Let’s face it, unless you’re blessed with the genetic makeup of a professional bodybuilder, chances are you’re like many of us, a hard winner. You can’t beat the curse of the hard winner. Whatever you do, you can’t seem to build or retain any solid muscle mass. Therefore, as you begin your muscle building odyssey, it is important that you set realistic goals. The first thing you ask yourself is:

1. How much muscle mass can you really gain?

Setting the goal of achieving the weird muscle mass of the ‘body men’ that grace the bodybuilding magazines is bound to end in disappointment and failure.

But calm down. Yes, you can build solid muscle mass.

With the right training methods, you can beat the curse and transform your tough physical gains.

You will be able to build significant muscle mass… although within the limitations of your genetic makeup and body type. You’ll build solid, healthy, well-defined muscles that will make you the envy of your friends.

It might even make you a girl magnet! But hey, I don’t make promises.

2. The best exercises to get it right. You have now decided that you really can gain solid muscle and set realistic goals. What are the best bodybuilding exercises to do?

First of all, the main focus of your workouts should be free weights. Free weight exercises that provide a high level of neuromuscular activation. This sounds a bit complicated, but it simply means exercises that involve more than one joint action. Multi-joint compound exercises that use more than one muscle group and involve stimulation of major muscle groups.

Squats or heavy leg presses that engage the quadriceps muscle group, gluteus maximus, and hip flexors.

Flat bench presses engage the pectoralis major, front deltoids, and triceps.

The deadlift engages the quads, glutes, hip flexors, erector spinae (lower back)

Bent-over rows engage the latissimus dorsi, trapezius, rear deltoids, and biceps.

Military presses engage the muscles of the shoulders and the triceps.

Of course, there is a place for the use of resistance machines and certain isolation exercises like barbell curls, leg extensions, leg curls, and calf raises. But I must emphasize that the foundation of your routine should be compound exercises.

3. How often should you go to the gym?

The maxim, more is better, is not true when it comes to the effort you need to put in to build muscle mass. I recommend that you do not go to the gym more than 3 times a week. It’s important to realize that you don’t build muscle while training. What you are doing is stimulating your body and muscles to respond to the workload they are subjected to. They respond to this stimulus by growing stronger and bigger. Growing while you recover. Your time away from the gym provides this.

Working out three days out of seven gives you four days of recovery. You may think this is too much. Mistaken. You are not a professional bodybuilder, full of steroids. Unless you have The Wolverine’s enhanced mutant resilience, you can’t keep hitting the gym five days a week, tormenting your body and nervous system with ridiculously insane workouts. Then the luxury of being able to retire home for a power nap after downing a gallon of muscle shake and, of course, your steroid shot.

What you are is a hard winner. An ordinary boy. You have to hold down a regular job and perhaps take care of a family, with the usual stresses and strains that this entails. You can also hang out with your friends, the occasional party and night out. All these everyday activities of men consume your recovery time. They provide strains and strains that can be deadly to your goal of building muscle mass.

So the bottom line is that you need all the recovery time you can get.

4. How long should your training last?

I highly recommend that your workouts do not exceed one hour. This includes a short cardio and stretching session. You may think, ‘Man, I don’t want to do this Peter Parker stuff’ But be warned, cardio and stretching are your warm up. Warmed up muscles work more efficiently. The risk of injury is also greatly reduced. I have been training for over 20 years and my worst injury to date, a torn calf muscle.

5. The importance of nutrition to gain muscle

To be big, you have to eat big. Your body will need plenty of top-notch nutrients to fuel those workouts, aid your recovery, and build those muscles. I do not suggest that you eat large meals that leave you bloated and your digestive system overloaded. What you should do is eat up to 6 meals a day, every 3 to 4 hours. You may find it a bit difficult to do so due to lifestyle limitations, but hey, sacrifices have to be made!