How to gain muscle mass? How to get in shape faster? How to improve your athletic performance? Almost every athlete asks all these questions. Below are listed the main solutions that contribute to improving physical and athletic performance.
Muscle
This is a type of tissue of the human body, which is an important part of the musculoskeletal system. With the help of muscles, the basic movements of the body are performed. Muscles allow you to move in space, lift weights and protect the body from external influences.
Muscle growth and their decrease are associated with various factors, including nutrition, exercise, lifestyle, etc.
How to increase muscle
Muscles, as mentioned earlier, grow due to various factors. An important condition for muscle growth is optimal load and proper nutrition. In order to accelerate the growth of muscle mass , first of all, loads of 80% of the maximum effort are needed. This means that if you press the barbell from the chest with a weight of 100 kg, then the exercises will be optimal, in which the weight of the projectile will be 80 kg.
An important factor that can increase muscle is the presence of a sufficient amount of protein in the diet. It can be obtained from ordinary food and from special sports supplements. Protein for muscle growth should be obtained at the rate of two grams of protein per kilogram of human weight. It is this ratio that increases muscle strength and density.
Exercise to increase muscle mass
Muscle growth is associated with the implementation of multiple exercises, the so-called basic. These include:
- Bench press lying on a bench.
- Squat with a barbell.
- Rod pull from the floor.
The scientific community came to the conclusion that the constant implementation of these exercises leads to a sharp increase in muscle volume.
Bench press
Performing a bench press lying on your back mainly affects the pectoral muscles and the anterior deltoid. Since the pectoral muscles are two large layers, their stimulation leads to the release of a large number of hormones, leading to accelerated muscle growth.
Performing a bench press:
- Lie on a bench for a bench press.
- Press the shoulder blades and tailbone to the bench.
- The bar should be at eye level.
- Take the barbell with a medium grip.
- With an effort to remove it from the racks.
- Slowly lower it to the level of the lower pectoral muscles.
- Raise the bar vertically up.
- Repeat exercise 15 times.
- Return the bar to the rack.
After the exercise, rest is five minutes. In total, about five approaches are performed.
Barbell Squat
Performing this exercise is a prerequisite for the growth of all muscles. The thing is that the leg muscles are a large complex that includes four groups consisting of 15 or more different muscles. Numerous scientific studies claim that the load acting on them acts as a trigger for releasing a huge amount of hormones. These hormones help accelerate muscle growth and faster recovery.
Performing barbell squats:
- The bar should be at eye level in a special stance.
- Approach the bar so that it is located behind the head at the level of the upper trapezius muscles.
- Put your hands on it with a wide grip.
- Straighten up, removing it from the racks, and step back two steps.
- Gently squat until the knees bend 90 degrees.
- Slowly rise up.
- Repeat exercise 10 times.
After the exercise, rest should be at least five minutes.
Rod pull
The so-called deadlift is an exercise that makes the muscles of the legs and back work, but which is less traumatic than squats with a barbell.
Exercise:
- It is necessary to approach the bar lying on the floor.
- Feet set shoulder width or slightly wider.
- Dip vertically down, taking the bar with both hands.
- Without bending your back, straighten up.
- Repeat the exercise five times.
Rest between sets should be no more than five minutes.
Home workouts
In order to ensure muscle growth at home, it will take time and patience. This is due to the fact that the apartment usually does not have sports equipment and there is no such level of load as in the gym.
Alternatively, use push-ups and simple squats. To perform push-ups you will need:
- Lie on a flat floor or sports mat face down.
- Put your hands on the floor, spreading them shoulder-width apart.
- After making an effort, slowly push off from the floor.
- Repeat the algorithm 20 times.
To perform squats, you need to stand upright, slowly sit down and get back to the starting position.
Aerobic training
Aerobic training is very important for stimulating the growth of muscle fibers. These workouts differ from regular ones in that they saturate the body with oxygen faster. These types of training include:
- Run.
- Swimming.
- CrossFit.
- Rowing, etc.
Exercising in the gym without performing aerobic exercises, you may encounter the fact that muscles lift the same weight with ease, but can not lift more. This is due to the fact that the muscle has adapted to the load, receives the same amount of oxygen to perform the exercise and does not develop.
The solution to this problem is shaking when the body is knocked out of the usual rhythm. Instead of a standard set of exercises in the form of a bench press, traction and squats, you can spend several minutes of running, then perform exercises on your hands, and only then come to the basic exercises.
Muscle fibers
In the human body, there are two main types of muscles: smooth and striated. It is the second type that relates to skeletal muscle. But they also have their own characteristics, including fast and slow muscle fibers. This is a conditional name that conveys their main functions. Fast muscle fibers begin to do the job first and fail more quickly, while slow ones continue to act and lose strength last.
For the development of large muscles, it is more correct to develop slow muscle fibers. To do this, you need to perform exercises aimed at the development of large muscle groups. At the same time, execution should be slow. Protein shakes are a good helper for muscle growth.
Supplements for increasing muscle mass
The most popular supplement for developing muscle mass is protein. It is scientifically confirmed that protein surplus in the diet helps to accelerate its growth. Muscle growth protein is available in powder form. One serving provides approximately 20 grams of protein. For a practicing athlete, it is recommended that approximately 30% of the protein be obtained from such sources.
To calculate the protein needs, you need to multiply your weight by two. It is this kind of weight in grams that needs to be consumed per day so that muscle mass is added. You can make a diet from the simplest foods. These are fish, seafood, cheeses, meat, chicken, eggs and cottage cheese.
Approximate protein diet of a person weighing 80 kg, for one day:
- Pig meat - 200 grams (36 grams of protein).
- Fish - 100 grams (18 grams of protein).
- Cottage cheese - 200 grams (35 grams of protein).
- Eggs - 200 grams (26 grams of protein).
- Cheese - 200 grams (36 grams of protein).
- Chicken fillet - 200 grams (40 grams of protein).
The result is 161 grams of protein. This amount is enough for high-quality muscle nutrition. It is often difficult for an ordinary person to follow such a diet, then cocktails for muscle growth come to the rescue. They can replace some sources of protein without compromising on quality.
Types of cocktails for muscle nutrition
It was previously noted that such a supplement as protein is in great demand. Its popularity is due to the fact that a small portion contains a large amount of protein. Also, almost all such mixtures have different flavoring solutions, which can be used to dilute a standard sports diet.
In an athlete's diet, protein should make up about 30% of the total protein intake. This is due to the fact that the component from the mixture does not have dietary fiber, and when used in large quantities, it can disrupt the digestive system.
Usually two doses of protein give the body about 50 grams of protein, which is about a third of the total protein needed for a person weighing 80 kg.
There is also a supplement called a gainer. This is a mixture of protein and carbohydrates. Protein in this case is added from 5 to 40%, and carbohydrates from 60% to 95%. It should be used if your physique is lean and gaining weight is difficult. It is recommended to take this cocktail three times a day, 100 grams each. This will provide the body with extra calories that nourish the muscles and allow them to grow.
BCAA supplement is very popular in sports. Its goal is to reduce pain after training and faster recovery. If you first visited the gym, drink a portion of these amino acids, as this will eliminate downtime in the workout, which will be inevitable if the muscles do not recover within two days.