A lean muscle is a fantasy of almost every one of us, no matter whether you are a male or a female, you must have fancied about having a great shape and lean muscles at least once. You could have tried different diets, workout plans, strength building techniques, and some of them might have worked out for you.
Yet, many people fail to get the best out of their workout routine. We often lend ourselves in a conundrum surrounded by numerous tips and recommendations, but most of the time, end up with dissatisfying results.
So, to make the task simplified and easier for you, we have jotted down 10 best ways that always seem to work. Incorporating these in your diet and daily workout plans can give a boost to your muscles.
1. Follow If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM)
Don’t get excited thinking of IIFYM as a green signal to eat candies and junks; this is a common misconception. IIYM is much more than a flexible dieting and can be very useful. The biggest benefit of IIFYM is that it provides the much-needed flexibility, i.e., it allows you to eat out with friends, go to parties and have birthday cakes. This diet has been proved much more effective than traditional dieting.
2. Have Small Calorie Gains
Muscle building is a slow process, much slower than most of you think. An average guy can gain anywhere between 0.25 to 5 pounds of muscles a week, and this is quite low. Hence, you need not to stuff yourself with a lot of calories. A surplus of 200 – 400 calories a day will be sufficient and anything beyond this limit will get deposited in the form of fat.
3. Must Do Cardio
Make it a golden rule to never skip your cardio. Always keep it in your daily routine. It will help burn extra calories and fats, and will improve your appetite.
4. Have Some Mini Cuts
Mini cuts helps you in burning additional fat. It extracts most out of fat-burning hormones like leptin and triiodothyronine (T3). Keep your mini cuts a bit aggressive, i.e., if your current intake of calories is around 4000 calories, drop it to 3000 or even to 2500. The cut can vary anywhere between two to six weeks, depending on your condition.
5. Lift Heavy
Lifting heavy is a direct signal to your body to maintain and build more lean muscles. You should always strive to add one more plate to your rod, add one more rep to your set or one more set itself. This would be extremely helpful in making you as big and lean as possible.
6. Be Compound Friendly
Compound exercises are important, and you cannot get around them easily. Compound exercises are the best if you are planning to stimulate more than one muscle at a time. It also increases your overall strength by boosting the growth hormone and testosterone levels naturally. The harder you will go, the better would be the results.
7. Adopt High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
HIIT is the key to build lean muscle mass. It is a cardio exercise, which involves 15-30 seconds of high-intensity workout. HIIT may include car pushing, 400-meter sprint, barbell complexes and battle ropes. This is a cardio that actually helps in gaining muscles apart from burning calories and fats. The difference between normal workout training and HIIT can be compared to a marathon runner and a sprinter.
8. Use Creatine
Creatine can help to gain volume. It is one of the best supplements available in the market today. Creatine helps in increasing intracellular water retention, which in turn, increases the strength. A dosage of 5 grams daily for around 8-12 weeks with a two-week break at the end of 4th or 5th week is recommended.
9. Break Your Records
Remember our body do not always think like you. It does not want to be muscular and lean. Hence, we force our body to be the way we want it to be. Try breaking your old records. Always push the bars a little higher and go for one more set, rep or plate.
10. Have Intra Workout Drinks
Intra workout drinks are a great way to get some more energy and calories right in the middle of your bulking. This may help you gain more mass by increasing your workout quantity and quality.
Tip: No matter what particular diet you are following, always keep your carbs around your workout routines. Consuming carbs just before the workout provides you with necessary energy to boost your muscle gains.
