#TACTIX :: Building Muscle Mass
Watch enough action movies and you may feel the wish to be built like The Rock, John Cena, or Ronda Rousey. Building muscle mass can increase the definition of your muscles, improve your lean body mass, and add bulk to the right parts of the body. But aside from looking ripped and feeling more confident, a stronger muscular physique offers health benefits. Men and women start losing muscle mass as they age, around 3% to 5% per decade after turning 30. Unfortunately, as your muscle mass diminishes, you also become more prone to injury and falls. Muscle growth takes time, persistence, and a long-term commitment to the process. Follow these steps to build muscle mass in a healthy way.
Set a goal
Make realistic goals that are achievable for you. How much bodyweight in pounds do you want to achieve by what date. Take before and after pictures to show your progress. Write down your goals and progress to build your commitment to the task.
Lift weights
This seems like an obvious step to building muscle strength. Lifting weights places your muscles under a high degree of stress, allowing for more micro tears in the muscle fibers. Find the right weight for your body. Make sure the weight is heavy and light enough to keep you in the 8-12 rep range. Keep increasing the weight limit progressively to see changes. Free weights come closer to natural movements and force you to balance and control the weight.
Compound and muscle movement
The best long-term fitness results and muscle building include both compound and isolation movements. Compound movements are dynamic flexibility exercises that target multiple muscle groups and joints at the same time. Examples of these exercises are squats, planks, pull ups, chin ups, kettlebells, crunches, and pushups.
Isolation exercises focus on a single muscle group. They are an excellent way to target specific muscles. The use of dumbbells, weights, and movements to isolate specific muscle groups with curls, sit ups, and crunches. Isolation exercises help focus on shoulders, abs, biceps, legs, back, and other specific muscle mass.
Eat better
In order to lose fat and build muscle mass, you need to gain energy through food. The goal is to gain nutrient dense calories.The bigger you want to get, the more you’ll need to eat. For muscle building start at around 16 calories per pound of bodyweight. If you are not gaining weight at that calorie level increase your calories by 10%. Give yourself 2 weeks before adding more calories. Increase your protein by one gram of protein per pound of body-weight daily to maintain & gain muscle. Whole foods are more nutrient-dense than processed foods, so they will contain more of what your body needs to function optimally and build muscle. Also, whole foods tend to contain more complex carbohydrates and protein to maximize muscle mass. And, make sure you drink plenty of water.
Its’ really all about your health
Although having more muscle mass may make you look better, being healthier is the ultimate goal here. Building stronger muscles will keep your body healthy and lessen the risks of falls and injuries. Make sure you follow your physician’s advice and the advice of your chiropractor to ensure you are using the proper exercise techniques for your physique.