Advice
Here’s the cutting-edge research that will let you upgrade to a leaner, stronger body
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Build muscle
The basics might stay the same, but science is always finding new twists on them. Coach’s sister magazine Men’s Fitness rounds up the latest tips and tricks to help you add muscle faster.
Modify Your Moves
Photography: Glen Burrows. Model: Tom Wright
If size is the aim, training takes on a different tone. Here’s how to change the classics accordingly
1. Chest
Step away from the bench – you’ll get more pec activation from moves that aren’t just about pressing. Switch your press-ups for “squeezers”, as done by the BarStarzz calisthenics team. Start with your hands slightly outside shoulder-width apart, and squeeze them together (they shouldn’t actually move inwards) on the way up. Do three max-reps sets, every other day.
2. Biceps
“Unfortunately the best biceps move is the least practical,” says strength coach Chad Waterbury. “If you can hang a rope up somewhere, do ten climbs, two or three times a week for all the stimulation you’ll ever need.” Not an option? Do neutral-grip pull-ups (palms facing in) or pull-downs using your gym’s double-D handle to give your guns similar stimulation.
3. Triceps
Dips done properly – with your elbows tucked to your sides – might be all the triceps training you need, but once you hit the 30-rep mark, switch to the Russian variation. Drop into the bottom of the move, shift your weight backwards onto your forearms, then push forwards again and come back up. The (nasty) goal is ten reps.
4. Forearms
Forget wrist curls and work these muscles alongside everything else. Fat-grip training is the key – either invest in a set of Fat Gripz or wrap a towel around the bar for pull-ups, rows and dumbbell curls.
5. Quads
No leg extension machine? No problem: do the natural version. Start on your knees with your upper body raised off the floor, then lean back slowly, using your quads to control your descent. You might need to use some momentum to get back to the top, but the goal is to ascend and descend without using your hands.
6. Shoulders
Don’t chase the weight on shoulder moves: your rotator cuffs will struggle to handle the stress. Instead, use light dumbbells and strive for perfect form – when you’re doing lat raises, for example, do one rep, then hold at the top for ten seconds, two reps and 20, all the way up to four and 40. Rest for a minute, and repeat twice.
7. Traps
Sure, shrugs will do the job – if you go heavy enough – but for better and quicker gains, switch up to the snatch-grip high pull, which hits the rhomboids, shoulders and mid-back for shirt-stretching muscle. Using a wide grip on the bar, pull it explosively upward, keeping your elbows higher than the bar and aimed slightly backward. Then let the bar fall back to the start position.
8. Back
You need to hit it from all angles. To do the job, pick a rep count that’s roughly a third of the number of pull-ups you can manage in one set, then do three sets of this number of normal-grip pull-ups, three sets of close-grip and three sets of wide-grip, with 60 seconds’ rest between sets. Once you can do all nine sets with perfect form, increase the reps by one for your next workout.
9. Glutes
They won’t activate themselves. Before you squat, use the fire hydrant: get on all fours, then bring your knee up and out to your side, like a dog marking its territory. For more activation, straighten your leg – if your glutes start twitching, it’s working.
10. Hamstrings
The Nordic hamstring curl is a fine move – and, according to studies, a solid way to protect your hamstrings from sports-based wear and tear – but it’s not easy without someone to hold your legs. Use a lat pull-down machine as an improvised spotter: get into the machine with your shins on the seat and ankles tucked underneath, then lean away from the machine, holding on to the handle.
11. Calves
You don’t need machines or added weights. Do single-leg calf raises with your fingertips against a wall for balance – no bending at the knees or waist. Aim for three sets of max reps (each leg) and when you make it to 20, stop using the wall. The increased motor unit recruitment will add both power and muscle.
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12. Hold it
“Isometric holds are underrated for building abs,” says strength and conditioning coach Joel Dowey. “Use the basic plank or a hanging/supported leg raise holds with a neutral lumbar spine to strengthen your rectus abdominis.” Aim for four sets of 40 seconds, then switch to a more difficult variation of the move.
13. Lower the reps
“If you enjoy more traditional abs training, then train them as you would other muscles,” Dowey says. “Mix in some heavier eight, ten or 12-rep weighted training to promote a different hypertrophic response than the usual higher-rep training.” Crunches work especially well but if you’re doing them on a gym ball, make sure it can take the load.
14. Do mechanical drop sets
They work for biceps, so why aren’t you doing them for your core? Do them with hanging leg raises: go to failure on a two seconds up, two seconds down tempo, then switch to knee raises. Finally, ditch the tempo and go to failure one last time. Three reps will torch you.
15. Let it roll
In real life, your core does its best work when it’s resisting movement. Focus on what experts call “anti-extension strength” with roll-outs, done with an abs wheel or TRX. Go down slow, pause at the bottom, and contract your core to come back up. Aim for five sets of ten.
16. Thick back and sides
Tiny waists are for supermodels. Work your obliques and lower back with a versatile core, courtesy of a gymnastics superset: first, lie on your front and arch your back, then hold for 30 seconds, then go straight into five kettlebell windmills on each side. Repeat for four sets, no rest.
17. Breathe easy
“Learn to breathe properly when squatting and deadlifting,” says Dowey. “This will ensure your entire core musculature is activated during each of the lifts while also protecting your lower back.” To do it, take a deep breath into your abdomen, as if you’re trying to press outwards against a weight belt, and hold it throughout the move.
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18. Count your sets
“If you’re trying to get jacked, your secondary goals should be to minimise joint wear and tear, and maintain – or increase – your proficiency on the big lifts,” says Nuckols. To do that, aim to train each muscle or movement for four to six sets (or 40-70 total reps) per session. “I recommend accessory lifts over lighter sets of squat, bench or deadlift to cut down on overuse injuries,” says Nuckols.
19. Vary your reps
Yes, most studies agree that six to 12 is the ideal range for maximising muscle growth – if you go heavy enough – but that’s not the full picture. Lower rep counts - three to five, say - will let you build the strength you’ll work with later as well as maximising mechanical tension, while going above 12 will help build up your lactate tolerance. Go low early on, when you’re doing compound moves, then switch to high when it’s time for isolation work.
20. Time your rests
If you’re training strictly for strength, rests should let you fully recover. For fat loss, they should be so short you’re gasping for breath. For muscle? It’s somewhere in between. “Getting a timer that you keep in view as you train so you can stick to your rest periods is one of the best investments you’ll make,” says trainer and Men’s Fitness cover model Sean Lerwill. For muscle, 90 seconds after heavy supersets is a good guideline.
21. Watch your tempo
It’s been a constituent of most muscle plans for a decade or more – but before that, the Schwarzeneggers and Ferrignos of the world built bulk without anything so prescriptive. If mid-set counting isn’t your forte, just think “forceful up, slow down”. “As a rule, take twice as long on the eccentric [lowering] as you do on the concentric [lifting] part of the move,” says says Andrew Tracey, founder of The Nomad Way training philosophy. Keep it controlled, and you won’t go far wrong.
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22. Know what you need
First, you need to work out your Basal Metabolic Rate, or how many calories you’re burning just to stay alive. Plug your stats into the equation: (10 × weight in kg) + (6,25 × height in cm) - (5 × age in years) + 5 to get it, then multiply the whole thing by 1.375 (if you’re planning to train one to three times a week) or 1.55 (if you’re aiming for four to five). Once you’ve got your baseline, add 300-400 calories per day for a controlled bulk.
23. Track your intake
“It’s counter-intuitive, but you need to watch your diet more when you’re bulking than when you’re cutting,” says Jay Waldron, who writes about training at strengthunbound.com. “When you’re cutting, the only difference the numbers make is how fast or slow you lose fat – but when you’re bulking, days of excessive eating will mean fat gain, and days of missing your macros will slow your progress.” Spend five days tracking your calories and macronutrients with MyFitnessPal: after that, you’ll have a better idea of how you’re doing.
24. Watch your macros
Watching calories? Keep your priorities in order, says strength and conditioning coach Joel Dowey. “Don’t over-eat protein. There is very little research to suggest more than 2-2.3g per kilo of bodyweight a day equates to greater strength or mass gains. If you consume more than this then they’re wasted calories – calories that could be eaten as carbs or fat, increasing the rate at which you recover.”
25. Keep carbed up
“Don’t demonise carbohydrates,” says Dowey. “Recent research suggests that when protein is eaten with carbs, muscle protein synthesis increases as much as fourfold compared to protein and fat or protein alone. Consume high-GI carbs after training to maximise the recovery process.”
26. Make your own gains shake
Shop-bought mass gainers are not always ideal. Blend your own with a handful of frozen berries, a scoop of protein powder, a teaspoonful of peanut butter and some water or almond milk to taste.
27. Throw an egg on it
“Eggs contain the most complete amino acid profile of all foods,” says Dowey. “The yolk has an abundance of healthy fats and micronutrients that help rebuild damaged cells and encourage the production of hormones. HDL cholesterol present in eggs also lowers total body cholesterol.” Steak, leftover chilli, stew: not much is worse with an egg thrown in.
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28. Protein
You only need it if you aren’t getting enough from food, or if you’re struggling to eat during your post-workout window (don’t panic, it lasts up to 90 minutes). Aim for 30-50g in a shake after training.
29. Magnesium
Sleep is as important to muscle growth as food: it’s when recovery happens. Magnesium - the fourth-most common mineral in the body - helps with stress levels and improved kip-time. Take it in spray form, or add the salts to your bath.
30. BCAAs
They can increase muscle protein synthesis, especially if you’re not getting enough protein from other sources. There’s also some evidence that they reduce post-workout muscle soreness and increase testosterone recovery. The standard dose is around 20g a day, and it’s especially useful if you miss breakfast.
31. Creatine
It’s naturally produced in the body, and you can find it in food – mainly meat, eggs and fish – but supplementing can increase power output, by helping out your body’s stores of ATP, its primary source of energy. Recent studies support taking it with a loading phase: take 0.3g per kilo of bodyweight for five to seven days, then back off to 5g total a day for three weeks.
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32. Digestive enzymes
If you aren’t actually digesting properly, all your chicken thighs mean nothing. “Include a quality digestive enzyme,” says strength and conditioning coach Joel Dowey. “An optimally working gut will ensure a great uptake of both macro- and micronutrients, leading to greater recovery from training.” So you’ll be able to train again faster, which means more gains.
33. Zinc
It won’t let you lift harder immediately, but it’s key to hundreds of biological processes, including testosterone production and metabolism. Aim for 10mg a day.
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34. Build the mind-muscle connection
Yes, it really exists: in a recent study, 18 subjects managed to increase the activation of their pec or triceps muscles just by focusing on them during sets of bench presses. If you’re struggling to “feel” a muscle during an exercise, coach Greg Nuckols suggests switching to an isolation move that emphasises it – you’ll be able to feel the activation better when you switch back to compound movements.
35. Reframe your goals
It’s easier if you’ve got something worth aiming for. “Don’t chase a summer body, chase the desire to be a strong, fit human being,” says Gym Jones coach Pieter Vodden, who worked with the cast of Suicide Squad. “Understand that this is a lifestyle choice and not a temporary fix. Commit to training and to local events, and make things fun.”
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36. Go airplane mode
Nobody needs your Twitter bons mots when it’s gym time. If you’re taking your phone for music or workout consultation, switch to airplane mode. Better yet, get an MP3 player.
37. Keep a diary
It makes sense to keep track of your weights, sets and reps so you can beat them in future. But there’s more to it: if you had a really good session, had you slept better the previous night, or changed your warm-up? Taking a couple of minutes to note what you’ve done will let you stick with what works.
38. Have a back-up strategy
“It’s fashionable to say that it’s the 23 hours of the day when you’re not in the gym that you get results,” says Andrew Tracey, founder of The Nomad Way training philosophy. “But what if you’re forced to miss one of your four weekly gym sessions? That’s 25% of your training time gone. Keep a back-up plan so you can get results anywhere.”
39. …And stick to the plan
You do have one, right? “Going into the gym knowing what you’re going to do means you’ll be more efficient and move with a purpose,” says Vodden. “Get in, get it done, get out. And eat.” Less time dithering means more time to enjoy your post-workout burrito.
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40. Vary your speed
Three key factors maximise muscle growth: mechanical tension, muscle damage and metabolic stress. Switch your tempo between moves or workouts, and you’ll alter which one comes to the forefront. For instance, do your bench pressing with a pause at the chest to increase mechanical tension, but switch to dumbbell bench with a bigger ROM and slower lowering motion to up the muscle damage. Change things up every couple of weeks for bigger gains.
41. Know when to fail
According to a study in the Journal Of Applied Physiology, failure is the most important factor in hypertrophy – but that doesn’t mean going all-out in every set is the smart strategy. Going to failure on heavy, compound lifts is very taxing to the nervous system, to the point where doing it on your first move might ruin your workout. Save it for isolation moves.
42. Stretch better
Not just because you’re channelling Van Damme. Static stretching for 30-90 seconds per muscle group after a workout can stimulate a recovery response in your nervous system thanks to receptors in your soft tissues. Struggling with your no-doubt-tight pecs? Sling a resistance band over a pull-up bar and tug gently against it so that you feel the stretch in your pec.
43. Push, then pull
There’s more to supersets than just saving time: according to an effect known as reciprocal innervation (first hypothesized by René Descartes, philosophy fans), muscles exist in pairs with contraction of one being matched by relaxation of the other. There’s some evidence that this means supersetting, say, a triceps move with a biceps move (chin-ups and bench press is a classic example) aids recovery from both moves, by forcing the non-working muscles to relax – and letting you get more reps next set.
44. Change angles
“One way to do mechanical drop sets is to change the angle at which the resistance is placed upon the muscle,” says strength and conditioning coach Joel Dowey. “With rope triceps extensions, take two or three steps back from the machine, then perform eight to 12 reps, or enough so that you’re close to failure. Take a step forwards and repeat. Then do it again, until the cable is moving vertically. This type of drop set uses the same weight but places the peak resistance at different muscle lengths within the same movement.”
45. Feel the squeeze
“When doing any arm exercises, try squeezing or tensing the ‘antagonist’ muscle before each rep,” says Dowey. “The triceps if you’re doing curls, for instance. This will fully lengthen the target muscle ensuring a greater ROM, which leads to increased microtears in the muscle.”
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46. Kirk Miller, four-time Men’s Fitness cover model
“Use a 4111 tempo – so four seconds for the eccentric or lowering phase, one for every other phase – on every rep with perfect form, on virtually all exercises with real intensity. I guarantee you will grow from the time under tension. Do this for six to 12 reps each set and you’ll not only grow but reduce the risk of injury.”
47. Ben Mudge, Reflex Nutrition Athlete and Men’s Fitness cover model
“Instead of doing lots of moves for each body part, focus on the big five: the deadlift, squat, bench, overhead press and pull-up. I think these are the best five movements you can do for overall muscle recruitment – do them correctly and you’re going to add some serious muscle.”
48. Shaun Stafford, WBFF pro fitness model world champion and Men’s Fitness cover model
“Rather than going into a set with a desired rep range in mind, go in with the aim to work for a certain amount of time. Select the weight you would use for your set of ten to 12 reps but try and work for between 40-70 seconds – the accepted ‘time under tension’ for predominantly hypertrophy. You still need to be working at a max level. Try to make the set last as long as you can – either more reps or slower reps – until you hit the latter end of the time bracket.”
49. Richard Pearce, three-time Men’s Fitness cover model
“I superset almost everything – it’s a great way of maintaining intensity. Generally I do a heavy compound move such a bench press then a much lighter but higher-rep, higher-tempo supporting move for the same muscle group like weighted dips or press-ups.”
50. Ryan Terry, IFBB Pro bodybuilder and Men’s Fitness cover model
“Everyone knows to have big legs you have got to squat, but tailor your form to your goals. Stand with your feet close together and you switch the emphasis of the movement onto your outer quad, which helps to build the outer sweep, giving you a more ‘3D’ look. The sumo squat, done with a wide stance and toes pointing out, focuses on the inner quad to give the leg more overall thickness – you’ll tend to be stronger on this movement than the normal squat.”
51. Andrew Tracey, The Nomad Way creator and Men’s Fitness cover model
“Focus on form. The last rep should look exactly like the first, whatever weight you’re moving – but prioritise the eccentric. The lowering portion of any lift is the most effective at causing the damage that’s necessary for hypertrophy – just look at the difference in shoulder size between Olympic weightlifters or CrossFitters, who drop their lifts from the top of the lift, and bodybuilders who focus on a slow, controlled lowering. To take it a step further, try to activate the antagonist muscle during the eccentric phase – for instance, try to fire up your lats to actively resist the barbell as it’s coming down during a bench press.”
Joel Snape
14 Dec 2016