How to Build Muscle Fast

4 Building Blocks to Build Muscle Fast, Part 1

So you want to build muscle quickly? While I can't comment on any specific muscle workouts or techniques to help you gain muscle mass, I can give you some of the core principles that have helped others before you build mass. If you want specific advice, your best bet is to learn by using one of the pro's programs found on the home page of this site.

In this first part, we're going to discuss one of the most important components of your muscle workout plan: intensity.

Intensity Helps you Gain Muscle Fast

You already know that you need some kind of resistance training to build muscle, right? After all, that's why you're here. You already know that another round of cardio or pilates is not going to do the trick.

But the fact is that many of the popular sports-specific and bodyweight exercises will also only get you so far. After a while, you'll need to tack on external resistance in the form of weights or bands to your pushups or pull-ups to keep your muscles growing.

And while providing this resistance is a start, it is not enough in itself to continue to force your muscles to adapt. Most people don't train with enough intensity. They push themselves hard for a while, their muscles adapt, and they plateau with their efforts.

The new school way to build muscle mass quickly is intensity. Train with intensity and your workouts will be much shorter and more effective. Additionally, your muscles will grow faster when you train with intensity. But this takes much more effort on your part.

So your goal is to increase your total time under load (TTL). This means that you must handle the maximum amount of total weight over the course of your entire workout session. In other words, you want to lift the heaviest weight you can handle, and perform as many sets as your muscles can handle. This is not a 3 sets of 10 strategy. It's an increase the weight, increase the reps, increase the sets, and decrease the rest. It's about increasing the total effective time that your muscles are under load.

So intensity is the first factor in how you can go about gaining muscle mass quickly. Continue on to part 2 of this article to read more.