Weight lifting can be lots of fun if done in a correct and safe manner. You can have a fun and, at the same time, gain all the great benefits that come with gaining strength and building muscle. You should start by learning what form of weight-lifting is right for your requirements, so read this article for some suggestions to start your program.
Many people who work out make the mistake of emphasizing speed over technique. No matter what exercise you are performing, slow down on reps and put your focus on your technique. This will give you better results. Go slowly and make sure you use correct form.
If you are trying to build muscle, you are going to have to start eating more over all. You want to eat as much as it takes to gain about a pound a week. Research different methods to increase you caloric intake. If you don’t see any changes in your weight within two weeks, you may want to think about ingesting even more calories.
Include the “big three” into your routine every time. These mass-building exercises include dead lifts, squats and bench presses. Correctly completing these exercises on a regular basis will add muscle mass, help to make you stronger, and generally condition your body. Try to include variations of these workout staples each time you exercise.
When you are formulating a diet to aid in your muscle-building efforts, do not neglect carbohydrates. Carbs are vital for energy so that you can last an entire workout, and if you do not get enough, your body converts your stored protein for energy instead. Having enough carbs will help your body function better and help get you through your workouts.
Don’t try to build muscle while doing intensive cardio workouts. Cardiovascular exercises are necessary for fitness but may interfere with your attempts to bulk up by strength training. If building up muscle is your focus, spend most of your effort on a strength-training routine.
Cool down with a short stretching routine to ensure that your muscles start the repair process from a healthy point. Hold a stretch for about thirty seconds if you are under forty years old. Anyone over the age of forty should hold stretches for sixty seconds at the minimum. This helps to prevent injuries after you have exercised to build muscle.
You should always incorporate plenty of protein into your diet when attempting to build muscle. Protein is the basic building block for muscle cells. If you’re not getting enough protein in your diet, you can lose muscle mass instead of gaining it. A good benchmark is to eat a gram of protein daily for each pound of your body weight.
Train opposing muscles when you are in the midst of a workout; try doing the chest and back together, or the hamstrings with quads. This setup allows one muscle group to recover while the opposing group is being worked. This will increase the intensity of your workout and the time you’re at the gym is reduced.
Make sure that you are consuming the right amount of calories each day. You can find caloric calculators online which can help you plan out a diet which will meet your needs depending on how much muscle you’re trying to build. Chose the calculator that you like the best, and then change up your diet if you need to so that you are getting the right amount of carbohydrates, protein, and other nutrients that you need.
A healthy body will benefit you in so many ways, and a body that is healthy is full of lean muscle mass. Lifting weights, in addition to light cardio exercise, will give you better results more quickly than just doing cardio exercises alone. Combine these two as much as possible, and you will achieve your goals soon!