Have you been trying to build muscle but you feel like nothing you do works?

If so, me too.

Luckily, I’ve tried so hard and made so many mistakes, that I’ve managed to learn a thing or two along the way.

Therefore, in this article, I’m going to share nine tips that you can implement as soon as now, to boost your chances of building muscle.

it is no secret that building muscle comes down to proper training, nutrition, and adequate rest.

So why does the goal of building muscle seems so unreachable?

Because it is not an overnight process. Besides the training, nutrition, and rest, it requires a dedicated mindset, patience, and of course, the right approach.

All of which I will be sharing with you in this article.

Therefore, let’s now waste any more time, and jump right into it.

Building muscle is easier said than done.

As I’ve mentioned, when I was a beginner, I’ve made many mistakes when it came to both strength training and nutrition.

In my first years of training, just like most beginners, I was working out hard, sometimes twice a day. This lead nowhere else but to failure, as I had no idea what I was doing, and what I was supposed to focus on.

With time, after realizing muscle building is not about killing yourself in the gym, and living there, the flip switched.

Once I approached it a different way, I started getting results faster than ever.

That approach is what I will be sharing with you in this article, so make sure to take notes!

1. Progressively overload or go home.

You’ve probably heard about progressive overload already, but you may wonder, what does it actually mean?

Being one of, if not the most important, training principles, progressive overload plays a big role in building muscle.

To put things simply, progressive overloading basically means, increasing the stimulus your muscles get each workout.

That stimulus increase can be achieved in many different ways. But the easiest ways are to: do more reps, do more sets, lift more weight or simply rest shorter.

Whatever your form of progressive overload is, make sure not to overdo it! The best tip I can give you is to go step by step!

For example, if your goal is to do 3 sets of 6-10 on the Bench Press, and you did 10, 7, 6 this Monday, focus on doing 10, 8, 6 the next Monday.

Once you hit 3 sets of 10, you can either increase the weight by 2.5lbs and go for 3 sets of 10 again or add a set.

Remember, muscles grow bigger and stronger because they have to adapt to the resistance. So if they have to adapt to greater resistance each workout, the chance of them growing is greater as well!

By the way, If you’ve been stuck at home, struggling to progressively overload, I recommend you check out this article!

CLICK HERE

2. Proper form goes a long way.

A huge mistake I was making as a beginner, was sacrificing form for reps.

By that time I knew progressively overloading will result in muscle growth. What I didn’t know was that it won’t result in muscle growth at the cost of proper form!

Proper form is crucial. Not only because doing each exercise with proper form results in more muscle contraction but to prevent injuries also.

Trust me, sacrificing proper form, just to feed the ego by lifting more, will cause you to eventually hit a plateau.

How so? If you sacrifice form for reps or weight, you will sooner or later hit a wall, since you are not doing the exercise the right way. Thus hindering muscle growth and further progress. You will have to lower the load and work your way back up again.

Yes, progressive overload is important, but not at the cost of form!

Therefore, my tip is, increase the load, only once you are comfortable with the load that you are working with. Until then, focus on doing each exercise in the best possible form you can!

3. Bulk to build muscle, not to gain weight.

Now that you know what to focus on while training, let’s get your nutrition right.

Many people, including me of course, made the mistake of believing that once we’re bulking, we can eat whatever finds itself in front of us.

Can you guess what the outcome of doing this was?

Exactly, fat spillover.

I’ve gained 10kgs (most of it fat), during my first bulk. The reason for it being was me believing I have to consume over 3000 calories daily to build muscle.

It is true, that to build muscle you should be in a caloric surplus. But not in a huge one. As a matter of fact, a 200-300 daily surplus is all you need to ensure maximum muscle growth, with minimal fat gain.

When you think about it, it makes no sense whatsoever to focus on building muscle for months, maybe even years, just to get fat.

The body fat that you’ve gained will cover the muscles that you worked so hard to build. So what’s the point of overeating then?

Therefore, my tip is, take the slower route. Don’t focus on the scale weight, and eating as much as you can to gain weight. But focus on eating just enough to build muscle, and avoid fat gain.

Eat enough protein and slightly more calories than you burn. Eventually, your muscles will start to adapt, grow, and not only look bigger but be stronger also!

Measure your progress with pictures, measurements, and strength gains. As all of those are much better indicators of muscle growth!

4. Arnie once said, “Don’t sleep longer, sleep faster!”.

What he meant by saying this is, deep, uninterrupted, quality sleep, is what promotes adequate rest and muscle growth.

Getting in 7-9 hours of sleep a night is crucial for optimal results.

The better your sleep is, the more intense your workouts will be. And the more intense your workouts are, the more muscle you will build, as they have to adapt.

What I like to do to ensure a deep sleep is avoiding drinking anything 1-2 hours before bed.

This prevents me from waking up in the middle of the night going to the bathroom.

Other than that, I also avoid exposing myself to too much blue light at night time.

Before bed, I either read, an old-school paper book or I wear blue light blocking glasses, which block the light that make the brain think it is still daytime.

Another thing I’m currently experimenting with is eating my last meal 3-4 hours before bed. This way I keep my body from digesting food during the night, allowing me to sleep better.

All of these are great tips, but you have to find what works for you. Experiment, try different things out, and you will find what fits you the most.

The one thing to keep in mind is that muscle grows while resting, not while training!

5. Treat rest days just like training days.

Just like you should plan your training days, you should plan rest days as well!

What I’m trying to say is that, by planning your training days, you reduce your chances of missing a workout drastically.

However, as you already know, rest is just as important as training, so planning rest days also has a huge benefit.

When planning rest days, there are a couple of things I’d suggest you keep in mind.

Stay active.

Make it fun.

The optimal training frequency is about 3-4 intense workouts a week.

Therefore, in between, you can either play sports, go on walks/hikes, learn martial arts or do anything that you enjoy that keeps you active, without interfering with your training.

The critical thing to keep in mind is that planning rest days and sticking to them will make your workouts much better and more intense. Since you are resting between workouts, every workout you are ready to go all in.

This will result in long-term success, and it will make the process fun and enjoyable as well!

Read Also: Muscle Building Workout Plan: Find Your Plan To Make GAINS Fast

6. To build muscle, don’t forget to surprise them occasionally.

Doing an exercise, for a long enough time period, and getting strong at it is what will undoubtedly result in muscle growth.

Switching to a different exercise, after a while, that targets the same muscles as the previous one, surprises the muscle and results in even more gains.

What I’m trying to say is that after a while, your muscles get used to the same movements that you’ve been doing.

That doesn’t mean that you can no longer make gains doing them, but that the gains are a bit slower.

Many people refer to this as a plateau, and some plateaus may even completely stop you from progressing.

Plateaus are inevitable, and to fight them, the one thing you can do, considering your rest, nutrition, and form are intact, is to switch exercises up.

If you’ve been doing Flat Barbell Bench Press for a while, and you just can get past 155lbs for 5 reps, switch to Flat Dumbbell Bench Press for a couple of weeks or months.

Trust me, once you get back to the Barbell version, you will be much stronger than before.

When you do so, your muscles are exposed to a different type of stimulus, thus being surprised. Little tweaks such as switching from Barbells to Dumbbells play a huge role, as they target the same muscle groups, but work them in different ways.

As a result, your muscles will have to adapt to this new stimulus and grow even stronger.

You can do this for each exercise in your training plan, just make sure to stick to one variation for at least 6-8 weeks.

7. Patience is your strongest ally.

If you are natural, muscle growth takes time.

Sorry, but that’s just how it is.

As a beginner I desperately wanted results, and I wanted them fast.

Therefore I did all kinds of dumb things just to rush the process. I ate like an animal and got fat, I sacrificed form for reps, thus injuring myself and not being able to work out, and many more.

Everything I did, eventually forced me to make a couple of steps back, just to right my wrongs.

That’s why it is crucial to stay patient and make the process as enjoyable and fun as possible.

Don’t make the same mistake as I did, learn from it. Stay patient, and make the journey as enjoyable, fun, and effortless as possible!

Read Also: Beginner Strength Training Mistakes: 8 Mistakes Killing Your Gains

8. Don’t focus on perfection right away, focus on being better each day!

Trust me when I tell you, you will make a lot of mistakes along the way too.

Whether in training, nutrition, or whatever, mistakes or an inevitable part of the process.

Therefore, be prepared, and when you do make mistakes, learn from them! Use those mistakes as fuel, write them down, and let them guide you towards success.

That’s exactly what I did, and what allowed me to stay on track.

Without acknowledging my mistake, accepting them, and learning from them, I would’ve never learned how to build muscle, and get in the best shape of my life.

Maybe you wouldn’t have been reading this article!

So, don’t forget, it’s not about being perfect right away, but learning something new every day!

9. Who you hang around with is who you become.

I didn’t believe in this quote for a long time.

But after I surrounded myself with like-minded individuals, I couldn’t believe the effect that had on my results and progress.

For example, if you are trying to build muscle and get in better shape, and you hang around with fat people who eat burgers and drink beers all day, you reduce your chances of achieving your goal drastically.

On the other hand, if you have the same goal, but surround yourself with people with similar goals, striving to become better versions of themselves, it is safe to say, it’s only a matter of time you actually achieve your goal.

How and why?

Because by spending time with people, you see, consume, accept, and believe the same things they do.

So by spending time with the right people, you are headed in the right direction.

Therefore, if it’s necessary, limit the time you spend with people negatively influencing you, and make an effort to spend more time with like-minded people!