How to Build Muscle: Train, Eat, Rest, Gain

Your body is a chemical factory. The only language your body and muscles understand is chemical signals. If you give your body the right signals, your muscles grow bigger and stronger.

How do you do that?

You send the signals that tell your body to start building by ordering your muscles to lift weights they can't. The work should isolate one muscle group, one muscle, or part of a muscle. Pick a weight that lets you do 8 to 15 repetitions. When you've done those 8 to 15, try for one more. When you try but can't complete the last rep, you're sending the signal that the muscle is too weak and needs to be built stronger and bigger.

If you train the right way and send the right signals, you then have to feed that building activity with building materials, and that material is protein. Meat, fish, chicken, turkey, egg and milk are all good protein sources. You should also eat carbs and fat to stay high on calories.

It takes energy to build muscle. If you're low on calories, your body hesitates and won't spend energy growing you. It also takes energy to keep existing muscle. Go too low on calories and your body starts breaking down muscle to use as energy, a catabolic state. Do it right, and your body builds. To let it do that, your body needs rest, and your recovery time becomes important.

So to build bigger, stronger muscles: lift weights heavier than you can handle, eat a lot, and rest.

Train, eat, rest, gain.