If building muscle was easy, everyone would walk around looking like an action hero.
But most of you know that getting big and ripped isn't as simple as some television infomercials would have you believe.
There are plenty of guys who work out hard and wonder why they don't get any more muscular.
These folks spend month after month in the gym, working their tails off with nothing to show for it but exhaustion and injuries.
What they lack isn't enthusiasm or heart.
They have plenty of both; I've seen skinny guys in the gym working out harder than some of the semi-pro athletes I know.
It really brings home to me how difficult it is for these fellows to gain weight and muscle when I see Division-One college athletes (many of whom are the equal, in terms of strength and conditioning, of professional sports players) working out with less intensity and apparent effort.
So if you're ready to build muscle faster, incorporate the following techniques into your workout schedule.
You just might be surprised at how something so simple can have such a positive impact on your fitness program.
Train movements not muscles Any time I see someone in the gym who is using an unusual or uncommon exercise variation, I invariably hear someone ask, "what muscles does that exercise work?" The people who ask these sorts of questions are conditioned to think of strength-training exercises as benefiting only a single muscle.
For instance, they think curls work the biceps, bench presses work the chest, and squats work the front of the leg.
It never occurs to them to consider that exercises -- which I call movements -- are best when they force you to use several muscles all at once.
After all, this is how we go about our daily activities, and it is how our bodies function best.
When I ask my body to perform a movement, I want all my parts to move synergistically.
It is a huge mistake for guys who want to build muscle to waste their time and energy on isolation exercises that only stress a single muscle.
Instead, the best way to increase muscle is to use compound exercises that involve two or more joints and their attendant muscle groups.
So, drop the curls, leg extensions, and deltoid raises.
Instead, add squats, overhead pressing, rows and pull-ups, and other multi-joint compound exercises to your workout schedule.
It will be intense, but it will be worth it.
Eat big to get big What else do skinny fellows who complain about not being able to get huge all seem to have in common? They all weight exactly the same as they did a month or two (or three...
) ago.
Get it? They don't gain weight by eating right and putting on the pounds.
And they wonder why they can't get more muscular.
Where is the muscle going to come from unless you get your three to five well-balanced meals a day? You're not the Incredible Hulk, who could gain mass just by getting angry.
If you want mass, you have to eat it, one bite at a time.
Rest and Recovery R&R seems counterproductive to guys who have been working out as hard as possible in a futile attempt at packing on the pounds.
They don't understand that muscles are not built in the gym, they're built in the kitchen.
In fact, your muscles are weaker and less-capable after a workout than they were before you set foot in the gym.
It seems obvious when you think about it, but lots of non-muscular guys never give it a moment's thought: the gym doesn't build your muscles, it damages them.
To rebuild your gym-damaged muscles, you need rest -- sometimes several days' worth -- and recovery in the form of nutrients.
I can't stress it enough: if you are not making progress despite proper nutrition and exercise selection, take a week off and allow all your micro-injuries to heal.
When you come back, you should be able to work out with more intensity and a renewed sense of enthusiasm.