8 Things You Should Know About Building Muscle

Building muscle is a different process than losing fat or improving athletic performance. These 8 ideas will give you a major jump start in the muscle building game!

I’ve been strength training for years. I’ve been strength training specifically to build muscle for about 2 years. I know what you’re thinking…”There’s a difference!?”.

Yes! There’s a difference. And if you want to get stronger, tone your triceps, build a better booty and look better naked (who doesn’t?), keep reading!

8 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BUILDING MUSCLE (BECAUSE THEY HAVE A MAJOR IMPACT ON YOUR SUCCESS)

I want to share with you a few important lessons and facts that I’ve gathered over the years so that you can leverage my experience and avoid prolonging the process for yourself!

Working Out Does Not Build Muscle

Strength training doesn’t build muscle, it breaks them down. The act of squatting, or doing a bicep curl, or completing a deadlift does not create more muscle. When you challenge your body to lift more weight, or complete more reps, or start a your next set before you’ve completely recovered, you actually create micro-tears in the muscle tissue.

On top of that, strength training triggers your body to releases hormones, like testosterone and human growth hormone. These hormones play an important chemical role in the muscle building process.

You Won’t Build Muscle if You Aren’t Fueled Properly

When you build an IKEA shelving unit for your home office, you can’t do it without the raw materials. If you don’t have the raw materials (protein, carbohydrates and fat), muscle won’t grow.

• If you eat too few calories, your body won’t use what it does have for muscle repair, recovery and growth. Those calories are too precious and your body will use them to fuel your brain and major organs and processes first.

• Eating to build? Eat more calories. The word “grow” signifies that you need more stuff in you, but most women (at least the women I know, including yours truly), are nervous too eat more calories. We’re so used to deficit diets and restriction that we forget that we’re not trying to shrink!

Not only do you need to eat enough calories…

• Protein is your best friend. When it comes to building muscle, protein reigns. Protein is made up of amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of muscle. That being said…

Deep dive into nutrition for muscle gain with this article I recently wrote: 6 Nutrition Tips to Build Lean Muscle!

You’re Probably Not Eating Enough Protein to Build Muscle

How much muscle does it take to build muscle? Experts suggest that you consume at least gram of protein per pound of lean body weight. Do the math. That’s…a lot. If you’ve never spent any time food journaling, I highly recommend logging a few days on a meal journaling app to get an idea of your starting point. You might be surprised at how little protein you actually consume!

Carbohydrates Play as Significant a Role as Protein in Your Post-Workout Shake

While yes, consuming protein post-work is important and yes, a shake is a great option because it’s easily absorbed, don’t forget about your body’s favorite source of energy: carbohydrates. Picture you post lifting session. You’re done with your workout (yay), it went really well (heck yeah!) and now you’re muscles are tired but you’re feeling on top of the world. You reach for a shake with a scoop of protein and some water. Here’s what happens in your body…

First, your body recognizes that you’ve just depleted it’s energy stores. You’re running on empty. And because your body doesn’t understand that you don’t have to run away from a mountain line any time soon like your ancestors did, it thinks “survival first”.

Your body would prefer carbohydrates in this situation. Carbs are fast fuel and your body wants to replenish it’s energy stores quickly. Instead, it gets water and protein. Hey, it’s wayyyyyy better than nothing!

So, your body takes that protein and instead of using it to build muscle, it breaks it down and uses it to fuel up. That doesn’t leave much in the way of raw materials to make a big dent on your muscle building goals.

Moral of the story: the best time to have simple sugars (i.e. from a banana in your protein smoothie), is immediately post workout. You’re welcome!

If You Always Do What You’ve Always Done, You Will Not See the Results You Want

Fact: muscles grow when they are challenged to change.

Fact: that challenge comes in the form of progressive overload.

If you don’t train with intensity, you will not build the muscle you want to build. Do you always pick up the same 8 pound dumbbells to do 3 sets of 10 tricep kickbacks? If your answer is yes, than I can tell you with confidence that that is why you have a hard time seeing toned arms.

Bonus fact: “tone”, “shape”, “define”, “sculpt”…these are all trendy terms for “build muscle”. Muscle has shape. Build enough of it, lose enough body fat, and you’ll see your body shift shape.

The principle of progressive overload says that in order to get stronger and build muscle you need to continually and consistently increase the demands on your body. In other words you have to work harder to see results.

How do you do that? Lift heavier weight. Increase your reps. Add another set. Decrease your rest time. Elongate the time under tension. Change your exercise choices. Don’t do all of this at once. Pick one (start with heavier weight), and go from there as long as you continue to see results.

Sleep is Crucial

Did you know that sleep is the body’s “happy place” when it comes to producing hormones and putting them to work, is at night, when you are fast asleep? I didn’t until I listened to this Joe Rogan podcast with Neuroscientist and Sleep Expert, Doctor Matthew Walker.

Hormones are released according to your internal clock – your circadian rhythm. Testosterone and human growth hormone, two hormones that are deeply important to the muscle building process, are released when you are fast asleep. Without 7-8 hours (minimum) a night, you’ll put a serious damper on your progress.

There is a Reason for Resting

Speaking of rest…stop skipping it! The 60-90 second rest that your trainer or program tells you take in between exercises? It’s important!

Rest periods are meant to give your body (your muscles, cardiovascular system and nervous system), time to recover. If you don’t let your cardio vascular system recover, you won’t ever face the opportunity of taxing out your muscles. If you don’t let your muscles recover, you won’t have as much “oomph” to put into your next lift. You’ll finish fewer reps, with less juice. You don’t necessarily need to fully recover from every single lift (that would be a long workout), but don’t ignore the rest periods just to get the workout over with!

Your Warm Up is Essential to Building Muscle

A proper warm up, including dynamic movement and muscle activation, is crucial to gains. Before loading yourself up with heavy weight you must prepare your body for the work!

Think about a frozen elastic band. Bend it, and it breaks. But once it warms up and you slowly flex the band before bending it, it’ll outlast the time it takes you to lose it.

Same goes for your muscles. It is essential that you warm up, activate your muscles and joints, and increase mobility before you workout. Warm ups prevent injury. They give you time to make that mental shift from “other stuff” to “gym mode”. They also allow you to move deeper into your squats, more comfortably through your deadlifts, and with a larger range of motion through you chest presses.

Your actual warm up routine should depend on the activity you’re warming up for. That said, here are the components of any great warm up:

1. 5 minutes of light cardio. Walking, jogging, jumping jacks, side shuffles, jump rope.
   
2. Foam roll. Focus on the muscles that feel the tightest and spend at least 30 seconds slowly rolling over those spots.
   
3. Mobilization. Most of us have experienced some sort of persistent soreness – a lot of which results from daily life. The tight shoulders and hips and a sore lower back of spending 8 hours a day at your desk, for example. Dynamic stretching – like inchworms and walking lunges – and activation drills – like clam shells and glute bridges – work well here.
   
4. Finally, perform 1-2 warm up sets before diving into your working sets. This is especially important for the bigger, compound lifts that come at the beginning of your workout (when you are fresh). If barbell squats are on the docket, to a couple of sets with no weight. If chest presses are first on the list, start with pushups or very light weight dumbbell presses.

There’s a lot that needs to work together for you to successfully build muscle and continue to progress. At first, it might feel overwhelming. With time, as you grow stronger and learn new skills in the gym, this understanding will feel natural!