How To Gain Lean Muscle Mass

If you’re wondering how to gain lean muscle mass, then this article will show you how.

What’s the use of gaining a lot of muscle, if you also gain a lot of fat with it? If it’s covered in a big layer of lard and nobody can see all your hardwork in the gym?

Wouldn’t you rather gain lean muscle mass with your workouts so you’re improving the way you look, instead of just getting “bulky” and then feeling ashamed of taking off your shirt?

Of course you would! And today’s article will show you how, so let’s get started…

1. Overeat — but in moderation

You need to eat more calories than you’re burning off per day in order to gain lean muscle. On a related note, you should try to get at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight to make things easier… though I will admit… many a big, buffed body has been built in prison systems with much less than those amounts of even crappy protein.

What I want you to avoid is the “see food” diet where guys who are so desperate to put on weight decide that “if you see it — it’s food!” and they eat everything. They use it as an excuse to eat twinkies, taco bell, and wash it all down with a big gulp coke.

Try to avoid this. You want the majority of your calories to come from clean food sources. Will it be harder to eat the required amount of calories you need (20 calories x bodyweight)? Yes, it will be. But that’s what you gotta do if you want to gain lean muscle mass.

Read my article on  How to eat to build muscle and lose fat for more information on clean foods to eat.

2. A little cardio goes a long way

When you’re trying to gain lean muscle mass you don’t want to be doing a lot of cardio because it will burn calories… which makes it harder to eat enough calories to build muscle.

So think of cardio like the “spice” on the top of your workouts — a little bit goes a long way.

If you stick mainly to  Interval Training then you can cut your cardio workouts WAY down to like 4 or 5 minutes a couple of times per week to keep the fat cells away (or keep them from growing). Just don’t overdue it like I said because you want most of the calories you ingest to go towards muscle repair and growth.

3. Intermittent fasting helps

This is the secret sauce, this is what separates “ok” results from “wow! you’re friggin ripped!” and the distinction becomes even more clear the more muscle you build. Intermittent fasting — where you eat for only a few hours per day and don’t eat for the rest of the hours.

Why does it work so well to help you build lean muscle mass? Well, it teaches your body to first burn your current fat stores for energy — both for your everyday activities and for your workouts. Then when you overeat during the hours you’re supposed to be eating (after you’ve already worked out on an empty stomach) the majority of your food will go towards repairing, re-growing and refueling your muscles — and NOT towards fat gain. Exactly what you want.

Read my article on The Perfect Muscle Building, Fat Burning Diet Plan to see how you can put both the power of clean eating and the power of intermittent fasting together to get the results you want (it takes a little more thinking to eat like this — but I find it quite enjoyable!)

So there you have it, three tips so you’ll never again have to wonder how to gain lean muscle mass — just start today!