you can choose from, to build abdominal muscles. Thighs are always a problem area for women, but with compound exercises like leg curls, lunges, and squats, you will be able to tone them up as well. To build leg muscles, the simplest exercise is calf raises.
✦ Working out at least 3 to 5 times a week is important. This gives your body enough time to recover between workouts. Muscles only get stronger during the recuperation period, further helping you in your goal.
✦ Don’t keep exercising in the gym doing several repetitions. It’s not going to help. Try not to spend beyond two hours. Exercising for a very long period will build endurance, but for muscle mass, you need to follow short, hard workouts.
✦ If you wish to do cardiovascular exercises, implement them sparingly. Cardio exercises help knock off body fat, but our aim is to build muscles. Hence, focus on weight training to get faster results.
✦ Consume foods that are rich in carbohydrates. That’s the best way your body is going to get energy after a tough workout. Apart from the carbs, your diet should be rich in proteins too. Proteins should be consumed before and after a workout. You will have to consume 10 to 20 grams of protein, less than an hour before your workout. This will enhance the effect of muscle building. Thus, carbs give you energy and help proteins get delivered to the muscles for building them.
✦ Practice healthy snacking between meals to keep your metabolism moving.
✦ A very important tip would be to consume a lot of water throughout the day.
✦ Remember to measure your body fat, and not your weight. While you are gaining muscles, you are actually gaining weight (as seen on the weighing scale), but you are losing calories from other areas.
✦ Finally, push yourself every time you are working out. Consider appointing a trainer who will help you in your attempt. He/she would also make sure you are doing the right exercises and will guide you from time to time.
You will have to set systematic and reasonable goals in your muscle building endeavor. At the same time, it is important to monitor your achievements regularly. Remember, even small achievements are important.
