The skinny guy or a hard gainer’s common question when it comes to muscle building or bodybuilding always revolve around sets and reps for mass. When it comes to building muscle, lifting it all out in the gym through endless hours of workouts can be counter-productive. It requires the knowledge that will help gain and build solid muscle by performing the necessary sets and reps to build muscle. Here are your key points to build solid muscle mass.

Sets and reps for mass

There are some things that you can build by going low on repetitions. When it comes to building muscle mass, the reps must involve repetitions which range from 8 to 10 reps all in all with every set. Take note that in this rep range, the type 2 muscle fibers or the fast twitch muscle fibers come into play. These muscle fibers are involved with short, explosive bursts of energy which is necessary for building muscle mass and size. However, the weight that you must lift in this rep range must be considerably heavy, which will be discussed later in this article. With heavy use of weights, the sets for muscle building must revolve around the 4 to 5 sets per exercise.

The Weight

When it comes to building muscle mass, you will never grow by lifting light weights. Heavy weights require great bursts or strength which will lead to more muscles getting involved with every repetition leading to the muscle mass that you desire. However, take note that it is also crucial to identify the weight that you would lift for 8 to 10 reps. This may take some trial and error approach to identify the weight that you can lift for a particular exercise like bench press for example for 8 to 10 reps. Always remember that in the rep range of 8 to 10 with heavy weights, the resting time in between sets may take more than moderate training a minute to two is necessary for building mass and strength.

Exception

When it comes to building the legs, the sets and reps in order to build mass for the legs may be quite different than when building mass for the upper body (in which the method is stated above). Building mass for the legs require the same sets for 4 to 5 sets per exercise, with the reps ranging from 12 to 16.

Exercises Involved

Building mass does not only rely on sets and reps alone. It also requires intelligent incorporation of compound exercises with every program. Compound, free weight exercises include bench presses, shoulder presses like the barbell overhead and dumbbell overhead presses, bent over rows, deadlift and squats for the legs. With every body part trained, make sure to include at least two compound exercises if you want to build muscle mass as these exercises involve more muscles and helps develop strength as compared to machine based exercises.

Safety

Since you will be building mass, strength and will be using heavy weights for this program, it is essential to start light, perform some warm-up exercises and to have a training partner to spot you should you reach failure and/or to watch your form.

Building muscle mass requires the systematic application of the necessary sets and reps for mass as stated in this article. Hard gainers or skinny guys may take a long time before results are noticed when it comes to building muscle. Dividing your diet into six small meals throughout the day is also vital for building mass as this technique keeps your metabolism and muscle building capability going through the day. Rest is also important and make sure to rest a day or two in between heavy workouts.

Finally, consistency is also a key in every aspect of muscle building and fitness such as building muscle mass.