In order to gain muscle mass fast, you must eat enough calories to support the growth of new tissue. Learn more about how to gain muscle mass fast!
Muscle gain is one of my favorite things about weight lifting. I love seeing how much bigger and stronger I get every time I lift weights. But what if I told you that you could also help build muscle faster than ever before? Well, it’s true! There is a way to increase muscle mass quickly and easily. It involves eating more calories than usual, drinking enough water, and doing high rep sets with heavyweights. This method works great for people who want to bulk up quickly.
After months of workouts in the gym without seeing any noticeable results, you might feel hopeless. Still, it’s essential to stay positive and figure out what went wrong in your workout plan so that you can correct it and start building muscle mass fast. With the right amount of determination and hard work, gaining muscle mass can be easier than you think! Here are some tips to help you with the process.
Eat Enough Calories to Gain Muscle Mass
Of course, you can’t pack on muscle if you don’t fuel your body with enough calories. The recommended intake for most healthy men is between 2,400 and 3,000 calories per day; women should aim for a range of 1,800 to 2,400 daily calories. To gain muscle mass fast—and keep it on—you’ll need to up your calorie intake.
To gain one pound of muscle mass, you’ll need to eat an additional 3,500 calories above your maintenance level. That means if you typically eat 2,400 calories per day, bump it up by 734 extra calories daily.
While it’s natural to think you should eat high-protein foods every time you sit down for a meal, more isn’t always better when it comes to gaining muscle mass fast. Consuming too much protein can leave you feeling bloated and uncomfortable and may also increase your risk of kidney damage. Stick with lean protein sources (like salmon) and pair them with complex carbs like brown rice or sweet potatoes.
To start gaining muscle mass fast, aim for about 0.75 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight daily. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, shoot for 150 to 225 grams of protein daily.
If you’re interested in gaining muscle mass fast, take a look at your current calorie intake and increase it by about 15 percent. That means if you’re eating 2,000 calories per day, step it up to 2,300. Give it a try for three weeks and see how you feel. You can always dial back or add more calories as needed; make sure not to eat too many at any one time.
Train Hard to Gain Muscle Mass
You need to train hard, but you also need to recover from training. If you’re training too hard without giving your body time to heal, you can over-train. Overtraining will result in a decrease in gains and even injuries. Give yourself at least 48 hours of rest before training again on your lifting days. On non-lifting days, it’s best if you can get away with three full days of rest.
If you’re unsure of whether or not you’re over-training, pay attention to your body. Signs of over-training include a drop in performance, unexplained weight loss or gain, and feeling sick more often than usual. If any of these signs occur in your body, take a step back from training and get enough rest until they subside.
If you aren’t sure how much rest you need, test it. Try strength training three times a week with 48 hours of rest between each session. If your performance doesn’t suffer, start trying 4 days of rest between workouts. Once you find a balance that works for you, stick with it as long as possible. Depending on how your body responds to your training schedule, you can adjust later.
Finally, remember that you don’t have to kill yourself at every workout. Even if you want to train for hours a day, you can’t do it indefinitely. It would help if you had rest days to recover from hard training sessions for your body and mind. Over-training will result in a decrease in gains and even injuries. Plan ahead of time so that you’re able to give your body plenty of rest when needed.
Plan ahead of time so that you’re able to give your body plenty of rest when needed. The last thing you want is for your muscle gains to be stunted or, even worse, for an injury to occur because you’re overexerting yourself at every workout. Take at least three days of rest between working out and try incorporating yoga, meditation, or deep breathing into your schedule on off days as well.
Focus on Compound Exercises
Compound exercises use multiple muscle groups. They allow you to lift heavier weights than isolation exercises and thus build more mass faster. Start by adding compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and pull-ups into your workout routine for maximum muscle gains. These are known as free weight exercises because they use dumbbells or barbells instead of machines or cables.
As you get stronger, you can add some isolation exercises into your routine. These work a single muscle group, such as dumbbell flyes for the chest or leg extensions for legs. Add these exercises one at a time and only when you can lift a weight in good form for 12 reps.
To build more muscle, train each major muscle group twice a week. For example, you can work chest and triceps together on Monday, back and biceps on Wednesday, legs on Friday, and shoulders on Sunday. It’s important to rest at least 48 hours between workouts for each body part. Over time your workout routine will change, but you should still focus primarily on compound exercises.
If you’re still not seeing results, talk to a fitness professional. They can recommend ways to fix your routine and help you find exercises that work best for your body type.
Sleep Well helps you Gain Muscle Mass
It’s common knowledge that getting a good night’s sleep is essential. Not only do you need enough rest to function well, but research also suggests sleep is necessary for building muscle mass. Getting enough deep sleep each night can help your body recover and make muscle faster. A study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that people who slept at least eight hours per night had almost double the amount of growth hormone than those who slept less than six hours each morning.
Besides getting enough sleep, there are other things you can do to maximize muscle growth. For example, you should also ensure that your body temperature is elevated while you sleep. Your body temperature naturally rises and falls each day—it’s highest when you wake up in the morning and lowest when you go to bed at night.
To ensure your body temperature remains high while you sleep, try a hot shower or bath for about 30 minutes before going to bed. This will help keep your body temperature elevated, making it easier for you to build muscle. To further help your muscles recover and grow after a workout, be sure to eat plenty of protein throughout the day. While experts often recommend consuming 20-30 grams of protein immediately after working out, eating an additional 20-30 grams of protein within three hours can also help boost muscle growth and recovery.
Listen to your body
Sometimes it’s tempting to push through muscle pain, especially when you’re tired or not feeling your best. But don’t push yourself too hard! If you experience soreness during or after a workout, stop immediately and let your body recover before continuing. Overtraining can lead to serious injury and burnout, so you must listen closely to your body.
Make sure you’re getting enough rest each night. For most people, seven to nine hours of sleep is necessary for optimal muscle growth. If you aren’t sleeping enough, your body won’t have time to repair itself after a challenging workout and will start breaking down muscle tissue. Sleep also helps you recharge to focus on productive tasks during your waking hours. It’s when our bodies make repairs and grow new tissue.
Try to keep your workouts under 60 minutes. After about an hour, your body’s ability to produce muscle-building hormones begins to decrease, which means that a longer workout is less likely to help you build muscle than a shorter one.
Do Cardio After Gaining Mass for a Better Metabolism
Doing cardio and eating healthy is a sure-fire way to gain muscle mass, but for your body to be a well-oiled machine, it must have a strong metabolism. That’s why you must do at least one session of cardio each week (preferably longer) following your lifting days.
This helps strengthen your cardiovascular system while also burning fat and building muscle. Cardio doesn’t have to be grueling—even walking can do wonders. If you don’t enjoy cardio, consider taking up a sport like squash or a racquetball. These sports will help build muscle mass while keeping you active throughout.
Once you’ve finished your cardio session, make sure you eat a good meal. Any healthy meal should do, but meat and veggies are best as they fill up your stomach. Make sure you don’t gorge yourself because that can cause digestion issues and make it harder for your body to absorb nutrients.
Once you have completed both your cardio and your post-workout meal, it’s time for sleep. Getting enough rest is one of the keys to effective muscle growth. Make sure you get between six and eight hours every night so that your body can recover from its training sessions.
It will take some trial and error for you to find out what works best for your body, but keep trying until you discover a comfortable routine. Remember that building muscle requires a lot of work, so don’t be discouraged if it seems like nothing is happening at first. Consistency is more important than intensity when it comes to fitness.
Supplement with Creatine to Gain Muscle Mass
Creatine is a naturally occurring compound found in meats, fish, and other proteins. Supplementing with creatine can help your body build and maintain muscle mass. Since it’s a water-soluble supplement, it’s safe for healthy adults to take every day as part of their regular diet.
Whether you’re lifting weights in a gym or just trying to do more around your house, supplementing with creatine can help you build muscle mass and see improvements in your strength and performance. Creatine supplements also have no risk of adverse side effects. As long as you are healthy enough for physical activity, it’s safe for you to take creatine regularly.
Creatine is an amino acid produced naturally in your body and found in red meat, fish, and other proteins. When you supplement with creatine, it’s absorbed directly into your bloodstream. It then enters your muscle cells, where it helps produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is a chemical that provides energy for your muscles and maintains their structure.
If you don’t regularly consume red meat, fish, or other proteins containing creatine, you may benefit from taking a supplement. Once you add creatine supplements to your diet, it can take a few weeks for your body to produce enough natural creatine for it to have an effect. For best results, take 3-5 grams of creatine per day in two divided doses (e.g., 5 grams in one dose and 2.5 grams at another time).
Creatine is safe for most people, including people with pre-existing kidney or liver conditions. However, as with any supplement, talk to your doctor before starting a creatine regimen if you have a pre-existing medical condition. Your doctor can help you understand whether creatine will cause health problems with other medications or existing health conditions.
Supplement with Glutamine to Gain Muscle Mass
Supplements are a great way to help you meet your muscle-building goals, but only if you use them correctly. Start by taking 10 grams of glutamine powder on an empty stomach before and after each workout. Glutamine is an amino acid that plays a significant role in muscle building since it’s essential for muscle repair and growth. Supplementing with glutamine can help promote healthy energy levels throughout your day while also supporting other forms of exercise (like running) where you might not be getting enough protein.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that glutamine is found naturally in various protein-rich foods, so getting enough without taking a supplement is possible. Eggs, chicken, and fish are all good sources of naturally occurring glutamine—but if you want an added boost before or after your workout (or during a long run), then it might be worth adding some extra powder into your daily diet.
You can easily find high-quality glutamine supplements at your local health food store or Amazon. Just be sure that you’re choosing a product made with pure ingredients since some glutamine powders are less effective than others.
If you’re already eating plenty of protein, then it might not be necessary to take a glutamine supplement. Be sure to talk with your doctor if you have any questions about whether or not supplements are right for you and your personal goals.
As a veteran fitness technology innovator and the founder of GearUpToFit.com, Alex Papaioannou stands at the intersection of health science and artificial intelligence. With over a decade of specialized experience in digital wellness solutions, he’s transforming how people approach their fitness journey through data-driven methodologies.