Principles of Gaining Muscle

A Kiss (Keep it simple stupid) approach to building muscle is what a lot of people tend to overlook. Instead of focusing on the basics, which are proven to work, beginners tend to focus on the stuff that the advanced trainees experiment with. What gets forgotten in the process is that you need to actually be at the advanced level to even have a chance to benefit from these technique. Thats similar to learning how to swings your arms as efficiently as possible during a butterfly stroke in swimming, before you can even swim. That approach simply doesn’t work very well. The KISS approach to building muscle is based on three principals: Nutrition, Training, and Rest.

Nutrition

If you have ever said the words I just can’t gain weight or I eat all the time, you are the greatest offender of overlooking the KISS principal. Gaining muscle is not rocket science for beginners, while you should make an honest attempt to eat as healthy as possible the main focus should be calories.

Eat at least three quality meals per day with two-three snacks in between them    A quality meal is a meal that contains a protein source (any type of meat, poultry or eggs), a carbohydrate source (brown rice, potatoes, whole wheat bread or whole wheat pasta, beans), and a fat source (olive oil, avocados, nuts or seeds)    Snack can be nuts, a protein shake, or a hardboiled egg To further increase calories add post meal calorie dense foods, milk and peanut butter are easy choices A glass of milk with each meal and one before bed will add anywhere from 500-600 calories, add a tablespoon or two of peanut butter with it and you have over a 1000 calories    Adding calorie dense foods should be a gradual process with 500 calories increase to minimize fat gain

This exact eating formula and calorie dense foods formula has been used by many old-school strongmen and bodybuilders. Additionally, you may also consider testogen drops when gaining muscles. This supplement is designed to support in building muscles. Hence, this is a good pair for your training and diet.

Training

The principals of strength training haven’t changed over the past 100 years, so why try to reinvent the wheel with experiments.

Do basic compounds exercises – such as the squat, deadlift, lunges, step-ups etc. for the lower body and bench press, pullups, rows, overhead press, the clean press; or jerk etc. for the upper body, throw in some isolation work for the arms and lagging body parts as needed    Follow the 3-5 rule. Workout 3-5 times per week with 3-5 exercises for 3-5 sets and 3-5 reps, rest 3-5 minutes between sets. Isolation work does not need to be counted for the 3-5 exercises nor does it need to be done for 3-5 reps Progressively increase your poundages in small increments, slow but steady is a great principal to follow    Every 4-8 weeks take a back-off week where you reduce your reps and intensity (weight used)

Rest

Sleep is the best and primary method for you body to recover and build muscle. Most bodybuilders and old time strongmen swear by 8 hours and it is a good rule to follow. Please note that the following methods will not make up for an inadequate sleep schedule and 8 hours should be the bear minimum.

Hot saunas, Jacuzzis and Contrast Showers can help increase blood flow to the muscles and soft tissues, increasing recovery    Massages, Foam rolling, and stretching is a great way to break up scar tissue and loosen up tight muscle

These principals have been used for hundreds of years by old time strongmen and bodybuilders such as Paul Anderson (this guy would drink a gallon of milk during his workouts), John Grimak, the Saxon brothers, and many others. Paul Anderson was 300+ lbs and squatted over 1000 lbs, John Grimak was an Olympic weightlifter and a bodybuilder with his on stage weight of 200 lbs of lean muscle, and all three Saxon brothers were 200+ lbs and extremely lean. These individuals achieved their accomplishment in an era when steroids and supplements simply didn’t exist.