How to Get Lean Muscle Mass

Exercise. You need to have a workout routine in place that focuses on high volume in order to reach muscle hypertrophy which is necessary for muscle growth. What is muscle hypertrophy? Muscle hypertrophy is the growth and increase in your muscle cells through the stress put on them from resisting the weights you're lifting. Being consistent in the gym and having intense workouts are also an important first step in building lean muscle mass.

Track your maintenance calorie intake level. Why? Because your calorie intake will determine how much you should eat in a day to stay at your maintenance level, which means you'll stay at the same weight.

Decide if you are going to eat at your maintenance level or eat in a caloric deficit. By eating at your calorie maintenance level you are going to maintain your body fat levels and combined with your high protein intake gain muscle mass. By eating in a calorie deficit you will lose body fat while gaining muscle mass. Either one works for gaining lean muscle mass; it is just a matter of preference and what works for you.

Calculate your protein intake. Protein is the building block for muscle growth because it repairs the damage the muscle fibers receive from working out and makes them stronger and bigger than they were before. You can figure out how much protein you need to eat daily by looking up a protein intake calculator online.

Track the foods and drinks you consume daily. Tracking your food intake keeps you accountable to get the right amount of food and protein in to gain lean muscle while reminding you to not over eat and gain unwanted body fat. You can track your food intake with various apps and websites so it should be fairly easy to do.

Eat nutritious foods that contain a good source of carbohydrates, fats, and protein. Nutritious foods should also contain a good source of vitamins and minerals. These types of foods will aid your body in giving your muscles the fuel to work, heal, and grow. Some great examples are oatmeal, broccoli, chicken breasts, and quinoa.

Avoid empty calories. Empty calories are foods that contain lots of calories and offer little to no nutritional value. These types of foods are a threat to building lean muscle mass because they will take up a large portion of your daily calories that could be used for other foods that will give your body the nutrition it needs to grow. Some examples of empty calorie foods are candy bars, doughnuts, and most breakfast cereals.

Avoid sugary products. Try to avoid intake too much sugar because sugar is known for messing with your insulin levels. Sugar causes your insulin levels to rise. If you eat too much sugar your body may end up with insulin resistance and losing body fat will be harder to do because your metabolism will slow down.

Buy a protein supplement if needed. Protein supplements are an excellent way to reach your protein goals. Many people struggle with getting enough protein to be able to build muscle on just foods alone and a protein supplement can help with that issue. Only take your protein supplement when you need to. Protein supplements should never serve as a replacement for real and whole foods.

Decide on what kind of protein supplements are out there. The 2 main protein supplements are whey and casein protein. You might want to choose whey protein if you want the amino acids in the supplement to reach your muscles the fastest like after your workout. The benefit of whey is that the amino acids from the protein will be in your muscles fast which would correlate well post-workout when your muscles need it the most. On the other hand, casein might be the better option for you if you want the amino acids in the protein to be released to your muscles slowly. The benefits of casein are that your amino acid levels in your muscles will be elevated longer than whey which is more time for your muscles to heal and grow.

Consider the use of creatine as the following step to take. Creatine is a substance found inside your muscles cells and helps your muscles produce energy for intense workouts and heavy lifting. Supplementing more creatine in your diet has shown to boost the workload you can handle in a workout and reduce protein breakdown which may increase muscle growth by limiting muscle breakdown. Essentially creatine makes your muscles stronger and more able to handle harder workouts. This results in greater muscle stimulus from your workouts and greater muscle growth overall. When supplementing creatine you want to complete a loading phase to saturate your muscle cells with creatine. You can do this by taking 20 grams of creatine for 7 days. After the loading phase all you have to do to maintain the creatine saturation in your muscles is to take between 3-5 grams a day for as long as you want. One note to take is to drink lots of water because creatine draws water from your body and moves it into your muscle cells.