Looking to build some mass? Get swole? Hench even? Make sure you are incorporating these tips into your fitness regime to really pack on some size!
Time Under Tension
You may think the key to getting "big" is simply going to the gym, lifting the heaviest weight possible, as quick as you can and job done. This is very wrong, yes heavy weights help and you should be choosing weights that are heavy and challenging for you but the key here is to perform your repetitions slow and controlled. Performing your repetitions slowly and controlled will keep tension on the target muscle for longer forcing your muscles to work harder, thus creating more growth.
When you're in the gym lifting weights you cause tiny little microtears in your muscle fibres, these fibres then repair themselves whilst you rest and come back bigger and stronger ready to face that stress again. When you perform your exercises with a slow tempo you are able to keep the muscles under more stress for longer and create more tears which, as I've already said, is key to growing muscle.
Quality Over Quantity
Stop with the ego lifting! Like I said previously, just like lifting slowly, lifting controlled and with a full range of motion will allow for more of your muscle to be working during your set allowing for more growth and strength. People that train with a full range of motion are allowing their muscles to be trained equally in both their strongest and weakest positions which will help improve the lift as a whole. Take the squat for example, someone training with bad form and a lack of range of motion may go super heavy but only come down a tiny bit before pushing the weight back up again. Whilst this may benefit the lockout portion of the lift, the bottom position of the lift will not be trained properly and will remain weak and you'll be missing out on a lot of growth potential.
Similar to this training with good form will decrease any risk of injury that would come as a result of poor form. On top of this full range of motion training with help with flexibility and mobility which will aid in recovery and reduce any stiffness that occurs from your training. Even if you have to lighten the weights you use in your lifts, training with quality rather than quantity will lead to way more muscle growth and long term benefits within your training.
Eat More
You're not going to build any size if you're not eating enough, plain and simple. Make sure you're in what's known as a calorie surplus which is simply eating more calories than you burn. Eating more calories will not only give you the energy that is required to train for muscle growth but will also provide your body with the right hormones and enzymes for getting bigger and stronger muscles.
Your diet should consist of nutrient dense whole foods and be structured with the right amounts of macronutrients which include fats, carbs and protein as well as micronutrients which are your vitamins and minerals. Eating anything you can find that's high in calories and just trying to cram them all in will get you nowhere other than fat as you are not giving your body the right environment in which to maximise muscle growth. Each one of your macro and micro nutrients are vital in helping you build muscle. Fats and carbs will provide you with the energy to get you through your training sessions whilst protein will help your muscles recover and grow after you have broken them down in the gym. As well as this eating the right amount of vitamins and minerals will help your body carry out key functions such as oxygen transportation, hormone production and repair of the muscles. All of which will help you build some lean muscle mass.
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