How do you build muscle through your workout? This is week one, February 9, 2020, of my muscle gain journey. The importance of this goal is to feel and look younger. I plan to focus on three things–diet, sleep, and weightlifting. To build muscle by working out, you can quickly use the hand method to measure your food portion.
I usually eat one hand of protein during each meal, but I will eat two hands for each dinner while I build muscle. As a result, my carbohydrates remain at two hands full, increasing my fat from one thumb size to two thumb sizes for each meal. I usually sleep seven hours a night, but while I build muscle, I aim to sleep eight hours or more each night.
The key to building muscle through your workout is increasing your training volume.
You can find your workout volume by multiplying your weight lifted, reps, and sets together. There is a connection between the reps, sets, and weights. The more weight you lift, the lower the reps you can perform. The higher the reps you complete, the lower the weight you can lift. Using the weights, reps, and sets individually can be misleading. But when you combine the three, you get an accurate picture of how you build muscle through your workout. My workout plan for week one was:
Demographics: Age 52, Height 5-5, Weight 180 lbs
Tuesday’s Workout:
| Lift and weight | sets and reps |
| Deadlift 365 | 8,6,4 |
| Bench Press 275 | 8,6,4 |
| Barbell, Squat 315. | 8,6,4 |
| Incline Bench 225 | 8,6,4 |
| Shoulder Press 155 | 8,6,4 |
| Machine Row 225 | 8,6,4 |
| Leg Press 630 | 8,6,4 |
Thursday’s Workout:
| Lift and weight | sets and reps |
| Pushups | 64, 24, 21 |
| Hanging Leg Raise | 35, 20, 16 |
| Dips | 20, 15,10 |
| Pull Up | 8,8,5 |
| Bicep Curl 60 | 10,10,10 |
Saturday’s Measurements:
| Lift and weight | sets and reps |
| Deadlift 405 | 6 |
| Bench Press 295 | 6 |
| Barbell Squat 325 | 6 |
| Shoulder Press 185 | 6 |
| Machine Row 245. | 6 |
In conclusion, build muscle by escalating the volume you lift each week.
During your journey, increase the weight you lift each week by two to five pounds for each lift. Your focus is to increase volume to increase muscle size. You can build muscle by working out and lifting heavier. Have you seen someone with smaller muscles lifting more weight than someone with bigger muscles? The bigger guy lifts more weight nine times out of 10 times. There is a correlation between muscle strength and muscle size. I will share my experience and results at the end of each week.