How Long to Build Muscle?
How long does it take to build muscle depends on diverse factors. Different people gain and shed muscle mass at different rates. This is affected by age, sex, genetics, exercise routine and diet. A typical man would be able to build up to five pounds of muscle mass every month given the best circumstances. A woman wouldn’t gain as much. During weight training the muscles break down rate, depends on who is doing the training. Also muscle growth is influenced by diet, activity level and level of fitness. When one is completely inactive, he would lose a large amount of muscle during the first three days. After that it begins to slow down.
Genetics
Genetics is one of a great number of different factors that determine how someone could build up his or her body with new muscles. Genetics along with body type influence the speed in which you build muscle. Your body’s response to exercise is dependent on your body type and your genes.
Body Type
Sheldon, a Harvard psychologist, named three body types from an exhaustive study on human body types. They are ectomorphs, endomorphs and mesomorphs. He would use these terms to describe a person’s build.
Ectomorphs
Ectomorphs do not have a lot of natural power and find it really hard to build muscles and strength. Their metabolism is very fast. They could eat all day and not put on any fat. Ectomorphs are typically skinny and have little muscle mass, small hips, small waist and narrow shoulders. If you are an Ectomorph then you would likely have a fast metabolism and you would probably be struggling if you were trying to put on weight.
Endomorphs
People who have endomorphic body types have a harder time losing weight, but respond to bodybuilding regimens more than other body types due to their high ratio of fast twitch muscle fiber, which builds muscle fiber rapidly. To combat fat storage, aerobic exercise (biking, running, walking, etc) can be effective is performed on a daily basis, if possible. Endomorph body types are characterized by shorter arms and legs, which are disproportionally larger on top than on bottom.
Mesomorphs
Mesomorphs have a genetic gift in that weight gain and weight loss comes easily. They don’t have to put in as much work as the other types to gain weight and muscle. They don’t have to worry about finding the best type of training. No matter what exercise they do, if they exercise intensively, they will gain muscle at a fast rate. They also recover fast and could train very hard and at a high frequency and not worry about over-training. Mesomorphs usually have an easy time putting on muscle. Mesomorphs often become powerlifters and professional bodybuilders.
Training
It is not enough to train and eat right to gain fast results in building muscle mass. You would also need to put to use any method of recovery so you can progress faster. Four times a week is the maximum you need to train. When it comes to your job, avoid any extra stress the best you can. If you are constantly nervous, your body will release increased amount of cortisol, which will cause your body to burn off muscle and store fat. Do strength training that would normally consist of a low amount of reps and workouts using compounds. Compound exercises will help you build muscles. You can lift the most weight doing them because you can spread the weight all throughout your body. Depending on how much weight you use, compound movements could bring stimulation to as more muscle fibers than any other type of exercise. You must stimulate as much muscle fibers as you can with as little muscle breakdown as possible.
Giving a 100% intensity in your training is very important when it comes to growing muscle. You could easily growth the most putting the greatest amount of effort in a smallest amount of time. There is no need to get your self-pumped and hyped-up for a marathon set. You would only need a short outburst of energy that lasts seconds to complete your set.
Nutrition
One very important aspect of building muscle is nutrition. You must pay attention to this aspect. Muscle growth depends on the diet and nutrition. With nutrition, you supply what the muscles need to build on. Poor nutrition will result in a faulty muscle structure.