Best Way to Gain Muscle Mass: A Primer by Jeremiah Evans

At 6 Pack Fitness, we love our many talented ambassadors – and we love to showcase their knowledge, too! In today's post, we bring you the best way to gain muscle mass by 6 Pack ambassador, Reebok athlete, and trainer Jeremiah Evans. Get the 8 key components for the best way to gain muscle mass by Jeremiah below!

1. Perform with correct technique.

Unless you've been taught how to train by an experienced coach, your training technique is probably lacking and it's the reason you're not making progress. Bad technique can mean a lot of different things:

• You could be unknowingly lifting and lowering weights without any awareness of the speed of the muscle contracting.
• Your posture can affect the muscle that you're intending to train and have negative effects on muscles you are not intending to train.
• You are failing to utilize a full range of motion, which is key to targeting the correct muscles.
• You could be lifting too light to produce any change in your body.

2. Workouts need to be planned.

Accumulation training, or spending more time under tension, is important to begin with. You must stress the muscle with more reps and sets to build lean muscle and cut fat. Then, you can begin lifting heavier weights in order to get stronger. You must alternate between the different types of training: strength, hypertrophy, volume or accumulation, endurance, etc. in order to keep from hitting a plateau.

3. Learn the basic BIG LIFTS before doing isolated training.

Deadlifts, squats, and presses are important not only as a best way to gain muscle mass, but also for setting a solid foundation for future lifting and having a great-looking physique. Stay away from the machines and isolated lifts until you have literally busted out 500-1,000 reps of the basic lifts. After you've put in the hard work, then begin to layer the "bodybuilder" or isolated movements into your routine. Tracking your progress is also a great way to reward yourself for the small victories along the way.

4. Use HIIT (high intensity interval training) in order to promote fat loss.

A common misconception is that adding cardio to your weights sessions or doing it very frequently will cause you to lose weight long term. In fact, too much cardio or high volume of exercise elevates cortisol levels in your body. This, in return, impairs muscle development and forces the body to store unwanted fat. Do short and intense bouts of exercise, followed by short recovery periods. Keep your HIIT sessions to less than 30 minutes on days without weight lifting. On days you lift, do a quick 10-15-minute HIIT session right after your weights workout. HIIT training activates Type 2 muscle fiber. This is, on average, 30-40 percent of muscle not being used by the average weight lifter.

5. Change speeds and tempos.

Slow tempo lifting activates muscle glycogen, creatine phosphate, and ATP, which allows your body to start changing shape. Explosive contractions like Olympic lifts will switch on the central nervous system. This causes your body to start adapting to the stress it's undergoing. A great combination of slow and fast tempo training is perfect for activating Type 1 and Type 2 muscle fiber, a best way to gain muscle mass and GROW!

6. Isometric or pause training will strengthen the weak links.

Isometric holds help produce high levels of muscle tension without changing the length or joint angle of the muscle. An example: hovering or planking. Full range movements followed by partial range movements are highly effective in overcoming plateaus. So, you would do a full range rep followed by a partial rep and then freeze or hold the partial for 1 second. This will send your muscles into overload!

7. Supersets keep your training effective and fun.

Perform a complex exercise followed by a fast-paced or powerful exercise in the same sequence. Example: heavy squats for 3-12 reps followed by box jumps. Supersets like this will keep your metabolic rate high and also force your body to become more elastic and springy. Ultimately, you become a better athlete.

8. Nutrition!

Eat plenty of fats. Use organic coconut oil, olive oil, MCT oil, and omega 3s. You also need to make sure you are getting plenty of calories throughout the day. Calorie restriction or starving your body is a good way to lower your testosterone and metabolic rate, which is not the best way to gain muscle mass or keep body fat away. If you've been yearning for the tips on the best way to gain muscle mass, this guide by Jeremiah Evans could be just what you needed! As he points out, proper nutrition is a critical component; with one of our original meal management bags, there are simply no excuses. Now, hit the weights with all your newfound muscle-building knowledge – just don't forget to stay properly fueled for all your workouts! This post has been graciously written for us by Jeremiah Evans: educator, motivator, Reebok Athlete, Les Mills trainer, DVD presenter, and 6 Pack ambassador – among other things! Follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for even more motivation and knowledge.