Building muscle does require a lot of patience, but if you don’t have noticeable gains after a longer period of going to the gym, you must be doing something wrong. Although the results will come if you keep working hard, there are some things you can do to speed up the process.
Here are a few tricks to speed up muscle gains.
Focus on Strength
Instead of having weight gain goals, you should focus on getting stronger. You can do this by setting goals that are related to sets, reps, or increased weight. Pick a couple of exercises you want to improve in (for example bench press, squat, and chin-up) and monitor your progress closely.
Use Compound Lifts
To increase strength and get more muscle, you can focus on compound lifts – exercises that engage more than one muscle group. These include deadlifts, bench press, squats, and other multi-joint exercises.
Take Care of Your Diet
Working hard in the gym means nothing if you don’t give your body the material to grow. Keeping a food journal will help you monitor your calorie and nutrient intake. Even if you feel like you’re eating enough, only when you put everything on paper will you know if you’re hitting your nutrition goals.
Get More Sleep
An easy way to speed up muscle gains that often gets overlooked is to get more rest. Research suggests that sleep is important for muscle recovery, so make sure your sleep schedule is sorted.
Weigh Yourself Weekly
Sure, when you look in the mirror it may look more impressive every time, but you can’t rely on your subjective perception. Stand on the scale once a week at the same time, first thing in the morning before eating. If you’re not gaining at least a half of pound every week or so, increase your calorie intake.
Conclusion
Use these five tricks to speed up muscle gains. Remember to eat healthy, get enough sleep, and focus on building strength, and the results will come.
