If I could share a quick and easy tip that would allow you to pack on an extra pound of solid muscle mass each week, would you be interested? And the best part is that this unique weight gain tip doesn't require you to spend any more time in the gym then you are right now, and it doesn't require you to stuff yourself trying to jam more food into each meal.
I'm going to share with you a simple little muscle building tip that will help you turn the tables in your favour and avoid one of the most catabolic times of the day. Do you know when the most catabolic time of day is? It's when you go to sleep because you literally starve your muscles for eight hours!
Would you ever go 8 hours, or more, during the day without eating something? Of course not. But that is exactly what you do each and every night when you go to bed. The old time bodybuilders knew about this. And during heavy bulk up training phases they would literally set their alarm clocks and wake up during the middle of the night and eat a high protein meal in order to prevent muscle breakdown.
If you are staying a certain weight right now then you are consuming your maintenance calorie intake. In order to gain muscle you need to consume above this calorie maintenance level. If you are a skinny guy busting your butt trying to gain muscle weight then you are most likely already eating as if there is no tomorrow. And you probably feel that there is no way you could consume any more food.
However, this middle of the night meal will provide these much needed extra calories for muscle gain, and since this is in addition to your daily meals it won't feel like you are forcing down more food. Another bonus is that because you haven't eaten for several hours most of the calories will be headed for your muscles and not stored as bodyfat.
If you consume a night-time meal replacement or protein shake with 500 calories in it; that's 3500 calories for the week over and above your current maintenance calorie intake. This will help you gain about 1 lb. of solid muscle a week. If you can stick with it you can gain some serious muscular bulk pretty quickly.
There are 2 ways to squeeze in this extra muscle building meal...
One option is to set your alarm clock for the middle of the night. However, if you are like me you hate the sound of the alarm clock as it jolts you out of your sleepy slumber like a slap in the face.
The second option, which is a lot more easy, is to simply drink a couple glasses of water before going to bed. This will naturally make you wake up in a few hours because you'll have to go to the bathroom.
Then all you have to do is before you go to bed is mix up a meal replacement drink in a shaker bottle and put it right on the bathroom counter. You'll get to the point where you just chug it back without even thinking. And then go back and hit the sack for some extra zzz's.
It will take you less then 5 minutes total prep time to mix up and drink a high calorie protein drink each night. The little bit of work involved is well worth the reward of a bigger more muscular physique.
Have you been blowing your hard-earned cash on body building supplements with techie names like "Nitric-this" and "Cell-Max-that", yet still fall short of getting the size gains you're after?
You're not alone. Thousands of muscle building enthusiasts are needlessly struggling ? grunting and sweating for painfully little progress ? and mislabeling themselves "hard-gainer".
Building muscle, like accomplishing anything, requires some rational thinking and a well-executed strategy. It doesn't just happen because you made it to the gym and finished your workout. It won't occur simply because you're using a product that was purportedly created by a "genius" wearing a lab coat. Successful natural muscle growth takes place as a result of adherence to laws of nature ? just like success with any endeavor in life.
To back my point, let's look at what many muscle building aficionados counter-productively do in gyms around the world. This is a simplistic example, but some variation of this scenario is the cause for much unneeded frustration for too many natural bodybuilders.
Let's say Bill and Joe are training partners. They arrive at the gym to perform their much-anticipated biceps workout. Bill likes to start out with standing barbell curls and he's glad he has Joe there to spot him. Bill just knows that if he can get Joe to assist him with the heavy sets, some "forced reps" will really get his arms growing. He's decided to use the ever-popular ?pyramid technique' to work his way up to those heavy sets.
Bill ends up doing six sets. His sets are as follows: 50 pounds/8 reps, 55 pounds/8 reps, 60 pounds/6 reps, 70 pounds/6 reps, 55 pounds/7 reps, 50 pounds/6 reps.
Bill feels proud of himself. It was a grueling biceps workout. His first three sets were moderately challenging. However, the 70 pounds he piled on the bar for his fourth set of 6 reps represented a respectable stretch for him.
Although he didn't ask for any help from Joe, he definitely had to dig deep within himself to find that extra pride-inducing push that allowed him to achieve the set of six reps. This fatigued his biceps enough to make the final three sets sufficiently challenging, even though they were performed with descending amounts of weight.
Five days later, Bill and Joe are back again for another biceps workout. Why? Because their schedule says it's time to work those muscles again. Of course, muscles only grow from recovery between workouts ? not directly from the tissue-ravaging training sessions themselves. But Bill and Joe have apparently worked out some kind of deal with their biceps in which the muscles have agreed to recover and grow in a four to five day span (sarcasm).
Bill wants to get bigger, so he's decided to boost his heaviest set up to 75 pounds. He figures this will really "shock" his biceps into growth. His sets on this workout look like this: 50 pounds/8 reps, 55 pounds/8 reps, 65 pounds/6 reps, 75 pounds/6 reps, 55 pounds/6 reps, 50 pounds/5 reps.
Wow... Bill got a little assistance from Joe and managed to use five pounds more weight on his two heaviest sets. That extra intensity caused him to fall short a couple reps on his final, lighter sets. But that's okay, right? Bill is increasing the poundage and getting stronger and bigger, isn't he?
Hell no! ... Bill is deceiving himself. If you add up the total volume he moved in the approximate twenty minute time period during the first workout, it was 2,305 pounds. Five days later, he moved 2,260 pounds in the same time frame. His volume of lifted weight went down. Now he's counting on moving forward after having possibly over-trained in this most recent workout. Yet he's not even aware of what he's doing.
Until Bill straightens this out, it won't matter how many stomach-stretching meals he piles down. And all the nifty powdered supplements made by smart looking guys in cute little lab coats won't help much either. He'll just be peeing all that into the toilet and wasting time to boot. That is, unless and until he gets his bodybuilding strategy on track. Nice, huh?
Both Lee Hayward & Scott Abbett are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Lee Hayward has sinced written about articles on various topics from Build Muscle, glutamine & cysteine and Fat Loss. Lee Hayward is a Physique Transformation Specialist who focuses on helping average people gain muscle, burn bodyfat, and build a strong athletic muscular body. Make sure to check out his website to download your FREE copy of his Muscle Building e-Course.. Lee Hayward's top article generates over 2400 views. to your Favourites.
Scott Abbett has sinced written about articles on various topics from Build Muscle, Hoodia and Health. Scott Abbett is the author of HardBody Success: 28 Principles to Create Your Ultimate Body and Shape Your Mind for Incredible Success. To see his personal transformation, visit