Tag: Muscle Building
Nutritional Supplements: What to Take and Why
This article will explore the fundamentals of nutritional supplements and why incorporating them into your daily routine is beneficial. What are Nutritional Supplements? Nutritional supplements refer to products designed to enhance one’s diet and commonly consist of vitamins, herbs, minerals, and amino acids. These supplements are frequently linked to complementary and alternative medicine […]
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Understanding Calories and Ways To Cut Them
When you settle down for a meal, your hunger might override your concern for its nutritional balance. Understanding the fundamentals of macronutrients and their corresponding calorie content can assist you in crafting well-rounded meals. Although calories aren’t an ingredient in your food, they play a crucial role in comprehending what you consume. Equipping yourself […]
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IGF 1 Bodybuilding
Insulin like Growth Factor (IGF) in Bodybuilding: Exploring IGF-1 and IGF-1 Long R3 In the realm of bodybuilding, the use of performance-enhancing substances is not uncommon. One such substance that has gained popularity is Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF). This article aims to shed light on the use of IGF-1 and IGF-1 Long R3 in bodybuilding,…
HGH Men
“HGH Men Discover the powerful benefits. This article explores common dosages and durations for beginners, intermediates, and advanced athletes, as well as the role of HGH in anti-aging. Learn how HGH can enhance muscle growth, promote fat loss, aid in recovery, and optimize performance for male athletes.”
SARMS FOR SALE
SARMS for Sale: Unlocking the Potential of Ostarine MK-2866, Cardarine, and RAD-140 by SARM Sciences When it comes to SARMS (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators), SARM Sciences stands as a trusted brand offering high-quality products. In this article, we will explore the benefits of three popular SARMS sold by SARM Sciences: Ostarine MK-2866, Cardarine, and RAD-140….
Building Muscle After 50: Guidelines and Workout Program
Strength training, bodybuilding, and powerlifting are often seen as activities best suited to people in their 20s and 30s. And, let’s be frank, things like the size of your biceps, rock-hard abs, or your bench press one rep-max are a much bigger deal when you’re young.
Folks in their 50s are usually less interested in athletic performance or looking like a Greek god or goddess. Instead, they’re more focused on warding off middle-aged weight gain, managing their blood pressure and cholesterol, or avoiding the aches and pains that come with getting older.
However, not only is strength training still important as you age, it could actually help you live longer.
Forget about lifting weights to look good, although that’s still a benefit even with you’re in your 50s. Building muscle improves many aspects of your health and fitness, including pushing back the day of your funeral!
In this article, we reveal some of the biggest benefits of building muscle in your 50s, how to do it, and a program to follow. We’ll also answer your most common after-50 strength training questions.
The Benefits of Building Muscle After 50
Humans are, by nature, lazy. This is no bad thing because it’s this laziness and inherent drive to preserve energy that has led to most of the technological advancements and luxuries that we now take for granted.
We use mechanized transport instead of walking, mains water instead of drawing water from wells, electric lights instead of fire, and supermarkets instead of hunting and gathering. Life is, by and large, pretty easy.
However, that laziness means that many people are sedentary and struggle to find the motivation to exercise regularly. Because of this, it is critical to understand the benefits of working out.
Knowing the benefits will give you a greater reason to participate and stick to your workout routine. You’ll know WHY you are doing it, which can be a powerful motivator. The next time you are thinking of skipping a workout, just remind yourself of all the benefits you’ll be missing out on:
Muscle and strength preservation
Muscle mass naturally peaks in your mid-30s and declines by between 3-8% per decade after that. This muscle loss is called sarcopenia and helps explain why older people are usually far weaker than their younger counterparts. Age-related muscle loss can have a significant impact on many aspects of your life, from your ability to walk to your balance to being able to get out of bed to longevity (1). Muscle loss is also closely linked to poorer mental and physical health.
The good news is that regular strength training can slow this rate of muscle loss to a crawl, and you can also regain lost muscle at almost any age. Sure, building muscle is more challenging in your 50s than in your 20s and 30s, but you can still do it.
Easier weight management
As muscle mass tends to decline with age, fat mass increases (2). This is often called middle-aged spread, referring to the gradual expansion of the waistline. Losing muscle decreases your metabolic rate, and being less physically active means you are more likely to have a calorie surplus. All these factors contribute to weight gain.
Building muscle can help make it easier to maintain your weight or lose fat. Muscle is metabolically active tissue and uses more calories than fat. Preserving your muscle mass can help prevent the metabolic slowdown generally associated with advancing age.
Increased bone mass
Like your muscles, bone mass also decreases with age. This is called osteopenia, which, if ignored, can become osteoporosis, a medical condition characterized by weak, porous, fracture-prone bones.
When you strength train, your muscle pull on your tendons which, in turn, pull on your bones and the tissue surrounding them, called the periosteum. This stimulates the osteoblast cells, which are responsible for bone growth.
As your muscles get stronger, so too do your bones. Stronger bones are less prone to fractures. Broken hips are a leading cause of disability in older people (3).
Blood glucose management
While it’s normal for your blood glucose levels to rise and fall, chronically elevated blood glucose can have a significant impact on your long-term health. If unchecked, chronically high blood glucose can lead to:
Diabetes
Obesity
Kidney disease
Heart disease
Circulatory problems
Impaired immunity
Nerve damage
Blindness
Strength training improves your body’s ability to utilize glucose. After training, blood glucose is diverted to your muscles and liver, where it’s stored as glycogen (4).
Lifting weights also improves your insulin sensitivity, which is the hormone responsible for controlling your blood glucose. Better insulin sensitivity means your body can metabolize sugar and carbohydrates more easily.
Combined with a healthy, low-sugar diet, lifting weights can help manage or even prevent chronically elevated blood glucose.
More stable, mobile joints
Joint pain often goes hand-in-hand with getting older. Your knees, hips, and shoulders have seen a lot of use over the last five or more decades and will probably show some signs of wear and tear. Joint pain can be enough to put some people off working out.
However, building muscle can help reduce joint pain or prevent it from worsening. Stronger muscles help stabilize your joints, preventing unwanted movement and taking stress away from the bones. In addition, the stronger you are, the less challenging things like walking, lifting, and carrying become, which also helps reduce joint stress.
Many strength training exercises are also good for your mobility – the health and range of motion of your joints. They can also help reduce joint pain (5). Squats, lunges, pulldowns, and push-ups all enhance mobility as they build strength.
While you may need to adapt your workout according to your joint health, avoiding exercises you find uncomfortable, building muscle should have a very positive impact on how your joints feel and function. Joints typically weaken and stiffen from lack of use, and not because of exercise. If you want your joints to stay healthy, you need to use them.
Improved neurological function
If your muscles and bones are your body’s hardware, your nervous system is its software. Lifting weights has a powerful effect on your nervous system and will improve how it functions. The neurological benefits of strength training include better balance, improved coordination, and greater proprioception (7).
Improved neurological function will help you move better, making the day’s activities easier. You’ll also be less prone to falls, which are a serious cause for concern in older adults.
Better mental health
Leading on from the point above, building muscle isn’t just good for your muscles and bones but for the old brain box too! Regular strength training can have a profound effect on many aspects of mental health, including:
Better memory
Improved creativity
Increased problem-solving ability
Lower risk of depression
Reduced anxiety and stress
More positive outlook
Lower risk of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, etc.
Mental and physical health are closely related, and building muscle has a positive impact on both.
Better posture
Posture is the alignment of your joints. When you are in good posture, there is very little stress on your bones and muscles. However, poor posture is much harder on your muscles and joints and can even affect blood flow to your brain.
Regardless of age, lifting weights is one of the best ways to strengthen the muscles you use to maintain good posture. Exercises for the posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, lower back), core, and upper back are crucial for fixing slouches and rounded shoulders.
Posture can deteriorate with age, which results in changes in your center of gravity and balance (6), leading to an increased risk of falling. You’ll look and feel younger and move better if your posture is good.
Improved cardiovascular fitness and health
If you want a stronger heart and healthier lungs, you must do cardio, right? While cardio is good for cardiovascular fitness and health, strength training is also beneficial. Lifting weights involves short periods of work followed by brief rests. This is basically interval training, which is a popular form of cardio.
Compound exercises like squats, bench presses, and bent-over rows engage multiple muscles, which, in turn, demand a lot of oxygen. This leads to an increase in heart and breathing rate despite not being a typical cardio workout.
While cardio training is rarely a bad idea, it’s reassuring to know that strength training is also good for your heart and lungs.
As you can see, building muscle is “big medicine,” even after your 50s. Use these benefits to motivate you to exercise regularly and consistently. Your efforts will pay off!
However, older exercisers should still check in with their primary physician before starting a new workout plan. This information is not meant to replace your doctor’s advice.
Guidelines for Building Muscle After 50
Now you know WHY you need to build muscle after 50, let’s move on to HOW to do it. Follow these guidelines to ensure you get the most benefits from the least amount of time and effort while making your workouts as safe as possible.
Build your workouts around compound exercises
Exercises come in two main “flavors,” compound and isolation. Compound exercises involve multiple muscles and joints working together, providing the biggest bang for your workout buck. Compound exercises also tend to be more functional, i.e., they mirror the demands of everyday life.
In contrast, isolation exercises are typically less functional and less efficient. You need to do a lot of isolation exercises to train your entire body compared to just 3-5 compound lifts.
That doesn’t mean isolation exercises are bad, but for the most productive workouts possible, most of your workout time should be spent on compound exercises.
Read more about the differences between compound and isolation exercises here.
Choose exercises you enjoy and tolerate well
Fitness experts love to argue about the best way to build muscle and strength. It gives us something to talk about over our post-training protein shakes! However, enjoyment and tolerance are the real determinants of what makes a good exercise, at least for those in their 50s.
Enjoyable exercises leave you wanting to come back for more and not dreading your next workout. However, those exercises should also suit your body and not cause unnecessary discomfort and pain.
So, if you hate bench presses because they hurt your shoulders, do something else instead. Even if it isn’t the so-called “best” exercise, sticking to what you enjoy and can tolerate means you are more likely to work out consistently, and that’s what really matters.
Do at least ten sets per muscle group per week
While you don’t need to do a lot of long workouts to build muscle in your 50s, you need to do enough to produce the desired results. According to science, that means doing at least ten sets per muscle group per week but less than 20 (9).
You can spread these sets across several workouts using a split routine where you train different muscles on different days or, more efficiently, using full-body workouts.
Doing at least ten sets per muscle per week will ensure you get the desired results. And while you can do more, there is a point of diminishing returns, and subsequent improvements will be less significant. More work will also be harder to recover from, which could affect workout intensity or frequency.
Lift weights 2-4 times a week
You don’t have to go to the gym every day to build muscle in your 50s. In fact, 2-4 workouts per week work best for most people. This provides a good balance between working out and time for rest.
As you hit your 50s and beyond, your body takes longer to recover from bouts of intense exercise, and training before you are recovered could harm your progress. In many cases, working out less and not more often is the best approach.
So, there is no need to become a gym addict in your quest to build muscle. Anywhere from 2-4 workouts per week will get the job done.
Train with lighter weights for higher reps
According to bodybuilding lore, building muscle involves lifting moderate to heavy weights for 6-12 reps per set. While undeniably effective, this type of training can be hard on your joints and may not be appropriate when you’re in your 50s.
However, research suggests you can build muscle with light weights and high reps, provided you take your sets to within a couple of reps of failure (10). So, instead of hoisting 50-pound dumbbells, you can use the 20-pounders and get similar results.
This is also good news if you have high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, or any other condition that may preclude you from lifting heavy weights.
Warm up like a pro
Like a classic car, your mature muscles and joints need extra care to avoid breaking down. This means warming up is critical if you want to prevent injuries. You don’t need to spend all day on your warm-up, but you should dedicate 10-20 minutes to getting your body ready to train.
A general warm-up consists of some light cardio followed by dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for the muscles and joints you’re about to use. Depending on how you feel and your injury history, you may also need some dedicated foam rolling or movement prep exercises to work out the kinks. Time spent warming up is seldom wasted.
You can read more about warming up for strength training here.
Prioritize mobility and flexibility
In addition to losing strength as you age, older muscles and joints tend to be stiffer and less mobile. This can make some exercises hard or even impossible and affect how you move. The more sedentary you are, the more likely you are to be stiff and immobile.
However, like muscle mass and strength, you can win back lost flexibility and mobility at almost any age. You’ll look and feel younger if you are supple and move with ease instead of creaking about from place to place!
So, prioritize mobility and flexibility. Don’t just stretch on the days you work out. Instead, stretch every day to keep your muscles and joints flexible and mobile.
Check out our stretching archives for more information.
Consistency is king
Sadly, you cannot store fitness. While a couple of missed workouts won’t hurt, more than two weeks off training will cause noticeable decreases in strength and muscle mass. Staying away from the gym for several months could mean losing all your hard-won gains entirely.
As such, consistency is the byword for successful muscle building after 50. You need to keep showing up, and only illness and injury should keep you from your workout plan.
The good news is that even a couple of short workouts per week can preserve your existing muscle mass, so doing something will always be better than nothing.
Look for ways to make your workouts as consistent as possible. You’ll find a host of handy tips here.
Respect your body’s need for rest and recovery
Do you remember when you could party all night and work all day without missing a beat? Well, those days are gone! Now you are older, your body needs more time for rest and recovery, and you need to accept that your progress depends on more than just your workouts.
Make sure you get a good 7-9 hours of sleep per night, and also take days off from exercise to give your body the extra time it needs to recuperate. You are not being lazy; you’re merely respecting your body’s increased need for rest.
Pump up the protein
Protein Sources
Building muscle requires a slight caloric surplus and a diet rich in nutrients. However, arguably the most important thing you need is adequate protein.
Protein foods like eggs, chicken, fish, legumes, soy, nuts, etc., contain amino acids, which are the building blocks of life. Amino acids are constantly being broken down and used in your body. Ideally, your intake should exceed what’s being used, putting you into a positive protein balance. However, consuming too little protein means that breakdown will exceed rebuilding, which will limit muscle gain, and could even hasten muscle loss.
Make sure you consume adequate protein so your body always has enough of the materials it needs to repair and build muscle. This usually means about one gram per pound of body weight, but you can get a more accurate protein intake recommendation here.
Don’t just lift weights
As essential as strength training and muscle-building are, they’re only part of the total fitness and longevity equation. If you want to live a long, strong, healthy life, you should balance your strength workouts with cardio and activities that enhance brain health. Vegging out in front of the TV all night will probably NOT extend your life.
Examples of other complementary activities include:
Walking and hiking
Swimming
Cycling
Traveling
Learning new skills, e.g., a language or musical instrument
Artistic or creative activities
Reading
Journaling
Socializing
Most stimulating activities will help ward off the aging process. What you do doesn’t even have to be hard – it just needs to engage your body and brain.
Accept your limitations
While building muscle and strength training are something of a fountain of youth, they can’t hold back the aging process indefinitely, and some decline is unavoidable. Your body changes as it gets older, and so too do your physical abilities. Trying to train as you did in your 20s and 30s is a recipe for injury and heartache. So, shift your sights and accept that you may be unable to do everything you want. Take it from one who knows; this can be a bitter pill to swallow, but there are plenty of things you can still do, including building muscle.
Focus less on what you used to do and more on what you can and want to do in the future.
Start slow, build momentum, and then keep going
If you are new to exercise, the last thing you should do is dive head-first into an intense workout program. Doing too much too soon is a great way to end up sore, injured, and frustrated.
So, start with a program you can complete relatively easily, and gradually increase the workload as your body gets used to exercising regularly. Build up over several months to drive your fitness and strength forward and upward. Getting in shape is a marathon and not a sprint.
Try to make your workouts as automatic as possible. In other words, make them fit your lifestyle so you don’t have to think too hard to do them. For example, exercise immediately after work on the way home to save you from having to go back out. Make this your routine 3-4 days a week. Or, set up a home gym and do your workout on rising.
As we said before, consistency is king, and you’ll get much better results if you create a workout plan you can stick to. Not for a week or a month, but for many years to come.
Building Muscle After 50 Workout
You now have all the information you need to write your own after 50 muscle-building workout. However, to save you the time and effort, we’ve designed one for you.
This is a full-body program you can do 2-3 times per week on non-consecutive days, e.g., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This will allow you to accumulate the recommended ten+ sets per muscle group per week.
The exercises are 50+ friendly and should build muscle and enhance function without compromising your joints.
Do this work out for the next 2-3 months and then progress to a more challenging plan when you feel you are able – such as this one. As mentioned above, make sure you precede your workouts with a thorough warm-up.
Building Muscle After 50 – FAQs
Do you have a question about building muscle after 50? No problem, because we’ve got the answers!
1. How much muscle can you build after 50?
How much muscle you can build after 50 depends on several variables, including your current level of muscularity, body type, training history, diet, motivation, and dedication. For example, novices who are a long way from their genetic potential will probably build more new muscle than a more experienced lifter who is already quite muscular.
So, rather than trying to predict how much muscle you can build after 50, focus more on actually doing it. That’s the only way to discover the answer to this question.
2. What is the best diet for people in their 50s?
Ultimately, the best diet for building muscle AND being healthy in your 50s is the one that provides your body with all the nutrients and calories you need, is based on clean or natural foods, and that you enjoy. This means there are lots of different eating plans you can choose from.
However, many experts believe the heart-friendly Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest. It’s often linked to a long, disease-free life.
3. Can I change any of the exercises in the after-50 muscle-building workout?
While we have carefully chosen the exercises in the after-50 muscle-building workout, you are free to change them if necessary. For example, you could do single-arm dumbbell rows instead of cable rows or push-ups instead of dumbbell bench presses.
However, if you do make changes, ensure that you use similar exercises to keep the program balanced.
4. Can I do the after-50 muscle-building workout every day?
The after-50 muscle-building workout is a full-body plan meaning it trains all your major muscle groups in a single session. Doing it every day would not give you enough recovery time between workouts.
It’s generally accepted that a muscle group takes 48-72 hours to recover from training, so an every-other-day approach is best. If you want to work out every day, you should do cardio on the days between strength workouts or adopt a different training split.
However, older exercisers usually benefit from at least a couple of complete rest days per week, as the recovery rate may be slower.
5. What weights should I use in the after-50 muscle-building workout?
Unfortunately, only you can answer this question. You’ll need to experiment to find a weight that takes your muscles close to failure within 12-20 reps. If you can’t do 12 reps, the load is too heavy, but it’s too light if you can do more than 20. Pick a weight that keeps you in the 12 to 20-rep sweet spot.
However, don’t panic if you occasionally fall outside of this range. Providing you reach failure, it’ll still be productive. It’s just that 12-20 provides a nice balance between weight and time efficiency.
6. Are there any supplements that will help me build muscle in my 50s?
Contrary to what some nutrition companies want you to believe, you can build muscle without supplements. Provided you train hard and eat right, your muscles will grow. Supplements are a relatively recent invention, yet people have gained muscle for thousands of years!
That said, there are a few substances that may help you gain muscle more quickly, either by providing your body with more of what it needs to grow, increasing workout intensity and/or duration, or accelerating recovery.
Useful supplements include:
7. Can I keep lifting weights in my 60s and beyond?
You can and should continue lifting weights for as many years as possible. Your body operates on a system of “use it or lose it,” and if you stop training, your muscles will gradually weaken and shrink. After a few months, you’ll be right back where you started.
The only way to maintain your existing muscle mass, or at least reduce the rate of muscle loss, is to keep on hitting the gym like your life depends on it.
However, your workouts will undoubtedly change as you enter your 60s, 70s, and beyond, but that doesn’t mean you should stop challenging your muscles and working hard.
You don’t stop exercising because you get old; you get old because you stop exercising!
Building Muscle After 50 – Closing Thoughts
You can build muscle at any age – even your 50s and beyond. Yes, it IS harder, as the bodily processes that build muscle start to slow after your mid-30s. But with time, effort, and dedication, you can keep getting stronger and more muscular long past middle age.
In fact, many lifters continue performing incredible feats of strength despite their advancing years, such as Mark Felix, Nick Best, and Odd Haugen. And there are plenty of veteran bodybuilders who still pack plenty of muscle mass, despite being in their 50s and beyond, including Tom Platz, Dorian Yates, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
While you may never recapture the strength and muscularity of your youth, you don’t have to be weak and skinny, either. Use the information in this article to keep making gains regardless of your age.
References:
Chang SF, Lin PL. Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis of the Association of Sarcopenia With Mortality. Worldviews Evid Based Nurs. 2016 Apr;13(2):153-62. doi: 10.1111/wvn.12147. Epub 2016 Feb 4. PMID: 26844538.
Hiol AN, von Hurst PR, Conlon CA, Mugridge O, Beck KL. Body composition associations with muscle strength in older adults living in Auckland, New Zealand. PLoS One. 2021 May 28;16(5):e0250439. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250439. PMID: 34048458; PMCID: PMC8162602.
Massini DA, Nedog FH, de Oliveira TP, Almeida TAF, Santana CAA, Neiva CM, Macedo AG, Castro EA, Espada MC, Santos FJ, Pessôa Filho DM. The Effect of Resistance Training on Bone Mineral Density in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Healthcare (Basel). 2022 Jun 17;10(6):1129. doi: 10.3390/healthcare10061129. PMID: 35742181; PMCID: PMC9222380.
Jiahao L, Jiajin L, Yifan L. Effects of resistance training on insulin sensitivity in the elderly: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Exerc Sci Fit. 2021 Oct;19(4):241-251. doi: 10.1016/j.jesf.2021.08.002. Epub 2021 Aug 19. PMID: 34552636; PMCID: PMC8429971.
Latham N, Liu CJ. Strength training in older adults: the benefits for osteoarthritis. Clin Geriatr Med. 2010 Aug;26(3):445-59. doi: 10.1016/j.cger.2010.03.006. PMID: 20699165; PMCID: PMC3606891.
Mayer F, Scharhag-Rosenberger F, Carlsohn A, Cassel M, Müller S, Scharhag J. The intensity and effects of strength training in the elderly. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2011 May;108(21):359-64. doi: 10.3238/arztebl.2011.0359. Epub 2011 May 27. PMID: 21691559; PMCID: PMC3117172.
Lee IH, Park SY. Balance improvement by strength training for the elderly. J Phys Ther Sci. 2013 Dec;25(12):1591-3. doi: 10.1589/jpts.25.1591. Epub 2014 Jan 8. PMID: 24409027; PMCID: PMC3885846.
Li Z, Peng X, Xiang W, Han J, Li K. The effect of resistance training on cognitive function in the older adults: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2018 Nov;30(11):1259-1273. doi: 10.1007/s40520-018-0998-6. Epub 2018 Jul 13. PMID: 30006762.
Baz-Valle E, Fontes-Villalba M, Santos-Concejero J. Total Number of Sets as a Training Volume Quantification Method for Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review. J Strength Cond Res. 2021 Mar 1;35(3):870-878. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002776. PMID: 30063555.
Lasevicius T, Ugrinowitsch C, Schoenfeld BJ, Roschel H, Tavares LD, De Souza EO, Laurentino G, Tricoli V. Effects of different intensities of resistance training with equated volume load on muscle strength and hypertrophy. Eur J Sport Sci. 2018 Jul;18(6):772-780. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2018.1450898. Epub 2018 Mar 22. PMID: 29564973.
How to Gain Weight with A Fast Metabolism – The Best Strategies and Tips
With over 70% of the American population overweight or obese (1), a fast metabolism is often considered an enviable trait. People with a fast metabolism burn more calories at rest, which makes it harder for them to gain weight.
People with a fast metabolism can often eat whatever they want without getting fat (2).
However, a fast metabolism is a disadvantage for some people, especially those who want to gain muscle and build strength. These processes invariably require a caloric surplus, and a fast metabolism can make it hard to eat enough to recover and grow.
The good news is that, while it will take some work, it is entirely possible for someone with a fast metabolism to gain weight. We reveal the best strategies and tips.
Your metabolism is your ability to convert food into energy, and your basal metabolic rate, or BMR for short, is the number of calories your body needs per day to maintain your current weight at rest.
These two things are intrinsically linked, and the faster your metabolism is, the higher your BMR will be, too.
When you add your BMR to the number of additional calories you burn per day during planned and incidental physical activity, you get your Total Daily Energy Expenditure or TDEE.
Building muscle and getting stronger usually requires a calorie surplus. That means you must consume more calories than your TDEE. These surplus calories are used to fuel training, for muscle repair and growth, and for recovery. Recommended calorie surpluses vary from 300-500 calories for lean gaining to 1000 or more during a full-on bulk.
If you have a high BMR, eating enough food to create the necessary surplus can be hard. A lot of food you eat gets burnt by your overactive digestive system, leaving nothing left over for muscle growth.
This makes it much harder to gain weight and build mass.
While there is very little you can do about your fast metabolism, there are several strategies you can employ to make it less impactful so you can still gain weight. That said, people with a fast metabolism will sometimes still struggle to gain weight, which is why they’re often called hardgainers.
Does your metabolism burn hotter than a fiery furnace? Do you eat a lot but still find it hard to gain weight? Use these tips and strategies to gain weight despite your fast metabolism!
1. Track your food intake
A lot of people who struggle to gain weight fail to track their food intake. This means they have no idea if they are eating enough or have created a sufficient calorie surplus.
Food tracking used to be time-consuming and laborious. After weighing and measuring your foods, you had to look up the calorie values in a book, use a calculator to work out your intake, and then write everything down in a food diary. It was a DRAG!
Nowadays, you can use any number of apps and online resources to make the entire process quick and painless. What used to take hours now takes minutes, and you can even scan QR and barcodes to save you from having to input your foods manually.
If you are not in the habit of tracking your food intake, it’s time to start. After all, if you don’t know how many calories you’re eating, you’ll never know if you have the necessary surplus. You might think you’re eating enough to gain weight but, in reality, your calorie intake maybe falling short of what you need.
2. Increase your calorie surplus
Most nutritional advice suggests you need a 500-calorie-per-day surplus to gain weight. While that recommendation can work for people with a normal metabolism, it might not be sufficient for those with a high BMR.
So, increase your calorie intake to create a more significant surplus. For example, if 500 extra calories per day aren’t working, go for 750 or even 1000.
Going back to point #1, remember to track your food intake to ensure you really do have a calorie surplus. No surplus means no weight gain – period!
3. Eat more calorie-dense food
Some foods are more calorie-dense than others. Calorie density refers to the number of calories a food contains by weight or serving. Some people with fast metabolisms find it hard to eat enough food to create a calorie surplus. They may have small appetites or simply don’t have the time or means to eat enough food to gain weight.
One way around this problem is to build your meals around calorie-dense foods. Some of the best calorie-dense foods for weight gain include:
Bananas
Beans
Bread
Butter
Cheese
Chicken with the skin left on
Desserts
Full-fat yogurt
Ice cream
Mayonnaise
Nuts and seeds
Oily fish
Olive oil
Pasta
Peanut butter
Potatoes
Red meat
Rice
Sour cream
Whole milk
Including these foods in your meals or eating them as snacks will naturally increase your daily caloric intake. You still need to eat an abundance of fruit and vegetables for good health, but make sure higher-calorie foods are your nutritional mainstay.
4. Consume more liquid calories
Some people find it hard to eat enough calories. They feel full after a few mouthfuls of food and cannot chow down the vast volume of food needed to gain weight. Even high-calorie foods are too filling.
Consuming at least some of your calories in liquid form is the perfect solution. Liquids are less filling than solids, allowing you to consume more calories with less effort.
You can drink a commercial weight gainer or, probably healthier, whip up your own. Here’s an example recipe for a liquid meal that contains about 750 calories:
2 scoops protein powder
1 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
1 cup of dairy or non-dairy milk
1 ripe banana
Dump all the ingredients in a blender and blitz on high speed for 30-60 seconds and consume immediately. Add some water if you prefer a thinner shake.
5. Eat more frequently
Most people find it easier to consume more calories by eating several medium-sized meals instead of a couple of big meals. This will help you feel less full. Unfortunately, eating so frequently means you’ll probably have to carry food with you. However, this doesn’t have to be too inconvenient if you prepare food in advance and use a cooler.
For example:
Breakfast – 6 eggs, 3 strips of bacon, toast, oatmeal, orange juice
Snack – ½ cup of mixed nuts and a banana
Lunch – pasta and chicken salad
Snack – protein bar and a large glass of full-fat milk
Dinner – steak, baked potato with sour cream or butter, mixed vegetables, plus dessert
Snack – large bowl of full-fat yogurt with chopped nuts, strawberries, and honey
While this is still a lot of food, eating every 2-3 hours will make hitting your calorie intake goal more manageable.
Try also find calorie breakdown per meal
6. It’s okay to eat junk food now and then
Junk food is notoriously high in calories, and most of those calories come from fat, refined sugars, and processed carbs. While junk food is one of the reasons that 70% of adults and kids are overweight and obese, it can also help someone with a fast metabolism gain weight.
After all, what’s got more calories: a grilled chicken breast and salad or a pizza?!
While most of your meals should be nutritionally balanced and healthy, eating junk food from time to time will make it easier to consume the calories you need to gain weight.
So, where most dieters allow themselves a cheat meal occasionally, someone with a fast metabolism can probably afford 4-5 cheat meals each week. However, the rest of your diet should be clean and healthy.
7. Get more sleep
Too little sleep can undermine your weight gain efforts in several ways. Firstly, your caloric expenditure is lower when you’re asleep than awake. Your body “powers down,” saving valuable energy.
Secondly, if you are awake, you are more likely to move around and waste energy on otherwise avoidable physical activity.
Finally, not getting enough sleep can raise your stress levels. Stress can make you less hungry, revs up your metabolism with adrenaline, and interferes with various metabolic processes, including muscle building. Needless to say, if you want to gain weight, more sleep and less stress are a must.
So, get more sleep – 7-9 hours is about right for most people; not just at the weekend, but weekdays, too.
Read more about the importance of sleep for muscle gain here.
People with a fast metabolism not only need to eat more, but they should also try to move less to protect their hard-eaten calorie surplus. This means limiting non-training physical activity as much as possible.
As famous Australian strength coach Ian King likes to say:
Don’t run when you can walk
Don’t walk when you can ride
Don’t stand when you can sit
Don’t sit when you can lie down!
In simple terms, hard-gaining fast metabolizers need to learn to be lazy. That means no pick-up games of basketball, no unnecessary cardio, and no long walks in the moonlight…try to reduce non-training physical activity to the minimum. Instead, save your energy for gaining weight.
9. Train hard, train heavy, and go home!
Hardgainers with a fast metabolism only have a limited amount of energy for training. Long, very frequent workouts use the calories that should be reserved for gaining weight. The more you train, the more you’ll need to eat, and as you know, that’s not always easy or practical.
Avoid draining your calorie bank and undoing your surplus by keeping your workouts short, infrequent, and intense.
Aim to get in and out of the gym in 40-60 minutes, limiting your workouts to 3-4 sessions per week. Focus on big bang-for-your-buck compound exercises, and don’t do any more sets than you need to. As eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney used to say, stimulate, don’t annihilate.
If you do cardio, just do a couple of 20-minute workouts per week, which will be enough to enhance your fitness and health without wasting too many valuable calories. However, you may even want to skip the bike or treadmill entirely if you still struggle to gain weight.
Related: Ectomorph Workout – The Skinny Guy’s Training Guide
10. Monitor your progress and adjust your diet and workout accordingly
If you don’t measure something, you cannot manage it, and the only way you make sure you are making progress is to hop on the scales and weigh yourself.
However, your body weight can fluctuate by several pounds each day, so you must weigh in at the same time and under the same conditions to determine if you are making progress. So, for example, if you weigh yourself after a big meal one day and then when your stomach is empty the next, your readings will not accurately reflect your results.
For consistency, make sure you weigh yourself at the same time each day. Set a schedule, e.g., every other day at 7am, and record your readings. Also, weigh yourself after you’ve been to the bathroom and naked or in your underwear so that you get the truest reading possible.
Even then, your weight may still fluctuate, so look for trends rather than day-to-day changes. So, providing your weight is trending upward, you don’t need to make any changes to your diet or exercise regimen.
However, suppose your weight remains unchanged for a week or more. In that case, your calorie surplus may be insufficient, so you need to eat more, exercise less, or use one of the other strategies in this article.
Gain Weight FAQs
Do you have a question about how to gain weight with a fast metabolism? No sweat because we’ve got the answers!
1. How many calories do I need to consume to gain weight?
To gain weight, you need to consume more calories than you burn, which is called your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, or TDEE, for short. Anything above this number is said to be a calorie surplus.
Depending on the speed of your metabolism and how fast you want to progress, you should be able to gain weight with a surplus of anywhere from 250 to 1000 calories a day. Start with a relatively small surplus and see how you go. If you aren’t seeing the results you want, increase the surplus by another 250 calories.
Once the scales are moving in the right direction, you can continue with the same caloric intake until you reach your body weight goal.
2. Do I have to count calories to gain weight?
While counting calories can make it easier to control your progress, you don’t have to do it to gain weight. After all, millions of people manage to gain weight who have never counted calories in their lives!
Suppose you aren’t currently gaining or losing weight. In that case, it’s safe to say your calorie intake is equal to your calorie expenditure. So, if you want to gain weight, you need to eat more to tip you into a positive energy balance.
Adding a 500-calorie meal or snack to your current diet should be enough to help you start gaining weight. For example, an average peanut butter and jelly sandwich contains 350 calories, so if you have one and a half servings, you’ll get a little over a 500-calorie surplus without weighing or measuring anything. Add more sandwiches if your weight gain stalls.
While this approach is less accurate, it can work and is ideal for those who prefer not to spend time weighing and tracking their food.
3. Can I just eat junk food to gain weight?
Junk food is invariably higher in calories than so-called clean foods. This makes them appeal if you want to gain weight. However, junk foods are also devoid of vitamins, minerals, and fiber and often contain ingredients that are unhealthy, such as artificial additives, chemical preservatives and colors, refined sugars, and trans fats.
So, while eating junk food is an easy way to get more calories, it could also harm your health.
While your progress may be slower if you mostly eat clean, and you’ll probably need to eat more food, going the non-junk food route will be better for your health in the long term. That said, the occasional slice of pizza, cheeseburger, candy bar, or bowl of ice cream won’t hurt you.
4. Will eating more make me gain fat or muscle?
Providing you are lifting weights regularly, you should gain both muscle and fat when in a calorie surplus. The amount of fat vs. muscle you gain depends on the size of your surplus and your muscle-building genetics.
If you feel like you are gaining fat too fast, you need to reduce the size of your calorie excess or train a little harder. However, most people with a fast metabolism tend to accumulate fat slowly and lose it quickly, too.
5. How fast can I gain weight?
Your rate of weight gain depends on several factors, including the size of your caloric surplus, how active you are, your age, and your dedication to training. As such, it’s impossible to say how quickly you will gain weight.
That said, we have a weight gain calculator that takes many of these things into consideration and estimates when you’ll reach your target body weight.
Enter all the variables to discover how long it will take to hit your goal weight.
6. Are there any dangers of trying to gain weight with a fast metabolism?
Gaining weight with a fast metabolism should be safe, providing you do it sensibly. This means you don’t force-feed yourself and mostly eat healthy foods. You should also avoid becoming overweight/overfat, which is bad for your health.
Monitor your blood pressure and body fat percentage to keep things as safe as possible. Speak to your doctor if you start to feel unwell.
7. I have a manual labor job and am active all day. Can I still gain weight?
Manual labor jobs can make it hard to gain weight because of the sheer number of calories you burn during your working day. For example, a 170-pound man can expect to burn anywhere from 1800 to 3000 calories in eight hours doing moderate to vigorous manual labor, e.g., digging, chopping wood, lifting and carrying, etc.
Needless to say, you’ll need to consider this high energy expenditure when determining your TDEE and calorie surplus. However, provided you eat enough, even the hardest working manual laborer should be able to gain weight. That said, you’ll need to prioritize your diet and avoid overdoing it in the gym.
Closing Thoughts
In many ways, a fast metabolism is something of a blessing. People with a fast metabolism don’t usually gain fat easily and are less likely to become overweight, even if they eat unhealthily. That said, that same high metabolism can make it hard to gain muscle and could mean you are skinnier than you want to be.
The good news is that it IS possible to gain weight with a high metabolism.
That said, people with a fast metabolic rate will need to pay extra attention to what they eat to ensure they create the calorie surplus necessary for weight gain. They may also need to dial back on their non-training physical activity. Other lifestyle interventions may also be required, such as getting more sleep, avoiding stress, and looking for additional ways to be less active.
If you’ve got a fast metabolism and want to gain weight, these are the sacrifices you’ll have to make to reach your body weight target. However, your hard work WILL pay off!
References:
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: Overweight & Obesity Statistics https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/overweight-obesity
Galgani J, Ravussin E. Energy metabolism, fuel selection, and body weight regulation. Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Dec;32 Suppl 7(Suppl 7):S109-19. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2008.246. PMID: 19136979; PMCID: PMC2897177. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2897177/
Does Alcohol Affect Muscle Growth?
Alcohol is part of many people’s life. From the occasional celebratory drink to regular weekend-long benders, a large percentage of the population enjoys consuming alcohol. Of course, some people prefer to abstain and don’t drink alcohol at all. But this article is not for them!
Whether you limit yourself to a couple of drinks a month or are a regular happy hour attendee, you probably want to know if and how drinking alcohol affects muscle growth.
The bad news is that alcohol can hurt your gains, especially when consumed regularly and to excess.
In this article, we reveal how alcohol affects muscle growth.
Alcohol and Muscle Protein Synthesis
Muscle is constantly being broken down and rebuilt. This is called muscle protein synthesis, or MPS for short. Your workouts cause increased muscle breakdown, and your diet provides the amino acids your body needs to repair and build your muscles and make them bigger and stronger. Try our Protein Intake Calculator.
So, to increase muscle size, muscle building must exceed muscle breakdown.
Unfortunately, studies show that drinking alcohol, especially in large quantities, can decrease muscle protein synthesis (1). It seems that alcohol disrupts the signaling pathways that tell the body how to build muscle. Alcohol consumption can reduce MPS by as much as 37% compared to not drinking alcohol after training.
So, while you can still drink alcohol and build muscle, your rate of progress is likely to be significantly slower. As such, you should avoid consuming alcohol after training and for the next 24-48 hours, which is when MPS tends to be highest.
Alcohol and Testosterone Production
Testosterone is one of the prime anabolic or muscle-building hormones. Working alongside human growth hormone and insulin growth factor-1, testosterone directly and indirectly drives muscle growth.
Testosterone Molecular Structure
Men produce testosterone in their testes, while women make it in their ovaries, and men typically have ten times more testosterone than women. This is why men are generally more muscular than women and find it easier to build muscle mass.
Testosterone is such a potent muscle builder that some athletes and bodybuilders use exogenous testosterone to raise their levels abnormally high. Most anabolic steroids are testosterone derivatives.
Unfortunately, alcohol is bad for testosterone production, and excess consumption can significantly lower your testosterone levels. It appears that, in large quantities, alcohol is toxic to the testes.
While 1-2 drinks won’t have much, if any, impact on your testosterone levels, consuming 4-8 drinks can lower testosterone levels by as much as 40% (2). Regular heavy drinking can even result in testicular atrophy or shrinkage.
Needless to say, this is a literal kick in the balls for muscle growth!
The good news is that this testosterone-lowering effect only lasts a day or so, meaning the occasional big night out won’t hurt your gains too much. However, frequent overconsumption of alcohol will significantly undermine your muscle-building efforts.
Related: Seven Ways to Boost Your Testosterone Naturally
Alcohol and Insulin Resistance
Insulin is another anabolic hormone that plays a crucial role in muscle building. The main function of insulin is transporting nutrients into your muscle cells. It drives both glucose and protein into your muscles, facilitating recovery and growth.
Consuming large quantities of alcohol has been shown to increase whole-body insulin resistance, essentially blocking the flow of nutrients into your muscles (3). This will impair post-workout recovery and, in turn, undermine muscle growth.
In addition, insulin resistance often goes hand in hand with fat gain. This is because the nutrients that should be entering the muscles end up being diverted to the fat cells. So, smaller muscles and a higher body fat percentage – talk about a terrible combination!
Alcohol and Cortisol
Where testosterone and human growth hormone are anabolic or muscle-building substances, cortisol is catabolic, meaning it causes muscle breakdown. Cortisol is often produced in response to stress. However, high alcohol consumption is also linked to elevated cortisol levels (4).
A little cortisol is no bad thing, as it’s one of the triggers of anabolism and muscle growth. However, too much cortisol, or prolonged elevation, will impede muscle growth.
Alcohol and Sleep
Sleep is critical for muscle growth; it’s when your body gets busy repairing the muscle damage caused by your workouts. Anabolic hormone levels tend to rise while you sleep, as does muscle protein synthesis. So, while you’re pushing out the zzzs, your body is busy repairing and rebuilding your muscles. As such, most people should try and score 7-9 hours of sleep per night.
While alcohol can make you drowsy and may even help you drop off to sleep faster, alcohol-fueled sleep is often of poor quality, disrupted, and not especially restful (5). Poor sleep can have a significant impact on your training performance, recovery, and muscle growth.
Interrupted and insufficient sleep can cause cortisol levels to rise, testosterone and growth hormone levels to fall, and insulin resistance to increase. In addition, sleep deprivation can lower your motivation to train and impair your recovery.
This all means that alcohol-fueled sleep is not good and won’t help you build muscle.
Alcohol and Motivation
Let’s face it – building muscle is hard work. It takes consistent effort and determination to push yourself through workouts that are often uncomfortable and even painful. If you aren’t motivated, you will probably miss more workouts than you complete, significantly undermining your progress.
Motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic, but ultimately, YOU must drag your butt to the gym and do the work required to build muscle.
Regular alcohol consumption, especially when you feel hungover the next day, can severally undermine your motivation to train (6). You’re much more likely to skip workouts, and your motivation to eat well will probably also take a dive.
The bottom line is if you want to stay motivated and skip fewer workouts, you should limit your alcohol intake.
Alcohol and Nutrition
Successful muscle building has as much to do with your diet as it does your workout. Your diet supplies the calories and nutrients your body needs to fuel your training and repair and build your muscles.
While alcohol contains calories, weighing in at seven calories per gram, it doesn’t have any other beneficial nutrients. In fact, alcohol is an anti-nutrient, meaning it uses resources but doesn’t provide any.
Drinking alcohol, especially to excess, can cause you to make improper food choices and reduce your motivation to eat healthily (7). A poor diet will undermine your workouts and impede your muscle-building progress.
How Much Alcohol is Okay for Muscle Growth?
It’s often said that drinking alcohol in moderation is okay and might even be good for you. However, there are no proven benefits associated with regular alcohol consumption – sorry! That said, a couple of drinks now and then probably won’t hurt you (8).
But what does a moderate alcohol intake look like? And will it interfere with your fitness and muscle-building progress?
According to research (1), consuming 0.5g/kg of alcohol or less won’t affect muscle recovery following exercise. So, for someone who weighs 180 lbs., that’s about 2-3 standard-sized drinks. However, consuming 1.5g/kg of alcohol or 8 drinks will significantly impact muscle protein synthesis and undermine your ability to recover and grow.
So, if you want to drink alcohol without derailing your gains, you should limit yourself to no more than a couple of drinks at a time and have a few dry days per week when you don’t drink alcohol at all. You should also avoid binge drinking, where you consume multiple drinks in short succession.
Alcohol Affect Muscle Growth – Closing Thoughts
While some people prefer not to drink, alcohol can be part of a healthy diet. However, when consumed to excess, alcohol can hurt your gains and undermine your health. This is especially true for habitual and binge drinking.
Your body views and treats alcohol as a toxic substance and reacts very negatively to its presence. Consuming alcohol can impair muscle protein synthesis, reduce your testosterone, increase cortisol, and undermine your motivation to train and eat healthily. It also hammers your liver.
Building muscle is hard enough without sabotaging yourself with alcohol!
So, by all means, have the occasional drink if you wish, but if you are serious about building muscle, keep your intake to a minimum, or don’t imbibe it at all.
References:
1 – Parr EB, Camera DM, Areta JL, Burke LM, Phillips SM, Hawley JA, Coffey VG. Alcohol ingestion impairs maximal post-exercise rates of myofibrillar protein synthesis following a single bout of concurrent training. PLoS One. 2014 Feb 12;9(2):e88384. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0088384. PMID: 24533082; PMCID: PMC3922864. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24533082/
2 – Vingren JL, Hill DW, Buddhadev H, Duplanty A. Postresistance exercise ethanol ingestion and acute testosterone bioavailability. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2013 Sep;45(9):1825-32. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e31828d3767. PMID: 23470309. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23470309/
3 – Lindtner C, Scherer T, Zielinski E, Filatova N, Fasshauer M, Tonks NK, Puchowicz M, Buettner C. Binge drinking induces whole-body insulin resistance by impairing hypothalamic insulin action. Sci Transl Med. 2013 Jan 30;5(170):170ra14. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3005123. PMID: 23363978; PMCID: PMC3740748. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3740748/
4 – Badrick E, Bobak M, Britton A, Kirschbaum C, Marmot M, Kumari M. The relationship between alcohol consumption and cortisol secretion in an aging cohort. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Mar;93(3):750-7. doi: 10.1210/jc.2007-0737. Epub 2007 Dec 11. PMID: 18073316; PMCID: PMC2266962. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2266962/
5 – Park SY, Oh MK, Lee BS, Kim HG, Lee WJ, Lee JH, Lim JT, Kim JY. The Effects of Alcohol on Quality of Sleep. Korean J Fam Med. 2015 Nov;36(6):294-9. doi: 10.4082/kjfm.2015.36.6.294. Epub 2015 Nov 20. PMID: 26634095; PMCID: PMC4666864. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4666864/
6 – Shamloo ZS, Cox WM. The relationship between motivational structure, sense of control, intrinsic motivation, and university students’ alcohol consumption. Addict Behav. 2010 Feb;35(2):140-6. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2009.09.021. Epub 2009 Oct 1. PMID: 19836901. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19836901/
7 – Fawehinmi TO, Ilomäki J, Voutilainen S, Kauhanen J. Alcohol consumption and dietary patterns: the FinDrink study. PLoS One. 2012;7(6):e38607. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038607. Epub 2012 Jun 12. PMID: 22719905; PMCID: PMC3373562. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22719905/
8 – Chiva-Blanch G, Badimon L. Benefits and risks of moderate alcohol consumption on cardiovascular disease: current findings and controversies. Nutrients. 2019 Dec 30;12(1):108. doi: 10.3390/nu12010108. PMID: 31906033; PMCID: PMC7020057. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7020057/
How To Get Ripped Quick: 12 Tips To Blast Away Body Fat and Unleash Your Perfect Abs!
Has this happened to you?
You stand in front of a mirror, turn to your side, grab your belly bulge between your hands, and wonder how you could turn this into a six-pack.
It most likely has because you wouldn’t be reading this article if it didn’t.
Most people get a gym membership to get ripped, and they want the results quickly. However, their results are generally so slow that it makes a snail on vacation look like an Olympic sprinter. It’s no surprise that most of these folks end up hanging their sprinting shoes before achieving their training objectives.
To be honest, losing body weight isn’t easy. It requires tedious planning and meticulous execution. Falter on any of the fronts, and you’ll see your progress halt or, worse, enter a downward spiral.
In this article, we will go over everything you will ever need on your fat-blasting and muscle-building journey, including what it really means to be ripped and the body fat percentage you should have, and factors that affect the time it takes for you to get in the best shape of your life.
Besides unveiling the 12 best tips to get ripped in a record time, we also cover a general timeline of the changes you can expect by following these tips. Finally, we summarize the article with the most frequently asked questions about shredding.
We have a lot to cover, so sit tight, grab your protein shake, and read on.
What does ‘getting ripped’ mean?
The fitness world has its fair share of jargon. So, before we get into the nitty-gritty of getting ripped, let’s ensure we are on the same page.
Getting ripped can mean different things to different people. For a bodybuilder, it could mean gaining muscle conditioning; for an overweight individual, it could mean losing weight; and for a motorcyclist, it could mean falling off his bike without protective gear. You are certainly in the wrong place if you are a rider. The bikes we’ll be riding in this program are stationary.
For the scope of this article, getting ripped refers to shedding body fat while preserving and building lean muscle mass. Getting ripped involves maintaining a low body fat percentage so that you have crisp muscle conditioning, separation, lines, and striations. It is the process of sculpting your physique into a masterpiece worthy of gracing the cover of fitness magazines. Lean, diced, shredded, peeled, cut, and whittled are other gym terms for getting ripped.
The optimal body fat percentage that makes it look like your muscles are tightly wrapped around your muscles will vary for different individuals. Furthermore, men achieve a more defined physique faster as they hold a lower body fat percentage than women.
Different Body Fat Percentages
Although many lifters tirelessly chase a lower body fat percentage, only a few truly understand the subject. Your body fat percentage is the proportion of fat your body carries compared to its total weight. It is calculated by dividing your total fat mass by your total body mass, multiplied by 100. It includes essential body fat and storage body fat.
According to the American Council on Exercise, the percent body fat norms for men and women are as follows:
Description
Men
Women
Essential Fat
2-5%
10-13%
Athletes
6-13%
14-20%
Fitness
14-17%
21-24%
Average
18-24%
25-31%
Obese
>25%
>32%
Essential fat is required to maintain life and reproductive functions; essential fat stores in women generally lie in the 10-13% range. On the other hand, they are considerably lower in men and lie between 2-5%.
Athletes engaged in physical sports usually have the lowest body fat percentage. Female athletes have 14-20% of body fat, whereas men are in the range of 6-13%. On average, ladies that work out regularly have a body fat percentage between 21-24%, whereas the males have 14-17%.
An average untrained female has a body fat percentage between 25-31%, and for an average male, it lies in the range of 18-24%. Anything over this is considered obese.
Body Fat Percentage and Ab Visibility
The average body fat percentages don’t necessarily dictate when you’ll be able to see your abs. Here is a rough estimate between the body fat percentage and ab visibility in men:
20%+: In the ‘average’ body fat percentage stage, you will be soft around your midsection, and your abs will not be visible.
14-17%: The ‘fitness’ stage can be considered healthy, but it is unlikely that you will see any ab definition. People at the lower end of this range might have their abs peeking through in perfect lighting.
6-13%: The ‘athlete’ range of body fat is considered lean, which means your abs will be visible.
5-9%: You will be peeled AF. However, staying in the ‘essential’ body fat range for a prolonged period is unhealthy.
Factors That Influence How Long It Can Take To Get Ripped
Several factors can play a role in determining how long it takes for you to get ripped. You can tweak some of these factors, but you have to adjust to the others.
Genetics
You are in for a rude shock if you thought you could replicate your cousin’s weight loss transformation results by following his fitness regimen. Genetics plays a crucial role in how your body adapts to your training and diet routine.
Some folks might be better positioned to get ripped quickly because of a favorable fat distribution and faster metabolism. That said, some people use poor genetics as an excuse and go easy on themselves. Don’t be this person.
Even if you did not hit the genetics lottery, you could still achieve a ripped physique by adhering to the 12 transformation tips mentioned in this article. Remember, genetics can slow you down and limit your growth, but it won’t stop you dead in your tracks. You must keep pushing yourself to achieve your dream physique.
Related: Bad Chest Genetics and How To Build a Barrel Chest
Starting Point
How fast you can achieve your training objective depends on where you start. For example, a person with 19% body fat will get to 15% body fat faster than an individual starting at 24%.
However, beginners initially experience quick results, and their progress tapers off as they gain more experience and their bodies adjust to their training and diet programs. You must constantly challenge your body to avoid hitting a plateau.
Also, you shouldn’t compare your progress with others, as it can lead to frustration and burnout. Many people also increase their risk of injury while training by pushing themselves too hard while trying to keep up with others.
Your lifestyle also plays a crucial role in how long it will take you to achieve your dream physique. People who are very active (train 5-6 days a week or have a physically-intensive job) will get ripped faster than those with a sedentary lifestyle. Plus, your sleep quality, stress levels, and overall health can also affect how quickly you shed your body weight and build muscle mass.
The Trifecta
An optimal training, diet, and recovery program is the holy trifecta of a transformation program. You must nail all three aspects of your fitness regimen to achieve your dream physique. Neglecting any department will lead to suboptimal results.
You must follow personalized training, diet, and recovery regimen to fast-track your gains. Many people make the mistake of following a vanilla transformation program. However, they never get too far with it as it is designed around someone else’s strengths and weaknesses.
For example, folks with a lagging lower body will increase their muscle imbalances by following a training program focusing on building upper body strength.
Gender
Men generally find it easier to lose body fat and shed weight due to higher testosterone levels. Testosterone is the male sex hormone responsible for the development of muscle mass and strength and for producing male sex characteristics.
High natural testosterone production is why the ladies cannot build the same amount of muscle mass and strength as the gents. Nonetheless, women can still achieve a ripped physique in a short period by following the right training and diet protocols.
Metabolism
The process by which your body changes food and drink into energy is known as metabolism. Metabolism constantly provides your body with energy for essential bodily functions like breathing and digestion.
Your body needs a minimum number of calories to sustain these functions; this category of calories is known as the basic metabolic rate (BMR). Do you want to know your BMR? Check out this neat BMR calculator.
Factors like age, sex, muscle mass, and physical activity affect metabolism or BMR. Some folks have a naturally high metabolic rate, which can help them burn more calories throughout the day. Most of us have a friend that eats like a pig but can easily be mistaken for a pole. That’s a classic case of someone with a high metabolic rate.
Furthermore, your metabolic rate improves through regular exercise, strength training, and maintaining muscle mass. Stay active throughout the day to burn more calories.
Age
Since the natural testosterone levels drop with age, humans of both genders find it more difficult to lose body fat and build muscle mass. Furthermore, our metabolic rate takes a dip too, which adds to the complexities.
We tend to lose muscle mass with age. However, following a balanced training, diet, and recovery program can help slow down muscle atrophy. Don’t get us wrong; we, by no stretch of the imagination, mean to say that you cannot lose body fat as you grow older. You can reach your goal weight at any age. You will just have to work a little harder.
Consistency
You can only achieve your transformation objective with consistency and dedication toward your goal. Most cutting programs require a long-term approach, especially if you are doing it for the first time.
You must stick to your training and diet program even when the going gets tough; believe me, it will get tough, very tough. You must have the grit and commitment to get your head down and work with all your might, even when you do not see immediate results.
Even after you achieve your training objective, you must stay consistent with your training and diet program to maintain your ripped physique. Staying in photoshoot-ready shape throughout the year is a full-time job. The sooner you realize this, the less friction you will face in your transformation journey.
Furthermore, the 12 tips mentioned below to get ripped quickly revolve around these factors and managing them better. The better you can control these factors, the better results you will see.
Timeline For Getting Ripped
Let’s address the elephant in the room. “How long will it take for me to get ripped?” This is usually the first question asked by beginners starting their fitness journey. Although many fitness experts get annoyed with this question, we think it is a fair thing to ask since a body transformation demands significant time, energy, effort, commitment, and cash.
Knowing how long it takes to achieve your dream physique will give you a timeline. You can use it to assess your progress and make necessary adjustments if and when required. A timeline can also act as motivation to stick to your guns. A transformation timeline is like a ticking time bomb; you are a bomb defuser trying to cut the correct wire before the big bang.
How much weight should I expect to lose?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends cutting your daily calorie intake by 500-1,000 kcal. Doing so will help you shed 1-2 pounds weekly. Conversely, adding 500-1,000 calories to your diet will result in gaining 1-2 pounds weekly.
According to JAMA, you must burn 3,500 calories to lose a pound of body fat. Sticking to these calorie increases and cutting limits will keep your physique transformation journey gradual, steady, and sustainable. [1][2]
Here are a few weight loss estimates as per these recommendations:
Time
Expect Weight Loss Results
1 Day
0.14–0.28 pounds
1 Week
1–2 pounds
1 Month
4–8 pounds
3 Months
12–24 pounds
6 Months
24–48 pounds
12 Months
48–96 pounds
How ripped can I get in a week?
As per the JAMA findings, you can expect to lose 0.14 pounds daily if you cut 500 calories from your diet. Notably, you won’t see the results from the first day you cut your calories. You will start seeing results after your body starts adjusting to the new regimen. This process usually takes up to a week.
Sticking to the 500-1,000 daily calorie cut will help you lose 1-2 pounds weekly. Some people try to lose too much weight too soon by following a much bigger calorie deficit, such as a 1,500-2,000 kcal shortfall. Not only is such a large calorie deficit unsustainable, but it can lead to chronic health conditions. Furthermore, the weight lost by following such a significant deficit usually returns just as fast.
How ripped can I get in a month?
There are three ways of entering a calorie deficit. You could enter a deficit by cutting your calorie, starting exercising, or using a combination of the two methods. We recommend using a combination of both approaches to achieve your weight loss goals.
You can lose 4 pounds of body weight in a month by maintaining a weekly deficit of 3,500 calories. However, since a month usually has a little more than four weeks, you can expect to shed around 6 pounds monthly. The number could increase to 10 pounds if you can manage a 1,000-calorie deficit.
How ripped can I get in three months?
An intermediate exerciser can lose slightly more than 12 pounds in three months by sticking to a 3,500 weekly calorie deficit. You must account for your cheat meals in your weekly calorie deficit. For example, if you eat 1,000 surplus calories in your cheat meal, you must adjust your calorie intake the following week to return to a weekly deficit.
You should use a calorie-counting app to log all your meals so you are on top of your diet plan. Further, developing a habit of reading food labels while grocery shopping will help you avoid junk food and achieve your goal faster.
How ripped can I get in six and 12 months?
Most people will start to see weight loss results after they stick to a controlled diet and training program for 6-12 months. You can expect to shed 24-48 pounds in six months and 48-96 pounds in 12 months by maintaining a 3,500-calorie weekly deficit.
It doesn’t matter where you are starting at. Losing between 24-94 pounds in a year can lead to a total body transformation.
Notably, the time it takes to transform your body will depend on your genetics, gender, starting point, consistency, and the other factors mentioned above. You can expect a slight variance from this timeline.
Novices shouldn’t expect to lose 1-2 pounds weekly. You can expect to replicate these results after you have some training experience under your belt and know what you are doing. Noticeable changes start to appear after you have arrived at a diet and training program that works for you.
12 Best Tips To Get Ripped Quickly
Here are the 12 best tips to get shredded in record time:
Start With a Goal
It sounds so basic, but it is where most people falter. While many do not set an objective goal for themselves before starting their transformation journey, others are either too aggressive or bleak.
You must set realistic expectations. Setting goals that are too ambitious will not only lead to disappointment but also increase your risk of injury, burning out, or giving up on your transformation dreams entirely.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Your physique transformation will take time, effort, and grit, and you must be willing to commit to it for the long term.
Have a goal that is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound; for example, ‘lose 4 pounds in a month.’
Assess Current Diet and Make Necessary Changes
Most people think that losing weight is like solving a Rubik’s cube. You must twist and turn your entire lifestyle up and down until you can create the right pattern. However, this couldn’t be farther from the truth.
The only thing that you need to do to lose weight is to cut calories and enter a calorie deficit, meaning you must expend more calories in a day than you consume. Determine your daily average calorie intake, realign it according to your goals, and Bob’s your uncle.
Many people go balls to the wall while cutting their calories. They limit as many calories as they possibly can and sometimes push it so much that they can hear guilt whispering in their ear every time they indulge in a cheat meal. Although going cold turkey cheat meals can be great for an obese individual, depending on your starting physique and training objectives, you might not have to do it.
Following an unnecessarily severe diet can lead to a negative relationship with food, which can result in chronic health conditions.
After determining your daily caloric intake goal, use a suitable macronutrient split (carbs, protein, and fats) to work toward your dream physique. Use a high-protein, low-carb, low-fat diet to shed body fat and build muscle mass.
Do Cardio
Although cardiovascular training isn’t compulsory in a weight loss program, doing it can help speed up your weight loss progress. You should ideally perform two cardio workouts daily to fast-track your weight loss progress.
The first sesh should be a 30-45 minute low-intensity steady state (LISS) session that you do on an empty stomach first thing in the morning. Your second cardio workout should be a 15-20 minute high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session, preferably after your weight training session.
Lift Weights
You must add weight training to your exercise regime to build a chiseled physique. Resistance training exercises will help you pack muscle mass, tone your physique, and improve your overall aesthetics.
Your workouts’ frequency, intensity, and volume will depend on your experience level and training objective. Furthermore, your workouts should include a balance of compound and isolation exercises. Compound lifts help build strength and muscle mass, whereas single-joint movements improve your conditioning.
Incorporate Progressive Overload Into Your Routine
You must progressively overload your muscles to ensure consistent progress. A progressive overload could include enhancing your training frequency, volume, intensity, or time under tension.
Advanced training principles, such as super sets, drop sets, and blood flow restriction (BFR) training, are also incredibly effective ways of shocking your muscles into growing. Remember, following the same workouts for too long can lead to weight loss and muscle plateau, which can delay your progress.
Use Targeted Exercise
The concept of spot reduction is as fake as unicorns. However, both these myths live on because they are beautiful and ignite your fantasy and imagination.
Although you cannot spot-reduce a trouble area, you can target it using resistance training exercises to help shape and improve your muscle aesthetics. For example, men with excess chest fat can improve the shape of their pecs using chest exercises after reducing body fat by staying in a calorie deficit.
Track Your Progress
Tracking your progress ensures you are on the right path. Track your progress weekly by taking progress photos, body measurements, and weighing yourself. You can also record your heart rate and blood pressure for overall health tracking.
Lifters can also track their training progress by noting their exercises, sets, reps, and weights in a daily journal. Tracking your improvement allows you to make quick and necessary changes in your fitness regimen whenever you feel you’ve derailed.
Work With a Personal Trainer
A personal trainer can give you a personalized training program that suits your abilities, makes the most of your strengths, and works on fixing your weaknesses. He can also teach you the correct exercise form, which can significantly reduce your risk of injury.
You could also hire a dietician for a customized nutrition program. Availing the services of a trainer and a nutritionist might cost you a little money upfront, but it will pay you dividends in the long term.
Focus on Your Recovery
Many people become obsessed with losing body weight and do too much too soon. Doing this for a prolonged period can lead to overtraining. If you always feel sore, you must work on your recovery program.
Sleep for seven to eight hours each night to give your body enough time to rest and recuperate from your workouts. Massages, self-myofascial release, and cold plunges are other incredibly effective ways of fast-tracking your recovery.
Try New Things
You must be open to experimenting with different strategies to maximize your fat loss potential. Consider carb loading before a training session to increase your workout intensity and push yourself harder.
Furthermore, if you are stuck on a weight loss plateau, you could try intermittent fasting to break through the overhead ceiling. Always be on the lookout for things you could do differently to maximize your returns.
Improve Your Lifestyle
Getting shredded isn’t limited to the gym and kitchen; it is a lifestyle. You must manage your stress levels and be mindful of your choices throughout the day. For example, you should take the stairs instead of the elevator and bike to work whenever possible.
Stay active throughout the day. Set a step goal for yourself and schedule walks throughout the day to achieve your objective. Beginners can start with a 5,000-step goal, whereas active folks can experiment with a 10,000-step goal.
Supplements Can Help
Although supplements aren’t necessary for building a chiseled physique, they can help fill the void in your whole food diet and speed up your transformation. Whey protein, creatine, and BCAAs are a few effective supplements you can add to your fitness regimen.
2 HIIT Workouts To Get Ripped Quickly
Contrary to what most people think, you don’t require fancy training equipment or need to spend a couple of hours in the gym to tone your body and shed excess fat. You can do it using bodyweight exercises within 30 minutes. Here are two HIIT workouts that will help you get ripped quickly:
Workout 1
Perform four rounds of the following circuit, resting one minute after the burpees in each round. This workout will last 18 minutes.
Exercise
Time
Rest
Mountain Climber
60 seconds
–
Jumping Jacks
60 seconds
–
Burpee
60 seconds
120 seconds
Workout 2
Here is a lower-body dominant HIIT workout for getting ripped. Do four rounds of this circuit. This workout will take you 22 minutes to complete.
Exercise
Time
Rest
Sprint
30 seconds
–
Squat Jump
60 seconds
–
Lunge
60 seconds
–
Standing Calf Raise
60 seconds
–
Inch Worm
30 seconds
120 seconds
Next Read: How Many Abs Can You Have? 4-Pack vs. 6-Pack vs. 8-Pack
How To Structure Your Weight Loss Program
Learning about all these 12 steps to get ripped quickly can be overwhelming and lead to analysis paralysis. If you are a beginner and have no idea where to start, don’t fret; we have got you covered.
Beginners will probably not lose 1–2 pounds weekly. You can expect these results after you’ve been following the fit lifestyle for at least a couple of months. For this timeline, we are assuming you have a few months of training experience under your belt.
Here is an over-simplified six-month transformation timeline that you can use to kickstart your weight loss journey:
Month 1: Establishing a Strong Foundation
Beginners should focus on getting their basics right. Assess your current diet and make necessary adjustments according to your objectives. Begin by creating a caloric deficit through balanced nutrition and portion control. Your goal is to lose 4–8 pounds in the first month.
Start your training journey by engaging in regular cardiovascular exercises (e.g., running, cycling, swimming) for fat burning. You can also start strength training to improve your physique aesthetics. However, your goal here will be to learn the correct exercise form instead of chasing big weights.
Ensure you take weekly progress measurements and photos during your weight loss journey. It will keep you accountable and motivated and ensure you are on the correct path.
Month 2-3: Accelerating Fat Loss and Muscle Development
While maintaining your objective of losing 1–2 pounds weekly, in the second phase, you must refine and optimize your nutrition plan, increase the intensity and duration of cardiovascular workouts, implement progressive overload in your strength training routine, and incorporate HIIT (high-intensity interval training) in your cardio and strength workouts for efficient fat burning.
Your goal will be to lose 12–24 pounds by the end of three months. Make necessary adjustments to your fitness regimen if you are far from this objective.
Month 4-6: Focus on Muscle Definition and Strength
As you gain more experience, you can gun for improving your muscle definition and strength while pushing your cardiovascular endurance and stamina. In this phase, increase the frequency, intensity, and volume of your workouts.
You should see a considerable improvement in your physique by the end of six months. Your weight loss should be in the range of 24–48 pounds. Consider hiring a training and diet coach if you are unsatisfied with your progress.
Read also:
FAQs
Can you spot-reduce body fat?
Most people want to shed belly fat and are always looking for ways to spot-reduce their tummy. Sadly, this is not possible. Maintaining a calorie deficit and engaging in cardio exercises leads to overall fat reduction and body weight loss. However, you can tone a particular muscle group through targeted training. For example, men can build a six-pack by doing ab exercises after their body fat percentage falls below 15%.
Do I need to take supplements to lose fat and build muscle?
Absolutely no! You can shed body weight and achieve the physique of your dreams by eating nutrient-dense whole foods. However, supplements can help folks that cannot meet their daily caloric needs through whole foods.
Is it possible to lose fat without hitting the gym?
Yes, you can lose weight without training. You must maintain a calorie deficit to lose weight and can expect to lose 1 pound weekly by cutting 500 calories from your diet. That said, exercising regularly can speed up your weight loss progress.
Note: The content on Fitness Volt is for informative purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice to diagnose, prevent, or treat health problems. If you’re suffering from a health issue, are pregnant, or are under 18 years old, you should consult your physician before starting any new supplement, nutrition, or fitness routine.
Wrapping Up
Following the 12 explosive tips mentioned in this article to get ripped quickly will set you on a fat-obliterating and muscle-building adventure that will have you rocking a body so ripped that you’ll have people wondering if you were sculpted by Michelangelo himself.
Starting a transformation journey might feel like a daunting task. You might feel unequipped and unprepared even to begin, but with these 12 tips by your side, you aren’t. Losing the flab might feel like an uphill battle, but it isn’t.
Are you feeling too overwhelmed to take your first step? Cut one serving from any of your meals, and you’ll have begun the journey to becoming totally unstoppable. Best of luck!
References
Wishnofsky M. CALCULATION OF DIETS. JAMA. 1957;163(5):384–385. doi:10.1001/jama.1957.02970400056024
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Losing Weight. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html
How To Increase Vascularity: 15 Effective Strategies to Get Diced
Let’s be honest; prominent veins on a muscular physique look badass. Vascularity is considered a symbol of leanness, muscle mass, strength, dedication, hard work, and, as we said — badassery. Not only that, but a vascular dude is also a nurse’s dream.
Although most lifters want to get more diced and vascular, it is easier said than done. Multiple factors, including your diet, training, and body fat percentage, affect the visibility of veins in your body, and you must do everything right to maintain them throughout the year.
Vascularity is a highly sought-after attribute in fitness and bodybuilding, as it can improve your aesthetics. If you’ve ever noticed, most professional bodybuilders get super vascular close to a show; however, they lose their sharpness as soon as they start refeeding after the contest. Your vascularity can change daily, depending on your food intake and body fat percentage.
Contrary to what most people think, crisp conditioning and monster vascularity are not reserved for bodybuilders. Anyone can improve the visibility of their veins and blood vessels by controlling a few factors.
In this article, we go over the basics of vascularity and everything you need to know about improving the appearance and prominence of your veins, including the factors that affect your vascularity and the 15 most effective ways of improving it.
Understanding Vascularity
Vascularity is defined as the visibility and prominence of veins and blood vessels beneath the skin. There is no special exercise or diet to improve your vascularity. You must control several factors to enhance the visibility of veins and blood vessels under your skin.
Vascularity is chased by folks striving to achieve a shredded and muscular physique. Your vascularity mainly improves when your blood flow increases, causing the vessels to expand and become more prominent. A vascular individual’s veins will generally be thicker, wider, and denser than an average person’s.
Besides people that train, individuals with a physically intensive job and a low body fat percentage usually have insane vascularity. Manual labor keeps their blood flow high throughout the day, which expands their veins.
Bodybuilders chase vascularity as it can boost their aesthetics by enhancing their muscle definition and making them look bigger and stronger.
When veins and blood vessels become more visible as a result of a low body fat percentage, it gives the appearance of tightly wrapped skin around your muscles, helping you achieve a 3D physique, which is a jargon in the bodybuilding world for well-defined, full, chiseled, popping, and separated muscles.
Now that you are well-versed with the basics of vascularity check out the factors that affect your vascularity and the best ways to improve it.
Factors Affecting Vascularity
Although many people want to improve their vascularity, only a few understand the role of veins in the body and how it affects their overall health and well-being.
Blood vessels, including arteries, veins, and capillaries, transport oxygen, nutrients, hormones, and immune cells throughout the body. Arteries deliver oxygen-rich blood from the heart to various tissues and organs, while veins bring the oxygen-depleted blood back to the heart.
During a pump-inducing workout, your veins get dilated and move closer to the skin’s surface to make more space for the blood to return to your heart, so oxygen and nutrient-rich blood can be circulated again.
Multiple factors influence vascularity and impact the visibility and prominence of veins and blood vessels. Understanding the factors that affect your vascularity will help you fine-tune your fitness regimen. All the 15 methods mentioned in this article (and your vascularity) will come down to these factors and how you manage them.
Genetics
Like most things in bodybuilding, this is where it starts. Some people naturally have more visible veins due to their genetic makeup. Others have to slog away to achieve their vascularity and conditioning goals. Plus, some people have thicker and wider veins than others, making their vascularity stand out.
Furthermore, different people will respond uniquely to the same diet and exercise program. Your training partner might achieve crisp vascularity much faster than you, or vice versa.
Body Fat Percentage
Vascularity is a sign of low body fat as an individual must have a low amount of subcutaneous fat to unveil his muscle definition and veins. Achieving a lower body fat percentage should be your primary objective if you want to improve your vascularity.
Related: Body Fat US Navy Calculator
Muscle Mass
Your vein visibility and prominence improve as you build muscle mass. As you build muscle, your veins come closer to the skin surface, which improves their visibility. Conversely, you will lose some vascularity with a decline in your muscle mass.
Improvement in vascularity boosts your physique aesthetics as it boosts your muscle separation and definition. Most lifters report the development of lines and striations as they shed body fat and build muscle mass.
Hydration
Hydration is a complicated and often misunderstood subject when it comes to improving vascularity. Contrary to what most people believe, you must be adequately hydrated to improve your vascularity.
Many people make the mistake of cutting their water while trying to lose weight. However, it can lead to health issues. On the flip side, not managing your water and food intake can lead you to hold onto water weight.
Diet
You must follow a nutrient-dense whole-food diet and count your calories if you want to improve your vascularity. Plus, your diet should be rich in antioxidants and nitric oxide boosters. These will help dilate your blood vessels, improve blood flow, and make your veins more visible and prominent.
Blood Flow
Efficient blood flow and vasodilation are essential for pronounced vascularity. Cardiovascular exercise, nitric oxide production, and certain supplements can influence blood vessel dilation.
Hormonal Balance
Your hormones play a crucial role in influencing your vascularity. Testosterone can boost vascularity by helping improve muscle development and blood flow. Men are usually more vascular than ladies as they produce more testosterone. On the flip side, estrogen is the female sex hormone, and higher estrogen stores lead to bigger fat stores.
Bodybuilders that take synthetic testosterone often experience a boost in vascularity as their bodies are primed to shed excess fat and build muscle mass.
Age
There is a decline in vascularity with age as your skin loses elasticity and blood vessels become less prominent. Testosterone production in men also declines with age, which is another reason for muscle mass and vascularity loss.
Medications
Certain medications, such as beta-blockers, can affect blood flow by reducing vasodilation. Such types of medicines can lead to a fall in vascularity. You must consult your healthcare professional before starting a workout, diet, or supplement program if you are on any medication.
15 Best Ways To Improve Your Vascularity
Here are the 15 most effective ways of boosting your vascularity:
Target Muscle Groups Where You Want to Improve Your Vascularity
You cannot spot-improve your vascularity in a certain muscle group, as you must focus on losing body fat and building muscle by following a balanced diet and training program. Vascularity tends to be generalized to the entire body. However, you must target specific muscle groups during your workouts to improve your musculature and conditioning.
When someone says they want to improve their vascularity, they are usually referring to their arms. You’ll hardly ever find someone looking for ways to increase the vascular density in their glutes (it would be borderline gross if they did).
If you want a thick and gnarly cephalic vein and your forearm veins to look like a roadmap, you must focus on training your upper and lower arms effectively. Train your target muscle groups two to three times per week to improve your vascularity. However, you must take into account your experience level and training intensity. Advanced lifters that follow a high-volume and high-intensity training program should limit training each muscle group to twice weekly.
Follow a Balanced Exercise Regimen
Many people go all-in on isolation and machine exercises while trying to increase their vascularity. However, they leave significant gains on the table by following this approach. Your workout program should have a balance of compound and isolation exercises.
Compound movements help build muscle mass, which pushes your veins closer to the skin layer. On the other hand, isolation exercises help improve your conditioning and muscle definition.
Furthermore, since you must prioritize losing body fat (and weight) to improve your vascularity and conditioning, you should favor compound exercises that involve multiple muscle groups, as they will result in higher caloric expenditure.
Your workout programs should also maintain a balance between strength training and cardiovascular training sessions since you cannot enhance your vascularity while gaining body weight or fat.
Incorporate HIIT Exercises into Your Training Regimen
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) involves alternating between several minutes of high-intensity movements to significantly increase your heart rate to at least 80% of your maximum heart rate, followed by short periods of lower-intensity movements or rest.
HIIT exercises boost blood flow to the target muscles, improving vasodilation and the visibility of your veins. You must incorporate HIIT strength training and cardiovascular sessions into your training regimen for optimal improvements in your vascularity.
Remember, you don’t have to turn every workout in your training program into a HIIT workout. Use a training protocol that promotes cardiovascular adaptations, including improved heart health, increased blood volume, and enhanced vasodilation, and you’ll be on your way to achieving road-map-like veins.
Capitalize on Advanced Training Principles
Incorporating advanced training principles such as super sets, drop sets, and intraset stretching can significantly increase blood flow to the target muscles, which can help induce hypertrophy and enhance your vascularity.
Furthermore, the blood flow restriction (BFR) training technique can help boost your vascularity. BFR or occlusion training combines low-intensity exercise with blood flow occlusion, producing similar results to high-intensity training.
BFR training involves performing an exercise while wearing a BFR cuff around the top of the target muscle group. Notably, BFR should be restricted to one exercise per workout. Overdoing it can lead to limb numbness and other vascular issues. Although BFR was initially used in gyms for achieving a muscle-ripping pump, this technique is now gaining popularity in the clinical setting. [1]
Cut Your Calories
Most people need to shed excess body weight to increase their vascularity. You must enter a caloric deficit to lose weight, meaning you must expend more calories daily than you consume.
Your current body weight, objective body weight, and body fat percentage will determine your daily calorie intake goal. You can use our convenient online calculator to determine your ideal calorie intake target.
Break down your daily calorie intake goal into a suitable macronutrient split to work toward your dream physique. Follow a high-protein and low-fat diet to expedite your weight loss progress. Eat a decent amount of carbohydrates before a workout to ensure you have enough energy to get you through a HIIT workout.
Include Blood Flow-Boosting Foods in Your Diet
A vascularity-boosting diet must consist of nutrient-dense whole foods, such as nitrate-rich vegetables, citrus fruits, and garlic. These foods can promote vasodilation, improve blood circulation, and support overall vascular health.
Nitrate-rich vegetables such as spinach, arugula, kale, and beetroot are packed with dietary nitrates. Nitrates convert to nitric oxide in the body, which relaxes blood vessels and boosts blood flow.
Citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruits, and lemons are rich in vitamin C and bioflavonoids that support blood vessel health and improve elasticity. Garlic has been shown to improve blood flow and lower blood pressure. [2]
Contrast Showers
Contrast showers, also known as contrast hydrotherapy, involve alternating between hot and cold water during a shower. Many athletes use contrast showers for their potential benefits on circulation, recovery, and overall vascular health. [3]
Hot water showers promote vasodilation, resulting in the widening of blood vessels. On the other hand, cold water showers induce vasoconstriction, which leads to the narrowing of blood vessels. Alternating between hot and cold water during your shower can improve vascular health, blood circulation, and recovery after workouts.
In a contrast shower, you shower in hot water for three to five minutes, switch to cold water for one minute, and repeat this cycle three to five times. You must, however, always finish your contrast shower with cold water.
Make Peace with Cardio
Cardio exercises can make entering a calorie deficit easier, helping you reach your vascularity goal faster. You should ideally do two cardio sessions daily to shed excess body fat. The first should be a 30-45 minute low-intensity steady state (LISS) session done first in the morning on an empty stomach.
The second cardio session of the day should be a 15-minute high-intensity interval training workout (HIIT) done after your resistance training session. You can use a different cardio machine each time to keep your workouts interesting.
Massage
Although massages and self-myofascial release tools such as a foam roller might not directly impact your vein visibility, these practices can optimize muscle function and overall vascular health, which can enhance vascularity.
The mechanical pressure applied during these massage techniques can result in vasodilation, the widening of blood vessels. Since massage techniques can boost blood flow, they can improve your vascularity.
Sauna
Sauna sessions involve exposure to high temperatures, which can improve your overall vascular health and boost your vascularity. The rise in body temperature during these sessions leads to vasodilation, which improves blood flow and can improve your vascularity in the long run.
Regular sauna sessions can also improve your cardiovascular function. It can strengthen the heart and improve its efficiency in pumping blood through the body. Sauna sessions may boost nitric oxide release and improve endothelial function, which is the inner lining of blood vessels and plays a crucial role in vascular health.
Manage Stress
Fitness and bodybuilding aren’t something that you do for an hour a day in the gym. It is a lifestyle. You must stick to it 24X7, 365 days a year. (366 days if it is a leap year — but you get the point.)
Chronic stress is one of the most common reasons behind deteriorating health. The stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline can cause vasoconstriction, which reduces blood flow. These stress hormones can hamper your vascularity by making veins and blood vessels less visible.
Chronic stress leads to poor blood circulation, which limits the flow of nutrients and oxygen to your muscles. It can also cause water retention, leading to bloating and puffiness, which can negatively affect your vascularity.
Sleep Well
As you’ve probably noticed, improving your vascularity involves juggling multiple things, which can be exhausting. You must sleep seven to eight hours each night to allow your body enough time to recover from your day.
Getting a good night’s sleep regulates your blood pressure, helps balance your hormones, improves endothelium function, and reduces inflammation, which can all lead to better vascularity.
Avoid Alcohol and Smoking
Not only do alcohol and smoking hamper your vascularity, but they can also negatively affect your vascular health. Smoking can lead to vasoconstriction and result in increased blood pressure and reduced blood flow.
Excessive alcohol consumption and smoking increase your risk of developing atherosclerosis, a condition characterized by the buildup of plaque inside arteries, which can limit your blood flow and restrict your ability to achieve muscle pumps.
Use Supplements
We don’t mean that you must use supplements to improve your vascularity, but they can significantly improve your conditioning. Many pre-workout supplements come with nitric oxide boosters, which can deliver insane pumps in the gym through vasodilation, which also leads to better vascularity.
You can also get standalone nitric oxide booster supplements, such as L-arginine, L-citrulline, or beetroot extract, which can promote vasodilation and boost vascularity. Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, vitamin K, and antioxidants are other compounds that can increase your vascularity.
Cut Water [Only When Close To a Special Event]
Many models and professional bodybuilders cut water significantly before a photo shoot or stepping on stage, as it helps them eliminate water weight and the related bloating and puffiness. Cutting water helps improve their aesthetics by enhancing muscle separation and definition.
Furthermore, some compounds, such as diuretics, can help eliminate water. However, they are extremely dangerous. You must consult your healthcare provider before undertaking water manipulation or water depletion.
Note: The content on Fitness Volt is for informative purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice to diagnose, prevent, or treat health problems. If you’re suffering from a health issue, are pregnant, or are under 18 years old, you should consult your physician before starting any new supplement, nutrition, or fitness routine.
Wrapping Up
Vascularity serves as a visual marker of fitness and a testament to an individual’s dedication and hard work. Since multiple factors affect your vascularity, figuring out the right formula might require some trial and error.
Although this article lists 15 ways to increase your vascularity, you don’t have to do them all at once. Start by making 3-5 adjustments and fine-tune your routine after every few weeks. Depending on your experience level, improving your vascularity can be a slow process. Beginners might need to drop their body fat levels considerably to reveal their veins. It can take you 12-24 weeks to achieve noticeable progress.
Now that you know the ins and outs of how to increase your vascularity, what are you waiting for? Grab that blood flow restriction band, and head out to the gym. Best of luck!
References
Wilson JM, Lowery RP, Joy JM, Loenneke JP, Naimo MA. Practical blood flow restriction training increases acute determinants of hypertrophy without increasing indices of muscle damage. J Strength Cond Res. 2013 Nov;27(11):3068-75. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31828a1ffa. PMID: 23446173.
Ried K. Garlic lowers blood pressure in hypertensive subjects, improves arterial stiffness and gut microbiota: A review and meta-analysis. Exp Ther Med. 2020 Feb;19(2):1472-1478. doi: 10.3892/etm.2019.8374. Epub 2019 Dec 27. PMID: 32010325; PMCID: PMC6966103.
Juliff LE, Halson SL, Bonetti DL, Versey NG, Driller MW, Peiffer JJ. Influence of contrast shower and water immersion on recovery in elite netballers. J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Aug;28(8):2353-8. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000417. PMID: 24531433.