What is the best way to build muscle?

Your muscle requires strength. Yes! strength is the size. The heavier the weights you lift, the bigger your muscles grow, the stronger your body becomes.
Your muscle mass will increase in order to lift heavier weights. Lift heavy weights and you’ll gain muscle mass naturally.


Here are the best tips to gain more muscle mass quickly:
  • get stronger
As I said, more strength is more muscle. Increase the weight you lift on the deadlift, squat, bench press, and your overall muscle mass will increase because strength is the size.
Try to lift more than last time. If you don’t lift more than last month or year, you are not building muscle.

  • train smart
You should train for muscle gain not for fat loss. Focus on lifting heavy weights for 6–8 reps and avoid using light weight for high reps.
Do exercises that work several muscles at the same time, integrate compound movements like squat, bench press, rows, and deadlift. This kind of movements increases the release of testosterone.
Here is an example of a Full body workout plan :
1 – Dumbbell Split Squat (Leg)
Alternatives:
  • Single-leg press
  • The Bulgarian Split Squat
  • Squat
2 – Deadlift (Back)
Alternatives:
  • Dumbbell deadlift
  • One-armed dumbbell deadlift
  • Bent-over rows
3 – One-Arm Dumbbell Row (Upper Back)
Alternatives:
  • Bent over barbell row
  • Hammer strength pulldowns
  • Cable row
4 – Bench Press (Chest)
Alternatives:
  • Dips
  • Push-Ups
  • Hammer Strength Chest Press
5 – Dumbbell Overhead Press (Shoulders)
Alternatives:
  • Standing Overhead Barbell Press
  • Behind-The-Neck Press
  • The Partial Overhead Press
6 – One-arm overhead dumbbell triceps extension (Triceps)
Alternatives:
  • Tricep Pushdowns
  • Close Grip Bench Press
  • Lying Dumbbell Tricep Extensions
7 – Dumbbell Curl (biceps)
Alternatives:
  • EZ-Bar Curl
  • Wide-grip standing barbell curl
  • Hammer Curl
8 – Seated Calf Raise (calves)
Alternatives:
  • Dumbbell jump squat
  • Standing calf raise
  • Jump rope
9 – Plank (Abs/Core)
Alternatives:
  • Dip/Leg Raise Combo
  • Barbell Russian Twist
  • Barbell Rollout
To avoid injuries, start lifting weights and increase the weight frequently, and don’t forget to use a proper form.


  • Go on a caloric surplus
Your body needs calories to fuel workouts and feed the muscles. You can follow the best training plan in the world, but without getting enough nutrients, your muscles won’t grow and recover. Some guys need 3000 calories to bulk, I need 3600 calories.

  • Calculate your calorie needs
To gain muscle, you have to consume calories more than your body needs to maintain weight.
First, calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR) then calculate your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) by multiplying your BMR and your average activity level.
BMR for men: (12.7 * height in inches) + (6.23 * weight in pounds) - (4.7 * age) + 66
BMR for women: (4.7 * height in inches) + (4.35 * weight in pounds) - (4.7 * age) + 655
Activity level:
  • Sedentary (little to no exercise): 1.2
  • Lightly active ( exercise for 1–3 times per week): 1.375
  • Moderately active (exercise 3–5 times per week): 1.55
  • Very active (exercise 5–7 times per week): 1.725
  • Extremely active (exercise twice a day): 1.9
Example:
A very active man (age: 22 years old | height: 72 inches | weight: 173 pounds)
BMR = (12.7*72)+(6.23*173)-(22*4.7)+66 = 1954 calories
TDEE = 1954 * 1.725 = 3372 calories
Conclusion:
This very active man needs a lot of calories to maintain his body weight (3372 calories), to gain muscle with a minimum of body fat, he should increase 300–500 calories. So he should now consume 3372 + 300 = 3672 calories each day.

  • Consume more healthy fat
People think that consuming healthy fats will make them gain more body fat. The truth is high-fat foods are high in calories (1g gives you 9 calories) and may help you to regulate your hormones.
You must include fat in your diet, take 0.5 grams per pound of your body weight. It will help you for maintaining optimal cell structure and hormone levels.

  • Eat more protein
Consuming more protein may help you repair and rebuild muscle tissues and recovery after a hard weight lifting session.
Increase your daily protein intake, 0.8 to 1.4 grams per pound of your body weight. A guy with 180 pounds of body weight should consume 200 grams of protein per day.
The best protein sources are beef, eggs, chicken breasts, salmon, lentils, shrimp.

  • Get enough sleep
The lack of sleep causes a lot of health issues, including hormonal distributions, obesity… It decreases human growth hormone and increases cortisol (stress hormone) levels.
Try to sleep for 6–8 hours per night, recovery is important for muscle growth as well as diet and training. And there is no better way to recover than sleeping.

Metabolism and body type (Something you may consider)
Some people burn energy more than others do, some of them turn energy into muscles, others turn it into fuel for exercise energy.

There 3 body types:
  • Ectomorph: Short upper body, long legs, long arms, with little fat storage. An endomorph has a fast metabolism, which makes gaining muscle a bit harder, he needs more time to reach the goal.
  • Endomorph: The opposite of the endomorph, he is naturally fat with a slow metabolism, he has low carbohydrate tolerance. An endomorph needs to avoid sugary foods to get the minimum of body fat during the bulking.
  • Mesomorph: Large chest, well-defined muscle, and strong body. He is naturally muscular with high testosterone and growth hormone levels.

Something you should know:
If you follow an effective training program, clean diet, and recover, you can gain 1 kg of lean muscle mass per month or 12 kg in a year.
You may gain more than 1kg per month when you start lifting, your muscles store glycogen to fuel your workouts and glycogen binds water, and this water increases your body weight.