Choosing to build muscles may have you thinking you will be spending a lot of hard working hours in the gym. The truth is that building muscle is as much mental work as it is physical. It’s about knowing how the muscles work and how to build them so you can select smart techniques to get the body you want in a quick amount of time. Keep reading for valuable tips on muscle building.

Keep your focus on exercises such as squatting, dead-lifting and bench pressing. They are the cornerstones of bodybuilding for good reason. They work the main components of your body, building mass and strength. No matter how you vary your routine, always perform these basic exercises.

Make certain you eat plenty of protein if your goal is to build muscle. Protein is a basic ingredient from which muscles are constructed. When you don’t consume enough, your body will have a difficult time increasing muscle mass. Two-thirds of your meals and snacks should incorporate lean proteins to ensure your body has an ample supply to draw upon.

Be sure you mix up your routine. After you have been working out for a bit of time, you might find that you are bored with your routine. This can cause you to lose motivation and even stop working out all together. Make sure that you do different exercises and workout different muscles each time you exercise. By doing this you will remain motivated and help to prevent plateaus in progress too.

Ramp up your food intake on days when you will be doing your muscle-building workouts. Consume protein and other calories the hour before exercising. That doesn’t mean you can eat whatever you want, but that you need to eat a bit more on training days.

Train using many repetitions and sets as possible during your training session. Do fifteen lifts at the minimum with a break of a minute or less in between. When you do this your lactic acids keep flowing and help stimulate muscle growth. Try to do this as much as you can during each session to get the best results.

Try to limit your workouts to around sixty minutes. Beyond 60 minutes, your body starts releasing the stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol blocks testosterone–a hormone that promotes muscle growth–and undermines all of the work you are putting into building muscle. Shorter workouts will help you to get greater results in a smaller timeline.

Make yourself appear larger than you are through the power of illusion. This can be achieved by putting your focus on the upper chest, upper back and shoulders by training these specific parts. Bulking up this way makes your waist look smaller, and it can make you look larger overall.

Eat tons of protein when you’re attempting to add muscle. Proteins play a vital role in the formation of muscle mass; if you do not eat enough, you may actually sacrifice muscles. You may need up to one gram of protein per pound of body weight each day.

Avoid rapidly boosting your protein intake immediately after you begin your new workout plan. That can result in excessive caloric intake which, if not countered by increased exercise, may result in fat gain. Ease your way into a high-protein diet so that your body has a chance to adjust. Gradually raising your intake by two or three hundred calories at two- or three-day intervals is wise.

You most likely had the drive to work extra hard to gain muscle prior to reading this. Hopefully, the advice contained here has given you an idea of how you can get results faster. Use the strategies you have learned in order to reach your goals in muscle-building.