For a lot of guys, the main goal of their workout it to increase their muscle mass. Sure, there are plenty of people out there looking to lose weight, or simply become more active, but for the vast majority of men, the final goal of their routine is to get some serious gains. The issue is that there are far too many guys out there who simply don’t know how to achieve that result. They have a vague idea of what they want, but they don’t actually know how to most effectively go about making it happen. A lot of the time this then leads to them getting discouraged and giving up altogether. To help make sure that this doesn’t happen to you, here are some incredibly simple things that you can do to help increase your muscle mass.
Limit your cardio
Now, this is definitely not the same as telling you to ditch the cardio entirely. There are plenty of people out there who would say that cardio is killing your gains and that you should stay as far from the treadmill as possible. But in truth, cardio has its place in a well-balanced workout, you’ve just got to avoid overdoing it. For one thing, too much cardio is simply going to sap you of your energy which will make you unable to manage the larger lifts which are so important to building mass. It also has the effect that, if you’re eating to build muscle, lacking in that lifting energy is going to prevent you from converting that food into muscle, which can end up increasing your fat levels.
Watch your testosterone levels
The single most important chemical in your body when it comes to building muscle mass is testosterone. Low levels of testosterone can cause you to maintain higher body fat levels and lower levels of lean mass overall. Not only that but low testosterone can reduce your energy levels, making it more difficult to actually put in the work you need when you’re exercising to really see a difference. With something like testosterone replacement therapy, you’ll be able to bring your T levels back up to normal which will increase the rate at which you lose weight, bring your energy levels back up, and increase your overall muscle mass.
Too much protein, not enough calories
If you want to increase your gains, then you need to increase your calorie intake. That’s pretty obvious stuff, and most guys are already aware of it. The problem that a lot of men tend to make though is that they assume that they should only increase their protein intake and reduce fat and carbs. In the end, all that’s going to do is make it much harder to build and maintain muscle. Carbs are necessary for the protein to be put to good use inside your body and fat is crucial for maintaining your hormone levels. The key is to maintain a solid balance between them all rather than just focussing purely on protein.