Muscle Gaining Secrets for the Boys!

Ok, so you have been going to the gym 3 - 4 times a week and hammering down those protein shakes, however you’re not getting any bigger. Your still scrawny and want to be brawny – here are our top tips.

Tip One: USE BIG COMPOUND LIFTS; using big lift exercises such as squats, deadlifts, chins, and dips will recruit tons of muscle fibres. The more fibres you can recruit in one hit, the more growth hormone you will produce. It’s the growth hormone that is responsible for getting you HUGE! For example it you want bigger arms, we recommend doing chin ups over bicep curls as chin ups hit your lats, biceps, forearms and core releasing a ton of growth hormone. On the other hand, a bicep curl will use, well, biceps, and that’s pretty much it, so you will not produce nearly the amount of growth hormone.

Tip Two: SLEEP; Aim to get around 8-9 hours sleep per night. Sleeping is where the magic happens. When you train in the gym your goal is to tear down all the muscle fibres as they will rebuild back thicker and stronger. However this rebuilding process is optimal while you’re sleeping. So you can go to the gym and kick your arse on your squats and deadlifts, but IF YOUR NOT SLEEPING, YOUR NOT GROWING!!

Tip Three: LIFT HEAVY; The heavier the weight, the more Type 2 Muscle Fibres you will recruit. It’s these Type 2 Fibres that are responsible for hypertrophy (building bigger muscles). In order to tap into these Type 2 Fibres, it is essential to lift a weight that is regarded 80% or more of your maximum. You should not be able to perform more than 10 reps if you’re at 80%. If you’re going gung ho pumping out 25 reps, the odds are the weight is way too light and you will be tapping into your Type 1 Fibres…the ones responsible for endurance not muscle building.

Tip Four: LIFT FAST; The rule here is the same as the rule above. The faster you lift, the more Type 2 Fibres you will recruit. You will find it near impossible to lift a heavy weight quickly, however what we mean is driving the weight with force throughout the lift. So, you drive the bar as fast as you can, but the bar still moves slowly…get it?

Tip Five: EAT BIG BUT CLEAN; In order to pack on a ton of muscle, you must be feeding your muscles with nutrients, vitamins and minerals for them to grow. Protein such as meat, fish and eggs are fantastic for slapping on lean muscle tissue to your scrawny little frame. Add some good fats into the mix such as coconut oil, olive oil, butter, nuts and seeds as these will keep your hormones happy and the body will run like a well oiled machine. Finally throw a ton of veggies in the mix to keep you lean and prevent you from getting fat.

Tip Six: OVERLOAD YOUR MUSCLES; There are many different ways too overload your muscles. You could have a partner assist with a few reps at the end of a set, drop sets, matrix sets, pyramid sets and so on. One of our favourites is adding chains or bands to an exercise which adds a specific overload. For example, the toughest part of a bench press is the bottom phase where the bar comes down and touches your chest and the easiest part is the top phase as you lock your arms out. If you were to add bands to your bench then all of the phases would be equal. The bottom phase would have less band resistance compared to the increased band resistance up top, making the entire movements resistance equal. Be sure to mix your choices of overload so your body doesn’t adapt!