9 Tricks to Look Bigger Instantly

No one’s pulling the wool over your eyes. You know that to put on quality size there are no real quick fixes or shortcuts. You must train, eat and supplement wisely—not just for a period of months, but years.

But there are also times when you want to look bigger right now. The reason and the occasion may be different for every guy—maybe you’re meeting up with an old flame

and want to show her what she’s been missing, or maybe you’re taking photos at the beach to post on Facebook. Whatever the reason, the following nine tricks can help you look 5–10 pounds bigger... instantly.

1. CARB UP


The easiest and most effective way to put on a few pounds quickly is to carb load. The lower your typical carb intake, the more impressive the results will be. Those who routinely eat less than one gram of carbs per pound of bodyweight will see the best results from this.

WHY IT WORKS: When you consume carbohydrates, they get stored in
your muscles as glycogen — a massive amount of glucose molecules attached to each other. Glycogen pulls large amounts of water into the muscles, filling them up like water balloons.

DO THIS: A day or two before you want to look your biggest, eat about 4 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight, or more. For the first 4–6 hours of the day, you can eat simple carbs like sugar, fat-free candies and white bread. Later in the day, try to focus on slower-digesting complex carbs such as sweet potatoes, whole-grain bread and pasta, and oatmeal. This will help to prevent the carbs from turning into bodyfat. Carb loading in this manner works best if you first carb deplete for three days prior by eating less than 1⁄2 g of carbs per pound of bodyweight daily, then bump up the carbs to 4 g per pound for two days.

2. GET WET

There’s a good chance you’re dehydrated, or at least not maximally hydrated. One study in athletes reported that less than 15% of them were well hydrated.

WHY IT WORKS: Adequate water consumption has a pretty simple effect on the muscles: it makes them fuller and bigger. If you’re not well hydrated, your muscles will likely look flat and it will appear as though you’ve lost size when all you’re really short on is liquids, not muscle.

DO THIS: Start guzzling water ASAP. Be sure that you’re getting in a minimum of one gallon of water a day, and even up to two gallons, to ensure that your muscles are at their fullest.

3. CHOOSE YOUR CREATINE WISELY

We’re not telling you anything new when we say that creatine pulls large amounts of water into the muscles to increase their size in a hurry. But there’s one problem
 if you grab a container of creatine monohydrate: time. Creatine monohydrate
 works fine, but it can take weeks to produce the impressive size gains you’re hoping for because creatine won’t maximize muscle cell volumization until its levels are maximized within the muscle cells. With creatine monohydrate, this can take a week and often longer, even if you go through a loading phase. Instead of monohydrate, go with a fast-acting form of creatine like creatine hydrochloride or Kre-Alkalyn.

WHY IT WORKS: These forms will increase muscle cell volume almost instantly for quicker size gains.

DO THIS: Go with 3–5 g of either creatine hydrochloride or Kre-Alkalyn both before and after workouts.

4. GO WITH GLUTAMINE

The popular supplement L-glutamine may not have the immediate effect on muscle growth that creatine and carb loading do, but it’s still a critical ingredient to include in your mass-gaining stack.

WHY IT WORKS: Glutamine is stored in high amounts in muscles and, much as creatine does, it pulls water into the muscle cells. Research also shows that glutamine helps to convert more glucose into glycogen so that more glycogen can be stored in your muscles, which pulls in more water for even bigger gains in size.

DO THIS: After workouts, add 10 g of L-glutamine to your postworkout protein shake and carbs.

5. GO WITH EVEN MORE GLUTAMINE

Even if you’re already taking L-glutamine after workouts, there’s a different form of the amino that can help you look bigger through a different mechanism: L-alanyl-L-glutamine.

WHY IT WORKS: Research shows that this form of glutamine can help you hold more water in your body. And as we said in #2, the more water your muscles hold, the fuller they become and the bigger you look– almost instantly.

DO THIS: Take 5–10 g of L-alanyl- L-glutamine (Sustamine) about 30 minutes before workouts to stay better hydrated, get a bigger pump and keep your muscles fuller.

6. TAKE TAURINE

This is one of the most popular amino acids among mainstream consumers, but not because of its potential to help add mass. Taurine is the highlighted ingredient in drinks like Red Bull (the Latin word taurus means bull or ox), where it’s touted as providing long-lasting energy. But whereas the boost in
energy you feel from taurine may be minimal, its ability to help
you put on size is anything but negligible.

WHY IT WORKS: Taurine is another amino acid that gets stored in muscle cells and pulls more water into them to blow up the muscles even bigger, especially when coupled with glutamine and creatine. Plus, taurine boosts muscle strength and endurance for more intense workouts to get you growing more in the long run.

DO THIS: Take 2–3 g of taurine with your preworkout and postworkout shakes for optimal muscle filling.

7. POP POTASSIUM

Athletes typically think of potassium (one of the key electrolytes in sports drinks like Gatorade) as a replenishing nutrient, not one that produces any noticeable bodily improvements. It’s time to change that way of thinking, as potassium can certainly help you get bigger in quick fashion.

WHY IT WORKS: Potassium is stored within muscle cells, where it work to enhance cell 
volumization—yes,
 it too will help pull
water into your muscles. The effect is more pronounced if your potassium levels are low. If you eat a typical bodybuilding diet and limit your fruit intake, the chances are good that potassium supplementation will work well for you.

DO THIS: Take about 500– 1,000 milligrams of potassium as potassium aspartate, potassium gluconate or potassium citrate two or three times per day with food.

8. ADD SOME GLYCEROL

Glycerol is known primarily for forming the “backbone” of molecules of triglycerides, the primary fats in our diet. But for the bodybuilder looking for every last ounce of mass, it can do even more.

WHY IT WORKS: Glycerol has strong osmotic properties, meaning that it attracts and binds large amounts of fluids, such as water. By attracting more fluid in the blood vessels and the muscles, glycerol enhances the volume of the muscles and the blood vessels, helping you look bigger and fuller. It can also help to prevent dehydration and help to control your body temperature when you exercise in the heat. Rese

arch shows that glycerol works best to fill
up muscles when taken with fast-digesting carbs, a lot of water and creatine

DO THIS: Take 30–40 g of glycerol along with 10–15 g of fast-digesting carbs, such as dextrose or Vitargo, 3–5 g of creatine and 48–72 ounces of water. If you have no stomach problems with that amount of glycerol, you can increase your dose to 60–80 g along with 20–30 g of carbs and the same amount of creatine and water for maximal volumization.

9. BOOST WITH N.O.

Nitric oxide boosters typically provide arginine, which gets readily converted in the body to NO. NO boosters also provide a host of other ingredients, such as Pycnogenol or ginseng, that catalyze the conversion of arginine into NO, as well as ingredients that reduce the breakdown of NO, such as horny goat weed (Epimedium).

WHY IT WORKS: The point of increasing NO levels is to relax the blood vessels that feed the muscles. Relaxed blood vessels are wider in diameter, which means more blood flows through them to the muscles, increasing their volume. With agents such as glycogen, creatine, glutamine, taurine, potassium and glycerol stocked up in the muscles (assuming you’re following the aforementioned tips), this greater delivery of water will be quickly pulled into the muscles for maximal swelling. Greater blood flow will also deliver more glucose to the muscles to create more muscle glycogen.

DO THIS: Follow dosing instructions on the label and take your NO booster both in the morning and about 30–60 minutes before training.

- See more at: http://www.flexonline.com/nutrition/9-tricks-get-massive?page=5#sthash.wk8YLB6Y.dpuf

FLEX

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Best Bodybuilder Foods for Gaining Mass

In one of my earlier articles we looked at some of the best foods for bodybuilders and fitness enthusiast to use for getting lean.  This time we are going to do the opposite and look at some of the best foods they can use for bulking up.  We are going to once again break the foods down into categories. We will look at best meat, best fish, best vegetables, best fruits, best carbs, best drink, and finally best supplements.

The one distinction I want to make about mass gaining is it is about adding quality nutrition to

your diet to add size for muscle building. It is not about eating a plethora of excess calories just to add bodyweight to a person’s frame. By using this method it is much easier to add an excess amount of fat to ones body. While you will gain bodyweight by this method, eventually it will just end up being excess bodyfat that you will have to burn off in a future date. If you eat more calories than your body can use, you pack on fat and not muscle. Even when eating a surplus of calories your nutrition should still be based around quality nutrition first with a few indulges here and there.

Best Meat-

steak.jpg

If turkey meat equals lean then quality beef equals mass gain. You want a meat that gives quality protein but also packs a high quality punch look no further than beef.  A lot of bodybuilders and fitness buffs shy away from beef because they are afraid of the higher fat content. When try to build mass however, two major components are needed- protein and calories. Beef supplies plenty of protein and because of the higher fat amounts it also supplies plenty of calories. Not to mention fat is very good for hormonal production when trying to add muscle mass. Red meat also supplies an abundance of creatine, heme-iron, and B vitamins, all vital parts of muscle building. You still want to gear your red meat eating towards leaner cuts of beef like flank, eye round steaks, and 95% lean ground beef.

Runner up: Pork

Best Fish-

grilledsalmon.jpg

When wanting a good tasty fish for mass gaining, Salmon is your go to fish. Because salmon is a fattier fish, it offers similar benefits that protein meats higher in fat offer. For salmon though, it’s not just that it is higher in fat but the type of fat it gives you. Salmon is loaded with omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3’s provide tons of benefits while dieting but also are great for mass gaining. Omega-3’s have been shown to help fight inflammation. This is a huge plus when trying to move heavier weights for building muscle when bulking up. Omega 3’s are also muscle sparing which slows muscle breakdown from heavy training.

Runner up: Sardines

Best Vegetables-

bakedpotato.jpg

When it comes to being “large and in charge” your veggie of choice should be the potato. Yes a potato is a starch but it still is a vegetable. Potaotes pack a ton of carbohydrates for muscle building at a very cheap price. You can grab 10 pounds of potatoes for under $5 in most cases. Potatoes are also virtually hassle free to make and very versitle. Wrap a few in tin foil, stick them in the oven for an hour or so and boom baked potatoes!!! You can also make boiled potatoes, diced potatoes, mashed potatoes, and French Fries.

Runner up: Beans

Best Fruit-

papaya.jpg

My pick for best fitness fruit may jus be a little bit different than what you may typically expect to here. No I am not going with the standard apple, banana, or even pear. My choice for the best fruit for fitness buffs and bodybuilders trying to gain weight is papaya. Papaya is great because it is loaded with phyto-nutrients and vitamins. Papaya is also loaded with enzymes that are great for the body. Papaya enzymes contain high concentrations of papain. Papain is a protein digesting enzyme that quickly breaks down the protein in foods. When trying to bulk up and add more quality muscle to your frame, more protein will be key. The more efficiently your body can break down that protein and use it, the more effective it will be for your mass building goals. Papaya also gives you a pretty good amount of fiber per serving. One cup of chopped up papaya will give you roughly 3 grams of fiber.

Runner up: Pineapple

Best Complex Carb-

wholegrainpasta.jpg

Best Complex Carb is whole grain pasta. When trying to add quality muscle you need extra carbs. So it makes sense to eat foods that are very dense in carbs. Whole grain pasta make a better choice than white flour pastas or semolina because it breaks down slower, supplying longer energy for hard training. Not to mwntion that the nutrient content in a whole grain is much better than semolina or some “refined” flours that have been stripped of a lot of its nutrients.

Runner up: Whole Grain Rice

Best Drink-

waterglass.jpg

While some things change…some things stay the same!

When it comes to liquids water is still going to be the top dog. Whether trying to slim down or add the muscle water still performs a ton of task vital to proper bodily functions. Water helps aid in digestion when trying to build up. Water also helps nutrients reach muscles easier, which is very vital when taking in nutrients to add size.  Sure your trying to add extra calories, so a few drinks with sugar won’t kill you but even when trying to add size an excess of juices and sodas can add extra calories quick. When you get too many of these unwanted calories you start adding the wrong type of weight.

Runner up: Sugar Free Flavored Water

Best Supplement-

mrp.jpg

There are a few supplements that could have won a place in this category. When weighting everything down though the choice would have to be Meal Replacement Powders. Do you know what one of the best anabolic response stimulators is when it comes to building muscle? The answer is quite simply…food. The better you have your overall nutrition under control, the better you can create an anabolic environment for muscle growth. Sometimes it may be hard to cook or transport all the food you may need in a given day. While nothing will replace whole food, a good meal replacement powder can do a great job at helping you get that nutrition in. I am not talking about a lot of the weight gain formulas that you see on the market that supply your body with a lot of empty calories (although some of the formulas are getting better at supplying better overall nutrition).  I am referring to a solid meal replacement powder that supplys you with a moderate amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins and minerals. A good meal replacement powder is relatively cheap, convenient, and will provide a good array of micro and macronutrients for you.

Runner up: High Molecular Carbohydrate Powders

Today we looked at seven categories of nutrition and some of the best foods in those categories for adding quality muscle mass. The list will provide you with a lot of helpful suggestions that may improve your nutritional plan when trying to add quality size. Understand however that everyone’s body is different. Some of you may not be able to eat some of the foods on the list or simply may not like some of the foods on the list. Common sense should tell you if your allergic to Salmon don’t eat it just because it made the list. The key is to find what on the list will work for you and use it to start building some quality muscle.

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10 Bodybuilding Diet Tips For Fast Muscle Gain

Strategy -1: How Much Food You Really Need To Eat for Explosive Growth

In order to gain muscle most bodybuilding programs recommend you eat 12 - 14

calories per pound of bodyweight daily. Our studies have shown this is not

enough for 76% of skinny males between ages 16 - 35.

Our tests over the last 10 years have confirmed a total daily calorie intake of 19

calories per pound bodyweight effective.

If you have been failing to gain muscle weight, the first step you must do is

increase your daily calories to your bodyweight times 19. This amount of the

proper foods (more on the right foods later ) has shown to kick start even the

hardest gainers muscles into explosive growth!

Of course, everyone is different so I recommend you start at 19 calorie per pound

of bodyweight and adjust your calorie intake accordingly based on how your body

responds.

Here is an excerpt from my first book detailing how to adjust your calories and

diet:

After two weeks following the training and meal plan weigh yourself and

measure body fat:

1. If your weight has increased by two to four pounds and your body fat

either stayed the same or decreased leave everything as is.( this is what

you want)

2. If your weight decreased add another 800 calories daily until bodyweight

stabilizes then calculate your calories by multiplying your new

maintenance daily calories by 125%.

3. If your weight stays the same then add another 500 calories per day until

weight stabilizes, then recalculate your calories by multiplying your new

maintenance weight by 125%.

When you are eating this much, eating the wrong foods will turn your once skinny

build into one more comparable to a Sumo wrestler!

For Lean Muscle gain, you must eat the right foods in the right combinations and

times….

Strategy - 2: What Foods You Must Eat (and avoid) To Boost Your Muscle Mass... Not Turn Into a Fat Pig!!

Eating to support explosive growth is not as simple as just eating enough

calories. You need to eat the right calories!

You must eat foods dense in all the essential nutrients your body craves when it

is being shocked into explosive growth!

If you are missing even one crucial nutrient, no muscle growth can occur and you

may actually lose muscle.

This is assuming you have no previous muscle memory (had big muscles in the

past).

What are the right calories? Eat fresh live foods and stay away from heavily

processed and refined foods.

An example of a good nutrient dense muscle building meal is a steak with green

vegetables totaling 600 calories.

An example of a bad meal is deep fried chicken nuggets and fries for 1200

calories.

Anotherexample would be to eat a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast instead of a

bowl of Captain Crunch Cereal.

Many more examples and a complete listing of the exact foods your muscles

need for explosive muscle growth are all presented in The Underground Mass

Secrets Master Manual. The charts and step by step system makes this powerful

and advanced knowledge accessible by even a simpleton!

Eat nutritionally dense foods and to get the most out of your meals by applying

the next powerful strategy:

Combine foods together that are compatible for best digestion (thus best delivery

of necessary muscle building nutrients).

Strategy -3: Why You Are Cheating

Yourself Every Meal And Don’t Even

Know It!

Do you want to gain muscle without gaining excess fat? Or how about avoid

indigestion?

(Indigestion is a sign of digestive trouble. Poor digestion equals poor supply of

muscle building nutrients).

Or how about finally stop blowing those out of nowhere sick farts at work in class

or worst of all when you meet new people in elevators!

Putting a bit of effort to eat meals of compatible food combinations aids to digest

a fuller extent of the foods you eat.

This translates to more nutrients per calorie to support explosive muscle growth

and reduced unwanted fat gain!

I will give you some examples of good food combinations and bad food

combinations:

Good Combinations:

•• protein and fibrous carbs ( steak and spinach salad)

• protein and fats ( Chicken Cordon Bleu )

Bad Combinations:

• protein and simple carbs (many weight gain powders, most meal

replacement bars )

• carbs and fats (cheese bread, pizza)

Once you are eating good food combinations at each meal, you can gain an

unstoppable muscle building momentum by applying the next strategy:

Strategy - 4: A Simple But Overlooked

Factor Critical To Successfully Building

Muscle!

Eating consistently on a schedule is crucial to provide quality nutrients for muscle

growth when your body needs it.

A good rule to follow is eat a nutritious meal every two to three hours and never space two meals more than five hours apart.

If you are eating the right foods consistently then your body will always be in a

positive growth state.

But for us hard gainers there are some underground secrets you can follow to

really boost muscle growth from a nutritional stand point.

The next trick can really “Explode” your muscle growth! Especially when

combined with everything you have learned so far!

Strategy - 5: Gain A Powerful Muscle

Growing Edge With “Power Meals”!

By modifying your meals strategically at particular “windows of opportunity”

during your daily routine, you can substantially increase and accelerate lean

muscle growth!

There are two “Windows of Opportunity “you must take advantage of if you really

want to get your quickest and best muscle gains!

The two times specifically are breakfast time and after a specifically designed

workout routine. I will get into the specifics of this exclusive and potent workout

system in the next report “Underground Training Strategies”

At these two times substitute your regular meal with what I refer to as a “Power

Meal” …

Strategy- 6: How Underground Mass

Building “Power Meals” Load You Up

And Energize You For Explosive Growth

Spurts!

“Power Meals” contain very specific foods combined with one purpose essential

for explosive muscle growth. Rapidly and thoroughly replenish muscles with

particular nutrients to minimize the occurrence of catabolic actions. (catabolic is

opposite of anabolic )

Power Meals not only accelerate lean muscle growth but also minimize muscle

tissue breakdown that is common from hard resistance training combined with

poor meal planning.

To make a power meal use a quick digesting source of protein and combine with

particular energy foods which can also be digested fast.

An example of this would be a quality whey protein or egg protein blended with

certain fruits.

Power meals are for specified times only. Too many power meals will

compromise lean muscle growth by increasing fat gain and lowering your

sensitivity to insulin.

Strategy - 7: Why Most Muscle Gain

Diets Will Not Work For You.

For the natural athlete it is crucial to feed your body the nutritional components it

requires to produce testosterone at its peak potential.

Low testosterone levels equal little or no muscle mass! For building muscle, you

must have decent testosterone levels.

This is the main difference why males are more muscular than females.

It is because men have higher testosterone levels than females.

Your body uses cholesterol to manufacture Testosterone (simplified).

To give your body what it requires for optimal testosterone production, you must

follow a balanced meal plan that provides ample amounts of the right fats.

Most diets and meal plans are deficient or lacking the ideal amount and/ or types

of fats critical for the natural athlete to optimize testosterone levels.

In my “Truth About Fats Revealed “report, I summarize and reference over 200

scientific studies confirming the disturbing details.

Strategy - 8: What Critical Food Added

To Your Meal Plan Can “Turbo Charge”

Your Muscle Growth!

Fiber is not talked about much in relation to gaining weight. Sadly the majority of

muscle building routines fall short on results and more important sacrifice health

by overlooking the indirect yet powerful muscle building benefits of a fiber rich

meal plan.

A healthy digestive system is key for optimum nutritional intake of the foods you

eat. This translates into getting more nutrition to your muscles per calorie. Plenty

of Fiber in your meal plan is essential to maintain a healthy digestive system

Fiber is The “Turbo Charger” your digestive system needs to maximize the

movement and assimilation of food each day. Kind of like an assembly line!

The more production you can get out of your digestive system the more you can

fuel your muscles for growth!

Strategy - 9: The Truth About Protein

Do you really need the massive amounts of protein recommended by gym rats

and bodybuilding magazines for muscle growth?

It is crucial you get enough protein and spread it out throughout your day.

Protein requirements have been exaggerated for many years in the interests to

sell more protein.

On the other hand, protein requirements are definitely higher for a person or

athlete training to gain muscle than for a lazy couch potato hunting for his next

show with a remote control!

reference for muscle growth and up to 1.5 grams protein per pound of lean

muscle is recommended under certain rare circumstances.

These levels of protein are more than enough to ensure you get enough for

muscle growth yet not strenuous to the average healthy active male.

My “Protein Exposed” report goes into much more detail than is practical here.

Strategy -10: What You Must Know

About Muscle Building Supplements.

There are many supplements to choose from on the market and 99% of them are

inferior to natural food.

Natural food is higher in naturally occurring vitamins and minerals beneficial for

muscle growth.

Stay away from weight gain powders. The majority are empty calories

comparable to a fast food milkshake nutritionally.

With a little upfront planning and armed with a few simple to make recipes, a

natural whole food meal plan can be convenient, much better tasting thus

increasing your chances of making healthy muscle building meals a part of your

lifestyle.

Believe me you won’t even notice the little extra preparation when you realize

your muscle growth!

Save your Money. Until you are making solid muscle gains focus on your training

and nutrition. Supplements have never been and can never be a “quick fix” or

band aid solution for a poor muscle building routine.

Bonus Underground Supplements Tip:

Let’s get down to business here, most supplements have probably fallen short for

you. You’ve probably been disappointed with your results and felt your hard

earned money went to waste!

I bet in most cases you didn’t even notice any difference when taking many

supplements from when you were not taking them!

Sadly you learned the hard way but don’t write off every supplement because of

a few (actually many) bad apples!

Some supplements are worth trying assuming every other aspect of your muscle

building routine is in place! Even the few good supplements will not make up for

a deficient meal plan, recuperation routine or weight training ineffectively!

When you have been following a complete muscle building routine consistently

for long enough to get results, there are a few supplements worth trying that have

shown solid and measurable benefit :

• Creatine monohydrate ( only monohydrate not any other type of creatine)

• L Glutamine ( in moderation and carefully)

• a good healthy protein powder without artificial sweeteners, colors and

flavors. ((more on choosing a good protein in my later report: “Protein

Exposed!”).

Packing on muscle is no Fluke!

Follow the above eating tips as part of a complete training and recuperation

program.

For More Muscle Building Tips from The natural Bodybuilders Of the Fifties...Real No Nonsense Secrets that work for Naturally building muscle sign up here 

Before and After Pics

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Foods To Help You Build Muscle Fast

There's so much information on the internet geared at those who are looking to lose weight fast that a large portion of society often gets overlooked, those who want to gain weight fast or more specifically Build Muscle Fast!

Some of us seem to have extremely high metabolisms and no matter how much we eat, we just can't seem to put on weight or muscle

leaving us with confidence issues similar to those of an overweight person.

Just as poor nutrition and diet are often to blame for a person being overweight the same can also be said for those who are underweight. I'm not saying that you're eating unhealthy foods, instead it's more likely that you're just eating the wrong foods and when you do choose the right foods, you're probably not eating enough of them, not enough to gain muscle or gain weight anyway.

So in order to build lean muscle fast, what do we need to do and what foods should we be eating? Let's find out.

Increase Your Calorie Intake

When I say increase your calorie intake, I don't mean head off to the bakery and stock up on cakes and pastries. High fat foods like these will help you to gain weight fast but they certainly won't help you to gain muscle. If you want to build muscle then it's vital that you eat the right kinds of food and here are a few Superfoods that - if you eat enough of them - can help you on your way to a new muscular physique.

Pasta

For me, pasta is the king of all foods when it comes to increasing your calorie intake in the right way. For muscles to grow they need to receive two simple things from the foods you eat. These are proteins which can be broken down into the building blocks for muscular formation, and carbohydrates which provide the energy required not just for muscles to grow and build, but also for that muscle to be sustained. Pasta is packed full of carbohydrates - slow energy releasing complex carbs if eaten in whole wheat form - and it also contains healthy amounts of protein providing the building blocks for lean muscular growth.

Pasta is also an extremely easy food to add into your diet at any point during the day, it can just be packed up into a lunch box and eaten cold as well as hot. Although pasta contains nice amounts of protein, on it's own pasta is unlikely to provide you with enough protein and calories to build muscle fast. so where can we turn for extra protein?

Fish & Chicken

Let's start with fish. Without turning to supplements, fish is probably one of the leanest forms of protein you can intake in food form. Not only does fish contain large amounts of high quality protein, it also contains healthy fats which help muscles to grow.

Sticking to just one type of protein isn't just boring for the taste buds, it's also not recommended for healthy muscle growth and overall health. As we want to stick to high quality lean proteins, chicken is another amazing food when it comes to building muscle. Like fish, chicken is an extremely lean source of protein. Yes you can still enjoy the occasional steak and bacon sandwich from time to time, but proteins from red meat often come along with unhealthy fats and too much red meat intake has also been linked to cancer.

Milk

Milk is well known as a source of calcium but it is also - somewhat debatably - a great source of calories for the hard gainers out there. The term hard gainer was coined in the book 'Brawn' by natural Bodybuilder Stuart McRobert, which you should be able to see to your right. In this book you can find a much more detailed look at the foods we have mentioned in this hub with a muscle building training regime to match. In the book Stuart looks in depth at the arguments surrounding the intake of milk as a tool for weight gain.

Milk - more specifically full fat milk - is packed full of calories and high quality protein, which we have already mentioned are vital in our quest for lean muscle growth. I'm not going to delve too deeply into milk as a nutritional source here because I feel that the subject is worthy of an entire chapter of discussion, but the benefits and results of milk intake for muscle growth are very hard to argue with and I feel Stuart's book gives a very fair discussion of the health arguments from both sides.

Fruit & Veg

When talking about building muscle, one area of nutrition that often gets overlooked is the adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables. People tend to get so obsessed with protein and carbohydrate intake, they forget that for our body to perform any function - including building muscle - it needs to have the right supply of vitamins and minerals. Some people try to make up for this with supplements and I'm not saying that supplements don't help, but supplements can't and shouldn't replace a healthy diet.

When to Eat

Today we've looked at only 3 or 4 foods that can be classed as Superfoods for muscle growth and their are many more that are worthy of a mention, if you have one that you'd like to mention then please leave a comment below.

One thing I would to add to end this post though is this, when you eat is just as important as how much you eat! You may have noticed at the Gym that those with the best physiques and the biggest muscles always seem to be eating. Top bodybuilders don't just eat three meals a day, they often eat six meals a day and this kind of regular food intake is vital if you ever want to grow and sustain muscle. As soon as your body runs out of energy it starts to look for places within the body to steal that energy from. You would think it would turn straight to fat cells but this is not always the case, and for hard gainers fat cells are not always available. One way that your body can gain or preserve energy is to break down the muscle you have already built. So regular, sufficient food intake is vital if you ever want to hold onto you new muscle gains.

One final tip is to eat as soon after a training session as possible which Stuart again highlights in his book, within half an hour if possible. This is when your muscles are beginning to repair themselves after a gruelling workout and if big gains are ever going to made, then you need to give your body the fuel it needs when it needs it the most
.

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BOOST YOUR BENCH PRESS, SQUAT, AND DEAD-LIFT

Mastering the three basic lifts is essential for building an awesome body. Learning these variations can turn awesome to amazing.

When it comes to building muscle and strength, three exercises can kick sand in the face of pretty much any other move out there. I'm talking about "the big three" for getting big: the squat, bench press, and deadlift.

Unfortunately, performing these exercises endlessly can lead to stagnation—

mental and physical—and once your brain hits the exit, your gains are likely to go on hiatus, too.

Sure, you could ditch these exercises for a while and embark on an entirely new program to shake things up, but these are awesome moves and gym staples for good reason.

So, I have plan that can give you the best of both worlds: the gains these exercises undeniably and inevitably produce, but enough variety to hold your interest, too. Try these variations after your basic sets for the big three exercises. It's as simple as that—and the resulting gains will amaze you.

The muscle-making and strength-building magic happens in three basic ways:

• You do more work than before, which leads to progress.
• Your body adapts neurologically, which leads to even more progress.
• Your work on the variations will improve your technique on the originals.

Check out these variations for each of the big three lifts, and learn how you can implement them to elevate your training and improve your physique!

1

 DEADLIFT VARIATIONS

Complete your planned rep and weight scheme of deadlifts, and then try one of the following variations:

DEFICIT DEADLIFTS

This variation is for more advanced lifters and is designed to help increase the range of motion. Basically, elevate your feet 1-2 inches off the ground and pull from there. You can stand on top of 45-pound plates, use hard mats, or a short box.

DEFICIT DEADLIFT

When performing the deficit deadlift, I recommend dropping the weight by 10-20 percent. The set and rep scheme would be identical to that of your deadlift off the ground.

ROMANIAN DEADLIFTS

Drop the weight 10-20 percent and perform 3-5 additional sets of 3-8 repetitions.

BLOCK PULLS

Blocks pulls are not to be confused with rack pulls, which use the power rack. Placing the bar on the pins of a power rack takes any slack out of the bar and changes the lift drastically.

For a block pull, simply elevate the plates 1-4 inches off the ground by using mats, blocks, or even other 45-pound plates. Then either use the same weight as you did on your last set or add up to 10 percent to the bar.

Complete another few sets at the same number of repetitions you used for deadlift.

2

 SQUAT VARIATIONS

Similarly, after crushing your regularly scheduled squats, you could work in one of these variations for getting out of particularly troublesome sticking points:

PAUSE SQUATS

"BRUTAL IS ONE WAY TO DESCRIBE THE PAUSE SQUAT."

Brutal is one way to describe the pause squat. Brutally effective, that is. A pause squat is just as it sounds: an ever-so-slight pause at the bottom, then bounce right back up.

I recommend dropping the bar weight by 10-20 percent and performing a few more sets at the same rep range this way. One to three seconds at the bottom more than suffices.

The paused position should be where you actively hold the weight up, not in the fully rested position. If you drop to the verybottom, you'd most likely engage the end range of your joints to create stability, but not so much your muscles to create the much preferred "active" stability.

PIN SQUATS

Try squatting from the pins. The pins change the nature of the exercise by removing the lowering (eccentric) portion. To set these up, move the safety pins in your squat rack so they hold the bar in a position where you are at or about 1-2 inches above parallel.

With the pins set and the bar loaded, dip yourself under the bar and into a proper position to squat the weight up. Maintain the same bar weight as you did for reps—keeping between 60-80 percent effort—except now perform only single reps.

3

 BENCH PRESS VARIATIONS

The bench press is a gym standard, but a few key variations can help push you past sticking points, should they arise. If you're keen on improving your bench press, try using one of the following:

FLOOR PRESS

Essentially a bench press from the ground, the floor press doesn't make the bench press any easier. Quite the opposite! The nature of the position nearly eliminates the drive of your legs and the arch of your back. The upshot is that this exercise will add productive volume to your upper body and contribute to an improved bench press.

To set up a floor press, simply move what are called the "J" hooks in your squat rack so they sit just low enough that you can un-rack the bar from a lying position on the floor.

From there, drop the bar weight by about 10-15 percent and perform a few more sets after the bench press, using the same number of repetitions you did with the standard bench press.

PAUSED BENCH PRESS/BENCH PRESS FROM PINS

The same guidelines as the pause squats or pin squats apply here. In this case, pause the bench press on your chest for the allotted time or set the safety pins about 1-2 inches above your chest.

Drop the bar weight by 10-20 percent and perform a few more sets at the same rep range with one of these two variations.

CLOSE-GRIP BENCH PRESS

Bring your grip a few inches closer together and perform the press with the same movement as normal. Just be extra careful about keeping your elbows tucked so they remain under this narrow hand spacing.

CLOSE-GRIP BARBELL BENCH PRESS

Drop the weight by 10-15 percent and perform a few more sets of close-grip bench presses using the same repetition numbers as the standard bench press.

Now go out and give these a try!

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8 WAYS TO MAXIMIZE YOUR PUMP

Looking for ways to maximize your muscle pump and garner the best results from your workouts? Here are 8 tips to get you pumped!

Workout jargon can be confusing to many, but whether you know it or not, "the pump" is a highly sought after feeling. Sure, it may sound like a badly named energy drink, but the pump refers to the swelling your muscles undergo during a workout—you know, when

your biceps swell and feel like they're big enough to rival those of The Incredible Hulk!

The pump effect comes from more blood flow to your working tissues, which means more oxygen and nutrient delivery to your target muscles. Simply put, getting a great pump not only feels like a million bucks, but it can improve your results from training. The fascia surrounding the muscles experiences more stretch, which can lead to greater gains, and hungry muscles receive more of the "food" they need.

Are you pumped to get pumped? These eight tips will help you pump up your results!

1

 HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE

If you think about it, something that is dehydrated—such as dried fruit—looks almost lifeless and shriveled. On the contrary, when something like, say a tomato, is full of water, it appears plump, full, and appetizing. Think of your muscles in a similar way. Keeping yourself well-hydrated means greater blood volume and fluid to fill your veins and arteries and amplify the pump effect. Make sure you drink at least 2-3 cups of water in the hours leading up to and during your workout, and then continually hydrate yourself throughout the day.

Bear in mind that your total water intake includes the H2O used to mix your pre-workout. You do take a pre-workout, right? An ingredient such as inositol arginine silicate (aka Nitrosigine)—which has a higher bioavailability than regular arginine—helps your blood vessels relax, leading to increased blood flow and, yep, a righteous pump when you flex in the gym mirror.

2

 CARB UP FOR MORE MUSCLE FULLNESS

Taking in enough carbs before your workout is clutch. IFBB Hall of Famer Rich Gaspari explains, "Your muscles need to be filled with glycogen while you're training if you want an insane muscle pump. The glycogen is not only a source of energy that can fuel a workout, but it's also critical to making your muscles look big and full."

This is the reason someone may look "flat" on a low-carb diet despite the sheer volume of actual work the person is doing. Try to garner a pump when on a low-carb diet; it is extremely challenging. "As your body pulls carbohydrates into the muscle cell, it's also going to be pulling in water," explains Gaspari.

"TAKING IN ENOUGH CARBS BEFORE YOUR WORKOUT IS CLUTCH."

If you're on a low-carb diet, the best thing you can do is time all your carbs to be ingested around your training sessions. This may help boost your pump and improve workout recovery.

3

 HOLD THE SQUEEZE

Don't just go through the motions of your workout like an automaton. Maximize the benefits by forcefully contracting your working muscles. In other words, "squeeze" the working muscle at the peak of each repetition.

"Slow down the speed of each rep and really focus on the mind-muscle connection as you contract as hard as possible throughout the movement," recommends Rich.

He believes that using the squeeze technique alongside a rep range of 10-12 reps per set will bear the juiciest fruits of your labor. On the other hand, if your reps reach the 15-20 rep range and you hardly break a sweat, you'll need to kick it up a notch, lest you want to ignore deeper muscle activation.

4

 ADD SUPERSET TRAINING

Superset training ensures intense muscle pumps. A superset is when you stack exercises back-to-back with no rest in-between. This type of training is efficient and increases blood flow to the working muscles as fatigue builds up. Rich prefers lumping biceps and triceps exercises together: he does 3-4 supersets to power through his workout with lightning efficiency. This forces so much blood into the muscles that they feel like they might explode. He recommends taking your rep ranges into the 12-15 rep range here.

"RICH PREFERS LUMPING BICEPS AND TRICEPS EXERCISES TOGETHER: HE DOES 3-4 SUPERSETS TO POWER THROUGH HIS WORKOUT WITH LIGHTNING EFFICIENCY."

5

 DROPSET FOR EXTREME PUMPS

The dropset is IFBB pro Collin Wasiak's preferred technique to evoke the almighty pump. In a dropset, you continue the same exercise with a lower weight once you reach muscular failure at a higher weight. This pushes your muscles past the point of fatigue. With each successive drop, more blood rushes into the cells, strengthening the overall effect of the pump. Aim to drop the weight twice, doing three sets per dropset.

6

 GET MOTIVATED WITH MUSIC

If there's one thing that universally gets people in the groove, it's the right kind of music with the right amount of intensity. Collin strongly believes in a good playlist to jam and train to, since it can keep motivation and efforts high. Bobbing your head to the right tempo can, in turn, help you coerce your body to work harder. We all know that the harder we push, the better the pump. Whether it's James Brown or heavy metal, work out to the beat of your favorite tunes!

7

 SHORTEN YOUR REST PERIODS

There's no rest for the man who seeks the pump. Decreasing your rest time can elicit a greater pump effect. The shorter your rest periods, the more blood will shoot through muscle tissue, leading to that feeling of absolute swollness. Just avoid killing yourself to the point at which you have to significantly dial back on the weights; that might temper the raw benefits. Aim to rest no more than 30-60 seconds when you're chasing a mean pump.

"AIM TO REST NO MORE THAN 30-60 SECONDS WHEN YOU'RE CHASING A MEAN PUMP."

8

 SLOW DOWN YOUR TEMPO

One of the best ways to ensure a strong muscle contraction, and subsequent muscular development, is to perform each rep more slowly. This tip especially is helpful for those of you who typically lift with a faster tempo. By slowing it down to controlled movements of the exercise, you increase the time under tension, which will let you zone-in on the aforementioned "squeeze" and can lead to better gains. Couple this with short rest periods for a killer effect.

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