Build Up Muscle

The journey to build up muscle is fraught with much confusion, hype and misinformation. I hope that over the next few minutes I will be able to shed some light and if nothing else make it a lot easy for you.

I want to understand that building muscle as a process, not an event. I liken the process to build up muscle, much the same way that an oyster makes a pearl. Just like the oyster, building muscle takes time. In the end, it is well worth the struggle.

Here are some of the key concepts that I have taught clients over the years in their pursuit to build up muscle. 

1. Building up muscle has a lot to do with genetics.

You may have heard that if you want to have a body like “x” then that is how you should train. For example if you want to look like a body builder, you should train like a body builder. While it has some merit, this is a HUGH misconception and often times leave you confused and disheartened. Well, that is unless you are one of the genetically gifted to build muscle.

While anyone one can build up muscle, the freaky big muscle heads have to have that type of body to begin with. Let me explain. Compare the body of Bruce Lee versus someone like Brock Lesnar. If you look back to picture of Bruce, you will quickly see that he was able to build up muscle that would rival most athletes. Now do you think that he would ever have the same amount of mass, or size of Brock Lesnar? No. They have two very different body types.

It is important to know this to set yourself up for success. Do not think that just because you train a certain way that that is going to cause you to look a certain way. I hate to say it but a great amount of muscle is determined long before you ever start training. Genetics play a huge role in your success.

2. Your metabolism has an effect on your size.

Just like body type play as integral part in building size and muscle, so does metabolism. The typical battle cry of the “hard gainer” is that they cannot put on muscle. Well yes, this is true it might be harder for you to build up muscle. Those who have had a hard time building up muscle, generally have a hyperactive metabolism. That actually is a great thing to have. It means that when you are trying to get lean muscle mass, you will have a much easier time than some other people will.

Secondly, your body may have a high level of slow twitch muscle fibers. These types have an amazing ability for endurance. Think marathoners and sprinters. Both of them run for exercise. The difference is that the sprinters bodies are set up for quick, explosive movement. Nevertheless, ask them to run 5 miles and they are going to have an extremely hard time. I was one of them. I was extremely fast, but I could barely run a mile.

If you are one the later type and want to build up muscle in a substantial quantity, it is even more important for you to pay attention to how you eat. In addition, it might be important for you to be lazier than you might think. These hyperactive metabolic types always seem to be on the go, never letting the body have a chance to rest. This is actually when muscle is formed, when rest and recuperating.

3. There is not one single magical formula. Not every program works for every person.

Pick up any magazine and you will see thousand of different types of exercise programs to build up muscle. Everyone jumps on the newest trend, and thinks that it will be the magical cure all. Ironically though, is that many of the new trends are actually new marketing of old ideas. There are three main types of programs to build up muscle.

• Slow moving, strength building exercises. Think Bench, Squat, and Deadlift
• Dynamic power based movements. This is your Olympic style lifts such as the clean and jerk. Quick powerful movements that propel the body, such as kickboxing, build muscle quickly. This is why P90X is so popular.
• Muscle spinning exercises. This is common for bodybuilding. Lift moderate amount of weight, a lot of times and it forces you muscles to inflate with blood. It gives the appearance of being large, that does not mean necessarily strong.

The best programs are a combination of the above.

4. More training does not mean more muscle.

Many think that they build up muscle in the gym. This is not true. When you are working out, you are actually tearing down the muscle. While exercising you are making microscopic little tears. You body’s natural response is to heal them and try to prevent the injury from happening again. It does this by forming scar tissue. Generally, that takes about three days.

At the end of this time your body did not build up muscle, it is actually only back at square one. So what happens if you work out to soon? Either you are not building new muscle or you are losing muscle through over training. There are several ways to speed up recovery, but for now just understand that building up muscle happens away from the gym. It is the other 23 hours in a day that create the muscle, not the 1 hour in the gym.

5. Isolation exercises are not going to get you big fast.

I think the best quote was “Nothing happens in isolation”. This is also true about being able to build up muscle quickly. You body does not think in terms of vanity. You body does not care if it has six pack abs or barn door shoulders. You body thinks in terms of survival. It thinks how can I conserve energy and make life easier. What does that mean in regards to building up muscle? It means everything.

Imagine for a second that you are doing bicep curls for your arms. Everyone wants to build up muscles that show. Well let us say you have neglected to build up muscles in your low back. You begin having to lean back to compensate, or you start “cheating”. Knowing that your body’s first priority is to protect itself, how does your body respond? It slams on the breaks.

Although you may try to build up muscles in your arms, you are going to find that you are hitting a plateau your body has determined that in order that protect itself, it is going to prevent you from doing more weight. Trying to isolate a muscle, because you want it bigger will not work for long. Your own body will fight your best efforts to build up muscle, because of self-preservation. Best way to work out is learning how to incorporate everything synergistically.

6. Free weights build muscle quicker.

Like trying to build up muscle in isolation, so too trying to use machines versus using free weights. Also included with that is using your own body. See the more you get your body moving in space, the more your body has to respond. What is hard to do, a heavy set of lunges across the gym, or sitting nice and comfortably in a padded machine and doing crunches? I hope that you said lunges as being hard.

If building up muscle, and I am talking a substantial amount of muscle, you have to give your body a reason. I always laugh when I see people on the treadmill walking and reading a book. I have always wondered why elite runners do not do this. Could it be that the elite love to run, maybe. Could it be those reading while walking on the treadmill for an hour, and 6 months later have not seen any changes, are not really trying. Probably. If you want to make changes in your body, give your body a reason to change.

7. Long training sessions are a NO-GO

I am still wondering where people got the idea that long training sessions are the way to go. As we have learned so far, to build up muscle is the body’s response to exercise. The body adapts to the challenges it is face. Hard exercise, builds muscles better. Therefore, with that in mind, I leave with this you can go long, or you can go hard. You cannot go long and hard. No, I am not going to end with a cliché. Let me give you the rational why behind why long training sessions are a no-go to build up muscle quickly.

As I am sure, you have heard testosterone is one of the key ingredients in building muscle. While you work out your body produces this hormone to combat the stresses that placed on the body. Yet at around 45 minutes to an hour, this process shuts down. The body then starts to produce cortisol. This is a bad thing. Why? It breaks down the muscle that your body was trying to produce.  

8. It is not necessary to do long “aerobics” exercise to burn body fat.

As we have learned by now, to build up muscle, we are creating a metabolically active environment. That means that the more muscle we have built up, the more calories we are burning.

Building up 1 pound of muscle your body has to burn 50 extra calories per day just to maintain it. While 50 may not sound like much, over a year’s time you could have added as much as 5-6 pounds, which equates to 250-300 extra calories per day even at rest. That is about the same as running on the treadmill for an hour. Not to mention if you goal really is to build up muscle in as short of time as possible, the focus should be on just that.  

9. 3 square meals a day is not going to help you build muscle.

Lastly, we need to talk about the concept of nutrition.  As I mentioned earlier, the time spent in the gym only a tiny fraction of our journey to build up muscle. Eating is something that we do all day. Where most people do not pay that much attention to what or when they eat, you need pay as much attention to this as you would your workout. Making sure that the body gets the nutrition it needs to repair the muscles is paramount. It would be like filling your car up with kerosene and trying to rationalize that it burns. That is all that matters.

Well on your quest to build up muscle in minimum time, you should think of your body as a high performance racecar. It needs a steady stream of nutrients entering the body at regular intervals. If it is not getting the nutrients that it needs, what does it do? From what we have discussed, it goes it to protection mode. It starts shutting down. Muscle building takes a back seat to its survival. Want to get big and strong, take care of your body. It IS a high performance machine.