Muscle Building Fundamentals – Five Tips to Boost Muscle Definition

Building muscle is not easy. To gain body weight and achieve the level of muscle definition you want takes planning and dedication. Fortunately, recent research suggests that to build muscles, it doesn’t need to take months and months as previously thought. If you make some simple modifications to your diet, commit to a regular gym schedule and get some assistance from technology, you can achieve your desired body weight in muscle in as little as 16 weeks. Here’s how:

Let’s talk about diet

Protein is your best friend when it comes to building muscle and body weight. The more protein you can store (a process called protein synthesis) the larger your muscles will grow. One major challenge is your body is constantly using up its protein stores for biological processes such as metabolism and regulating hormones. 

Therefore, to prevent protein loss – whether you choose to derive your protein from animal or plant-based sources – strive to consume one gram of protein per pound of body weight. Here are some other useful tips:

• Eat more not less – to build muscles you need calories and not just from protein. It’s important to take in sufficient vitamins and minerals to meet your body’s adequate nutrition needs. This will help you build and sustain muscle growth and lean body weight in the long-term. A good rule of thumb is if you haven’t gained any muscle in two weeks, increase your calories by 500 per day.

• Eat carbs after your workout – studies show that loading up on carbs post-workout increases insulin levels which slows down how quickly your body breaks down protein. Choose complex carbohydrates such as bananas, whole grains, nuts and shakes for muscle building and to avoid the post-workout protein breakdown. 

• East smaller meals more frequently – not eating often enough can impair your body’s ability to build sufficient protein for muscle building. For optimum results, eat a protein-rich meal (about 20 grams of protein) every three hours.

Work for multiple muscle groups at a time

Isolating certain muscles such as your triceps or biceps does help with muscle building; however, if you want to both build muscle and increase body weight, you’ll need to do exercises that challenge multiple muscle groups and joints at the same time. 

A good example is doing the dumbbell row.

This exercise engages your biceps, lateral and abdominal muscles simultaneously. It also forces you to use these muscles collaboratively, as it happens naturally in real life.

Furthermore, activating multiple muscle groups allows you to lift more weight which helps you achieve faster and more efficient muscle building.

• Use heavy weights with fewer reps

Most personal trainers will tell you that if you want to build muscles, you’ll have to alternate high reps (10-15) using lighter weights with heavy ones doing fewer reps – only five, for example. The reason is higher weight challenges the muscles both concentrically (contracting and lifting motion that works against the force of gravity) and eccentrically (resisting action that prevents the weights from being pulled down too quickly). 

How to do it: Start heavy then go lighter for muscle building. Begin each workout with four sets of low-rep exercises (3-5 reps), followed by three sets of 10-12 reps for every move after that. This approach will help your body build muscles more efficiently than if you’re only doing high reps alone.  

• Give your muscles a rest

If you’re new to body-building, you may not realise that your body builds muscles while at rest. Not resting sufficiently between frequent and heavy lifting that’s intended to build muscle can have the opposite effect. It can slow down the body’s recuperative ability and interrupt the muscle-building process.

How to avoid it: Limit the number of reps performed in one session to 12-16 sets. Doing any more can lead to muscle fatigue and burnout. Also avoid overworking your muscles to the breaking point by hitting the gym too many days back-to-back, without a break. 

Remember, to build muscle and increase body weight, you need to give your body a proper recovery period. The recuperation process is typically broken down into three phases: 

• 30-to-90 second rests between sets 

• 2-to-4 hours immediately after exercise

• 48-to-72 hours between exercise sessions

Let Technology Work for You

The great news is that you don’t have to go to muscle building alone. A recent innovation in muscle sculpting technology has introduced another tool to enhance your workout and help you build muscles using Multi-Directional Stimulation (MDS).

The treatment is called truSculpt® flex and as the name suggests, it’s designed to sculpt and tone the midsection by replicating intensified crunch, squat and twisting actions. This new technology is a game-changer if you’re looking to shape, strengthen and firm your muscles quicker and will less time spent at the gym. 

Does truSculpt® flex really help you build muscles? Yes. Clinical trials that show that a series of four sessions resulted in an increase of 30% muscle mass on average. Keep in mind that results vary from person to person and additional treatments may be required to achieve and maintain results. 

Here are some key benefits of truSculpt® flex:

• Multiple areas can be treated – up to eight zones can be treated in one 45-minute session.

• Highly customisable – three treatment modes are available to tailor sessions to your needs. Programs take into account different fitness levels, body shapes and long-term goals. 

• Clinically proven results – backed by real science that shows the device has the ability to build muscle and increase muscle mass by 30%. 

• Impeccable Safety – truSculpt® flex has a unique safety feature called truControl™ technology. It provides safe and consistent results from one treatment to the next.

Contact us now at Restoration Clinic in Mt. Hawthorn, Perth to learn more about truSculpt® flex: (08) 9443 2222