How to build muscle (Hypertrophy)

I hear these statements a lot, "I've been lifting for almost 2 months now and I haven't noticed any progress" or "I've gained about 20 pounds of muscle since I started lifting two months ago."  The process of building muscle mass is very slow.  At most, lifting for about 2 months equals to about 1-3 pounds of muscle. Normally, if you lift consistently, eat right, and sleep, you should gain about 25-30 (give or take) pounds in a year. For the body builders you see on TV, they have been lifting for their entire lives.  Some have been lifting for about 15-20 years.  In the case for the person not seeing results, 2 months is not enough to see any result.  To see results, you must constantly lift for years.  It doesn't happen overnight.  As for the person that gained 20 pounds in 2 months of lifting, I would estimate 2 pounds was actually muscle and the other 18 pounds was fat gain or he did gain 20 pounds of muscle by taking steroids.  (Here at Swole Squad Fitness, I don't condone steroids.  Not only is it illegal, but it is very dangerous to use.)

The formula to build muscle is simple.  There are only 3 steps:  Lift, eat, and sleep.  Yes!  It's that simple. Each part of the formula are equally important.  Even if you train very hard and sleep but your diet is crap, you will not make any gains.  Or if you do eat right and train, but if you get 4 hours of sleep each night, that too will do you no good.  Continue reading this post as I will break down the component of building muscle to help you get SWOLE!!!

Lifting

Most people believe that lifting is the only thing you need to get more muscular.  WRONG.  When lifting, what you are actually doing is tearing the muscle fiber down at a microscopic level.  When lowering the weight, your muscles stretches and when raising the weight, your muscle contracts. With every rep you take, you muscle fiber actually tears apart.  This how muscles actually grow. When the muscle fibers tear, they eventually heal and grow back bigger and stronger.  Remember to choose weights that you can do with good form within the 8-12 rep range for the best muscle growth.  If you can't do 8, lower the weight and if you do over 12, add more weight.  Simple as that.

Diet

After lifting and tearing down the muscle, our body needs energy and nutrients to repair.  Protein is very essential as they are the building blocks of muscle.  Remember to get about 0.8 grams of protein for each kg of your body weight.  It is very important to get protein in your body to help they muscle repair and grow.  Fats is also vital as they help with hormones.  And carbohydrates fuels the body.  Also drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and remove unwanted toxins in the body.

Sleep

And for the last component, sleep.  Muscle actually repairs and grow when we sleep.  During the first few hours of sleep, our body release growth hormones.  These hormones are the reason muscles repair and grow.  When deprived of sleep, our body will not produce enough hormones to repair and grow the muscle. If you don't get enough sleep, don't even worry about trying to get more muscular because you are doing more damage to the body instead.  Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep per night, to maximize your gains.

There you have it, the secrets to build muscle.  There is no shortcut or magic just hard work and dedication. If you do each of these correctly, you will grow muscle.  Yes, it will take a long time, but stick with it.  You will see results, trust me.  If you don't see results, you are either not training hard enough, not eating right, and/or not getting enough sleep.  Make sure you are doing each properly.  Good luck getting SWOLE!!!!