When you are trying to add muscle and lose fat weight, it can seem as though nothing you do is working. The following are some of the best tips for building strength and packing on muscle that really work. Start implementing these into your lifestyle right now to see some big gains.

First, you have to make sure you are eating enough protein. Many people simply do not have enough protein in their diet, and this means that they could actually be stripping muscle from their body whenever they have an intense workout. It starts with the nutrition. Eat at least one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Meat, such as fish and poultry, are best for this, but you can supplement with high quality protein drinks as well.

Second, if you are a beginner, you should make sure you work out the largest muscle groups with the exercises you do. Instead of focusing on the smaller, more isolated movements for specific, smaller muscles, you should look at the exercises that hit the most muscles at once. For example, you should be doing bench presses, squats, deadlifts, bent over rows, dips, and military presses. Do two to three sets of these with about a minute’s rest between. Go heavier so that you get about eight to ten reps tops.

Eventually, your body will grow accustomed to the workout you are doing. If you want to keep growing, you need to change your routine every time you hit one of these plateaus. Those who have been lifting for a while know that they need to add in some other types of exercises to hit those smaller muscles. Add these exercises for a few months, and then go back to your original workout to throw the body into confusion once more. This will help you continue to grow!