When building muscle, you may imagine several months of hard work in the gym. However, building muscle is not only about exercising. It’s having the right knowledge about how to appropriately build muscle so that you are able to attain your desired goals with minimal time and effort. Keep reading for some sound advice you can apply towards your muscle building regimen.

Turn your attention to the bench press, squat and deadlift. These are the cornerstone exercises for a body builder. Experienced bodybuilders know that they not only provide basic conditioning, but they also build strength and bulk. Always try to incorporate these three exercises in your workout in some form.

You must eat carbohydrates, if you wish to build muscle. Your body runs on carbs, so they are essential to complete your workouts and do all the other tasks that you must do each day. Make sure that you understand that you should be consuming around two or three grams of carbohydrates for just about every pound of your body weight.

Ensure that your diet is very good on days you are going to workout. It is always a good idea to increase calorie consumption approximately an hour before working out. That doesn’t mean you can overeat when you are scheduled for a workout, but just be sure to eat a bit more on those days and less on the days you aren’t going to be weight training.

Compound exercises may be the key to maximizing your muscle-building results and getting the most out of your workouts. The theory behind these exercises is that you should use a variety of muscles during one exercise. A great example of a compound move is a shoulder press from a squat position, which works the legs and shoulders simultaneously.

Do not work out for more than an hour. After an hour of working out, the body will produce cortisol at an increased rate. Cortisol blocks testosterone, which causes less efficiency during workouts. An excellent method of ensuring you maximize your workouts is to keep workouts at less than an hour long.

Plyometric exercises are something you want to do. Incorporating these exercises into your routine will strengthen the fast-twitch fibers in your muscles and boost muscle growth. Like ballistic exercises, plyometrics require explosive movements. Squat jumps are an example of plyometrics, because as you come up from the squat position, you jump as high as possible with your arms extended toward the ceiling, and as you land, you go into the squat before repeating the jump.

It’s OK to cheat every now and then to get all you can out of your workouts. Using the leverage of your body weight to squeeze out a few more reps is an easy way to increase your workout results. Cheating a little is okay, but cheating a lot will just be cheating yourself out of great results. Keep your rep speed under control. You should never compromise your form.

A good weight training program should prioritize strength above all else. Ultimately, you should see an advancement in the amount of weight you are able to lift. So, if you are a beginner, every couple of workouts should see you lifting approximately 5% more weight. Carefully analyze what you might be doing wrong if you are not seeing this type of progress. If you feel as though you have less strength than during your last workout, you might not have allowed your muscles to fully recover.

You most likely already had the eagerness to work hard before you started reading this. You should now have a better grasp of what needs to be done to promote fast and efficient muscle growth. You can achieve your goals to build more muscle faster by using these tips.