Fastest Way Gain Muscle Mass – Focus On These Things!
Introduction
In this article I will be exploring the fastest way gain muscle mass. Looking bigger and more muscular is a goal for everyone who starts lifting weights. I always say, “don’t you want to look like you lift weights?”.
Sadly there are still many people who workout regularly at the gym who haven’t gained sufficient muscle mass. If you saw those people walking around outside the gym you would have no idea that they had ever lifted a weight in their life!
After reading this article you will have all the knowledge you need to gain muscle mass effectively and faster than many people.
The Fallacy Of Size = Strength
As an aside, I want to state this point from the outset. Just because someone looks really muscular it doesn’t mean that they are actually really strong. There is some correlation between size and strength but it is still tenuous.
For instance, there was a younger kid training at my gym that I saw the other day. If you saw him outside the gym you would never know that he lifts weights. He was short and skinny, yet it turned out that he is stronger than me on pressing exercises like the bench press and shoulder press! I was amazed when I found this out.
If it were true that size equals strength then the most muscular bodybuilder in the world would also be the strongest man in the world – however this is clearly not true.
Power Of Compound Movements
If you want to gain lots of muscle mass in the fastest way then there is no getting around the fact that you must learn to love compound movements. Compound movements are your best friends when it comes to becoming more muscular and imposing.
The biggest compound lifts are the squat, bench and deadlift. If you are not a powerlifter then all that is important is you are performing a variation of each one of those core compound lifts in your training.
You should also incorporate some compound accessory work as well for each major muscle group – this could be rows for your back, leg press for your legs, weighted dip for chest, etc.
The movements will serve to increase your muscularity throughout your body when performed consistently and in a progressive overload manner.
Training For Hypertrophy
It is also critical to actually train for hypertrophy if you want to add a lot of muscle mass to your frame. If you train in very low rep ranges for the compound movements then the emphasis will be a lot more on strength.
To gain a lot of muscle mass you must train with higher volume and a slightly higher intensity as well on the bigger movements. This should equate to at least 10 sets per muscle group per week.
In order to be able to train with a higher volume you must be in good physical shape. You would need to have good cardio to be able to handle this work capacity. Therefore it is also important that do regular cardio to stay in good condition.
Many guys are afraid that cardio will cause them to lose muscle mass. However if you do low intensity cardio regularly it will serve to improve both your recovery and your work capacity. This will then translate into being able to handle more volume in your workouts.
Eat A Lot
It is pretty obvious but you simply cannot add much muscle mass if you are in a caloric deficit. You must consume more calories than you burn in order to build muscle mass. This is known as being in a “caloric surplus”. The surplus doesn’t have to be massive, just enough to ensure you make good lean muscle gains.
In my case I am a big fan of beef and rice and so is Stan Efferding. This is actually one of the staples of Stan’s “vertical diet”. You can learn more about the vertical diet HERE. I firmly believe if you follow that diet it will massively improve your body composition and muscle mass when combined with a solid training program.
Importance Of Sleep
Sleep is of critical importance for so many reasons, yet it is still a variable that is largely ignored by many. Sleep is the time when your body can recover and repair itself, therefore if you have less than 6 hours sleep per night you are hindering your recovery. You are also hindering your training by not getting enough sleep and this will lead to not getting optimal results in terms of muscle gain.
You should shoot for an absolute minimum of 7 hours sleep a night. You want to ensure that you have a lot of good deep sleep. A great supplement to take before bed that will assist in improving your sleep is magnesium glyconate. Many people could do with more magnesium.
By having enough sleep you also won’t need to rely on crutches like caffeine and pre workout as much. Whilst they can be useful at times, many people fall into the habit of becoming overly reliant on them at the expense of poor sleep habits.
Conclusion
To conclude, in this article I have described the fastest way to gain muscle mass. The key is to do the right things and do them consistently. This means performing compound movements regularly with good volume and intensity and inducing progressive overload over time.
It also means being in a caloric surplus and ensuring that you are eating a well balanced diet for optimal nutrition. This will work in conjunction with your hard work in the gym to deliver you the muscle mass gains that you are looking for.
Finally you must take your sleep seriously. This means not going out late at night for long parties and coming back at 4am in the morning. If you want to get results with your fitness you must be willing to make sacrifices.
If you follow all the steps in this article you will not go wrong and will be the envy of many people when you display your muscular physique in public!
If you have any questions about anything in this article please don’t hesitate to leave me a comment below. I read all your comments and respond to each one!
As always, until next time! Stay safe and enjoy your training.
