The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle: Everything You Need To Know

This is the only guide to building muscle you’ll ever need. 

So, make sure to read the whole article and not skip over anything. 

You may be wondering, “why would I want to build muscle, Bob?”

Muscle increases your metabolism, which means you burn more calories during the day.

You’ll look more toned because muscle shapes and sculpts your body. 

You do NOT get bulky and jacked by accident. That’s a common misconception.

When you build muscle, you improve your overall health as well. There are plenty of health benefits associated with having more muscle on your body.

And since the process of building muscle is one that requires a ton of perseverance and discipline, that skill carries over into other areas of your life as well like nutrition, work, family, activity, etc.

Have I persuaded you yet? 

If so, good. If not, then why are you reading this?

The problem is that most people do it wrong.

At no fault of their own.

So, what’s the best way to go about building muscle?

What exercises and workouts are best?

What’s the best food to eat?

How much to eat?

Well, I’m going to lay all of this out in the guide to building muscle.

Let’s dive in!

Guide to Building Muscle: Setting Proper Muscle Building Expectations

This picture is a 6 year difference. Think about that for a second.

If there were two things that I wish I knew when I first starting trying to build muscle, it’d be:

1. It’s going to take more time and effort than I thought. 
2. I’m not going to look like the jacked bodybuilder or models on the cover of the magazines.

I remember being in high school, sitting in my study hall, scouring the internet and magazines on the best guide to build muscle.

I would pick the program with the most jacked dude on the cover and say “I want to be like him. This program is it!’ – thinking that the program lead to those types of results.

Safe to say, I was obsessed with becoming jacked.

This was because I was a skinny kid growing up, which led to a ton of insecurities.

Even though I was going to the gym and lifting weights, the results weren’t coming fast enough.

I was ignorant in thinking I could workout a few times and totally change my body composition without blessed genetics and the help from anabolic steroids.

Boy was I wrong.

Muscle takes a long time to build. Then even longer than that.

Muscle is like a seed.

You water the seed for days, weeks, months, and sometimes years without much to show for it.

Eventually, a beautiful plant arises and all of that hard work of consistently watering your seed pays off.

The same thing applies to building lean muscle. 

You stress and break the muscle down in the gym continuously over time, and eventually it grows back bigger.

You can expect to build around 1 lb per muscle per month if you’re a female.

And 2 lbs per month if you’re a male.

Now, if you’re looking at those number you may be thinking “that’s it?”

Well, look at it this way…

Zoom out to a whole year, and that’s about 12 lbs per year for females and 24 lbs per year for males.

That seems much better, doesn’t it?

Therefore, it may take some time to see the changes that are happening since it’s not all happening in one place. 

So, to be blunt…

It’s going to take years to get the body that you want.

Yes, I did say years but hey, don’t get mad at me…I don’t make the rules.

But don’t let that bring you down because there is no end goal here. Building muscle is a lifetime journey that you can always strive to improve.

So, by focusing on the process and journey, it becomes that much more fun.

If you’re not up for that, then I’m sorry to tell you that this guide to building muscle may not be for you. And that’s ok.

So, you MUST go into this with the expectation that building muscle and changing your body is going to take a long ass time.

If you try to focus on the end results and compare yourself to others, you’re going to drive yourself crazy. (Trust me on this lol).

So, right now make a pledge to yourself:

I will focus on one day at a time and give it my best. I will always give myself positive compliments as I continue to work towards my superhero body.

Guide to Building Muscle: How Muscle is Built 

OOOOOOOOkkkkkkkkk! 

Now that you know building muscle is going to take a long ass time – and then some – let’s briefly go over how muscle is built.

There have been a lot of myths and misconceptions over the years. 

A lot of which I’ve fallen for so that you don’t have to.

The first rule of thumb in this guide to building muscle is that a muscle must be challenged in order to be built.

When you add resistance to a muscle, that muscle adapts by becoming stronger and bigger in order to better handle that resistance in the future.

The best way to do this is through strength training.

Strength training is simply placing resistance on your muscles.

This can be done via free weights, body weight, resistance bands, moving furniture, carrying a baby, etc.

Adding resistance to your muscles places a stress on them, which sends a signal to your muscles to adapt and grow bigger.

But…

Before your muscles adapt and grow bigger, they must first recover.

Because building muscle is a two step equation: stress then recovery/adaptation.

It’s like peanut butter and jelly – you can’t have one without the other.

Once your muscles are fully recovered, then they can adapt and grow bigger.

So, to keep this guide to building muscle as simple as possible:

1. You essentially “break down” your muscle when strength training, which sends a signal to your body for it to grow back up bigger.

2. Then your body has to recover from that to get back to its baseline.

3. If you challenge your muscles hard enough, you create a strong enough stimulus for them to grow bigger during and after recovery.

Do this for years, and wallah!!!! That’s how you build some muscle. 

Guide to Building Muscle: The Muscle Building Principles

Now the fun part… the “good stuff” as they say.

Let’s dive into the meat and potatoes of this guide to building muscle.

There are 3 main things that matter most: strength training, nutrition, and recovery.

1. Strength Training 

You can’t grow unless you give your muscles a reason to grow.

Just like you can’t grow a plant without watering the seed everyday.

To do this, you must strength train.

Strength training provides your muscles with the necessary stimulus in order to grow bigger.

Which I already discussed above.

Let’s go over what the important components of strength training are.

Mechanical Tension:

The best way to build muscle is by creating mechanical tension.

Mechanical tension is basically loading your muscle up with a high enough intensity (weight), to recruit enough muscle fibers, which forces it to grow.

Essentially, lifting close to failure.

Your level of effort needs to be high enough to where those last 3-5 reps are extremely difficult.

In addition to mechanical tension, there are also two other theories: muscle damage and metabolic stress.

Muscle damage occurs when you damage or break down the muscle fibers. 

This occurs when you first start a new program, have taken some time off, or create more time under tension in the eccentric portion of the lift (when your muscles are stretching). 

Think of when you first do an exercise and you’re sore as hell afterwards. 

Or after you kill a lower body session with some slow eccentric RDL’s and your hamstrings are destroyed afterwards.

That’s muscle damage.

Note: You don’t need to be sore to have a good workout. Sometimes being sore actually means that you pushed too hard.

Metabolic stress is when you get that pump and burn sensation after lifting higher reps.

Your muscles fill up with a bunch of metabolites and lactic acid which can trigger a cascade of muscle building functions.

If you’ve gotten a pump before, you know what I’m talking about.

While both muscle damage and metabolic stress may play a small role in this guide to building muscle, it seems like it’s more of a byproduct vs an actual reason for growth.

That being said, whether you damage your muscles, get a pump, lift heavy or light, the thing that matters most for building muscle is creating mechanical tension – lifting close to failure.

Lifting Close to Failure – Intensity of Effort 

As I mentioned above, your effort level must be great enough to create a signal to build muscle.

And using failure is one of the best indicators of that.

Failure being you can’t do anymore reps – even if someone was holding a gun up to your head.

For example, if you completed 10 hard reps of a bicep curl, and on rep 11 you’re struggling to get it up and no matter what you can’t, that’s failure.

You want to go around 0-3 reps in reserve (RIR) – meaning each set should be lifted with a heavy enough weight that leaves about 0-3 reps left in the tank.

The problem is we’re not very good at estimating how hard we’re pushing ourselves.

You may think you’re going 1 rep shy of failure when in reality, you still have 5 reps left in the tank.

That’s ok though because the more you practice strength training, the better you’ll get. 

This is why filming yourself is very important so that you can objectively see how close to failure you truly were versus relying on your brain to tell you.

Also, going to failure on an exercise – safely – is important because that’s the only way you know what true failure is.

That way, you know the sensation and the mental challenge it puts on you.

A good rule of thumb of knowing when  you’re going close to failure is when those reps start to involuntary slow down (you’re pushing yourself as hard as you can and the weight slows down).

That’s a sign you’re going close to failure and creating mechanical tension.

So film yourself going to what you think is about 1-3 reps shy of failure.

Then actually go to failure on an isolation exercise and see how close you were.

Lifting Through a Full Range of Motion

One more thing I want to mention that is very important for building muscle is the importance of lifting through a full range of motion.

That is where most muscle is going to be built – when your muscles are fully stretched (like a rubber band).

So, it’s better to lift a little bit lighter weight, with good form and a controlled tempo, through a full range of motion, than it is to try and lift a bit heavier with shitty form and half repping that shit.

Do not let your ego get in the way or else you can throw your potential gains out the window.

Count to 2-3 seconds on the eccentric, pause at the bottom for 1 second, and then explode up.

Your muscles don’t know a number that you’re lifting. They only know you’re applying resistance.

So, don’t get discouraged about the amount of weight you’re lifting.

Instead, focus on feeling the muscle work and pushing hard enough. That’s what really matters.

Progressive Overload:

When talking about mechanical tension, you’re looking at one specific workout session.

But, what about the workouts over time as your body begins to adapt?

This is where progressive overload comes into play.

Progressive overload simply means providing a slightly higher stimulus over time to your muscles, so that they grow.

If all you do is lift 5-10 lb weights for 10 reps, eventually your muscle will adapt to that 5-10 lbs weights for 10 reps.

As a result, they won’t grow because those 5-10lb weights for 10 reps are no longer challenging enough.

Therefore, you have to keep giving your muscles more of a challenge over time.

Some of the best ways to do this are:

I wrote a whole article HERE if you want to read more into this.

Just remember, for this guide to building muscle to be successful, you have to do more over time.

Rep Ranges:

What’s the best rep range in this guide for building muscle?

Well…. That answer doesn’t necessarily exist and will be dependent on a few things.

Research shows that you can build muscle in any rep range as long as you create mechanical tension (going close to failure) as I wrote above.

However, certain rep ranges focus on different qualities.

Lower rep ranges, 1-5 reps, are good for building strength and lifting the most weight. 

Mid tier rep ranges, 6-12 reps, are considered the “hypertrophy range” for building muscle and creating the most mechanical tension possible.

While the higher rep ranges, 12-30 reps, work more of your muscular endurance by challenging how long your muscles can work before fatiguing.

So why is that 6-12 rep range most optimal in this guide to building muscle?

Because it’s the most practical.

Going too heavy can be too stressful to recover from. That’s a lot for your joints and CNS to handle if you’re going that close to failure with that much volume and weight.

On the opposite end, higher reps are very tough mentally – especially if you’re more of a beginner/intermediate lifter. 

If you’ve ever done 15-30 rep sets, you know how hard it is to complete those. 

Oftentimes it’s not your muscle that quits, but your brain that quits.

So, that 6-12 rep range seems to be the sweet spot for that reason. 

Because it’s easier to go close to failure without all of the extra baggage.

Now, that doesn’t mean you should ONLY work in those rep ranges.

I think every single rep range has value.

However, since we’re strictly speaking of building muscle in this article, at least 50-75% of your training should be within this rep range.

While the other 25-50% should be either in the strength or endurance range depending on your goal.

Volume:

Volume is another key contributor to growing muscle and some would argue is the most important.

For building muscle, volume is essentially how many effective sets (close to failure) you get done in a session or week on a certain muscle group.

Just like your muscles need a certain stimulus (mechanical tension) to grow, they also need a certain amount of work to grow as well.

The general recommendation is to perform 10-20 sets per week for each muscle group that you want to grow.

If you’re a beginner, starting with 10 or even below that amount is going to be more than enough.

And as you get more advanced, that volume must go up in order to keep making progress (Hello progressive overload!).

The problem though, is that there is only so much work your muscles can handle in one workout session for it to be effective.

Which leads us too…

Frequency:

Frequency is how often you go to the gym.

If you go to the gym Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you’ll have a frequency of 3 days per week.

The goal with frequency is to hit each muscle group at least twice per week for 2 main reasons.

First, a higher frequency keeps muscle protein synthesis (MPS) activated longer. Think of this as your muscle building signal.

After a workout, muscle protein synthesis stays activated for 48-72 hours.

Therefore, the goal is to keep MPS high, and your muscle protein breakdown low.

So, the more you workout, the more that can stay elevated (to a certain extent).

Second, it’s very hard to get in enough effective sets (sets that create mechanical tension) in one session because after a certain point, your muscles will be too tired to push hard enough to create mechanical tension.

And that point is about 10 sets per session for a muscle group.

So, if you need 15 total sets to grow per week, 5 of those sets will basically be what we call junk volume –  which is where you’re doing the exercise but aren’t creating enough of a stimulus for it to grow.

You only have enough energy in your gas tank for each workout, which is why more is not always better because there is only so much your body can handle.

So, what’s the best frequency?

Working out your muscles 2-3x per week allows you to spread the total volume (total sets) throughout the week while still having enough energy to push hard.

If you split up your total volume – we’ll use 15 sets in this example – into 2 sessions, you’d get 8 sets and 7 sets per muscle group in each session.

As a result, you can push harder and create more mechanical tension for all 15 sets vs trying to get all 15 in one session and 4 of those being sub par. 

If your goal is to build muscle, strength training 3-5 days per week is going to be ideal.

Guide to Building Muscle Best Exercises:

Ok, this is the part in the guide to building muscle that you may have been waiting for.

I often get asked, “Bob, what are the best exercises for building muscle?”

Well, there are no best exercises.

All exercises work if you do them properly which is why programming is an art and something that takes years to master.

However, there are going to be more optimal exercises when we break them down into 2 components:

1. Compound/Accessory Movements

These are movements that work multiple muscle groups at once.

Think of your squats, deadlifts, presses, rows, carry’s, lunges, etc.

They are the most bang for your buck in terms of working out all your muscles since each muscle gets worked with them.

Plus, you can lift the most weight with them as well.

So, instead of spending 5 exercises on your biceps, you’re still working your biceps with rows and chin-ups on top of your curls.

Plus, you can lift more weight with rows and chin ups which provide a different and much more powerful stimulus than lighter weight with curls.

These should be the foundation of your workouts.

Think of this as being the cake.

2. Isolation Movements

Now, it’s not so simple as ONLY DO COMPOUNDS BRO. 

Isolation exercises are where you isolate a certain muscle.

This can help with potential  imbalances, working your muscles from different angles, and adding extra volume to those muscles that can be stubborn.

Think of these as the icing on your cake. Technically they’re not ultra important, but they sure damn make the cake taste better.

And remember, creating tension in the muscle is the key to building muscle.

As you get stronger with your compound movements, your bigger muscles tend to take over for smaller muscles and therefore, your smaller muscles may not get enough work (volume) like they should.

This is where isolation exercises come into play.

They allow you to isolate a muscle, which creates enough tension in that muscle, so that it can properly grow.

Also, compound movements require a ton of stability – meaning that energy has to be taken away from bigger muscles in order to activate your smaller muscles to help stabilize your joints to keep them safe.

That said, this isn’t a bad thing and without it, you’d get injured by picking up heavy weight which wouldn’t be good.

However, since this is a guide to building muscle, less stability for an exercise can sometimes be a negative thing.

The Importance of Stability 

When stability is added, you can place more tension and focus on specific muscle groups.

This is where machines and the use of benches can play such a vital role.

When you sit in a machine, that machine is doing all of the stabilizing for you.

Therefore, you can place more tension on the muscle group you’re trying to grow.

Think of a leg press, you’re sitting down so your core and hip stabilizers don’t have to work as hard which allows you to place more tension on your quads and glutes.

If you’re using a chest support for a DB Row, that bench is providing stability. Therefore, you can create more tension in your lats and mid back vs trying to stabilize with your core and hips.

This is where the smith machine can be a great tool as well. As much shit as it gets – and I’ve been guilty of saying this – it’s amazing at building muscle because the bar is on a track that provides more stability.

So, if you’re bench pressing to build muscle in your chest, the regular bench press will be limited due to the stability demands of your core and shoulders.

However, when using a smith machine, you don’t have to worry as much about stabilizing your body so you can lift more weight and place more tension on your chest.

All in all, use a combo of free weights, cables, and machines.

Lift close to failure in a variety of rep ranges. 

Perform enough volume over time.

And progressive overload to ensure that you’re growing. 

If you want a more in depth article on this subject, I wrote about free weights vs machines HERE.

2. Nutrition

Now that you know that exercises play a massive role in building muscle, it’s time to dive into nutrition.

Because nutrition is the second part in this guide to building muscle.

Think of nutrition and exercises as your Batman and Robin.

Both need each other to get the job done.

Batman is your main superhero that does most of the dirty work – just like strength training.

Nutrition is your Robin who comes in to clean things up, help out, and make sure you get the job done.

Below, I’m going to go over what’s important when it comes to building muscle nutrition.

Calories:

If you’ve followed me, you know that calories are king when it comes to your body fat.

I’m not going to dive too deep into this as I’ve talked ad nauseam about this topic in plenty of my other articles.

The point is, if you want to build muscle, being in a calorie surplus is going to be your best bet.

This means you need to eat more calories than your body burns so that your body has the energy and tools it needs to pack on some new muscle.

If you were trying to build a house, you wouldn’t do it with only your hands right? 

No, you’d have the necessary tools needed in order to build the house safely and efficiently.

Same thing with building muscle.

If you want to build muscle in the most efficient way possible, because that’s how we like to do things around here, then eating in a calorie surplus is going to be your best bet.

Now, you will gain some body fat in a surplus but that’s ok because it’s intentional. You’re making a sacrifice to put on a little fat in order to grow more muscle.

It’s not like you’re going to go off the rails and force yourself to be obese. You’ll eventually cut back down in the future anyway.

The goal of a bulk is to gain as much lean muscle as possible while gaining the least amount of body fat as possible so that you can still stay lean.

It’s an intentional weight gain.

Here are a few examples of some clients who have gone into bulk.

Notice how they are still very lean? Yeah, this is what a successful bulk looks like.

The Cardinal Sin of Bulking

What you don’t want to do is go into fuck it mode, eat a bunch of pizza, ice cream, and Number 1 meals from McDonalds because that is a sure fire way to get fat and unhealthy.

And too be honest, this is where myself and a lot of other people royally fuck up.

They eat way too much, get way too fat, and have a hard time losing the extra pounds to show off their new muscle.

Therefore, eating about 200-300 calories above your maintenance is going to be the best bet for you to build lean muscle and not gain too much body fat.

Protein:

Obviously protein is going to be your main macronutrient in this guide to building muscle.

This is what essentially builds your muscles back up.

The cool thing is when you’re in a surplus, your body has more energy coming in from food.

Therefore, it’s muscle sparing – meaning that it’s easier to keep muscle on your body.

So, you technically don’t need as much protein as you would when you’re in a deficit.

I would suggest anywhere from .8-1.2g per lb of your bodyweight.

I have a whole guide on protein HERE if you’re interested in reading it.

Fat:

This is a little tricky when in a surplus.

Unlike a deficit or maintenance, where the ratio of carbs/fats don’t really matter since they all get burned off as energy, being in a surplus matters a little more because you are going to store some of that energy on your body as fat.

That’s just the way it is.

Your body needs a certain amount of dietary fat for your hormones and your health.

The problem though is that dietary fat is easier to store as body fat compared to carbs and protein which tend to get used more towards building muscle.

So, too much can potentially be an issue.

The cool thing though is that you can minimize how much body fat is stored by limiting your fat consumption.

So the answer is around .3-.5g per lb of your body weight. 

Aim for somewhere in that range depending on your preferences.

Now, before you get your panties in a bunch I’m not saying to avoid fat at all costs. You need it and it’s good for you.

What I’m saying is to be conscious of how much you’re eating and not go overboard with it.

Carbs:

Carbs give your muscles energy to push through a workout.

So embrace them with open arms!

When you eat carbs, they get stored in your muscles as something called glycogen.

This is essentially the energy your muscles burn through in order to lift heavy weight and push close to failure.

So, you need enough carbs in order to have enough energy.

And once your workout is over, you’re going to need to re-fuel that glycogen tank in order to recover for the next workout.

Another side benefit of eating carbs is they taste amazing and are very easy to eat. Eventually, eating more food can become challenging.

So carbs will be your best friend to eat more too. 

After you calculate your protein and fats, whatever is left is the amount of carbs you’re going to eat.

These are going to be what you increase your calories with throughout your bulk – fats and protein usually stay the same.

Guide to Building Muscle: Example Calculating Muscle Build Macros:

To keep it simple, let’s say my maintenance calories are 2,000 calories and I weigh 150 lbs.

Follow these steps in order below:

Calories: 2,000 + 300 = 2,300 Calories 

Protein: 1g x 150 lbs = 150g of Protein

Fat: .5 x 150 lbs = 75g of Fat

Carbs: 150g (x4) + 75g (x9) = 1,275

2,300 calories – 1,275 = 1025 / 4 = 256g of Carbs

Guide to Building Muscle: Quick Tips for eating in a surplus

• The best time frame for a bulk is going to be about 6-12 months. The reason being is because it takes a long ass time to do so. You can’t go into it for 1 month, gain a little bit of weight, freak out, and then give up. You have to be committed to the process just like you do for fat loss.

• Eat more palatable foods or else it’s going to be hard to get enough calories. If you eat a ton of vegetables, salads, lean proteins, you’re going to have a hard time eating enough food. So, still eat those things, but eat more calorie dense foods like:
  • Proteins: Red meats, pork, chicken thighs, eggs, salmon, cheese, yogurt 
  • Carbs: Potatoes, rice, pasta, breads
  • Fats: Nuts, nut butters, olive oil, avocados

• Just like you have to deal with hunger on a deficit, you’ll have to deal with being full on a surplus and pushing through it. Adding in shakes can help get in more calories if you need it.

• You want to gain about .25-.5% of BW per week and about .25-.5 inches each month. If you’re gaining too quickly you have to drop your calories by 100-200. If you’re not gaining at all, you have to increase them by 100-200. 

3. Recovery

The third thing in this guide to building muscle that’s important is going to be your sleep and recovery.

Believe it or not, muscle is not built in the gym.

It’s more activated and broken down.

The stress happens in the gym where the signal/activation is created to start building muscle, and then it’s during the recovery period where muscle is actually built.

Think of when you dial 911 to call the police.

Dialing 911 sends the signal to the police just like strength training sends a signal to build muscle.

The police then arrive at the scene just like recovery helps you build that muscle.

So, the whole “No Days Off” and “No Pain No Gain” can ironically lead to less progress over time.

Sleep

One of the things that plays the biggest role in recovery is sleep.

When you sleep, you essentially recharge your body.

This means you’ll have more motivation to train and more energy to push harder in your workouts which means a stronger muscle building signal.

And when you sleep, more of your anabolic (muscle building) hormones get released and elevated which helps with the muscle building process.

So sleep is one of the best things you can do! I know it can be difficult for some, but even an extra 30-60 minutes a night can help a ton.

Try your best to aim for 7-9 hours per night if you can. 

Create a sleep “ritual” where you try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every night.

And avoid electronics before bed if you can as those can be sleeps worst nightmare (no pun intended lol). 

Active Recovery 

On your off days of strength training, some form of active recovery is going to help out a ton. 

It sounds counterintuitive but actually staying active on your rest days can speed up your recovery.

Active recovery is essentially performing lighter exercise to help speed up the recovery process.

This can be something like a walk, mobility, yoga, or any light movement that isn’t too stressful on your body.

This can help reduce soreness, inflammation, fatigue, and actually help build more muscle!

Think of it as a charger for your phone’s battery except it’s a charge for your body’s energy.

When you workout, you drain your body’s battery just like you drain your phone’s battery when using it. 

And when your phone dies, you know how much of a pain in the ass that is.

When you recover, you’re recharging your body’s battery just like when you plug your phone in to charge at night.

The key here though is that it should not be challenging at all since you want to promote recovery vs adding more stress.

The goal is to give your body energy back – not take it away.

Aim for 30 minutes of active recovery on your off days.

Bonus: Supplements

First let me start off by saying you DO NOT need any supplements at all.

What I discussed above, in this guide to building muscle, is going to account for 99% of the results.

So when I talk about supplements, it’s going to help that extra 1%.

Think of it like playing the lottery.

99% of your money comes from the job that you work.

1%, if you’re lucky, comes from playing the lottery.

So, save your money!

That said, here are 3 supplements that can help if you’re still interested:

1. Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine is the most studied supplement out there.

It has been shown to help with performance in the gym as well as improving your recovery and replenishing your muscle glycogen stores.

There are also plenty of potential other health and cognitive benefits but that’s beyond the scope of this article.

So if there’s a supplement that can help and may be worth buying, creatine monohydrate is it!

2. Protein Powder

I remember back in the day when I thought protein powder was the magic elixir to building muscle.

My friends and I would buy HUGE tubs in the hopes of getting jacked.

It’s funny because I still see this today when people first start their muscle building journey, the first thing they go buy is protein powder.

While there’s nothing wrong with it, there’s also nothing magical about protein powder.

• It doesn’t get you more jacked
• It doesn’t turn you into a greek god or goddess
• It doesn’t help with guys or girls hitting on you in the gym
• And it won’t put 50 lbs on your bench, squat, and deadlift.

What it does do is help you reach your protein goal and get in more calories from fluid.

That’s it.

So, if you’re struggling with eating enough protein, a whey, vegan, casein, or whatever protein powder you like can help a ton.

3. Pre Workout

There is no better feeling than taking a pre workout.

If you want to feel like you can conquer the world, this is it.

So, if you’ve never tried it and you have zero health risk associated with caffeine or any ingredients in pre workout, give it a try.

Now, I very rarely take it. 

Like, if ever. 

But…

It can 100% help jack you up for your workout ahead which again, isn’t the pre workout itself, but it’s effects on the volume and intensity of your workouts.

The problem though is people start to rely on this which I don’t agree with either.

You want to be able to use your body’s regular energy for your workouts and not have to rely on a supplement to get you through.

However, I like to use it on those days where I am tired, I am struggling, and I want to push through to get a solid workout in.

Guide to Building Muscle Final Thoughts

And that’s a wrap on the best guide to building muscle.

Follow through with this article.

Stay consistent and patient.

And although you may not see massive changes in a week, month, or even 6 months… after a year or two, you’ll be a different beast.

-Coach Bob

Ps. If you want help building lean muscle and minimal body fat, apply for coaching HERE. We’ll set up a free consult call and see if we’re a good fit!