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Sunday, July 13, 2025
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The 10 golden rules of muscle building

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1. Do both cardio and weights

A lot of guys like weights training best, and that’s fine. But you have to do your cardio, too. It doesn’t matter whether you run, cycle, row or swim, but it does matter that you do it regularly.

You can get a six-pack without ever doing one sit-up, but you absolutely cannot get a six-pack without consistent cardio work.

2. Eat the right foods at the right times

Eating healthily isn’t something you just do to support your fitness programme. It’s the most important part of it.

The good news is that you’ll never need to go hungry. That’s a recipe for disaster. Instead, you need to concentrate on eating good foods, in the right amounts, at the best times.

3. Exercise in hard, short bursts

Lifting weights is, by its nature, an activity of short, hard efforts. But it also pays to make your cardio fit a similar tempo. It will get you in shape faster and will help with upper-body development.

So say goodbye to long, boring cardio sessions: the express route to a cover model body is sprinting.

4. Always stretch yourself

A consistent stretching regime will work wonders for your flexibility. It pays off all day long, every day, as it will make all of life’s typical motions – reaching, twisting, crouching, craning, thrusting, and so on – so much easier. It pays dividends in the gym, where the increased range of motion translates into more productive lifts.

5. Don’t neglect smaller muscles

When men get injured, it’s almost always because they’ve damaged rotator cuff muscles, or something in their lower backs, or ligaments or tendons around joints. A big reason this happens is because they never bother training the little muscles that protect those areas.

6. Build muscles you can use

Looking good is one thing, but that’s not the only reason to bust a gut in the weights room. Muscles need to be useful, not just big.

7. Don’t get obsessed by sit-ups

Too many men waste their time doing hundreds of crunches because they think that’s the route to a flat, hard stomach. It’s not. They’d be better off using most of that time to work the rest of their body and do cardio.

Reducing your body-fat percentage is the secret to a six-pack. Diet, cardio and metabolism-boosting strength exercises – not sit-ups – get the job done.

8. Drink buckets of water

To get a cover model body you must drink as much water as you possibly can throughout the day. Water helps to move food through your system so you don’t feel bloated, allowing you to gorge on protein without discomfort. And, strange though it might seem, the more you drink, the less water your body holds beneath your skin – and the more pronounced your muscular definition will be.

9. Make the most of rest days

Muscle growth happens only when you are resting. Sleep is key, too. As your healthy eating and hard exercise become a habit, you’ll find that you are sleeping like a baby.

Rest doesn’t have to mean that you need to take a complete day off, though. If you fancy it, a little light exercise can be a good way to wind down while keeping your body firing on all cylinders.

10. Allow yourself a weekly cheat day

Give yourself a break. It’s useful to plan one day a week as a ‘cheat day’. This is where you can eat and drink whatever you like. Just make sure it doesn’t turn into an all-night bender.

(menshealth.co.uk)

2 COMMENTS

  1. BS, just eat chibwabwa ne mbalala and you will be fit and fine. Only eat kapenta Saturdays, good for building six packs

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