How to Gain Muscle Mass - 5 Principles of Muscle Hypertrophy

Gaining weight is very easy, many people may gain a lot of weight for a short period of time. On the other side, building lean muscle mass can be very hard, especially for guys that have a fast metabolism, commonly know as hard-gainers.

Also Read: How To Eat To Gain Muscle Mass - Diet Strategies For Hardgainers

Like many of the people in the world that are fighting with a body fat, there are also many people that are struggling to gain weight and build muscle mass. If you are one of those from the second group, continue reading this article.  

For everything in life you need three things - a goal, plan to achieve it and dedication. Those are three basic things to success in anything you want. You need to apply this rule and start your muscle building trip. 

There are 3 main ways to make your muscles grow:

1. Force muscles to grow with the right training

2. Feed your muscles with enough healthy calories

3. Rest, recover your muscles, let them grow

Those are only three general rules for muscle gain, now continue reading to learn five principles of muscle growth.

1. Multi-Joint Movements

In order to gain muscle mass faster, you need to place emphasis on the compound, multi-joint movements. Compound exercises are much better for building muscle mass than single-joint, isolation exercises. That is because exercises like squat and bench press allow bigger loads of weight and involve more muscle groups which lead to more muscle gains.


Top 10 Exercises To Build Muscle Mass


Bigger load and heavier exercises stimulate the bigger release of the muscle-building hormone. 

It is very important to do one of the hardest exercises - Squats. The squat is a great mass builder and it is probably the movement that involves the most muscle groups at the same time. 






2. Progressive Overload


The progressive overload is one of the most important muscle-building principles. Lifting the same weight will not help you build muscles. Muscles can quickly adapt to the weight and you need to put some more load in order to force your muscles to grow. 


Mass-Building Full-Body Workout Routine for Beginners


The key of muscle gain to leave your comfort zone, give your muscles a reason to grow. If you lift heavier weights from week to week you won't let your muscles time to adapt and you will force them to grow.


The best rep range to stimulate muscle growth is from 8 to 12. I recommend doing 10 reps per set for best muscle growth stimulation. 




3. Caloric Surplus 


To gain muscle mass you need to eat a lot. And that means you need to spend a lot of your time in the kitchen. It is one of the biggest mistakes that lifters make and don't succeed in building muscle mass, they don't consume enough calories or macronutrients. 


20 Foods You Should Eat to Gain Muscle Mass


You need to consume 18 calories per pound of your bodyweight to build muscle and at least 1 gr of protein per pound of bodyweight. On training days, try to consume more proteins because your muscles need it to repair and grow. 


Foods that are Best Sources of Protein




Consume enough calories and all three macronutrients (protein, carbs, fats) and in a combination with resistance training your muscles will start to grow. 




4. Rest Your Muscles


This is how it goes, you give your muscles a reason to grow in the gym, build them in the kitchen and they grow while you sleep. Lack of rest can decrease the chance of muscle growth.


Also, don't overtrain your muscles. Don't train same muscles for two days in a row or you will overtrain them and prevent them from growing. To build muscle you need a short and intense workout and long periods of rest. 




5. Supplements Selection


Many supplements ads promise you results. A lot of them are actually unnecessary and just a waste of your money. The best muscle building supplements that you need to buy are Creatine and Whey Protein. They can be a great support for building muscle mass. 


You can check the list of 5 best muscle-building supplements, but you must know there are no better supplements for building muscle mass than Whey Powder and Creatine. 


Top 5 Muscle-Building Supplements




If you start following these five principles right now, you have a big chance to build your muscles for less than one month. Applying these rules could make the most benefits for beginners because in the starting phase, first two to three months, you can build most muscle mass. 


It is very important to start doing it right from the beginning, so don't lose your time following wrong workout plans and wasting money on unnecessary supplements. 

Workout for Muscle Growth - Build Muscle Mass Fast

Many beginning lifters should know that in order to build muscle mass they need to follow the right workout routine and diet plan. Building muscle mass can be very hard for many beginners but there are some basic rules that should be learned when starting bulking up:

How to Gain Muscle Mass Fast - Tips for Beginners and Skinny People

There are some facts that beginners need to know about training to build muscle:

- Don't copy a workout routine from professional bodybuilders, you are not going to become like them, at least not for a couple of years and not without using steroids. You'll need a muscle-building workout routine that is designed for beginners and natural bodybuilders.

-  Use compound movements like bench presses, squats, rows and shoulder presses to activate more than one muscle group at the same time. That is more effective for muscle growth than using isolating exercises. Don't be afraid of hard workouts, just perform them with a proper form and you'll be good.

-  Don't waste your time in the gym by walking around and talking around with everyone. Don't even listen to anybody's tips, you need to get the proper education for muscle building (good fitness websites, books from fitness legends like Joe Weider..), and only ask professional fitness instructors. Some gym rats can only learn you to do something wrong.

- You don't have to lift much less weight than you can lift 12 times. You can do it to warm up your muscles, but after you start doing real workout set up your weights for 8 - 12 reps to activate muscle growth. Do not even try to lift very heavy with a bad form, that can just get you an injury. Use your 70%-85% 1RM (One Rep Max) and lift weights not less than for 8 reps and not more than 12 reps. 

Several studies are shown that the peak of the muscle growth occurs when training with a weight that is 75% of your 1RM.

100% of 1RM = 1 rep

95% of 1RM = 2 reps

93% of 1RM = 3 reps

90% of 1RM = 4 reps

87% of 1RM = 5 reps

85% of 1RM = 6 reps

83% of 1RM = 7 reps

80% of 1RM = 8 reps

77% of 1RM = 9 reps

75% of 1RM = 10 reps

67% of 1RM = 12 reps

65% of 1RM = 15 reps

From this list, you can see that the best rep number for building muscle is 10 reps lifting with 75% of one rep maximum. 

One of the most important things is that you shouldn't adapt your muscles to the same workout. Try this workout for muscle growth for 8 weeks then confuse your muscles and try some other workouts for some time. That is one of the best old-school bodybuilding tips for building muscle mass. Surprise your muscles, don't let them adapt or they won't continue to grow.

Old-School Bodybuilding Tips by Joe Weider

3 DAY Full Body Workout Routine for Muscle Growth:

Monday - Training Day 1

Tuesday - Rest

Wednesday - Training Day 2

Thursday - Rest

Friday - Training Day 3

Weekend - Rest and prepare for the next week

TRAINING DAY 1:

EXERCISE	REPS	SETS
Barbell Squat	8-10	4
Bench Press	8-10	4
Pull Ups	8-10	4
Military Press	8-10	4
Barbell Curl	10-12	4
Sit Ups	12	4

TRAINING DAY 2:

EXERCISE	REPS	SETS
Deadlift	6	4
Bent-Over Row	8-10	4
Incline Dumbbell Press	8-12	4
Side Lateral Raise	10-12	4
Dumbbell Triceps Extension	10-12	4
Hammer Curl	10-12	4

TRAINING DAY 3:

EXERCISE	REPS	SETS
Dumbbell Lunges	12	3
Triceps Dips	10-12	4
Chin Ups	10-12	4
Seated Shoulder Press	10-12	4
Seated Calf Raise	10-12	4
Plate Twist	12	2

Old School Bodybuilding Tips by Joe Weider - Build Muscle Mass Fast

Joe Weider and Arnold Schwarzenegger

If you are a Bodybuilding fan you probably heard of Joe Weider. If you didn't, then you shouldn't consider yourself a Bodybuilding or Fitness fan. Joe Weider is literally "The Father of Bodybuilding" and on the most famous fitness icons. He made Arnold Schwarzenegger famous by creating Mr. Olympia contest which is still very famous around the world. More about Joe Weider you can read in my post:

Joe Weider - The Founder of Mr. Olympia

Joe Weider built his physique at the time when steroids didn't exist and supplements and fancy machine exercises were not popular. He was a real old school bodybuilder and his training tips were a great guide for many legends of bodybuilding.

The Weider Principles:

Larger muscle groups first, smaller muscle groups after

Start your workout by training larger muscle groups first, then train smaller ones. Larger muscle groups require more energy and it is better to do them while you are freshest. For example, if you are following a training routine with Chest and Triceps day, start your workout by training chest first then work on your triceps. 

Don't make excuses!

I know that there are many busy people everywhere, but should make some time for yourself, for your own body. Joe Weider said that if you want to build a great physique you have to make exercising a priority. There are no excuses in life and there are no excuses in bodybuilding.

Stretching tips

There are many reasons for stretching like increased flexibility, increased blood flow into muscles and relief of the stress caused by tight muscles. Stretching cold muscles can lead your muscle joints to injury, so warm up first before stretching. 

It is better to feel good than to look good

It is true that Joe Weider was dedicated to encouraging people to achieve their physical ideal, but he was always saying that there is no need to risk your health to achieve better physique. As Joe Weider himself said, there is no point to having a primed physique if you don't have the health to enjoy it.  

Whatever you are looking for, you won't find it in a pill 

You can't achieve your fitness goals with any pill or with all supplements in the world. You have to work hard and take care of your nutrition. Supplements are only the addition to your diet plan.

Joe Weider's Exercising Tips for Muscle Building

Number of Sets - You don't have to always stick only with three to four sets, sometimes try doing 1 set of each exercise and perform at least 12 exercises for one muscle group.

Number of Reps - 8 - 12 reps is the best rep range for muscle growth, but sometimes try to shock your muscles by doing 100 reps for example. You need to shock your muscles sometimes in order to make them grow. Doing everything same on every workout won't get you far.

Exercise Choice - Alternate exercises in every workout, this one of the best solutions for muscle confusion. 

Rest Period - Don't make long pauses between sets, and sometimes avoid them at all by doing drop sets and supersets.

Rep Speed -  Try doing reps slower and make small pauses at contractions to increase the time under tension that will stimulate your muscle growth. 

Joe Weider's main advice is not to stick with one routine, but to shock your muscles every time by changing rep range, the number of sets or rep speed. Confuse your muscles, they won't grow if you don't make them grow. Monotonous workout routine won't help you to build your muscles.