|
Home / Muscle Building Workouts / Build Lean Muscle Fast
5 Ways To Build Lean Muscle Fast
Joey Vaillancourt is a former skinny guy who struggled with genetics to gain weight. Today he is a fitness model champion and a great inspiration to anyone looking to gain weight and muscle and i am pleased to add him as a contribute to this home workout web site.
5 Ways To Properly Stimulate Muscles For Maximum Muscle Gain
When I first started lifting weights and training to gain muscle, I was not properly activating my muscles in the way I do today.
As a beginner, I was just interested in trying to lift as heavy as a weight as I could and I didn't take into considerations things like proper form, mind-muscle connections or focusing on the proper muscles when doing the exercises.
Nope, all I did was check myself out in the mirror as I would attempt to curl 50lb dumbbells when I should have been really using more like 15lb dumbbells.
Now don't get me wrong, you do want to lift heavier weights over time. After all, our muscles will only adapt if we give it a reason to adapt. But, I was impatient, young and had something to prove. I didn't care about properly progressing in my lifts. All I wanted to do was boost my ego by lifting heavy in front of my friends.
I did gain weight and make some progress, but then down the line, my progress came to a halt, i wanted to build lean muscle fast.
What happened? Ill tell you what happened…the ‘beginner's training gains' wore off!
The only real reason I was progressing is because I was a complete beginner and even though my form, focus and technique were slightly incorrect, my body was still adapting.
This is fine when you are a beginner and the weight you are lifting is only moderate, but as you progress in your training and you get stronger you may develop imbalances and/or injure yourself.
That is why now, I always recommend my clients to focus on technique and form before even considering lifting heavier weights. It will pay off big time in the end.
The problem most people face including myself is that we are sometimes too focused on looking good or acting macho in front of others at the gym, (you know you do it J) and we are not properly stimulating muscle and recruiting all potential muscle fibers therefore will not build lean muscle fast.
Muscle fibre activation is just as important if not more as the amount of weight you can lift. If you can stimulate more muscle fibre with slightly less weight and better form, then why would you sacrifice that positive factor by lifting a heavier weight with improper form and bad technique?
This is more of an intermediate to advance article on how to gain muscle by activating the muscles through the mind-muscle connection, but beginner's can benefit by learning early on that proper form, technique and muscle activation come first and the amount of weight you can lift is a distant second.
Start to include the 5 mind-muscle connection techniques to start seeing better results when trying to gain muscle. These are powerful tools that will assist you and help you progress properly. Eventually, you won't need to use them as much as they will just become a learned habit.
Think about it:
You should start to think about the muscles you are about to train while you are on your way to the gym. When you being to think about which muscle you are about to train, you send signals to your brain to begin preparing for battle if you will.
By doing this, your muscles become more receptive when it comes time to begin lifting. You are also creating stronger neural connections between your mind and your muscles.
Just silently think to yourself;
- Which muscles am I working today?
- Which exercises am I going to be performing?
This might only require five minutes of your time, but it can be the difference between a good workout and a great workout and you will be on your way to build lean muscle fast.
Feeling it:
After ‘thinking' about the muscle, the other side of it is to focus on what it will feel like when you are training the muscle.
Either immediately after getting to the gym, or while warming up, start to go through some mental preparations:
- How is it going to feel after working that muscle group?
- How is it going to feel to have a shirt busting pump and blood gorging muscles?
- How will it feel when you finally make it to that special event or beach part (you can pick anything you want) and people notice that particular muscle group?
After doing this, you will start to be really motivated to work that muscle group and you will much more committed to the workout because you are holding yourself accountable.
You are reminding yourself of not only the feeling associated in the workout, but also how it will feel when you get rewarded with new muscle gain and compliments from others.
Muscle Activation Warm-Ups (light weights and muscle focus)
Proper warm-up is very important when you train and it should not be overlooked or skipped, this is vital if you want to build lean muscle fast, as it prevents you getting injured as injuries will slow your progress down.
This should be part of your workout and should not just depend if you ‘feel' like doing it that day or not.
You need to properly warm your muscles up with lighter weights first before you attempt your heavier sets.
The main benefits to warming up with a lighter weight are:
- Helps lubricate the joints by pumping blood through the muscles
- Better coordination of the movement of the exercise
- Prepares you mentally for heavier sets when you progress your warm-up properly
You don't have to warm up for every exercise but it all depends on how you are training. If you are training one or two muscle groups per workout, then only warm up when beginning to work that particular muscle group.
You only need 1-2 warm up sets per muscle group for only 1 exercise.
Do not use a weight that will cause you to fail. The goal here is to simply warm up. It should not be an all out effort.
Generally I like to use about 50% of my 5-6 rep max and perform about 15 repetitions to warm up with. Then depending on how I am training, I might do another warm up set with a slightly heavier weight for less reps. Again, not to failure.
Drop The Weight and Focus On Form and Technique
Form and technique do not get as much attention as they deserve simply because they are not interesting topics to the majority of people looking to build lean muscle fast.
Instead of focusing on proper technique, the average person would rather just concentrate on progressing and lifting heavier weights while sacrificing form and risking injury.
Although they may not realize that they are doing this.
I strongly urge you to start training smarter, this is the only way you will build lean muscle fast.
On a regular basis, you should take some time and review basic exercise descriptions for all the exercises you are currently performing in your program.
More often than not, you will pick up on small tips and information you had forgotten about that will help you get better at the exercise.
Secondly, be honest with yourself and make sure your progressions in weight increases are not causing you to sacrifice proper form when doing the exercise.
If ever you cannot complete the exercise with proper technique and execution, then I would highly suggest decreasing the load until you can progress to a heavier weight and still perform with proper form.
Over time, you will get stronger and there will certainly be less chance of you developing injuries or creating stress by improperly performing the exercise.
The priority list for muscle building should always follow; technique + form then increase in the amount of weight lifted, this is how you build lean muscle fast.
Stay Focused
The final point on this topic is to always stay focused on your workout.
If your goal is to build muscle and completely transform your body, you cannot get distracted while you are in the gym.
That means not hitting on the women in the gym, not getting caught staring at yourself in the mirror and not having long conversations with your buddies in between sets.
You are there for a workout and nothing else. It's ok to socialize, but just keep it in moderation and never let it distract you completely from your muscle building goals.
You really need to stay focused especially when you are attempting to beat your best lifts. Do not take this lightly if you want to build lean muscle fast.
I can guarantee if you start to implement all of these tips, you will notice more progress in your lifts and in your quest to build a more muscular body.
Remember that you can still have fun while working out, but it's not a social occasion. At least it shouldn't be if you are serious about building muscle.
Just be sure nothing distracts you and you should start to see some impressive progressions in your training and muscle size.
These 5 great tips will help you build lean muscle fast, if you follow them exactly and combine an intense workout and diet plan.
About The Author
Joey Vaillancourt is author of the new 'Bones to Buff' transformation program which helps skinny guys build their first 10lbs or more of new lean muscle in just 5 weeks.
Joey is also a registered fitness trainer and won the FAME 2010 fitness model competition.
Download Bones To Buff Instantly
My 12 Week Transformation
You can follow my progress throughout my recent 12 week muscle building transformation challenge. In just 12 weeks and using limited equipment i was able to burn 28lbs of body fat and gain 9lbs of new muscle.
The picture on the left shows one of my before photos which was taken on 1st April.
Weight: 201.6lbs
Body Fat %: 23.86%
Fat Mass: 47.95lbs
Lean Body Mass: 152.05lbs
Waist: 38inches
See More Before Photos
The picture on the right shows one of my after photos which was taken on the 1st July.
Weight: 180.6lbs
Body Fat %: 10.59%
Fat Mass: 19.13lbs
Lean Body Mass: 161.47lbs
Waist: 33.5inches
See More After Photos
More Home Muscle Building Workouts
Get Your FREE Muscle Building Success Kit
You can new get access to the following FREE muscle building package to help you build your first 10lbs of lean muscle.
 How to eat and train to gain 10 pounds of eye-popping and confidence-boosting muscle no matter what you've tried in the past (Get a complete beginner workout routine and meal plan)!
- The top 20 muscle building mistakes that are robbing you of 90% of the muscle and strength gains you should be getting! More weight gain tips.
- Weird muscle building tricks I used to gain 41 lbs of muscle in 24 weeks 100% drug free and how you can copy my success and get a body you can be proud of.
e
Back From Build Lean Muscle Fast To Muscle Building Workouts
Back From Build Lean Muscle Fast to Home Workout Success
|
