Gain Muscle Mass with Principle-Based Training

Beginners new to bodybuilding, weight lifting, and strength training always want to know how they can build muscle fast.  They want to know how to gain the most muscle mass in the least amount of time.  So they end up buying dozens of bodybuilding magazines, books, and videos on how to exactly build muscle and pack on lean mass. This is the beginning of their journey for bodybuilding knowledge and gaining muscle mass.

photo credit: army.mil

And then after hours and days of reading those muscle magazines and books, they end up being very confused as to how to start a bodybuilding program or to gain muscle mass.  They read and read while coming across contradictory information outlining the best approaches to building muscle.   A book written by a top strength and conditioning coach might suggest split weight lifting routines are best for gaining muscle and strength.  A pro bodybuilding coach might suggest a total body program instead.

And a best-selling personal hollywood personal trainer might recommend something more old school like volume training with many different compound and isolation exercises for gaining muscle.

Who do you listen to?

Next, they might go online and search for bodybuilding websites and ebooks for more instructions.  They begin to sought the best muscle building program out there so that they don’t waste their time with fruitless and ineffective lifting routines.

But what happens next?  After some more reading (as if they haven’t read enough to know how to actually gain muscle), they simply just give up.  What they’re suffering is information overload.  There are literally hundreds and thousands of good and well planned strength training routines to build muscle!  Information overload is information paralysis.  It’s analysis paralysis.  They simply don’t know where to start so they don’t start any muscle building routine at all.

Fear of failure is common when we’re bombarded with too much information, too much for our own good.  In the case of building muscle and bodybuilding, we simply have to shut out then noise and concentrate on what’s most important for results.

We have to pay attention to principles!  These principles are principles pertinent, universal, and essential for gaining muscle…building muscle…bodybuilding…gaining strength all over. Your workouts must incorporate these principles of training.  They work for everyone, man and woman.

These principles are tried and true.  If you apply these principles to your training, you’ll gain muscle regardless of what program you use.  Programs are often just rehashed with a bunch of weight lifting exercises by following a pre-formated template.  Often, the templated routine does not fit the individual undertaking muscle gains.  You have to know the basic rules of gaining muscle so you can personalize routines and programs to fit your needs.

In fact, the really effective programs that produces gains are ones that follow these principles.

Bodybuilding is really more simple than most people think.

This is what I call principle-based training.  Apply and use these principles and you’ll build muscle fast.  The principles contains sub-principles and they are as follow:

Principle of Exercise

The principle of exercise contains the principles of exercise specificity, exercise selection, progression and overload, and proper program/routine creation.  They’re simple to understand for your muscle-building efforts.  The principle of exercise specificity is as stated: train for your goals.  Your training and exercise program must be specific to the needs of your goals.  For example, if you’re trying to build muscle and bodybuild, you have to incorporate strength training, resistance training ,and weightlifitng routines into your program regimen and workouts.

Would it make sense to run 8 miles a day if the end goal is to gain muscle?  Of course not.  Your workouts should be made up of resistance exercises; free weights, machine weights, bodyweight exercises, weight vest, sandbags, resistance bands, etc.  Anything that involves resistance and additional loading.

Specificity also requires proper exercise selection, especially if you want to gain muscle mass.  For building muscle, focus on compound weightlifting exercises and lifts like squats, bench press, deadlifts, dumbbell press, military press, dips, chinups, clean and press.  Do lifts that involve multiple muscle groups at once which releases the most anabolic hormones and recruits the most motor units for gaining strength.

You have to build a strength foundation first by focusing on the core compound lifts.  Muscle gains will come easier this way because you’ll be able to lift heavier weights.  Heavy weights simply build muscle.  They build more muscle.  That’s a universal truth.  Have you ever seen a 135 pound kid benching 400 pounds with 11 inch arms?  Have you ever seen a kid with 19 inch thighs squat or leg press over 300 pounds?

Of course not.  Once you have strength, you’ll build muscle fast.  Gaining muscle will not be a problem. After you build a base of strength foundation, your muscle gains will come.  Supplement compound exercises with isolation exercises like barbell/dumbbell curls, tricep extensions, calf raises, lateral raises, flys, and other high rep bodyweight movements ( pushups, situps, crunches ) for your workouts.

photo credit: Jason.Lengstorf

Remember that isolation exercises are just supplements.  They serve as complements to.  They “smooth” out the routines for maximum hypertrophy and muscular gains.  Building muscle fast is easy if you know what to do.  Now the next principle is overload and progression.  This means that you must apply an ever-increasing stress over a training cycle ( preferably every other workout ) as overload to “shock” your body into growing muscle.

In other words, lift heavier weights, lift more weights with higher frequency, take shorter rest between sets, or lift more repetitions/do more sets per workout.  This is overload and progression.  You progress from workout to workout thereby giving the body a reason to adapt and grow muscle.  If you don’t, the body will have no reason to build muscle fast and get stronger.

What’s the point?  In fact, you might even regress and stagnate.

Methods of Progression,

1) Use heavier weights with the same repetition range and set to increase total volume, ex. 100 lbs. for bench press on workout 1, use 105 lbs. for workout 2, 110 pounds for workout 3, 115 lbs. for workout 4 and so on.

2) Add extra sets per workout with the same weight and rep range

3) Reduce rest periods in between sets for all workouts

4) Increase the number of workouts or frequency per week or month

5) Do more difficult exercises or use variations of the compound exercises.  For ex, replace squats with front squats.

Now there comes a time when you will stagnate and hit a plateau when trying to gain muscle mass.  This is normal because once the body adapts, it will stop gaining and producing muscle and strength improvements.  It’s time to change up the routine.  Take a few days off for a break letting your body recover and refresh itself.  Then use progression methods 3, 4, or 5 to change up your routine.  Only change 1-2 factors of your routine at a time.

This will ensure you keep track of what you change helping you speed up the muscle building process.  All these exercise principles combined will lead to good exercise program creation.  Beginners should start hitting each main muscle group at least once per week in the 5-12 repetition ranges.  2-4 sets per exercise for 1-3 exercise for each bodypart should suffice.

Let’s recap what we need to in our exercise programs to build and gain muscle mass fast:

-proper program creation

-proper exercise selection with compound movements: squats, deadlifts, bench press, dips, chinups, barbell and db rows, military press

-use moderate rep ranges, 5-12, with moderate number of sets

-train each bodypart muscle group at least once per week

-ensure there is progression in your workouts

That’s it for the principle of exercise.  The next major principle is the principle of rest and recovery.

Principle of Rest and Recovery

This one is a no-brainer.  You must get enough sleep, at least 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night to allow your muscles to recover, grow, and overcompensate.  Sleep is the most effortless way to build muscle fast.  Sleep is essential because it’s when your muscles do the most growing.  Muscles grow outside the gym, not in.  Make sleep a priority and don’t skip it.  If you can’t get at least 6 hours a night, take small 5-10 minute naps throughout the day.  Again, I reiterate that you must sleep to build and gain muscle.

It’s easy.  It’s essential.  It’s important.  And it’s a must.  Now we’re just missing one part of the bodybuilding equation.

Be consistent with your workouts if you want to build muscle fast.  You won’t build muscle fast and quick if you leave long breaks and gaps in between workouts.  Each workout is an opportunity to grow and build muscle for long term gains.  Don’t skip workouts and stay dedicated.  Make bodybuilding a lifestyle habit.

Principle of Nutrition

Finally we have the principle of nutrition which specifies you must eat a surplus of calories to gain muscle.  By surplus you have to eat at least 300-500 calories over your maintenance calorie intake.  To build muscle fast, you have to eat more than you burn. To find maintenace calorie intake, simply multiply your body with with 16.  Then add another 300-500 calories on top.  If after 3 weeks and you still don’t gain any weight, tack on another 200 calories each week until you see muscle gains.  Keep on adding calories as you gain muscle and weight.

The heavier you are, the more muscular you are, the more you’ll have to eat.  Muscle is energy intensive.  It takes a lot of calories to maintain muscle because lean muscle tissue burns more calories at rest and at work while contracting.  To preserve and build muscle, you have to eat a lot.

guys.

Check out Dr. John Berardi’s Mass Eating guide at JohnBerardi.com for another  perspective on proper muscle gaining nutrition.

Remember that to gain muscle you must be in a positive caloric balance by consuming more than you expend. Look at this formula. Bodybuilding nutrition is a formula:

Calorie Intake + Calorie Expenditure = Total Calories

Total calories on the end has to be positive at all times. On the contrary, if your goal is to lose weight, your total calories will have to be negative.

Here is another simple formula for figuring out your total intake requirements:

To find maintenance and surplus levels

Male- Weight (in pounds) x 14 = maintenance, then add 500 to that figure for surplus.

Female- Weight (in pounds) x 12 = maintenance, then add 200-300 to that figure for surplus.

So as an example, a 160 pounds male would need to ea 2,240 calories to maintain his current weight.  He would then need 2, 740 calories to gain muscle (2,240 + 500).  And to build muscle fast, he would need an additional 200 or so calories.  It is always better to overeat then undereat, especially for those very skinny or ectomorphs.

Now this is just a rough guideline to start. This formula doesn’t take into account daily activity level, basal metabolic rate, height, and age. However, the most important fact to keep in mind is the surplus.

Eat a 40/40/20 carbohydrate, protein, fats ratio in your nutrition plan.  This means that 40% of your calories should come from protein and carbs, and 20% should come from fats.  A gram of protein is 4 calories, a gram of carb is 4 calories, and a gram of fat is 9 calories so you can do the math there.  Good bodybuilding and muscle gaining foods include: lean meats (chicken and red meat, lean cuts of steak or pork), whole grain oats and cereals, wheat bread, brown rice, nuts, essential fatty acids ( flax seeds, flax oil), eggs, whole grain pasta.

Alternatively, you could also try 50/30/20, 33/33/33, or 35/40/25 c/p/f ratios.  These are tried and true ratio balances for anyone looking to build muscle and/or lose fat.

It’s also a good idea to swallow a daily multivitamin tablet.  Micronutrients are vital to muscle growth.  After an intense workout, eat a post-workout meal or drink consisting of at least 40 grams of carbs and 20 grams of protein.  Cortisol levels are high and muscles are depleted of glycogen during this period so you want to eat and flush in nutrients to your muscles for repair and recovery leading to growth.

Read more about proper pre and post workout nutrition in Dr. John Ivy’s “Nutrient Timing System: The Science of Sports Nutrition.” Drink plenty of water to keep hydrated and your muscles full.  Half a gallon a day should be plenty enough.

That’s it and there you have it.  I probably got fancy calling these basic rules principles but that’s only because I want to highlight the most important foundational elements of muscle building.  You must follow these rules if you want maximum muscle growth.  If you want to build muscle, do compound exercises, lift heavier weights, eat a surplus of calories/eat a lot, get lots of sleep, drink plenty of water, and ensure you are consistent day in and out with your workouts.

Muscle building is easy.  If takes a lifestyle approach to build muscle fast.   Bodybuilding and gaining muscle is a lifestyle.  It’s all a habit.  Stick with it and you will build muscle fast!  Make up your mind if you really want to gain muscle.  If you do, get to work and don’t overanalyze all these extra muscle gaining tips.

Enough reading and wasting time.

Train Hard.  Train Safely.  Train Smart.

If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to leave a comment below or email me at ZQH245@gmail.com or ZQH250@gmail.com

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