How to build lean muscle

When looking around the gym today, you see guys walking around weighing 220+ pounds of solid ripped muscle. You stop and ask yourself, how do I get to look like that? Some feel the need to say lift heavy everyday, where others may say lengthy workouts. All in all, the answer is not that simple as lifting is not so much an art as it is a science.

We will break this article down into 5 parts.

1. Important points
2. Proper repetition ranges
3. Recovery
4. Food
5. Supplements

Let's start learning!

When looking into building lean solid muscle, there are a few things that you must first understand. One of these things is proven, no matter what people may tell you, and that is the fact that you cannot gain adequate size without a solid calorie intake unless you are taking steroids, HGH, or any other illegal drug that will assist your body beyond normal capacity. Now with this I am meaning to say that good muscle gains will not come if you are worried about showing off your abs! Forget about your abs and put on some weight, you can always work your fat off later!

Another is that your muscles do not grow when you are tearing them to shreds in the gym. They recover when you let them rest, after you are done with your workout. Smashing your muscles everyday is not going to help them grow, it will only reproduce microtears and introduce more lactic acid.

The last thing I want to emphasize is genetics. no matter how hard you work or how proper you eat, genetics will play a very big part in how your muscles gain in size, as well as shape themselves.

Proper rep ranges are your biggest key in getting the most out of your workout. This part is pretty simple.

Do you want to develop strength and power? Work your myofibrillar muscle fibers doing 5-6 sets of 5 reps. If you look at power lifters, you will have a good idea of what myofibrillar muscle fibers look like when they develop. They give strength and they make the muscle a ball of mass. There is no definition to this mass.

4 sets of 8-10 reps is a good middle ground for mixing up your workout. Use this as a key so you dont plateau with your gains!

Now, if you want lean, defined muscle, 12-15 reps is your range. 3-4 sets per exercise at this rep range will give a good tear to your sarcoplasmic muscle fibers and really maximize your size gains! This is alot of the work you see when you look at bodybuilders.

With all of this being said, take into consideration that there is a point to where you can lift too much. going over 15 reps a set will help out your stamina, but it doesnt induce the tear to your muscles, rather than simply wears out your energy stores.

Proper muscle gain will come when you let your muscles properly recover! Follow these steps to ensure your muscles are getting the rest they need.

1. Drink water! try to get a gallon down throughout the day. Your muscles need to be hydrated.
2. EAT! I cannot emphasize this enough when I say without calories, you will not grow! You need to take in enough that your body can use to rebuild your muscles.
3. Diet....55-65% carbs, 25-30% protein, 10-15% fats.
4. Sleep...zzzzzzzzz...make sure you are getting approximately 8 hours of sleep a night.
5. Rest. Dont slam your muscles everyday at the gym. They need time to buffer out the lactic acid that fatigues them and they need time to heal as well. take 1-2 days off a week and try to work your muscles in a 5-6 day cycle. (I.E. day 1- pecs/upp back, day 2- biceps/triceps, day 3- shoulders/traps, day 4- lats/low back/abs, day 5 - all legs!!! Day 6 and 7 off)

Try to get something in your system within a 30 minute window of ending your workout. This is a key time frame as your body is most open to nutrition at this time.

You don't like to eat heavy? Forget about getting big. Try to eat about 1500-2500 calories above your BMR, you can find a good one here. ( http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ ) Eat 5-7 meals a day, spread over every 2 & 1/2 to 3 hours.

Stick to complex carbs (whole grains, bread, rice, etc.)

Eat clean meats (turkey, fish, top end steak, chicken)

Get your fats from legumes (peanuts, cashews, etc.)

A side note on protein intake....if you are going to go heavy on the protein, stay under 50 grams every 3 hours. Its hard for your liver to process that much.

Now there are a huge range of supplements out there, so which ones actually work?

These are your keys : protein isolates, creatine, arginine.

Whey protein is a fast digesting protein where casien is a slow digester. High concentrate Isolates of either are what to look for in either, or they also sell blends as well.

Creatine monohydrate is the only creatine you will need. About 5g a day will open up your muscle gates and allow you to absorb about 20-30% more of the nutrients you put in your body.

Arginine is found in nitric oxide products. Use these to get good muscle pumps in your workouts and expand the walls of your muscle for better growth.

Complex carb supplements such as 'pure karbolyn' are possibly the best supplements you can have on your shelf. The one I listed above houses 50g of pure complex, highly absorbable carbs per serving.

There is a ton of science behind lifting, many in which you will find along the way. This guide will hopefully be able to guide you in a direction to give you a solid foundation to start. Keep an eye out for my diet guides coming soon!