5 BASIC KEYS TO BUILDING MUSCLE (HYPERTROPHY)

When you are trying to build muscle in the gym, there are many factors that you need to keep in mind. Your nutrition, lifestyle habits, consistency etc all play a big role in your success.

As far as the physical exercise in the gym here is a simple little system to follow for beginners..

1. VOLUME – This is how many sets/reps you should be trying to achieve. When it comes to hypertrophy you want to find that sweet spot targeting the nervous system but also getting those reps in. Anywhere from 8-12 reps is a great place to start. When your rep range is lower than this you are generally working more towards building strength. Anything above this range your moving into muscular endurance.

1. INTENSITY – There are many ways to gauge your intensity but we will keep it very simple. Intensity = TOTAL WEIGHT MOVED. When you are in the 8-12 rep range you should be at around 70% of your 1RM in any given exercise. If you are unsure of this just find a weight where you are struggling slightly, to get those last couple reps done.

1. REST – pretty self explanatory but an easy way to remember this is the more intense the exercise the more rest you need. When you are at around 70%, roughly 60SEC rest between your sets works well and keeps you efficient with your time.

1. TEMPO – Time under tension is essential for muscle building. A good tempo for beginners is 2-3sec on the eccentric (dropping down into squat) phase and 2-3 sec on the concentric (standing tall out of the squat) phase.

1. FREQUENCY – This is how many times you train on a weekly basis. You should aim to train each body part twice per week with appropriate rest days. For example, Monday/Thursday lower body. Tuesday/Friday upper body. Wednesday REST. Having the rest between sessions allows for recovery and results.

The above methods are very simple and anyone can follow. Yes there is 1000’s of fancy activities we can do and sprinkle our bits of this or that.

But… BASIC IS BEST!

KEEP IT SIMPLE!

Remember, It does not matter how good your programming is, or how fancy your little shorts and new shoes are, ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!

If your attitude toward your training is shit so are your results!