7 Tips for Building Bigger Muscles
Laird is always about being functional first. He always says, “there is a lot of fun to be had; you just have to be healthy enough to go and enjoy it.” So when he trains or does anything outside of his ocean endeavors, it has to make sense on a functional level.
Having said that, we know that some of you out there are interested in ways to build bigger muscles. It’s funny to me because you always hear women say they don’t want to build too much muscle, and men are searching for ways to keep what they have or get more.
Let’s stick to the basics and assume you are not taking GH or steroids. Here’s how to build bigger muscles the right way.
1. Eat Your Protein
Figure that you should consume about one gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight. This sounds easier than it is. If a chicken breast has about 15 grams of protein, but you weigh 200lbs… well, you can do the math. A great help for getting extra lean protein is whey isolate powder. You can drink a few times a day in a smoothie.
2. Cardio Is Not Your Friend
If you are serious about building muscle, you should do only about 30 minutes of cardio, three times a week. This is why all the rippers love to cardio out because it sheds all the excess. What you can do is after you build, slowly add the cardio in to lean out. It’s one of the quickest ways to get bigger muscles.
3. Become An Eating Machine
This is one of the best tips on building muscles. Make sure you are getting six to eight mini meals a day. This will take a lot of preparation and strategizing, and Tupperware may become your new best friend.
Do it like the body builders and cook all of the same thing twelve times—then, start divvying up your chicken, broccoli and sweet potatoes into pre-made meals.
4. Don’t Let Yourself See You Coming
That’s right! About every four or up to six weeks change your workout routine. Your muscles will not respond as well to the same workouts over time, so give your workout new moves and a new look. This also includes adding weight or varying your exercises to include weight.
5. Your Testosterone Will Love You For Your Healthy Fats
It is a scientific fact that eating healthy fats and having enough in your diet will increase your testosterone. Trying to build muscle? Testosterone is your best friend1 Avocado, flaxseed and coconut oil are easy to find and work with.
6. Max It Out
Obviously lifting heavy will help you increase mass. Your sets need to be at least 40 seconds long to put enough stress on the muscle to grow. There is a fine line between enough and not enough with regard to reps and weight ratio.
Also, make sure you are doing enough exercises for each muscle. Gone will be the days of one move per muscle. You may even want to go old school, and divide up your groups over three days (legs, back and biceps, and chest, shoulders and triceps).
7. Get Your Rest
Recovery is quintessential for building muscle. You must get into a deep restorative sleep in order to get the maximum benefit of all your training and eating. Deep sleep is king.
I get the appeal for BIG muscles, but try and look at the long run. How can your training let you have more fun, keep injury at bay, and vitality and mobility long into your years? If this is just a phase that’s great, go ahead and experiment. But in the long run, being balanced, flexible and functional is king! I know—just want you want to hear from a woman.
You know the old joke about the guys in the Midwest lifting? The one guy says to the other “what about leg day?” The other guy looks at him and says, “you own pants, don’t ya?”