Tips on Gaining Muscle Mass like a Pro

Thousands among us desire the bodies that the media tell us make us attractive. Whether or not you buy into the image that is popular, or whether you believe a more Tyler Durden-esque approach to the human body, it goes without saying that stronger muscles, bigger muscles, or combinations thereof can be beneficial, be it to your confidence, sex life, or to your athletic performance.

Gaining muscle mass is a result of two things: volume, and caloric intake / diet. In order to gain mass, you must eat slightly more calories than you use in a day. By volume, I mean workload, weight and reps.

There are two main philosophies about how best is the way to gain muscle mass: one is to work in the medium rep-range (10-15 reps per set) and a couple of sets, resting a few minutes in between sets, and eating more than you burn in a day. This method yields larger muscles that are generally understood to be purely mass, with little or no extra strength or endurance behind them--"fluff" muscles, if you will; a result of sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. This was the traditional mass-gaining approach used for years, until bigger, better things came about and people learned to better take advantage of the mechanisms of the human body and its muscular systems. That, and better nutritional information. With this kind of training, the muscle fiber itself becomes larger.

The second is the 5x5 approach you may've heard about--that is, five sets of five reps, resting three to five minutes in between. This is the approach that yields more functional strength, and, actually, oftentimes yields more mass than the slightly higher volume 2 sets of 10-15 approach. The hypertrophy inspired by this type of training results is myofibrilar--that is, the muscle fiber becomes stronger from the inside and expands.

Two exercises that greatly increase testosterone production are the squat and the deadlift. Very heavy lifting (such as that in the 3-5 rep ranges) over several sets, as per the 5x5 approach, results in increased testosterone production. Increased testosterone can result in more potential mass gain.

Also, a little known trick to get more testosterone is to eat more cholesterol rich foods and saturated fat rich foods, and eat more vitamin A--these three nutrients are precursors or involved in the synthesis of testosterone in the body. Also, you may want to steer clear of soy protein, which raises estrogen levels slightly, and may give you a bigger chest, and not in the way you want. But I kid.

One way to gain muscle mass, in conjunction with a weight training regimen, is to increase your protein intake. Something that many people do not consider is the completeness of the amino acids that you are taking in. If you take in only a few kinds of amino acids from a hundred grams of protein, it won't be as beneficial to you in terms of gaining strength and mass as if you had taken in all the main amino acids from fifty or less grams of protein. While a hundred grams of incomplete protein WILL give you extra mass, a lot of the protein will be wasted, as the body only needs so much of each kind of amino acid to build muscle before the excess is thrown out in the form of urea in your urine. Complete protein (such as that found in eggs, and meals of beans and rice) is more beneficial, as less amino acid is wasted.

In addition, consider creatine. Creatine or creatine monohydrate is a popular supplement these days for increased muscle mass gain and some strength gain in conjunction with a training regimen. Instead of wasting money buying creatine supplements, consider getting a diet higher in red meat--the initial source of much of the creatine that is found in those supplements. Note, though, that red meat tends to get stuck in the liver, so if you go this route to get some extra complete amino acids and creatine, you might want to eat a good bit more fiber.

Good luck inthe pursuit of extra mass and the physique that you desire!