4 Fundamentals to Building Lean Muscle Mass
Before jumping in to buy a new gym membership to start building some muscles, you have first to decide what type of look you want to go for – bulky, lean or muscular. Then there is the function. Building muscles for a sport like swimming or soccer would not be the same as building muscles for pure bodybuilding. If you don’t want to look highly muscular or bulky, you can build lean muscles as many people do.
To do this effectively, you have to follow a specific type of training. From a steak and egg diet to a purely vegetarian diet – the varieties to choose from are endless in food.
Why Would You Grow Lean Muscles?
If you are an athlete or a model or want to look svelte, building lean muscles is perfect. These muscles contain a dense network of contractile tissues rather than having fat and connective tissues, which is what you want in any sport that requires endurance and power simultaneously. There are many advantages of having lean muscles, such as:
● Insulating ligaments and tendons from the risk of injury
● Having an improved posture
● Getting a taut and muscular physique without seeming bulky
● Improved confidence and performance in physical activities
● Increased flexibility in the muscles
Ways to Grow Lean Muscles
Compound exercises
There are broadly two types of exercises – compound and isolation. While isolation exercises target a particular muscle group(s) like biceps, triceps, glutes, etc., compound exercises target multiple muscle groups in the body.
To build lean muscles, try and include more compound exercises such as squats, dead lifts, bench presses, etc. Do not make the error of starting your muscle-building journey with heavier weights. It is necessary to perfect the posture of an exercise before focusing on increasing the amount of weight you can lift. Compound exercises help you burn more calories and fat by nudging your body to produce muscle-building hormones.
Higher Reps
A large debate rages over whether to train with heavier weights and lower repetitions or lower weights and higher repetitions. Both training strategies have their benefits and pitfalls. But if you are looking to build lean muscle, it is advisable to aim for sets with higher repetitions and lower weights. But keep in mind that your muscle fibers will eventually adapt to any particular type of training if you do it for a long time. Therefore, mix it up now and then with sets of heavier weights to see the maximum gain.
Lean Protein
It would be pretty hard to advance in your muscle-building journey without the intake of proper protein. Ideally, you should consume 1 gram of protein per pound of your body weight. That would mean if you weigh around 200 pounds, you should at least try to get in 180-190g protein every day.
To get most of the required protein from whole natural food, you can consider following a steak and egg diet. A meal consisting of one large egg and a medium-sized steak can give you around 70g of protein. Fishes like tuna, salmon, sardines, mackerel, etc., are also good lean protein sources.
Potassium
Potassium is an essential mineral required for building lean muscles. It is one of the primary electrolytes needed for muscle contraction and transportation of nutrients and water to your muscles. There are many ways to include potassium in your diet, like having fresh fruits and vegetables such as bananas, apricots, grapefruit, cooked broccoli, mushrooms, etc.
Building lean muscles require sustained effort and maintenance of a proper diet. You can achieve this goal by engaging in weight training and doing other physical activities like swimming, cycling, body weight training, etc. But make sure to pick one that invokes interest in you.
