Health & Fitness

The New Years Resolutioner's Guide to Gaining Muscle

We're all back at that time of the year. Right after New Years. It's time to make our resolutions and see them through to the end at all costs, 'cause you know, we know we're that good. Well, as you may or may not know by now, one of the most popular resolutions is to buy a gym membership and put on some mass. Unfortunately, the average gym goer doesn't know what in the heck they're doing and end up making zero gains and quitting.


The New Years Resolutioner's Guide to Gaining Muscle


But fear not. I'm here to help you. So without further ado, let's get to it.


1. "Lightweight babyyyyyyy"


The New Years Resolutioner's Guide to Gaining Muscle


Yeah, that's right. To build mass you need to train with weights that feel confortable, yet challenging to you. Usually aroung 50% / 70% of your One-Rep Max. Your rep range should be 8-12 reps and your rest time between sets should be anywhere from 45 seconds to 2 minutes, no more than that. This is called high volume (reps/sets) and medium intensity (weight used). This will maximize hyperthrophy, break down muscle fibers and give you a very desirable effect: the pump. The pump is not all about looks.Pumped muscles receive more blood supply and nutrients are absorbed faster and more efficiently. It also enhances protein synthesis. Having said this, you'll probably want to work with heavier weights every once in a while, since it makes the body produce more testosterone and human growth hormone (HGH) which in turn will help you gain more mass. Oh and it also stimulates your central nervous system (CNS) to later be able to recruit more motor units for that muscle per contraction. The result will be that the muscles will be able to exert more force when they contract, in other words, they get stronger without growing in size.


2. Eat. Eat. EAT


The New Years Resolutioner's Guide to Gaining Muscle



Your diet is just as important as your workouts. Remember all those nights you spent with your bros watching netflix and eating pizza and drinking coke? You can kiss them goodbye.


While the total number of calories you take is important, the quality is even more important. You need to eat big, but you also need to eat clean.


The amount of calories you need to take will depend largely on your genetics, but most people can make decent gains by eating 3000-3500 calories daily. 4000 if you're a hard gainer (like me).


You also need to track you macronutrients and micronutrients (I'll will admit I don't track my micros but it helps). Macros are the big food types: Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats. Micros are, for example, aminoacids, which are what proteins are made of. This is because not all protein is the same protein, and not all carbs are the same either.


Out of all those macros, protein is the most important. It's your body's building blocks. And muscles are made of protein. So a good diet for someone who wants to build muscle would be something like 40% Protein, 40% Carbs, 20% Fats. Fats are important too because they help with the production of testosterone.


Lastly, water. Muscles aren't only made out of protein. They're also 70% water. So make sure to stay hydrated throughout the day, except before you go to bed. You want to sleep well and don't want to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Which takes me to the next portion of my take.


3. Sleep like a baby, Win like a champion


The New Years Resolutioner's Guide to Gaining Muscle


You've worked out hard at the gym. You ate like a beast. But you're still lacking somehing important. Rest. That's right. Now, I can hear all those "true" hardore men shouting "LAME!". But rest is as important as all other things I've mentioned until now. Your muscles literally tore during your workout. That's why protein is needed to repair them and make them grow. But do you know when the body has the most capacity to heal? When it's sleeping. So suck it up bad boy. You're gonna have to start sleeping 8 hours or more every night if you want those huge bad ass guns.


4. Repeat


The New Years Resolutioner's Guide to Gaining Muscle


Building muscle takes time and effort. You need to be really headstrong and not give up easily. Don't think you'll gain 20 lbs of muscle overnight. Hell, you'll probably not even gain that much in year (that kind of depends on your genetics too, though), so adjust your expectations before you get disappointed.


It takes years of hard work to get what you desire. But it all pays out, I promise. All those stories about actors gaining outrageous amounts of mass in months is a bunch of bullshit. Either that, or they're on juice. You're not a juiced up loser. Keep it natural and you'll feel great and look even better.


Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it and that you put this information to good use. Now get out there and make yourself a champion. Also happy new year, everyone!

The New Years Resolutioner's Guide to Gaining Muscle
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