How Long Does It Take To Gain Muscle?
Bulking up might be difficult, especially if you are naturally thin.
And even if you follow many of the suggestions about strength and weight training, it is still possible to see little or no significant muscle mass.
So, what should you do to bulk up? Are there any effective workout plans? And how long does it take to gain muscle?
Keep reading to find out the answers to these and similar other questions.
What Are Muscles Actually?
Muscles are tissues made out of thousands of elastic fibers connected to tendons and bones. One of their primary functions is to aid efficient movement.
Muscles come in three major types. These include:
- Cardiac muscles
- Skeletal (striated) muscles
- Smooth (nonstriated)
The human body is mainly comprised of skeletal muscle.
Contrary to what many people might believe, it is very possible to gain muscles in a relatively short period even if you are born skinny.
However, it is crucial to understand that building muscles depends on a few different factors, as you’ll soon see.
How Are Muscles Built?
Muscle building is essentially an adaptation process that occurs with repeated tension.
During a weight training session, the fibers inside the muscles are damaged due to the increased tension imposed on them as you lift weights repeatedly.
This is typically why you feel sore the next day after a weight training session.
With the help of proteins, your muscle fibers are mended, developed, and strengthened during the resting phase.
In other words, you need to incorporate protein in your diet for optimum muscle increase.
Without protein, the muscles will be unable to repair themselves. Instead of developing, they may contract since they need to break down to extract protein for proper repair.
After a workout, your body uses a biological mechanism to fix or replace torn muscle fibers. This involves fusing muscle fibers to develop fresh muscle protein strands called myofibrils.
When the muscle protein synthesis rate surpasses the muscle protein breakdown rate, muscular development occurs.
This adaptation does not occur when you lift the weights. Instead, it happens when you are resting or sleeping.
So, how can you increase the size of your muscle cells?
Satellite cells operate as stem cells for your muscles in this situation. They assist in adding additional nuclei to muscle cells and directly contribute to the development of myofibrils when activated.
Activating these satellite cells might be the difference between some “genetic freaks” being able to generate gigantic muscles and others being “hard-gainers.”
The soreness that happens during the next day after weight training exercises will usually decrease after a few months.
This is because the body becomes accustomed to the repeated strain it is subjected to. This means your muscle fibers are now more resistant and difficult to tear.
When Should You See First Results?
Usually, when someone asks the question “How long does it take to gain muscles?” the logical follow-up question would be when will the result starts to show?
Muscle gain is a gradual process, and how soon you can expect to see visible changes depends on a few different factors.
Generally, it can take up to about three weeks or a month of active training and eating the right diet to see changes in your body.
But after three months, you should be able to see more visible results. Keep in mind that this still depends on your goal, body type, workout plan, and diet.
How Body Structure Affects Results
First, you should be aware that genetics significantly affect how fast you will see your first results. It is crucial to understand your body type to create a diet and exercise plan that works for you.
There are three different body structures:
- Endomorph: People with endomorph body types have a naturally large frame and a somewhat sluggish metabolism. They can swiftly grow muscle mass, but they will also accumulate fat if they do not exercise.
If you have the endomorph body structure, you’ll need to grow muscles first, and then lose body fat to display them.
Naturally, this will a take longer time. - Mesomorphs: Those with this type of body structure have naturally muscled, athletic bodies with little body fat. They are the optimum body type for increasing muscle mass.
Building muscles is usually easier with this body type, and you should notice results in just a few weeks. - Ectomorph: These body types are slim and have a quick metabolism. Increased weight and muscle mass will require more time and work.
When Should You Start Doing Advanced Workouts?
It can be tempting to push yourself too hard because you want to see rapid results. But that might not be your best move.
Before moving to an advanced workout level, it is important to consider your current fitness level and your strength.
Most professional trainers recommend improving the mind-muscle connection before moving to a higher level of muscle training.
As a beginner, it can take eight months or even more than a year before you can advance to the intermediate level.
Before starting an intermediate routine, you need to improve your ability to recover. If you work your muscles too frequently as a beginner, you risk overtraining.
Want to know how quickly your body recovers?
Assess your strength level when working out the same body area again.
Tips for Incorporating Intermediate Workouts Safely
Keep these general tips in mind when considering moving from beginner to intermediate-level workouts.
- Bodybuilders should use the intermediate phase to integrate a variety of isolation motions that will activate muscle fibers.
- Intermediates should not overlook the fundamental actions that help grow excellent muscle mass.
- Compound workouts are the best for building strength and muscle because they cause your body to release large testosterone levels, which promotes growth and development.
This is the time when you may increase the amount of weight you use, the number of sets you do, and the number of exercises in your routine. - To avoid overtraining, you must keep your workouts to no more than 45 minutes per session and no more than four times per week.
You can separate body sections across workout days to save energy and improve recovery. This technique is called split training.
Tips for Incorporating Advanced Workouts Safely
Once you have enough experience in the intermediate level, you can move to the advanced level.
The number of sets and reps you do is essential at the advanced level. Also, you should consider doing several routines if you are training for bodybuilding.
You want to exert as much demand on your muscles as possible without overworking them. This determines the effectiveness of your routine.
This is considerably easier to do when most of the components in an exercise remain constant, and only one modification is made at a time.
Keep these additional tips in mind before beginning your advanced workout program.
- Always warm-up before starting a workout
- Gradually increase the intensity of the workouts
- Set your goals while keeping your skills in mind
- Whenever possible, increase the intensity, duration, and reps
- Start slowly and don’t overdo it with the weights
- Design a workout plan or exercise routine for yourself
- Include a sufficient amount of rest time for your muscles in your workout plan
How to Speed Up Muscle Gains
Several factors influence how quickly your muscles develop and how strong you may become.
The most essential of them are your genes, the level of growth hormones in your body, the types and quantity of food you consume, and the intensity of the exercise you do.
Your genetic structure functions as a blueprint, designing the circumstances for your physiology.
No matter how hard you try, there’s virtually nothing you can do to change the basic architecture of your body.
However, by understanding how your body is genetically hardwired, you may learn to use other elements such as nutrition and exercise more consistently to create the changes you want.
If you are hardwired to have a slow metabolism, you will need less food and nutrients than someone with a fast metabolism.
To properly speed up muscle growth, two key components are required: proper nutrition and exercise.
Here’s one major thing to always remember:
To accelerate the rate of muscles growth, you must have the right balance of diet and exercise. Otherwise, you will miss out on gaining the most muscle in the shortest period.
Here’s another thing to keep in mind.
You cannot bulk up unless you consume sufficient calories. For this reason, it is essential to evaluate the number of calories you require per day and regularly strive to meet that target.
First, master this, and then you can begin to mix with your bulking macros to stimulate greater muscle gain and limit excess body fat.
Tips for Effective Workout Plan
- A regular 45-minute workout routine is critical for muscle building. Cardio workouts like light running or walking can be done before lifting weights, while swimming can be done after your weight training routines.
- Bodyweight workouts are commonly used to increase endurance and strength in our bodies. These can include push-ups, squats, dips, and more. Consider doing these workouts with a swiss ball or chairs for even better results.
- Bodybuilding is primarily concerned with weight training exercises such as the bench press, barbell rows, dumbbell flyes, lat pull-ups, and more.
These workouts require a lot of endurance and power, which may be difficult to do with a typical diet.
It is usually a good idea to consume foods rich in nitric oxide to increase blood flow in your body. This will lead to muscular pumping.
Nitric oxide also facilitates wound healing by shortening the recovery period. It also boosts your immune system and rejuvenates your entire body.
In addition, it protects your body from a variety of health conditions, including diabetes, heart attacks, and cancer. Plus, it can act as an anti-aging agent.
Tips for Better Nutrition
A muscle-building diet is necessary if you want to speed up muscle gains. Consume foods rich in proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Add fruits and vegetables to your plate, and don’t forget to drink adequate amounts of water daily.
Always make sure your meals are appropriately composed of healthy foods, and you’ll be well on your way to adding a few inches to that slim frame of yours!
Feeding your body at the proper time and with the right amount of food is also important.
Do you know that when you’re hungry and don’t eat, you’re telling your body to stop using fat for energy and instead use the little muscle you have?
This is quite dangerous for someone who has muscular problems.
To avoid this, make sure to eat whenever you are hungry, especially in tiny amounts. This will ensure that your body does not run out of what it needs for proper metabolism.
If you follow the tips shared so far, you will no longer need to ask the question “how long does it take to gain muscle?”
Why’s that?
The results will be evident!
Supplements
Bodybuilders use bodybuilding supplements to gain muscle mass and lose fat. They are also used to boost a person’s performance and facilitate recovery.
Some supplements are required to ensure that your body receives the proper nourishment when increasing your activity as part of a training program.
If you don’t get enough of them, you won’t have the energy to undertake the tough workouts involved in bodybuilding.
Protein supplements, such as creatine and whey protein, are required to assist you with muscle building. To guarantee that you do not become deficient in vitamins and minerals when training, you must take the fundamental vitamin and mineral supplements.
Vitamins and minerals convert the food we eat into energy. Vitamins also aid in muscular growth and fat loss.
Creatine, amino acids, testosterone boosters, and whey protein are protein supplements that will help you gain muscle in conjunction with your exercise routine.
Conclusion
Various factors determine how muscle grows and they include diet, workout plan, genetics, and more.
Now that you know these factors, it is time to stop asking “how long does it take to build muscle?” and start eating the right diet, implementing the right workouts techniques, and taking time to rest.
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