If you have gotten to the point in your training where you want
to actually start gaining weight by increasing muscle size, you
have to take a lot of things into consideration. Nothing in
personal training ever comes easy, but putting on muscle mass is
especially tricky. If you want to make sure you keep
progressing towards you goal of looking ripped, be sure you are
following these basic guidelines.

1. Protein, Protein, Protein

Foods packed with protein are the building blocks of muscle
growth. Yet a surprisingly large number of trainers get
sufficient amounts of this vital macronutrient. Make sure you
get protein in every one of your meals, aiming for around 1 to
1.5 pounds per pound of body weight. It shouldn’t be too much
more than that, though.

2. Don’t Forget Your Fats

Fats aren’t just what give fast food eaters big guts. They
have a bunch of different essential functions in the body. One
of which is the maintenance of testosterone levels. If you
testosterone drops too low, you are going to have a much more
difficult time getting the body you want. Try to make the
majority of the fats you eat the “healthy” kind, like
polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. You can get these by
eating fish, olive oil, avocado, and certain kinds of nuts

3.Pay Attention to Your Calories

Large muscles need a lot of calories to maintain. If you were
trying to lose fat before, you might have to adjust your
thinking about caloric intake. A lot of people who are
frustrated with their progress simply need to eat more.

4. Get Smart About Cardio

Cardio is essential for any good fitness program. Besides
giving you physical endurance, it also burns fat, which helps
give you that “cut” look. But you are already lean, you risk
letting your cardio burn your muscle as well as your fat if you
do it too often and too heavily. Still make sure cardio is a
part of your fitness routine, but consider cutting back if your
main goal is building muscle.

5. Make sure you are progressing

Doing the same exercises with the same weight every week will
just keep you where you are. Instead, throw a workout that
isn’t a normal part of your routine every once in a while. It
will work your muscles in different ways, which will encourage
them to grow. Also make sure your weights are steadily
increasing. This can be tricky, as you don’t want to add weight
too soon or too late, but steady progress is a must for
continuous muscle growth.

6. Sleep

This one is unfortunately neglected most often. It can be
tough to do everything you need to do during the day, plus
train, plus get a solid eight hours every night. But if you want
to make the most of your training time, you need make sure you
body has adequate time to recover and grow muscles. Try
experimenting with your daily schedule to see what you can do to
sleep more. Even and extra hour or half and hour can help you
get larger muscles, faster.

About The Author: Chris McCombs is an Orange County fitness
trainer. He can be reached through his website at
socalworkout.com

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