The 3 Principles of Gaining Muscle Mass

By Jim "Skip" Albury
locutus@atlantic.net
http://grove.ufl.edu/~locutus

Ok, I've posted this a lot on the "Post Your Pictures" forum, so I thought I'd make it permanent here:

Due to the complexity of muscle tissue, it's going to take years to develop quality muscle mass. The key is to be consistent and be aware of the following principles:

Bodybuilding & body shaping are built on three factors:

1. Nutrition
2. Consistent and Intense Exercise
3. Rest

If you leave out any of those 3, your gains will be minimal.

Nutrition is the most important factor, and sadly most people neglect that part of it. I did for years when I started. The majority of people focus soley on weight training. Although weight training is a large component of adding musculature, better than average nutrition is extremely important as well.

By going to the gym frequently, and training your muscles to the point of "momentary muscular failure", you create microscopic tearing in the muscle tissue and this stimulates them to grow, strengthen and improve. You want to hit failure at some point between the 8th and 12th rep. If you're using a weight that you can do 15 reps on before failing, the weight is too light. If you can barely get 6 reps before failing, the weight may be too heavy. As your muscles get stronger, you can add more weight to keep you in the 8-12 range. Frequently you can switch your routine so you do heavier weight with fewer repetitions, but make sure your form stays strict. Consistency is also very important. Weight training gains are analgous to pushing a car up a hill. If you stop, the car starts to roll back. Muscles only grow and improve if they're constantly stressed. When the stress stops, or stays the same, they stop improving or even shrink. Change your routine frequently, but don't take too much time off from the gym. At most a week or two if possible.

Here's a website with great information about muscle groups and the exercises that train them:

Body Part Training Index

Now that you've stressed your muscles in the gym, you have to provide them with quality building materials to repair. This is where the nutrition comes in. Building muscle is like building a house. The food you eat are the bricks and mortar for building the house. If you plan out your meals in advance, eating every 2-3 hours while you're awake, and carefully monitoring your protein, carbohydrate and fat intake, you can maximize your muscle growth without gaining noticeable bodyfat. You've heard the saying "you are what you eat". What would you rather build your house with, concrete or PlayDoh?

Lastly is rest. The "builders of your house" need time to make the repairs. Not only do you have to allow at least 48-72 hours between sessions where you train the same muscle groups, but you should do your best to get a good 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. Your body starts releasing growth hormone about 2 hours after you go to sleep. This prompts the body's systems to repair themselves. The more you sleep, the more work can be done.

I hope this helps. Keep on working hard. Remember, we skinny guys can get big too! We just have to work a lot harder at it.

For example:

This was me at 16:



This was me 7 years later (at 25):



This is me today (over 18 years later, at 36):



Hang in there, you can do it.

- Skip "Applied knowledge is power!"

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