To gain muscle mass is the dream of every hot blooded male. However, if you are going to achieve all that without relying on steroids or any artificial supplements, then you would really need lots of discipline and commitment to your training and diet. It is vital that you reevaluate your schedule, and set aside time to work out in the gym and make necessary changes to your diet. We will look at some hot tips that would help you to gain muscle mass and to shape up.

1. Sodium Intake

Sodium is an essential mineral you would need to take as it encourages the growth of muscles through increasing our muscle cell fluid volume. Though it is a good water retainer which is not good for us if we want to bulk up, it benefits you by enhancing carbohydrate storage and absorption of amino acids into our bodies. Since it can increase our cellular fluid, our joint leverage is improved and hence we gain more strength, suffer lesser muscle strains, and soft tissue injuries from weight training. On top of that, sodium improves the responsiveness of our muscles to insulin.

2. Fish and Foods with Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Eating fish and foods with omega-3 fatty acids would help us to gain muscle mass indirectly. Go for fish with tons of omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, mackerel, lake trout, sardines, tuna and herring. Flaxseeds, walnuts, oregano, cauliflower, mustard seeds, cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, tofu, spinach, kale, soybeans are all rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids. These foods make our muscles more sensitive to insulin which aids fueling our glycogen storage and entry of amino acid into our muscles. All these is done while preserving our storage of glutamine, a key nutrient for protein metabolism and preventing muscle deterioration.

3. Free Weights Training

If you are serious about wanting to gain muscle mass, keeping the right diet is not enough. You need to work on some resistance training such as using free weights like dumbbells. They would work out your ancillary muscles and build compound mass on them. Dumbbells are exceptionally useful and versatile in muscle building because of the range of motions you can carry out when using them. This also means that you can work on more sets of muscles with the same piece of equipment, and the result is of course more muscle mass gain.

4. Experimenting with Different Exercise Regimes

No one is born with inert understanding of how their bodies respond to different exercises. What works for others may not work for you and vice versa. But if you have been training for a while, you would know what exercises work best for your muscles. Experiment different exercises and techniques with your dumbbells and free weights to see which helps you to gain muscle mass best.

There are a hundred and one ways to train up your muscles to gain muscle mass. But if you are keen and want to learn more, there are plenty of sites including my blog where you can pick up some great advice on muscle mass gain especially if you have tried but failed in other exercise regimes.

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