The best way to create muscle mass is to lift weights and consume more calories. Your workouts should be well-balanced and include exercises for all major muscle groups: Chest, shoulders, back, triceps, biceps, forearms, thighs and calves. You should work each body part at least twice per week and rest one to three days weekly. This is achieved by doing all of your workouts in either four, five or six days. The theory held by many fitness experts is that fewer workouts is better as extra rest gives your body more time to repair muscle tissue. Your muscles grow when you are eating and resting, not in the gym. The pump you get during workouts is just a lactic acid buildup. Four workouts per week is also more convenient for busy people. However, your workout schedule is your choice.

When you are trying to gain more muscle mass, focus on the larger muscles such as the chest, back and thighs. These are your power muscles which you should work first during each workout. For chest, focus on doing four to five sets of both bench press and inclines. Then you can go into your triceps or shoulder routine as these muscles have already been worked to some degree. On back day, start out with either lat pull downs or a bent over row exercise (with barbells or dumbbells); and start with squats on your leg days. Try to do 14-16 sets of exercises for the larger muscles and 8-12 sets for the smaller muscles.

As for your diet, you will need to increase the number of meals you consume. Weightlifters require more protein and calories. Eat high protein foods such as beef, chicken, turkey and tuna fish. Protein shakes can also increase your protein intake. As a general rule of thumb, weightlifters usually need one gram of protein for each kilogram of body weight. You should also consume a lot of complex carbohydrates such as rice, bread, cereal and vegetables. Some fat is fine as your goal is to gain muscle mass, not necessarily lean out. But you do not want to eat a lot of junk food. The more fat you have on you, the harder it will be to take off during beach season.

Try eating a large bowl of oatmeal for breakfast along with a protein shake. Then about mid-morning, eat a potato and fruit. For lunch, eat two beef patties or chicken breasts or about 8-10 ounces of turkey. Additionally, eat at least one vegetable along with rice or some other grain. Rice contains a lot of calories and will keep you full until your next meal. In the late afternoon, eat a yam or almonds along with a fruit. You dinners should also consist of a high protein meat, two helpings of vegetable, one or two grains and fruits. Then a few hours before bedtime, have another protein shake, cereal or a baked potato. Eat when you are hungry but keep your stomach full.

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