If you want to build muscle, going to the gym and getting in your workouts is crucial. Intensity during your workouts is important as well. If you don't stress your muscles sufficiently, you won't see any growth or results from your efforts. Doing the right exercises for maximum growth is also a key component of a well constructed muscle growth routine.
Weight lifters also appreciate the importance of proper nutrition. Without the right number of calories coming in (i.e. a surplus), a lifter will never gain muscle mass worth counting. In addition, the calories have to be the right composition - plenty of protein with a healthy portion of carbs and fats. They also need plenty of vitamins, minerals, and water to supplement their training.
All of these components are well appreciated and debated by exercisers and weight lifters everywhere. But one of the keys to any good program to build muscle is often ignored: rest. It is during rest that muscles repair the damage caused by the exercise, and it is during rest that the muscles grow bigger and stronger.
Too many lifters focus on working as hard as possible and then they enter a state of overtraining. Overtraining occurs when individuals don't give their muscles enough time to recuperate between workouts. Being in this state can cause a massive plateau to your results, and even worse, it can even lead to injuries which can set you back for months.
The proper way to continue to build muscle throughout your program is to make rest a priority. This may seem like you're going soft, but you're not. Rest is as crucial, and perhaps more important, than proper exercise and nutrition.
When designing your workout plan, make sure to add in enough bouts of rest between workouts. There are many ways to do this. One way is to do full body workouts through the week, leaving a day of rest in between, such as a Monday, Wednesday, Friday (or Saturday) workout. This will leave plenty of time in between for proper recuperation. Others like to work out everyday, so they separate out each day to focus on a particular muscle group. For example, Monday could be chest, Tuesday is biceps, and so on. This allows each muscle group to have periods of rest and periods of workouts. However, weight lifters following this schedule should be careful that the "off" days for the muscles truly are off days. For instance, certain chest exercises require working the biceps, and vice versa.
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