If you are a bit like me, you may suffer from impatience. I want results now or yesterday and I want them with a minimum of effort on my part. However, as with anything else in life, your workouts to build muscle will only reap the results you seek by continuous dedication to your muscle building goals. Forget about quick fix solutions in the form of pills and potions, the only way you are going to get that Brad Pitt Fight Club look is by breaking out a sweat!

Any workout to build muscle has to take the following points into consideration:

Don’t Injure Yourself – Yes I know you’re wondering why I’m pointing out the obvious, but you’d be surprised to find out how many people injure themselves in the gym through lifting weights incorrectly or over-exerting themselves. From personal experience, I know it is easy to get carried away and lift weights slightly beyond your capabilities, but you risk serious injury. Make sure you have a qualified fitness instructor to show you exactly how to perform each routine.

Workout every other day – Exercising the same muscle groups everyday doesn’t give your muscles a chance to recover and grow. The optimum period that should pass before exercising the same muscle group again is 48 hours. For example, if you like to do a full body workout at the gym, alternating this with cardio sessions will ensure your muscles have time to repair.

Quality Nutrition – A workout to build muscle will of course be more effective when backed up by proper nutrition. After your workout, drinking a whey protein drink within 30 mins helps your muscles to recover and grow. If you want to build muscle, you have to pack in the protein and that means lots of lean meat, fish and eggs. If you are worried about the cholesterol in the eggs, just have the egg whites which actually have more protein in them than the yolk believe it or not, and because they have hardly any fat in them, are recommended if you are looking for ways to slim down.

Perform Slowly – The more slowly you perform each muscle building routine the better for growth. It can be very tempting to drop the weight after performing a routine or simply get it down as quickly as possible. However, by doing this you are forgoing the part of the exercise which has the most potential for muscle growth. When you are lowering a barbell for example, your muscle fibres actually rip which allows them to heal and grow.

A workout to build muscle combined with a fat burn workout will surely give you a ripped muscle look which you will want to show off as much as possible. However dedication is needed to achieve that look and working out regularly, eating an appropriate diet and including protein supplements is a must. And don’t forget to rest too – it’s not all workout, workout, workout!