If you have decided that now is the right time for you to start building your muscles, you may think that you will have to be a slave to the gym for the next several months or even years. Weight training isn’t just about physical exercise, though. It’s important to know how building muscle works so you will see results faster. The following tips will teach you how to build muscle quickly and effectively.

Eat meat to help build up your muscles. Make a goal of consuming 1 gram of lean meat for each pound of body weight that you are carrying. This is important because it allows you to store a protein reserve that your body will be able to use to build muscle.

If you do extreme cardio workouts or want to train for a marathon, don’t try to build bigger muscles. Cardio exercises are excellent for overall fitness, but intense cardio workouts will interfere with efforts to bulk up your muscles through strength training. When you do build up your muscles you want to make sure your efforts are focused on strength-training regimens.

Provide your body with plenty of the right fuel on exercise days. Consume more calories about an hour before you are going to exercise. While working out doesn’t give you a free pass to overeat, your body will need and burn more calories on days that you exercise.

You need to do compound exercises to get the most out of your bodybuilding routine. Multiple muscle groups are used in every lift, extending the workout across your body. A great example of a compound exercise is bench pressing. This exercise works your triceps, chest and shoulders all at the same time.

60 Minutes

Do not exceed 60 minutes, when working out. Your body starts producing excess cortisol, the stress hormone, after 60 minutes of a workout session. Cortisol may block testosterone and thwart your muscle-building efforts. Keeping your workouts under an hour will allow you to gain the most from your fitness routine.

To supplement your weight training in the gym, make sure your diet includes high protein foods. Muscle requires protein to rebuild after a workout, and a protein deficiency will actually reduce your muscle mass. You might need about 1 gram of protein for every pound in your body each day.

You may have had some desire to grow your muscles prior to reading this. Now you hopefully have a better idea of what to do so that you can build muscles as quickly and efficiently as possible. Use the advice you learned here to reach all of your muscle-building goals.