Learning to lift weights correctly and safely can be an enjoyable experience. You will find satisfaction in your workout, the benefits and the results of building muscle. You will first need to come up with an exercise plan that works for you. This article is a great stepping stone to get you on your way.

Put all of the “big three” in each routine you perform. These mass-building exercises include dead lifts, squats and bench presses. These compound exercises can make you stronger and improve your muscle tone as well as increasing your muscle mass. Make sure you try to include a variation of these types of exercises during your workouts regularly.

Change your routine around. After you have been working out for a bit of time, you might find that you are bored with your routine. This can cause you to lose motivation and even stop working out all together. Add variety to the exercises you perform, and try to focus on different muscle groups with each gym visit. By varying your workout you will keep it fresh which will help you stick with it.

Don’t work out for longer than an hour. The body begins to produce more cortisol, a stress hormone, after sixty minutes of working out. Cortisol is a hormone which can block testosterone, wasting the effort you exert in your muscle building program. This can be avoided by working out for no longer than 1 hour continually.

After working out it is important to stretch well if you want the muscles to repair and build themselves well. Anyone that is under forty years old needs to make sure that each stretch is held for a minimum of thirty seconds. People who are over the age of 40 should hold stretches for a minimum of 60 seconds. This prevents injuries from occurring when exercising.

Muscle Groups

Focus on building the major muscle groups first. This is accomplished by focusing your attention on developing your upper chest, shoulders and upper back. Building these muscle groups will also make your waist appear smaller.

Work your muscles to exhaustion to get the best results from your exercises. Leave nothing on the table. You want to try and push yourself to your limit during every set. Don’t stop until you’re unable to do even a single more. You can then begin using heavier weights and doing less repetitions to increase muscle size.

Incorporate plyometric exercises into your muscle-building routine. When you complete these exercises you help stimulate muscle growth by developing muscle fibers that are fast-twitch. Plyometrics are similar to ballistic moves due to the fact that acceleration is required. For example, if you were doing plyometric push-ups, you would propel your body upward by removing your hands from the floor as you complete the movement.

15 Grams

Preceding and following up your workouts with foods that contain plenty of protein is a good practice when you want to maximize muscle growth. Bodybuilders have determined that eating 15 grams of protein before you begin your workout and 15 grams once you finish produces the best results. 15 grams of protein is equal to about two cups of milk.

To increase muscle mass, you must keep an eye on your calorie input. There are good calories and bad calories, and you need to know the difference. At an extreme, a bad diet will lead to more fat instead of muscle.

Get better at bicep curling. You won’t receive the greatest benefit from doing a typical bicep curl because the bar or dumbbell does not move beyond the parallel point. The topmost half is easily the most powerful part of these curls. Just go ahead and do some seated barbell curls to fix this.

Have a reasonable goal in mind. Results take a long time to appear. Don’t try to take shortcuts; stimulants, steroids and other unnatural muscle development methods can be hazardous to your health.

Creatine has proven successful for some people, so you might want to give it a try. This supplement can help you train much longer when you have a diet that is rich in carbs and protein. Discuss taking Creatine with your doctor to see if it is the right thing to do.

Proper eating is an essential part of any muscle-building program. There are nutrients your body needs to rebuild muscles in the body. It’s been proven that most protein shakes are a great idea after a workout, as they normally help to rebuild fibers.

Resist the urge to quickly power through sets! When you maintain a slower pace in completing movements, you are likely to see more results faster. Sometimes this might require decreasing the amount of weight you are lifting, and that’s okay. Each repetition should be done for at least 20 seconds in order to fully use each set of muscles.

Using the correct technique when lifting weights will provide you with better results than using more weight, faster speed and even the amount of times you work out. Every exercise needs to be practiced to ensure correct execution. Practice early with light weights, and increase the weight down the road for better results.

If you are a beginner to bodybuilding, work on your form prior to increasing your power. If you allow your form to be off, it will compromise your workout. It basically means that you will power up impending injuries, which is not what you want to do at all.

Having a healthy body will make you feel your best, and developing lean muscle can help you achieve that goal. When you combine cardiovascular exercises with weight training, you can achieve your results in less time than by doing cardio exercises on their own. Come up with a plan that involves both to get on your way to great changes!