09 Jan The Basics of Building Lean Muscle Mass

Are you trying to build lean muscle mass or simply maintain the lean muscle mass you already have?  If so, you may think that you only need to lift weights on a regular basic in order to build up your muscles.  In reality, this is a common misconception.  In order to better understand how to build or maintain your lean muscle mass, it is important to understand more about how muscles work and how they grow.

Understanding How Lifting Weights Affects Your Muscles

Lifting weights is certainly one important part of building muscles or maintaining the muscles you already have.  This is because lifting weights basically causes your muscle tissue to break down.  When this happens, your body responds to what it considers to be a potential threat by increasing its muscle size.  In order for your muscles to grow in this manner, however, they must have enough recovery time between workouts to rebuild themselves.  Therefore, when engaging in a muscle-building routine, it is actually better for you to lift every other day or to workout different muscle groups every other day in order to give your muscles time to rebuild themselves.

Planning Your Workout Routine

In order to enjoy the greatest level of health and to make your body as fit as possible, it is important for you to create a well-rounded routine.  By implementing cardio exercises into your routine, you will help give your muscles time to recover while also improving your blood flow and the health of your heart. 

If your primary goal is to build muscle mass, you should limit your workout for each muscle group to just two to three times per week.  In addition, you generally should not work out the same muscle group for more than one hour at a time.  Otherwise, you can cause your muscles to become fatigued and will actually slow down your progress.  Rather than working out for longer sessions, simply increase your weights over time in order to build your muscles up even further.