1. Lift the Right Weight

We know that lifting weight is the key to building muscle, but you don’t have to hit a PB every session. Find weights that challenge you to complete the final few reps of each set but aren’t impossible to the point where you might injure yourself or give up before completing your reps.

2. Work Hard Enough

You might be asking, “how do you know you’re working hard enough?”. 

To build muscle, we have to force our muscles into a state of hypertrophy – achieved by creating microtears in the muscles that can build back stronger. If you’ve ever experienced DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), that’s a good way to know your muscles hit hypertrophy. If you barely break a sweat during your lift or never increase your weights over time, you might want to reconsider how much you’re lifting.

3. Eat Enough Calories

Once you achieve hypertrophy – inducing muscle damage – the next key step is to help your muscles heal and grow. This is achieved by having enough “building blocks” and fuel in your body to provide the necessary nutrients for recovery and ultimately to build muscle.

If you’re trying to cut fat while building muscle, it can be tricky to get enough calories to gain mass without gaining fat. Start with a surplus of between 250-500 calories per day, based on your goals and how hard you work out. 

4. Get Enough Protein

You might have guessed it already, but the quality of the calories that you’re consuming are just as important as getting enough to eat. Protein is the best fuel to help build muscle – it provides the amino acids that our body needs to build and repair muscle damage after a workout.  

Whether you get your protein from chickpeas and chicken or include supplements and shakes (or all four), aim for at least 1.2 – 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. We break down the different sources of protein here if you need some help choosing the right one for you. 

5. Drink enough water

This might be a surprising one compared to some of the others but drinking enough water is key. When we build muscle, we depend on that tissue to store both water and glycogen, which we can call on for energy during our next work out.

Not only is water important to replace any sweat from a workout, but it can also accelerate the removal of waste from the body and help diminish soreness – getting you back in the gym more quickly.

6. Get Enough Sleep

Work hard, then recover, recover, recover. 

Sleep is an often-overlooked component of recovery. Many of the hormones our body uses for recovery and muscle building (like human growth hormone) are triggered while we sleep. A deep sleep allows our muscles to relax and achieve the maximum recovery benefits.

Those who are sleep deprived have a much more difficult time building and keeping on muscle.  Aim for between 7 and 9 hours per night. 

7. Vary Your Training

If you aren’t experiencing that sore feeling after a workout, even if you are lifting heavy and challenging yourself, your body is likely adapting to the same challenges over and over again. 

If you typically use dumbbells for training, hit the bench and load some weight onto a barbell. If your gym has machines, give them a try a few times per week. Keeping your body guessing and challenged in new ways will achieve greater muscle building results.

8. Incorporate HIIT

HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is a great way to burn fat and boost your metabolism. Unlike long cardio sessions, these workouts often contribute to muscle building and aren’t long enough to rely on muscle tissue as a fuel source. 

HIIT is a great cardio choice for when you only have a short time to work out, with quick bursts of intensity and recovery periods. 

Try running, biking, or swimming at your max effort, for 1:1 work to rest intervals, for 20 minutes.

 9. Optimize Your Supplement Stack

So, you know protein shakes are a key to muscle building, but what else should you be consuming? There are several options based on the rest of your diet – supplements are meant to make up for whatever your typical food habits lack. 

Creatine is one supplement that is proven to have an anabolic effect, and it is simple to add to your post work-out protein shake. 

If you’re taking a pre-workout, make sure it contains BCAAs to help your muscles be primed for growth.

10. Always Be Setting Higher Goals

When you really want to build muscle quickly, you have to be challenging your body and pushing your limits (safely, of course). 

If you’ve always used the same weights or performed the same number of sets or reps, change it up. Even if you’re only upping your weight by a few kilos, it can make a great difference over time. 

On the flip side, you can try higher reps with lighter weights and see if your body responds differently.