You've been hitting the weights. You've been doing the strength exercises. You've been eating your protein bars. But you're still not building the muscle mass you want. What are you doing wrong? There are a lot of factors and decisions, both big and small, that can affect how much muscle your workout routine is adding to your body, and making just a couple of wrong choices can mean you're putting in a whole lot of work and sweat for lackluster results. If you're new to the world of bodybuilding and really want to add on some serious bulk, here are some workout tips that you might have forgotten about that could help you get the results you want:
- Get lots of sleep – It may seem like serious bodybuilders are always active, but that's hardly the case. Serious bodybuilders know that they need to get plenty of sleep every day to see real gains in their muscle mass. Your body does most of its growing and repairing while you're asleep, meaning that if you're not getting your 8 hours every night, your body isn't being given the proper time to develop all that muscle you've been working so hard to build. If you're serious about gaining muscle mass, remember that your sleep time is just as important as your workout time.
- Perfect your form first – A lot of new bodybuilders want to get straight to the serious lifting and, in their rush to get results, they skip perfecting their basic form first. Learning proper lifting form may seem like a trivial detail, but it's an important step in mastering the art of bodybuilding. If you don't perfect your form first, you'll develop bad habits that will not only be hard to break later, but that will lessen your results and possibly even lead to injury down the road. Don't be in a rush to skip the basics. Work on your basic form for every exercise and muscle group and, once you've got them down, start worrying about your weight levels and other details. If you're not sure what the basics are, do some research online to find tips and videos from the experts or look into hiring a personal trainer.
- Take days off – Something a lot of beginning bodybuilders forget about is taking breaks between workout days. It may seem like hitting the weights every day will get you better results, but in fact it's making your body more sore and tired, and probably reducing the results you're getting from your workouts. Take a day off between workout days to recover, and you'll be able to maximize your results for each workout.
- Eat before and after your workout – Expert bodybuilders often meticulously plan their meals to get maximum results, but beginners don't need to worry about that level of detail yet. What is important for beginners is to make sure to eat meals containing both protein and carbohydrates before and after workouts. This gives your body fuel for the workout itself, and energy to burn afterwards so that new muscle can be built.
For more workout tips and nutrition information, read our Promax Nutrition blog.