10 Steps to Start Building LEAN Muscle

2. Compound before Isolation
If your looking to put on size then stop wasting your time doing Concentration, and Hamstring Curls. Focus on compound exercises (multi-joint exercises) that allow you to use more weight. These exercises include the squats, dead-lifts, and bench press to name a few.

3. Contracting and Lengthening
I see it all the time, guys who only concentrate on the concentric phase of the exercise and not the eccentric. Stop using momentum and allowing the weight to control you. Use a 2-4 second rule, contract the weight in 2 secs and lower the weight in 4 secs for how ever many reps you are doing to maximize your muscle gains. More stress on the muscle will cause small tears in the muscle fiber. When the body repairs those tears muscles grow allowing you to come back bigger and stronger.



7. Body-weight

Lifting weights is not the only way to build muscle. Some of the most basic body-weight exercises like push-ups and pull ups lead to higher levels of neuromuscular activation and build muscle and strength faster. When performing body-weight exercises always perform to failure since everyone has different fitness levels, what may be hard for someone else might be easy for you. Learn to incorporate body-weight exercises in your routine, for example super-setting explosive push-ups after you bench press.

If there was anything that needed to be remembered it's that your body will not grow if your not getting high quality amounts of sleep. Your body doesn't grow in the gym, your muscles are simply stimulated and grow while your sleeping. Its all about decreasing stress, so get at least 8 to 9 hours of sleep with a minimum of 6. If you workout during the week take the weekend off to relax and allow your body time to recover. Treat your body well and do some stretching, take a yoga class, get a massage, or go on a pleasure walk. Allow your body to rejuvenate so you can train harder when you hit the gym again.