Building muscle is one of the hardest things to attain if you do not understand how and what makes muscles grow. For your muscles to enlarge, you need a positive energy balance. What this means is that you need to be eating more calories than your body can burn.

The average person needs about 2,800 calories to gain a pound of muscle. This will help the body process more proteins, which is the fuel for muscle growth.

But it is not as simple as it sounds. Just eating a lot of calorie-rich foods may not necessarily translate to muscle growth. Diet works best when combined with exercises that strengthen and strain the muscles, forcing them to enlarge.

Cut Weight First!

If you are struggling with weight, you must lose weight first before building muscle. To lose weight fast, you can supplement exercise with safe, mild anabolic steroids such as Anavar. This is a cutting edge substance used for weight loss rather than muscle gain, as are most steroids.

Anavar enriches the muscles with nitrogen, improving protein synthesis, and enhancing muscle recovery. With an Anavar cycle of six to eight weeks, you should notice that you are gaining harder, leaner muscle. Such results should come with a daily dose of 60 mg to 80 mg.

3 Ways to Build Muscle

1. Check Your Diet

close-up photo of cooked food on square white plate

Eat Proteins with Every Meal

Your body needs proteins to build and maintain muscle. With a good diet, your body can attain a muscle growth of about 227g per week. It would be best if you had a delicate balance of diet to achieve significant muscle growth. If you take in too many calories, you will gain fat alongside muscle, which presents another challenge.

A good diet for muscle growth should comprise a daily caloric intake of 250 to 500 above your regular intake. You may also consider taking lean protein or protein supplements before a workout.

You need at least 1g of proteins for every 454g of body weight for the best results. You need to divide your body weight by this value to get the appropriate protein intake for your body.

Healthy fats and Vitamins

Gaining muscle, however, is not all about protein intake. It would be best to have a balanced diet with all the essential nutrients to facilitate fat loss and promote muscle gain.

Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, fats, and antioxidants. Fruits are also healthy, and you can eat to your fill without worrying about fat content.

Limit carbs to post-workout

Your body needs carbohydrates to get energy for cell function and other activities. But excess carbohydrate intake may lead to an increase in body fat.

The best sources of carbs for muscle gain are whole grains such as rice, potatoes, pasta, bread, oats, and quinoa. Aim for your diet to comprise 90% whole grain.

2. Lift Heavy

Diet alone may help you get lean, but for big muscles, you need to lift heavy. Yes, the old-fashioned way! You want your muscles to generate the most force possible by taking full range motion. Heavy loads give the most mechanical tension for hypertrophy.

topless man holding black dumbell on right hand

Mechanical tension is a type of force that causes stretching. So, what this means is that you need to stretch your muscles more than you usually do. Naturally, when muscles shorten, they experience a stretching force. This force is equal to the force the muscle exerts.

The heavier the load you apply on the muscles, the more the mechanical tension they release. However, this is only possible to a certain extent, so finding the right size of load is also important to achieve the best results.

Find a load that you can lift and lock with each push. Intermittent pausing is also vital as this allows muscles to recover before another set of lifting. Once you get your ideal weight, you should be able to achieve three to eight sets with reps of three to eight as well with rests of about two minutes.??

3. Metabolic Stress

Research has found that putting muscles under constant tension also promotes muscle growth. As opposed to mechanical tension which requires heavy weight, this technique requires light to moderate weight with more repetitions.

man wearing multicolored shorts while exercising on rope inside white room

You will hear bodybuilders talking of going for the pump or the burn. This is an experience that occurs as you near the end of the set. As the muscles contract and repeatedly relax, blood pools in the muscles, causing a swell that?s known as the pump. The result is reduced blood flow, which restricts the muscles of oxygen. Without oxygen and blood flow, the muscles accumulate metabolites, including hydrogen ions and lactate.

The accumulation of these metabolites leads to metabolic stress. Sensing the stress, the body produces hormones to correct the situation and maintain homeostasis. This response has an anabolic effect.

Conclusion

Muscle gain requires a proper plan anchored on nutrition and weightlifting. If you want to have lean muscle without fat, you must adopt a lifestyle you practice both in and out of the gym.

Supplements can also help, but you should stick to safe anabolic steroids and protein supplements if you choose that option. Even with supplements, you still must put in the hard work to reap these benefits in the long-term.



By Liz Thomson

Health & Content Specialist

References:

https://medium.com/@SandCResearch/what-determines-mechanical-tension-during-strength-training-acdf31b93e18

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5489423/

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bodybuilding-meal-plan

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