Bodybuilding or building muscle mass doesn’t mean that you have to lead a life of deprivation. You need to keep a balance in your life so that all your efforts in building strength or muscle mass are not lost. If your lifestyle is in accordance with the muscle building regime you are following, then you’re golden.
Once you attain your muscle building goals, you also have to maintain them or get better. If you thought getting to the goals was hard, you’d be surprised to know that maintaining your gains is even harder. You need to alter your lifestyle according to your muscle building routine so that you can create a balance and keep your gains.
A good muscle building lifestyle needs timely changes in workouts. You should add variety to your workout plans so that your exercises don’t end up being ineffective. For instance, if you’ve been doing 5 sets of a particular exercise every day for the past three months, there will be a time when your body reaches a plateau.
At this point, you need to increase the resistance levels of your body and expose it to newer and harder challenges.
There is a difference between your endurance levels at Month 1 and Month 6. So, as your endurance levels change, your workouts should change too. After all, variety is the spice of life. Performing the same routine can cause injuries due to overuse of the same joints. Always try to hit different angles in your workout to develop that full and complete physique and fortunately, there are limitless exercises out there to help you hit different angles.
Do you ever get bored of things just because you are doing them so much? Well, the same happens with workouts. When you keep doing the same exercise every single day, you’ll surely get bored of it and you will call it quits. Mix up your workouts and bring some change in your routine so that you can also feel excited to try out new exercises.
Sleeping for 8 to 10 hours daily is very important for your muscle building routine. During slumber, your body breaks down the proteins present in it to yield amino acids and then use them for energy.
But when you eat before going to bed, this process is reversed. Your body starts to make proteins using the food that you’ve eaten. Some experts also encourage nocturnal sleeping which is waking up in the middle of the night to eat.
Also, during slumber, growth takes place. As someone looking to gain quality muscle mass, this is very important for you. In men, more than 50% of the Human Growth Hormone is secreted when the body’s in a sleep cycle. This means that if you don’t get adequate sleep, the levels of this hormone reduce significantly. As a result of this, your muscle gain also suffers and you don’t want all your efforts in the gym to go to waste, do you?
When you sleep, your body repairs damaged muscle cells and replenishes immune cells. This is also important for bodybuilders because the human body needs substantial recovery time if it’s to perform in the gym daily.
Sleeping also recharges your brain because levels of adenosine are reduced during slumber. This keeps you alert during your workouts. Without proper sleep, you won’t have the motivation that comes with alertness.
If you struggle with your sleep patterns, cut down on alcohol and caffeine levels. Also, don’t take sleeping pills as they only work initially and later cause disturbed sleep patterns. Train your body to sleep at a certain time every night and eventually your body will adapt to this routine.
Schedule Regular Recovery Time
Recovery is very important. Some people completely overlook this essential factor and train without any planning. You need to give your body time to repair otherwise there can be problems.
So if you don’t give your muscles time to rebuild, you’ll probably end up doing more harm than good to yourself. Your body will only start repairing once it gets adequate rest. As such, it’s essential to plan your workout accordingly.
Ideally, you should take a break of 2 to 3 days before you train the same muscles again. For example, if you do an intense forearm workout one day, then you must wait for 48 to 72 hours before you train your forearms again.
Studies regarding this issue show evidence of this to be true. One such study involved working with three different groups. All the groups did the same volume of workouts but the pattern was different.
Bodybuilders from one group did the assigned volume in one day, the others in two days while the third group did the same volume of workouts in three days with breaks. It was seen that the group which worked out three days a week with breaks had more gains even though the volume of workout was the same as the other two groups.
Water is the most important nutrient for the human body as it’s the medium for transport and numerous bodily reactions. Not only does water hydrate, it also keeps your joints healthy. Your joints contain synovial fluid which is mostly water. And a lack of water weakens your joints by reducing synovial fluid.
This fluid reduces friction between joints to prevent inflammation and increase flexibility. When the levels of this fluid reduce, you find it hard to exercise and there’s a greater likelihood of you getting injured. When you work out, you lose a lot of water through sweat and need to replenish this water loss by drinking lots of water.
A lack of water also increases fatigue. If you don’t drinking enough water, you’ll face problems like low endurance levels and fatigue. While water doesn’t give energy directly to the body, it is the medium in which major reactions occur.
It also keeps your brain healthy. In the absence of sufficient amounts of water, your brain will be tired and that will decrease your levels of alertness and concentration.
Water is also important for making your muscles stay toned. If you don’t drink enough water, your skin becomes saggy. On the contrary, sufficient levels of water help make your muscles more resilient and toned.
For most individuals, 8 to 13 glasses of water a day are recommended, but if you’re trying to increase muscle mass, you need to drink more water. This is because you lose more water through physical activity in the form of sweat. Always keep a water bottle with you in the gym and outside.
It’s evident that your lifestyle has a huge impact on the overall results of your body building endeavors. So make sure your lifestyle compliments your routine in the gym.