Is there something about yourself that you do not like? Do you dwell on your imperfections when you see yourself in the mirror or at bedtime? Instead of complaining about what you don’t like, it’s time to take charge and fix your problems. Read on for some excellent tips on building your muscles quickly.

When trying to bulk up and build muscle mass, you should increase the total number of calories that you eat. You should aim to consume as many calories as it requires for you to put on one pound every week. Consider the ways you might increase your calories and protein intake, then reconsider your approach if you don’t put on any weight in 14 days.

It is important to eat a lot of protein while building your muscles. Protein is one of the most important building blocks of muscles. You body has trouble sustaining muscle mass when you do not eat enough. You’ll want to choose low-fat protein options for two of your main meals as well as one of your snacks each day.

Short-term goals which are reasonably attainable are a great way to motivate yourself through rewards. While truly building and maintaining muscle mass is a long-term achievement, motivation is key to staying on course. Why not pick rewards that will help your bodybuilding efforts? As an example, get a massage; your blood flow can be improved.

Try to change your routine. As you get into any workout routine, it can become boring and that will dissuade you from doing it. Add variety to the exercises you perform, and try to focus on different muscle groups with each gym visit. This not only keeps your workout challenging, it keeps it interesting and exciting.

Compound exercises are vital if you wish to achieve optimum growth of muscle. These moves incorporate many muscle groups at once, so they are efficient and effective. Bench presses, for example, work your chest, arms and shoulders at the same time.

Use as many sets and repetitions as possible in each training session. Try taking breaks that don’t exceed 1 minute and try 15 reps for each set. This stimulates the release of lactic acid, which is a key component in muscle growth. Repeat this during your regular number of sets for optimum results in your weight training routine.

Don’t work out for longer than an hour. Beyond 60 minutes, your body starts releasing the stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol blocks testosterone, which can ruin your muscle gaining efforts. Keeping your workouts under an hour should provide optimal results.

Work opposing muscles at the same time by performing exercises that work the chest and back or quads and hamstrings. This gives one muscle group a break while you work the opposite and also ensures that you don’t train unevenly and create muscle imbalances. This will result in an increase in the intensity of your workouts, allowing you to be more effective in less time.

You should make sure that the number of calories you consume every day is high enough. Plenty of health sites offer free calorie calculators to help you decide how many calories you need to be consuming. Once you have determined your caloric needs, you need to make sure that you increase your levels of carbohydrates and proteins in proportion to get the maximum benefit.

Know your limits, and push yourself in an exercise to the point at which you hit that limit. When doing your sets, keep going until you literally cannot go any further. You can shorten your sets when you start to get tired, but do not stop until you have no energy left to continue.

When weight lifting, it is perfectly fine to cheat just a little bit. When you push out a couple of extra repetitions by using part of your body, you magnify the results of your workout. Just be careful that you don’t cheat too often. Make sure your rep speed is constant. Maintain your form throughout as well.

Use the information you got here to make vast improvements in not only muscle mass, but also to your overall well-being. You will love your new look, the improvement to your health and the self-esteem which comes with feeling great. Seize the day, and make the most of it! No time is a better time to get started than right now.