Do you ever wonder why regular Joes are typically skinny or fat guys? It’s because looking like Conan the Barbarian takes a lot of hard work and dedication. The most important tool for building huge muscles is knowledge. You might be one of those guys who does hundreds of bicep curls everyday with no real results because that’s not how you gain mass. If you really want to know how to bulk up like a professional bodybuilder, seriously take the following tips to heart.
1) Lift like a strongman
If your goal is to get big, you have to lift big. Want to know why those guys who bust out 200 reps of curls a set won’t get thick, vascular arms? It’s because they’re not lifting heavy enough. If you are able to perform more than 8-12 reps per set, you are lifting far too light to stimulate optimal muscle growth. Lifting challenging weights will put the most stress on the muscle fibers to cause muscle overload. When they are repaired, the muscles will be bigger and stronger than before. Repeating this process is the way to make massive gains.
2) Eat a lot
Muscles need food in order to grow. However, you can’t just eat a ton of cake or chips and expect to get jacked. Eating high quantities of food is important, but eating the right foods is essential. While you should strive to consume a combination of fruits, veggies, and starches, make protein consumption your priority. Without this macronutrient, your muscles have no chance of growing. Proteins are responsible for muscle repair. When you eat enough of them, muscle fibers are repaired larger than before to adapt to lifting heavy weights.
3) Sleep like a bear
Without enough sleep, all that eating and lifting would be nothing more than wasted effort. For your muscles to grow, you must get adequate rest. Sleep repairs the body both physically and mentally. This essential step is usually overlooked by most people trying to build muscle, and a lot of guys who spend hours in the gym every day are confused by the lack of muscle growth. By general standards, eight hours of good sleep each night is ideal for mass gaining purposes.
4) Keep cardio to a minimum
When your primary goal is to gain bulk, you don’t want to engage in any activity that’s going to work against your progress. That’s exactly what cardiovascular exercise does. Cardio is mainly done for the purpose of fat loss–the opposite of muscle building. While some cardio may keep conscious individuals from gaining too much fat during bulking, too much is definitely detrimental to your gains.
5) Focus on compound movements
While lifting heavy weights is at the core of building muscle bulk, it’s not efficient to perform exercises that isolate a single muscle group. The famous bicep curl is an isolation exercise that only stimulates that muscle group. In order to make faster gains, you want to hit multiple muscle groups with a single movement. Compound exercises stimulate several muscle groups at once and include lifts such as the bench press, squat, and deadlift.
Tony is a natural bodybuilder from Brisbane, Australia. He has been training for more than 10 years and recommends protein and pre workout supplements to all aspiring bodybuilders. Tony believes everyone has the potential to be a successful natural bodybuilder if they are willing to do whatever it takes.