Five Tips to Grow Muscles Faster

Coming from experience it can be difficult to see progress from all the hard work you put in the gym. Once I made those newbie gains, I found it difficult to build more muscles. Even when I felt I was putting in the time. So after months not seeing any new improvements, I begin to do research and incorporating some advise.

Tired of not seeing muscle growth even after hours spent at the gym? Here are 5 pointers to improve lifting and see grow muscles faster

1. Power of Muscle Mind Connection – Focus on the primary mover when performing an exercise. The primary mover is the muscle primarily responsible for making the movement.  This is a bit challenging in the beginning, but as you begin to know which muscle you’re targeting (do the research) the more you can connect and contract with that muscle. I like to visualize the muscle and movement before starting any exercise.

2. Focusing on the Negatives can be Good Things –  While is important to focus on concentric contraction, the movement that shortens the muscles, it is equally effective to focus on the eccentric contraction, movement that lengthens the muscle. The eccentric contraction is known in the gym as the negative. Read HERE to explain the importance. A method on diverting the attention to the negative lift, for example a shoulder press, quickly lift the weight up and lower the weight in 4 to 6 seconds till returning to initial point and repeating for 6 to 12 reps.

3. Hey! Slow Down Buddy – Often when speeding thru your exercises, we forget that its all about quality and not quantity. You’ll be more effective if you slow down, focus on the muscle, hold the contraction, and releasing with the same control. Even if this means less reps. If it is done right, those few quality reps will leave you more sore then if you just speed thru 20 reps.

4. Your Biggest Competitor – Don’t forget the importance of challenging your muscle. While there is safety to consider, you need to progressively change the frequency, volume, weight, reps, sets and/or mode of exercise. Keeping your muscles guessing will fire up those muscles.

5. Muscles Made in the Kitchen, Sculpted at the Gym – Sometime it can just be about evaluating your diet. I’m I eating enough protein or carbs to build muscle? Am I eating too much or too little? Do I need to clean up my diet? Sometime it is looking at our diet that can make all the difference.

-Danni