There are many aspects that we must take into account when it comes to gaining muscle mass, aspects that have to do with training above all, but also with food and rest.
Pages and pages have been written on this subject, but we want all this information to be synthesized in a single article that you can consult when you have any questions about it.
In this way, this article will serve as a guide that explains the main keys you need to know and take into account to gain muscle mass.
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How many days to train a week?
The first thing you should ask yourself is how many days can you train a week Or put another way, how many days a week do you want to invest in going to the gym to train?
This is more important than choosing a routine since Based on this we can choose the routine that best suits your availability.
It is better to perform a four-day routine and stick to it than to pretend to do a five-day routine and constantly leave yourself a day without doing it.
What routine should I do?
Once you have decided how many days you will be able to train per week, you are in a position to choose a training routine that suits this availability. Here are the following options:
What training frequency should each muscle group receive?
Already with the recommendation of the previous routines we are assuming that you are going to train with a frequency 2, that is, every week you will train each muscle group twice.
Scientific evidence tells us that frequency 2 is the most optimal when we want to gain muscle mass since it allows us a good balance between performance and recovery between sessions.
This does not mean that frequency 1 or 3 are bad options, in fact, we can improve with them. We simply say that the scientific evidence points to frequency 2 as the best option when we do not have more information about what will work best for us.
How many sets per muscle group should I do per week?
I have previously spoken about the concept of weekly series in this same medium, although currently I prefer to speak about the concept of stress index or stress index (which I have also spoken about).
However, it must be admitted that for a person who is just starting out and who wants to have a simple and intuitive guide to gaining muscle mass, talking about weekly series is the easiest.
I’ll get to the point: try to perform between 12 and 22 sets a week for each muscle group.
Since we are going to train in frequency 2, the ideal is to distribute these series more or less equally in each training session.
How many repetitions do I have to do in each exercise?
Current scientific evidence tells us that the optimal range is from 6 to 20 repetitions. This does not mean that hypertrophy cannot take place with fewer or more repetitions, but it is more complicated since below 6 repetitions it is difficult to accumulate a lot of training volume and above 20 it is more likely that fatigue will reach through our cardiovascular system and not so much through the muscle we are trying to work.
A good idea that works well is move towards 6 repetitions in the basic multiarticular exercises and towards 20 in the more analytical ones.
How long should I rest between sets?
The general rule is that we rest what we need to perform with guarantees in the next series (without denying that fatigue will come sooner or later). This in practice translates into breaks of at least two minutes.
We do not say this just to say it, since shortening the breaks looking for a greater sensation of congestion the only thing it causes is that our performance plummets in subsequent series and therefore the stimulus.
As a general guide, try to rest more in the most demanding exercises and in those in which you perform short sets of repetitions.
What cadence should I use when executing the exercises?
When executing an exercise we have two different phases: the eccentric and the concentric. Depending on the exercise, you start earlier with one or the other.
An example: when we perform a squat, the descent would be the eccentric and the rise the concentric. During the eccentric we must go down with control and during the concentric at the maximum intentional speed, regardless of the load. The latter does not mean that a loss of load control is justified at the cost of greater speed.
In practice the eccentric should last between 2 and 3 seconds approximately and the concentric should last as long as it is at maximum speed. Keep in mind that a concentric on the last rep of a set pushed to the brink of failure can last longer than three or four seconds.
How many calories do I have to eat if I want to gain muscle mass?
There is no set amount but rather estimates. We are going to see it from two perspectives, percentages and precise amounts:
- To seek an increase in muscle mass we need a caloric surplus (at least it is the easiest and “fastest” way). This surplus should be between 10 and 20% of the calories we eat to simply maintain our weight. The most advanced should move closer to 10% and the most beginners to 20%.
- In figures, the most common for a person of average weight that we could set between 70 and 80kg for men and 60kg for women is that these percentages mean between 300 and 500 extra calories a day.
How should I distribute my macronutrients?
Once you have set the calories you need to eat daily, you have to distribute them among the three macronutrients (don’t forget to eat fruits and vegetables because vitamins, minerals and fiber are also important).
The following recommendations are just rough guides but they can help you establish a balanced distribution.
- Try to eat around 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight.
- Try to eat between 0.8 and 1.2 grams of fat per kilo of body weight. Prioritize mono and polyunsaturated fats and avoid saturated ones as much as possible.
- The rest of the calories go to carbohydrates.
To do the calculations, keep in mind that each gram of protein and carbohydrates provides 4 calories and each gram of fat, 9.
What supplementation should I take?
This question is not at the end of the article by chance since it is the one that will contribute the least to the final result.
You do not need any supplementation, however, if you are considering taking one, make it creatine since you are not wrong with creatine since it has been shown time and time again to be useful in increasing performance in strength training.
When buying creatine, make sure it is monohydrate (they don’t sell you another) and that it bears the Creapure seal, a German patent that ensures the quality of the product.
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