A Guide For Men on How to Build Muscle, Improve Their Physique and Insights Into the Body Transformation Program with Fortius, Personal Trainers
Men who contact us usually want the same thing: to build muscle while dropping fat. Some of our clients are experienced gym goers, and some are beginners, but they all have the same goal: to lose fat and look great in a bathing suit!
Check out some of our client's success stories here!
In this blog, I will describe an imaginary client, let's call him Michael. Michael clearly wants to work with our personal trainers to build muscle mass and optimize his physique. However, Michael does not realize that his goal of putting on 10kg of muscle tissue in 10 weeks is physiologically impossible. So, before we even start, we need to explain in simple terms the science behind muscle building and what realistic results we can expect in our body transformation programs.
Now that we have explained to Michael that he won't look like Big Ramy three months from now, we can set realistic fat loss and muscle gain goals for the coming weeks!
Before discussing goal setting and providing tips that can help you optimize muscle building, let's examine Michael and his habits and routine before he joins us for personal training.
Here is some background on Michael, the imaginary client!
Michael is not a beginner; he knows the proper technique, squats with heavy weights, does bicep curls with 25 kg, reached the maximum in the seated lats machine, sticks to the same program for a year, and has been quite happy with his progress in the gym. He doesn't look lean and feels like he has some space to improve his physique and achieve more muscle growth. He thinks that improving his physique will have a massive impact on his personal life, and after doing his research, he opts to join our body transformation program.
When he meets with our personal trainer, he clearly states his objectives, which are a bit unrealistic, as we mentioned in the text above. Long story short, we managed to set some goals that Michael would be satisfied with and that our world-class team can deliver!
Due to his lifestyle, let's assume that his testosterone levels might not be optimal, but still, he is in a far better position than the average woman when putting on a few pounds of muscle tissue.
Low testosterone levels are a modern problem in most males. You can learn more about how it can impact your life by reading our blog: [The Side Effects of Low Testosterone: Causes, Effects, and How to Increase Levels Naturally].
Michael's daily routine
He wakes up in the morning, grabs a black coffee, and drives to work. He drinks a can of coke at work and picks a few biscuits from the kitchen. All day he has meetings, so he has no time for lunch. He grabs a burger from McDonald's on the way, along with a small pack of fries and a diet coke. He swallows his food fast while driving and attending a Zoom call. After work, friends call him for shisha. He stops smoking, so he decides to have some light bites and enjoy a pleasant conversation with friends. He eats hummus covered with delicious olive oil, fresh bread, and a few cheese rolls. Then everyone orders a mixed grill with rice. Michael comes home early and finds a slice of cake in the fridge, he loves sweets, plus he knows that he gives his best in the gym, so there is no harm in finishing the cake before going to sleep. The next day Michael goes to the gym, works hard, and naturally burns 200-300 kcal during a session.
A typical gym workout for Michael consists of full-body workouts with short breaks between sets that combine free weights and machines. Michael likes to sweat and feel the burn in his muscles. After discussing his routine with our personal trainers, we realize there is much space for improvement as Michael does not understand much about optimizing exercise selection, the importance of breaks between sets, effective sets, and progressive overload in training.
So far, we have concluded that Michael's overall calories are very inconsistent, and he does not know whether he consumes 1500 or 550o calories daily. His macronutrients are also not optimized for muscle building as protein intake is sometimes even below the recommended daily allowance.
It might look like Michael does not eat too bad for most people, and some might think that his nutrition is pretty standard for a guy. As we stated, Michael wants to achieve more muscle growth, but after seeing his body fat levels of around 27-29%, we decided that a short fat loss phase might be more beneficial in the long run. As Michael does not mind dropping body fat, if it's going to make him look better, he is all in!
To ensure that Michael gets maximum results and reaches his fitness goals, we do the following:
Establish his daily calorie targets and adjust targets for each macronutrient (protein, carbs, and fats).
Since Michael seems very committed to the process, we also ensure that eating frequency is optimized so that he can build muscle efficiently via maximizing muscle protein synthesis.
We suggest the best protein sources: animal sources of protein-rich foods are also rich in the amino acid leucine. You can find leucine in animal products like meat (grounded beef, lamb, pork), poultry, fish, eggs and egg whites, milk, and other high-protein dairy products. We also recommend a good whey protein shake to make it easier for him to hit his protein targets. Non-animal sources of protein that he can benefit from are soybeans and beans, nuts, and seeds.
Since Michael's objective is to build muscle, but his body fat levels are pretty high, we have decided that he should get leaner before going into a more aggressive bulk. If his body fat was within 12-20%, we could have immediately put him on a 500-700 calorie surplus, but in his specific case, since gaining muscle always comes with a bit of a fat gain, it would not have resulted in a better-looking physique.
Training plan to optimize Michael's muscle-building capacity!
First, we establish the number of hours he can commit to training, and accordingly, we curate a workout program to meet his needs. With our trainers, it will be ensured that he gets the best exercise selections to suit his biomechanics. It will also ensure that he gets enough rest between sets and that we apply progressive overload weekly. Michael will also get a set step target and an additional cardio program, again curated based on his availability.
If your training is not optimized, you will never reap all the benefits of hard work. There should be enough mechanical tension and training volume to grow muscle tissue. Each muscle group, especially the big ones, should receive enough stimulus at least three to four times per week. Make sure you can commit to that and build your training schedule around resistance training with progressive overload.
How do we track progress to establish whether the client gets results and puts on muscle mass?
At Fortius Dubai, we utilize the following metrics to evaluate whether our clients are getting results:
anthropometric measurements
weight measurements
body fat measurements
before and after pictures
strength improvements
To avoid confusion and ensure you are doing the right thing, you should track all the necessary parameters, including macronutrients, measurements, weight on the scale, and visual progress on the pictures. This way, you will not just know whether you are progressing or whether it's time to change your program, but you will also know how to replicate the same to get results over and over again if you ever fall off the bandwagon.
Expert Tips From Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach Olga S.
Tip 1
Doing any bulk, even lean, will still result in fat gain. Unless you are a complete beginner, you won't be able to lose fat and efficiently build muscle, so focusing on one goal at a time might be more effective in the long run.
Tip 2
Have patience since the process is not fast; only a few of us won the genetic lottery and can add a lot of muscle mass within a short time; our body can't speed up biological processes, especially regarding natural gains. Some people are fast gainers and are luckier, but even if the initial condition is not that great, everyone can achieve better results with proper training and nutrition. https://www.healthline.com/health/how-long-does-it-take-to-build-muscle#cardio
Tip 3
Regarding nutrition, it's always important to count and hit your macros, whether your goal is to lose or gain weight. Counting calories does not lead to eating disorders and will help educate you so that in the future, you will be able to understand portions better and be closer to your targets when you decide to have a flexible dieting approach.
Tip 4
Sometimes people come from a different sports background, e.g., played basketball at the university or did boxing at school to be fit at that time. These sports are great for improving speed, coordination, explosive power, and developing skill; however, if your objective is to bulk and optimize lean muscle mass, the most effective way would be through a resistance-based training program that applies progressive overload. In addition, you would have to be in a very small calorie deficit and ensure that you hit your protein target while incorporating a healthy balance between carbs and fats.
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