If You Want To Build Muscle, Experts Say These Are The Nonnegotiable Tweaks To Make
Whether you’re trying to run faster, lift heavier, or just do daily activities (like walking up stairs) with ease, know this: Muscle should be your new best friend. It’s true—no matter your athletic or overall health goals, building muscle plays an important role in accomplishing them.
Building muscle comes with so many additional benefits, says Shelly Mayfield, CPT, co-owner of Studio Diva in New Jersey. Primarily, having more muscle mass helps with injury prevention and improves posture alignment, both of which are important for any exerciser's performance and well-being.
Muscle and posture are like a suit of armor that protects the bones and organs through daily movement, Mayfield says. Building up strength makes that armor even better suited to keep you safe—whether you’re working out or running errands.
Meet the experts: Shelly Mayfield, CPT, is the co-owner of Studio Diva in New Jersey and also a certified yoga instructor. Alex Larson, MS, RDN, LD, is a certified dietitian and nutrition coach who works with performance athletes.
Increasing your strength also helps your bod better endure the aging process, Mayfield explains. It’s important to keep your muscles, bones, and posture strong for as long as possible so that you can withstand the natural wear and tear as you get older, Mayfield says.
And of course, since strength training improves your body’s overall health, muscle building can reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular issues and diabetes, as well as help boost your metabolism, Mayfield says. (Though, of course, everyone’s body is different.)
Now that you’re sold on the benefits of building muscle and all the ways it can improve your overall well-being, it’s time to get your action plan. The following are the four key lifestyle changes to effectively build muscle, according to a certified personal trainer and licensed dietitian.
1. Dial in your form with bodyweight training.
Surprised? You *can* build muscle using only your bod. The main reason bodyweight training rocks? It’s accessible to almost everyone, Mayfield says. No matter where you’re doing your workout or what tools you have at your disposal, you can always execute a solid bodyweight exercise session—since, yup, all you need is you.
Bodyweight movement is great for beginners, since it can help you learn and perfect the six functional movement patterns: squat, lunge, push, pull, and carry. “Once you have those six functional movement patterns, you can pretty much do any type of training,” Mayfield says.
These are movements you do day-to-day without even realizing it, says Mayfield. Think about it: squatting to pick up your kid and carrying them, lunging to tuck in your bed sheet, pushing a stroller, pulling your suitcase, and the list goes on.
Knowing that these bodyweight movements are essential, you can think about how you’d like to incorporate them. Mayfield recommends hiring a personal trainer who can give you cues, or you can sign up for any bodyweight-based class for guidance.
There are also plenty of online resources you can follow from home or while at the gym. (Hi, check out this bodyweight workout on Women’s Health!) Overall, if you want to build muscle, Mayfield recommends doing bodyweight workouts anywhere from two to five times per week.
2. Don’t be afraid to add weight.
Once you're comfortable with the fundamentals of bodyweight training, you shouldn't be afraid to add weight into the mix, Mayfield says. This can include anything from workout classes with weighted elements, adding dumbbells or kettlebells into your bodyweight exercises, doing heavy lifts at the gym (like squats, hang cleans, deadlifts), and more.
What makes working with extra weight so great? “Adding more resistance to the movement causes your muscles to contract,” Mayfield says. This pushes you outside of your body's comfort zone and exhausts the muscles in a new way, which means they can rebuild to be even stronger than before on your rest days. Love it!
Before you’re confident enough to do weighted movements on your own, Mayfield recommends working with a personal trainer or, again, in a fitness class where you can get professional feedback. “Form is so important here,” Mayfield stresses. If you’re not using the correct muscles, posture, or movement, you could risk injury and pain.
Similar to bodyweight exercises, Mayfield recommends doing strength training anywhere from two to five days per week. Depending on how your body responds to weight training, you might need to take it easy at first, as some people find their energy levels are impacted by soreness and fatigue.
3. Focus on adding to your meals.
Restriction is out. When building muscle it’s essential that you eat enough so that your body can recover from the work you’re putting in at the gym. Feel full and satisfied with your meals? Then you're probably in a great place with food. That said, there are a few items you can keep in mind as you decide what to eat each meal that will specifically help support your muscle-building goals.
"Focus on quality lean protein sources, such as eggs, salmon, chicken breast, Greek yogurt, shrimp, tofu, and edamame,” says certified dietitian Alex Larson, MS, RDN, who regularly works with athletes. What makes these specific foods great for muscle-building, you ask? Protein is made up of amino acids, which you can think of as “lego blocks for building muscle fibers,” explains Larson. Among other things, amino acids are essential for repairing any muscle damage from exercise, and you can ingest some of these amino acids through foods.
Feeling overwhelmed? You don’t need to make drastic changes to your daily intake, nor should you focus on dieting or being restrictive with your meals. Instead, think about what you can add. “First, prioritize eating a consistent supply of protein throughout the day,” Larson says. You can also make sure you’re including carbohydrate-rich foods (like bread, pasta, potatoes, etc.) in addition to protein after a workout to kickstart muscle recovery, says Larson.
TL;DR: Enjoy your meals and eat up! It’s an important part of your muscle-building process.
4. Get some rest and relaxation.
While there’s a lot of action required when it comes to building muscle, inaction is also just as important. Yup, in order to get stronger you have to take time to rest, Mayfield explains. Giving yourself two rest days when you don’t do strenuous physical activity is key, says Mayfield.
“It’s just as important to give your muscles the time to rest and recover as it is to do the work,” she says. When you allow your body the time to rest and recover is when you actually see the changes happening, Mayfield says. So feel free to let yourself have days without any physical activity.
“It’s just as important to give your muscles the time to rest and recover as it is to do the work.”—Mayfield
That said, if you want tools to help you recover, that works too. Most important are practices like stretching and foam rolling, the latter of which breaks up fascia, says Mayfield. (AKA, the connective tissue that holds your body together and can get sore as a result of exercise.) You can also do a restorative yoga flow or take a long walk, if you’d still like the feeling of moving around, says Mayfield.
Another essential aspect of recovery? Sleep. While everyone is different when it comes to how many hours of sleep they need per night, it’s important to get whatever that amount is for you each day, says Mayfield. If you're not sure what that number is for you, experiment and see how much it takes for you to feel rested and recovered, says Mayfield.
Okay—now that you know what will help you build muscle, it's time to get after it! Have all kinds of fun making gains.
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