Building muscle is not an easy task and finding muscle building tips that worked for others is always helpful when undertaking and progressing through a program. Not all tips work for all people, so it is important to understand what the information means before incorporating it into your workout program. Your ability to build muscle is partly due to genetics and metabolic makeup and not just incorporating helpful tips. If your looking for a muscle building program that can help you achieve an eye popping muscular body, I highly recommend you go check out Vince Delmonte’s No Nonsense Muscle Building. But If your just here for the muscle building tips, here they are!

1. Volume is helpful and training with medium intensity and high volume will work for most muscle builders. Volume is the number of sets and reps you perform, and intensity is how much weight you choose to work with. A good volume of sets for each exercise is 10 to 15 with about a 30 second break between each set. Volume and intensity causes the release of lactic acid and stimulates muscle growth.

2. Train at least three times a week. If you are not in terribly good shape, it might be wise to start with two days a week and build from there. If you are in reasonably good shape, you may want to begin with four days a week. You can always cut back to three if four turns out to be too much at the beginning. As your training progresses and you build endurance and muscle, you can always expand your workout plan to include more days or longer workout sessions.

3. The big three weight training exercises are the bench press, squats and dead lift.  They build bulk, strength and muscle conditioning. Those three exercises should figure prominently in your workout plan and is one of the best muscle building tips.

4. Be sure you have a dietary plan in place that supports muscle building. You cannot cut calories to lose weight and build muscle at the same time unless you are consuming mega calories per day, like something along the order of 10,000 calories. Calories provide the material for muscle growth as well as the necessary vitamins and nutritional values to sustain a workout. If you need to reduce calories from a mega amount to a more realistic amount, cut fats and simple carbohydrates.

5. Consume about 10 to 20 grams of protein before and after you do your workout. This is equivalent to about one to two glasses of milk or a supplement drink such as soy or whey protein. This extra shot of protein will help a muscle building effect following your workout when the muscles are in the rest and repair mode.

6. Rest and sleep are two important criteria when building muscle. Muscle recovery and repair take place during the hours of rest and sleep. Some workout plans advocate for constant motion to keep metabolism running efficiently, but muscles, as well as, the rest of your body needs rest and sleep. At least 7 hours of sleep is recommended by most body builders and fitness specialists. Not getting enough rest will leave your muscles in a state of fatigue or near fatigue and your body building effort will be hampered.

7. It is essential to set reasonable goals when undertaking a muscle building program. Trying to do too much to quick and not seeing progress may be discouraging. Begin your program with a long term attitude and monitor your progress. It might be necessary to take a look at your goal and perhaps reset that goal to be more in sync with the time you spend on your workout and the progress you have made to that point in time. It is necessary to challenge yourself to achieve your goal, but if your goal is to far out there no muscle building tips will be able to help.