5 Ways To Increase Muscle Mass

Increasing your muscle mass is easier to achieve than you might think. You don’t need to be constantly in the gym or have a wildly different diet to achieve your muscular dreams. Instead, you only need to change or adapt these 5 things into your life to enhance what you already have.

1.  Eat More Protein

Protein is the main food type needed to gain muscle, so it makes sense to eat more of these foods than any other. This doesn’t mean you should be eating chicken exclusively, you still need a balanced diet, but use protein as the main focus of all your meals.

Recent research from the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise suggests that eating protein at certain times can also increase your natural muscle growth.

The two best times to eat protein according to the research, are before bed and before a workout. Eating protein before bed gives your body more energy to repair your muscles as you sleep. While eating before a workout gives your muscles more power to push further.

2.  Incorporate Resistance Training

It’s all well and good exercising often, but if you are doing the wrong routine, then you may not be boosting your muscles at all.

Resistance training is training that requires you to push or pull against a weight (or resistance). For example, using weights or weight-based machines.

When you do this type of training, you can easily start to gain more physical weight than you might like. If you are after a chiseled body instead of a solely powerful one, then you need to include carbohydrates in your meals too. These will give you slow-releasing power to help you push through to the point of gaining definition.

Ideally, you should be eating no more than 1g of carbs and 10g of protein per 1kg lifted, right before your workout.

3.  Consider Creatine Supplements

Supplements allow you to have the fuel you need for a workout without changing your diet. They make the process of managing your diet easier and simpler to maintain.

The best supplement to take, when increasing your muscle mass, is creatine. There are lots of brands to choose from, but see our top creatine picks to find the best products for you.

Creatine helps you gain muscle by removing your water retention to allow for more power. This means you will be able to complete more repetitions and lift at a higher intensity.

There are different types of supplements you can choose from, from bodybuilders to bulkers, muscle growth to cutting. Picking the right supplement can easily help you reach the goals you are fractions away from hitting.

4.  Consider Conjugated Linoleic Acid Supplements

Don’t be scared by the word “acid” in this suggestion. Conjugated linoleic acid (also known as CLA), is a normal substance found in our bodies. It is similar to the omega-6 fatty acids that we need to create a healthy immune system.

We normally get this acid naturally through eating meats and dairy products, but when you are on a journey to increase your muscle mass, you need more than a normal diet can give. This is because CLA is one of the acids used to turn your body fat into muscle. It focuses mostly on the abdomen and causes a reaction to your insulin sensitivity, resulting in more fat being used up to create an improved fat to muscle ratio.

5.  Detox Your Intestines Before A Workout

Making sure your body is clean and fresh on the inside, means it will have less to worry about when you are pushing for gold. Using a gentle detox such as a cup of tea, in the morning or during your lunch break, can help your body remove the toxins lingering in your kidneys.

Detox teas are caffeine-free, tasty, and designed to remove toxins that create skin issues and deplete your energy. With your energy back at 100%, you will be able to push harder in the gym and increase your muscle mass.

Summary

Adding the CLA and creatine supplements to your diet is a simple way to ready your body for a muscle-creating workout. Eating protein and drinking detox tea before the gym will help out too. But most importantly, you should be concentrating on resistance-based training to really engage your muscles and build up strength.

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