So you want to build muscles but don't want to look like a bodybuilder?

If we had a pound for every time someone would say they want to build muscles but don’t want to look like a bodybuilder, we would probably double our turnover!

It’s a common misconception that if you want to get a little bit more “serious” about your weight training, you are going to start looking like a drug using bodybuilder. You should be so lucky!!!

The fact is that building muscles is not always so easy and the chances of you looking like a huge drug freak are very low. Anyhow, you are always in control of your physique and if you find yourself getting too big, you can always drop the weight or reduce the protein!

Get started and don’t worry about too much size

If you want to build muscles, you have to train like a bodybuilder or powerlifter. It doesn’t mean you will end up looking like one. Those huge physiques you see in the magazines that many people find “sickening” are built through years of dedicated training in the gym, lots of supplementation and in 99% of cases, drugs.

You are not going to use drugs, so you are never going to look like a freaky bodybuilder. What you do however need to do is to train like one and eat like one and use supplements where necessary.

Some basic rules

There are some basic rules you have to follow if you want to build more muscle size. Don’t start putting a “quantity” on the desired muscle size. You want to build muscles and look decent a bit like Brad Pitt in the Fight Club or maybe Marky Mark or Sylvester Stallone? The majority of people don’t want to look like Arnold, as awesome as he is/was to many bodybuilders.

So here are 7 basic rules that you must stick to:

1. Drop the cardio – You cannot build a decent muscular physique if you are doing every other sport under the sun. Precious calories are going to go to waste. These calories are imperative for building muscles so you have to drop the other activities as much as possible. This means in the period that you are building serious muscles, no football, running, cycling and so on.

2. Train hard and heavy – If you train like a kid, you are going to look like a kid! Doing 70% of your max or being afraid of increasing the weight is just plain wasting your time! You need to go hard and heavy. It is only by lifting heavy weights that your body starts breaking down and then it is “forced” to build new muscle mass. You must force it.

3. Increase the weight or intensity every time you are in the gym – If you do not increase the weight on each exercise or at least do the same weight in a quicker space of time, you will never get more muscular. This is a fact. You must aim to increase the weight on each and every exercise EVERY time you are in the gym. Even if this is by just 500g or 1 kg. If you simply cannot do any more weight one week because you are tired or over-trained, then you must do the exercises quicker so there is more intensity.

4. Don’t over train – This is a classic mistake, where people think more is better.
You need to have a decent routine where you let each body part rest for at least 5-7 days. Otherwise they would not have recovered and you will be over training. This is a hard one to understand for many people but a fact for all those people who don’t use drugs and train naturally. Supplements like Norateen and protein shakes can help you recover faster but you still need at least 5 days for each body part to recover.

Example of a good routine where each body part is rested for 7 days before the next session:

• Monday: Chest, triceps, shoulders
• Tuesday: Rest, eat, sleep
• Wednesday: Back, biceps
• Thursday: Rest, eat, sleep
• Friday or Saturday: Legs
• Sunday: Rest, eat, sleep

Now by the time Monday comes, you have left a whole week for your chest, triceps and shoulders to rest and they are ready for a hard and heavy workout. You will be rearing to go!

5. Eat and drink extra protein – Your muscles are 70% water and 30% protein. It is imperative that you take in extra protein to help the recovery and repair process of your muscles. This is not a conspiracy to sell more protein to you. It is a fact that when you take in more high quality protein whilst you are training hard and heavy, you will feel less soreness, you will feel stronger and you will look bigger. Take a quality protein like LA Whey and you will also get rid of extra water and quite literally see yourself building that muscular physique you desire faster than if you were to take a cheap protein or no protein at all.

6. Choose a growth supplement and stick to it for 1 month – How much do you spend on a night out? £20, £50, £100? Most people struggle in the gym, day in, day out and never make any real progress. The thought of spending £50 on a decent supplement to give them the body of their dreams is a foreign one, yet they gladly waste much more than that on alcohol or cigarettes or drugs, which harm their body and shrink their muscles!
If you are lucky enough to find a decent supplements company that manufactures real supplements that actually work, you will soon find that you can double or triple your muscle gains in just weeks. This is not fantasy. It is a reality experienced by millions of supplements users worldwide. Using a growth supplement like Norateen Heavwyeight II or Explosive Creatine will dramatically increase your strength and muscle size. You need to stick to the dosage and to the instructions and you will see incredible gains in size. If you are serious about gaining muscles and gaining the respect you really deserve, then you need to get serious about using the right supplement too. The beautiful bodies you see around you, especially the ones that are build in record time, have almost certainly been built with the aid of supplements. Don’t think you can do it fast and efficiently without any supplements. At the very least, you should be using a quality protein like LA Whey immediately after each and every workout.

7. Eat Well - No one ever built a decent physique by not eating well and regularly. You have to eat carbohydrates, protein and good fats every few hours to keep feeding your body. Don't see this as a horrific mammoth impossible task! You just need to ensure you eat a bit of carbohydrates and some protein every 3 hours. Doesn't have to be a five course meal. Just requires a tiny bit of effort. It will be worth it.

There you have it. There are lots and lots of other things that can help you build a muscular physique faster. For now, you have to get the notion that you are going to look like a huge bodybuilder out of your head. Don’t set yourself any limitations. Do everything you know and everything you can to achieve the goal of building a muscular physique starting from today.