Healthy Muscle Building: Your Body Transformation Guide

Healthy Muscle Building: Your Body Transformation Guide
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From your physical state to your diet and behavior, building muscle takes a lot more than exercise alone. There are additional factors that help increase muscle mass like what and how much you eat, what supplements you take, how you recover, and more.

Try our 5 tips below and see what works best for your fitness journey!

Increase Resistance During Workouts

If you are always doing the same exercise or weight in the gym, you won’t see much of a difference. Building muscle requires you to increase resistance gradually, even if for a shorter time. Resistance helps your body release growth hormones, which boosts metabolism and builds muscle1 . So instead of doing 30 minutes of the same weight, try increasing weights by 3%−5% more for each new rep.

Pushing yourself in small but powerful increments is the best way to get the most out of your workout without becoming stagnant.

Keep a Regular Exercise Regimen

This one may seem like a no-brainer but being consistent is one of the most effective ways to start seeing results. So, how often should you work out to maximize muscle growth? Studies show that you need to strength train, at minimum, twice a week2 . Include some shorter, high-intensity cardio workouts as well. These will bring oxygen to your muscles and help shave off that extra body fat.

Eat the Right Food For Your Muscles

Just as important as working out is the food you eat. While protein is important, it’s not all you need to support strong muscles. Add extra foods to your diet such as carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats3 . All these foods are going to give you the fuel you need to keep your workout strong and your muscles even stronger!

Tip: Make sure you’re also drinking enough water to replace the sweat you lose during your workout and transport the nutrients you need to your body.

Take Rest Days

Everyone needs a rest day. During intense exercise, you get small tears in your muscles. During rest, cells called fibroblasts help regenerate your muscles 4 . By taking a rest day, you allow adequate time for workout recovery, and your muscles can properly repair and become stronger.

Tip: Grow muscle in your sleep! Your muscles need amino acids and protein to rebuild and grow. One way to help this process is by taking at least 40 g of protein right before bed5 . While you sleep, you can maximize muscle growth by stimulating your body’s protein muscle synthesis, a process that turns cells into proteins.

Take the Right Supplements for Muscle Gain

You may have heard of supplements that can help boost your muscle and fitness performance in the gym. But which ones can you trust? Here are some of the best ingredients that have been shown to boost muscle building, performance, and recovery.*

  • BCAA – Improves muscle strength and optimizes muscle growth, mass, and recovery *
  • Betain – Supports muscle performance and optimizes lean muscle growth*
  • Creatine Monohydrate – Boosts muscle strength, increases muscle power output*
  • L-Glutamine – Quickens recovery, reduces post-workout soreness*

You can find all these ingredients in our pre-workout blend: PreZoom. This body-building solution supports energy, muscle building, muscle performance, and recovery, without the more intense negative side effects of caffeine, to help you complete a killer workout.* Check out our other fitness and workout products in our 4LifeTransform line here.


Sources:**

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22727808/
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27102172/
3. https://www.everyoneactive.com/content-hub/gym/eight-tips-help-build-muscle-mass/
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5538237/
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5188418/

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

**External links provided in 4Life blog posts are provided strictly as a courtesy to blog readers who may find the linked pages interesting. 4Life is not endorsing these websites or vouching for the accuracy of any information found on these external sites.