You can certainly bulk for longer than this or until you achieve your desired weight. However, you might find more success cycling through a series of bulks and cuts to achieve your ideal physique.
If you are worried about fat gain, cycling through cutting and bulking phases is another way to approach this and get your desired results. The body composition effect works the same in reverse. In other words, those with higher body fat percentages tend to lose fat more easily and maintain gains better than naturally lean individuals. Not to mention increasing the size of your muscles, will result in a potential increase in your metabolism - meaning you can eat more calories.
This matters because your higher calorie burn makes losing fat a bit easier. If you are at a satisfactory lean starting body composition start with a bulk for 12 weeks, then rest for four to eight weeks, followed by a six to 12 week cut - depending on how much fat you gained. It's important to include maintenance or reset periods lasting at least four weeks in between to allow your body to adjust to a new normal before jumping into the next phase.
This will help your metabolism settle and allow you to maintain as much of your muscle growth as possible. Dieting results in a temporary metabolic adaptation where your metabolism and rate of fat oxidation slows - meaning you are prone to store more fat when calories are increased again 12 , So if you have recently gone through a cut to have a lower starting body fat, you might want to consider maintaining your lower weight for a few weeks first to allow your metabolism to stabilize before trying to bulk.
And vice versa. Jumping into a cut too soon after a bulk could result in some unintentional loss of gains. The worst part about transforming your body is not seeing immediate progress or not knowing if your hard work is even paying off.
Tracking changes in your body weight is one of the easiest ways to tell if your hard work is paying off. The scale might not always go up every day, but it should be creeping up slowly and consistently week after week. You will naturally experience a lot of fluctuations in your weight due to changes in water weight, hormones, and dietary changes - especially in the beginning stages. But after three to four weeks a lot of these fluctuations should even out and you should start to see the scale move in the right direction.
Track your weight at the same time each day and plot it on a chart to see your long term progress. Getting jacked will often mean your clothes start to fit differently - usually in a good way.
Muscle building and increased strength tend to go hand in hand. Feeling strong is one thing, but the best way to track this is to log your workouts each week. Note how many reps and the weight used, and aim to increase the amount e a ch week. Training programs that utilize progressive overloads are perfect for this. Lifting weights increases fluids to your muscle giving you that post weight training pump, especially when you are just getting started wi th strength training.
Over time, some of the water retention may diminish but you should continue to feel bulkier. One of the best ways to measure your visual progress is with daily or weekly progress photos. Stand in front of a mirror and take a full body photo. Repeat and assess your visual transformation regularly. You will be both amazed and motivated by the results you see. Ultimately the most efficient way to measure your muscle gain progress is to assess your body composition at the beginning and end of your bulk.
Ultimately, how long it takes to gain muscle depends on the person and how long you can stick to your muscle growth goals. Muscle protein synthesis requires a balance of adequate nutrition, strength training, and rest. Keep in mind that the above is a tremendously simplified version of what actually happens in your body after a weight training workout.
In reality, the process includes more than just your muscles -- your nervous system, circulatory system and endocrine system all contribute to muscle repair and growth.
Read more: Exactly how to build muscle faster. There's no one muscle-building timeline, because several factors affect your ability to build muscle mass, including:. Your protein intake: While all macronutrients have their roles, protein is king when it comes to building muscle. Your muscles need adequate protein to repair themselves after the stress of weight training.
Without enough protein, muscle growth stagnates. Your calorie intake: If you don't eat enough calories on a daily basis, you won't build muscle even if you eat a lot of protein. To build muscle, your body must create new tissue, and it can't create something from nothing. Extra fuel from extra calories expedites muscle recovery and growth.
This is one reason many people never reach their muscle growth goals -- they aren't willing to deal with the extra body fat that comes along with a muscle-building phase. Your sleep schedule: Lifting weights while sleep-deprived isn't a smart strategy. You might see some gains, but you definitely can't optimize muscle growth when you don't give your body a fighting chance to recover.
Your lifting routine: If you're trying to build muscle, you should know about two key strength training concepts: frequency and volume. Frequency refers to how often you train a muscle or muscle group, while volume refers to the total load you stress a muscle with. For example, if you perform three sets of 10 reps on squats using pounds, your total volume is 3, pounds. More volume and higher frequency typically equate to more muscle, unless you reach the point of overtraining.
Your training age: The more advanced you are, the less muscle growth you'll see yeah, that sounds backward. Everyone has a maximum genetic potential for muscle growth, and the closer you get to yours, the harder it gets to build more muscle.
Your actual age: Like a lot of things, building muscle gets harder as you get older. Healthy fats improve fat loss and health as they digest slowly. Make sure you balance your fat intake, eat healthy fats with every meal and avoid artificial trans-fats and margarine. These are unprocessed and unrefined or little refined foods that come as close as possible to their natural state.
Examples: fresh meat, fish, poultry, eggs, vegetables, pulses, fruits, rice, oats, quinoa etc. Examples: bagels, fruit bars, cereals, pizza, cookies, sausages, frozen meals, supplements. Follow the link below to find out more. Fitness , gym , health , nutrition , top tips. How to safely return to intense strength training. How to Adapt your gym Routine to the Current Restrictions.
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