November 28, 2022

How To Build Muscle For Bodybuilding (Without Feeling Like Crap)

Working on your body is a great way to feel good and promote healthy habits. But if you want to take things further, you'll need more than showing up to the gym to see how to build muscle properly.

Lifting weights and exercising for a half hour technically aids muscle growth and increases strength. But for something like body building, toning your body, and strength building, you need much more, like private fitness coaches and meal prep.

But before you eagerly hit the weights to try and gain as much muscle mass as possible, you need to prepare. Without a good plan, adequate training, or workouts, you might as well throw in the towel. But we'll show you how to build muscle for bodybuilding quickly, all without feeling like crap.

Calories From Protein

protein used by irvine personal trainers for bodybuilding meal prep

Increasing your caloric intake while bodybuilding is crucial. Out of everything, this is the most fundamental and vital bedrock of your training.

When you put in a high-intensity workout in a private or semi-private personal training session in Irvine, you need to up your caloric intake.

That's where protein comes in.

When building muscle, you'll be burning a ton of calories. If you're not careful, you'll burn more calories than you take in. That's why consuming protein and making up that caloric loss is crucial to seeing great results.

Some great high-protein food to consume during your journey to optimal muscle growth are:

  • Greek yogurt
  • Tofu
  • Eggs
  • Yellowfin tuna
  • Halibut
  • Whey
  • Cottage cheese
  • 2% milk
  • Salmon
  • Steak
  • Chicken
  • Chorizo
  • Peanut butter
  • Quinoa

And the list goes on. Many other high-protein foods help build the best bodybuilding diet for you. Meal prep services in Irvine are perfect for getting you in shape and promoting healthy eating habits.

In short, the important thing is to add high-protein food into your diet to help make up for the caloric loss from working out.

What Are Macronutrients?

Macronutrients, or macros, are essential nutrients we need to survive. In the gym, macros are imperative to improve muscle growth and see progress.

The three macronutrients:

  • Protein
  • Fat
  • Carbs

These three macronutrients are needed in every nutritious diet. Without all three, you could get sick and never truly start an upward trajectory toward meaningful muscle gain. The key is to find the perfect balance.

But keeping track of how many macros each person needs is challenging. Everyone's body is different. For example, an individual partaking in a keto diet may thrive in the gym and in everyday life. Others, not so much.

Consult your Irvine personal trainer on nutrition and what meal plan works for you. It's a great way to start losing weight, feeling great, and building muscle.

Focus On Muscles

Eating right is only a piece of the puzzle. Focusing on muscle growth via concerted exercises is key.

Remember that you need to change things up every now and then to ensure you're not plateauing. It's time to push yourself with progressive overload to build muscle mass in Irvine. Two forms of exercises are worth exploring: isolation and compound exercises.

Isolation Exercises

Isolation exercises are movements that specifically target specific muscle groups. Ab crunches, bicep curls, and shoulder presses are fantastic isolation exercises that help you build muscle in certain areas.

Isolation exercises help you burn calories and adapt to rigorous workouts. Isolation workouts are perfect for targeting muscles, sculpting them to your liking, and tailoring them to your overall fitness goals. But if you want to target multiple muscles at once, compound exercises are a perfect way to improve.

Compound Movements

Spending time doing compound movements like squats is a great way to simultaneously build muscle in different groups.

For example, lunges, deadlifts, push-ups, and pull-ups are fantastic compound movements to help you build muscle.

Engaging in compound and isolation exercises increases your muscle mass, but you may soon see diminishing returns. What happens with your routine, then? It's time to crank things up a notch with progressive overload training.

Pushing Yourself With Progressive Overload

irvine personal trainer helping client with bodybuilding tips

Finally, a way to quickly build muscle fast is by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.

When workouts start to flat line, and your body adapts to the challenges you've presented thus far, it's time to push. Maybe it's after a month or two, but that once-intense workout will seem like an easy routine for your body. It's all about being adaptable.

This is called progressive overload, and it's when you increase reps and weight in your workout to increase muscle growth. Where ten reps on the bench press got you to where you are, it may be time to increase to 13 reps. It's important to note that progressive overload training is a gradual process. Don't injure yourself by taking on too much weight too quickly.

In short, you'll need to add more weight, alter your training times, and tweak your diet.

Ultimately, it's about pushing yourself beyond what you think is possible.

Working With A Personal Trainer

A fantastic way to learn how to build muscle correctly. Trainers are well-versed in crafting the perfect diet for strength training, muscle growth, and toning your body.

Matching with a fitness coach allows you to focus on what works (or doesn't) for you in your journey to put on muscle quickly. Not sure if personal vs. group training sessions are right for you?

Each has its benefits, and either can help you with muscle-building or toning. Depending on your exercise goals and ideal workouts to build muscle, you may thrive in a group environment or a one-on-one training session.

Final Thoughts On How To Build Muscle

Although tacking on mass and sculpting your body takes effort, it's by no means impossible. At Hideout Fitness, private fitness coaches in Irvine dedicate their craft to helping you achieve your fitness goals.

With dynamic private sessions, comprehensive meal prep, and fitness programs, the coaches at Hideout Fitness use first-hand knowledge to help unlock the hero in you. 

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