How to build muscle as a beginner

Written By Max Dodd

Building muscle can seem overwhelmingly complicated. And it can be, if you want to take it to a professional level. But for the vast majority of people, following a few simple foundations will lead to great results.

1) Progressive overload

This term gets thrown around a lot. To help you understand how to use this in your training, you simply need to do one of the following to your exercises in the gym over time:

  • Add a little more weight. Self explainatory.

  • Perform more repetitions. Again, self explanatory, but within reason. When you start hitting over 15-20 reps, it might be an idea to increase the load instead.

  • Increase your range of motion. This can often be achieved by adjusting a machine, using deficits, or increasing your flexibility over time with stretching to unlock greater ranges.

  • Select a more challenging variation of the exercise. Once an exercise becomes more comfortable and the changes above don’t move the needle much, try a harder movement. This can be progressing from a band assisted chin up, to a full chin up.

2) Volume/Load

This is the number of repetitions times the amount of resistance. To ensure you continue building muscle when you first start training, aim to increase this over time.

Add additional sets where possible, or even better, extra training sessions.

For optimal growth, at least 10 working sets per muscle group will see the best gains.

3) Diet

If your goal is to gain size, you must eat in a calorie surplus. This means using a macro calculator to figure out how many calories your body needs each day. Take this number and increase it by 20% initially and you should see an increase in weight and size.

To lose weight and body fat, it is the opposite. Decrease the number by 20%.

Protein is also very important to ensure your body can repair after training. Aim to consume around 0.8g of protein per lb of bodyweight to begin with. If you are significantly overweight to begin with, this won’t be an absolute number, and you should aim toeat at least 25g of protein per meal.

4) Rest

Ensuring you take rest days is still important. At the very least 1-2 days a week. And aim for 8 hours of sleep each night - this is where your body repairs and grows most new tissue.

5) Need help?

Have more questions or want a professional to guide you through your fitness journey. Get in touch.

Max Dodd