Tips on building muscle mass

Warrior from Sea of the dunes
Posts: 11
"If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions."
I have been using Darebee since the infamous lockdown. I want to thank the people behind this website for the work and the support they give for the sake of fitness.

I started working and saw a significant improvement in my body, I gained muscle and got a bit sculptured. I recently ran my first marathon in good time, I lost track of my muscle building as my training heavily focused on stamina and cardio for the marathon. Surprisingly I gained weight during my marathon regime, and it doesn't look like I gained fat. So I decided to restart my muscle-building journey, I currently do Brazilian jiu-jitsu three times a week for 1hr and 45 min each, and play football (soccer) not too intensively once a week for 2hrs. As I restarted my bodybuilding journey, I wanted to do something different than before the marathon, I want to add weights as I heard it builds muscle faster. I'm currently 75 KGs (165 lbs), and at the height of 6'2 ft, I seem to burn very quickly as I have 4 (moderately healthy) meals a day. My question is how do I build muscle in an effective way instead of chasing my tail, I do not mind if it takes a long time. Also, how can I still keep my agility and stamina while still having a decent amount of muscle? and do I start having protein powder and supplements?

I would love an answer or even helpful links and videos.

P.S
Is it ok if I do martial art training (BJJ) and conditioning training on the same day?
 
Solution
Two Darebee Guides you might like to read - How to build muscle and How to build quality muscle
I do cardio (running or cycling) in the morning, other exercises in the afternoon, and a little later, I do martial arts training. I don't have big muscles because that's just not me, and it's also something I don't actually want, but sometimes it seems that I'm stronger than I think, so something must be working. Just be sure that you can still perform your activities well - so don't get so exhausted doing weight training (for example) and then tank out at BJJ. It's important to keep a balance and allow the body time to recover and adapt.
Warrior from Sea of the dunes
Posts: 11
"If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions."
I have been using Darebee since the infamous lockdown. I want to thank the people behind this website for the work and the support they give for the sake of fitness.

I started working and saw a significant improvement in my body, I gained muscle and got a bit sculptured. I recently ran my first marathon in good time, I lost track of my muscle building as my training heavily focused on stamina and cardio for the marathon. Surprisingly I gained weight during my marathon regime, and it doesn't look like I gained fat. So I decided to restart my muscle-building journey, I currently do Brazilian jiu-jitsu three times a week for 1hr and 45 min each, and play football (soccer) not too intensively once a week for 2hrs. As I restarted my bodybuilding journey, I wanted to do something different than before the marathon, I want to add weights as I heard it builds muscle faster. I'm currently 75 KGs (165 lbs), and at the height of 6'2 ft, I seem to burn very quickly as I have 4 (moderately healthy) meals a day. My question is how do I build muscle in an effective way instead of chasing my tail, I do not mind if it takes a long time. Also, how can I still keep my agility and stamina while still having a decent amount of muscle? and do I start having protein powder and supplements?

I would love an answer or even helpful links and videos.

P.S
Is it ok if I do martial art training (BJJ) and conditioning training on the same day?
I forgot to mention, I would love to balance callisthenics and weightlifting
 

avatar

Active member
Posts: 44
Hello and welcome again.
As you want to lift weights you may follow the programs as ironborn etc of darebee. They are organised so to gain muscles.
Here is a article translated from Greek with Google Translate
 
Last edited:

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,610
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Two Darebee Guides you might like to read - How to build muscle and How to build quality muscle
I do cardio (running or cycling) in the morning, other exercises in the afternoon, and a little later, I do martial arts training. I don't have big muscles because that's just not me, and it's also something I don't actually want, but sometimes it seems that I'm stronger than I think, so something must be working. Just be sure that you can still perform your activities well - so don't get so exhausted doing weight training (for example) and then tank out at BJJ. It's important to keep a balance and allow the body time to recover and adapt.
 
Solution

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,610
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
Absolutely! That's generally what I do in the afternoons (Darebee programmes and challenges), and you might consider adding a programme such as Unbound to the end of your training, or just do some other stretching routine sometime through the week, or even one day dedicated to stretching to help maintain flexibility.
 
Warrior from Sea of the dunes
Posts: 11
"If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions."
Two Darebee Guides you might like to read - How to build muscle and How to build quality muscle
I do cardio (running or cycling) in the morning, other exercises in the afternoon, and a little later, I do martial arts training. I don't have big muscles because that's just not me, and it's also something I don't actually want, but sometimes it seems that I'm stronger than I think, so something must be working. Just be sure that you can still perform your activities well - so don't get so exhausted doing weight training (for example) and then tank out at BJJ. It's important to keep a balance and allow the body time to recover and adapt.
Would it be ok for me to do bodyweight on the days I don't do bjj, and then on the days I do bjj I also do weight exercises?
 
Warrior from Sea of the dunes
Posts: 11
"If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions."
Absolutely! That's generally what I do in the afternoons (Darebee programmes and challenges), and you might consider adding a programme such as Unbound to the end of your training, or just do some other stretching routine sometime through the week, or even one day dedicated to stretching to help maintain flexibility.
Thanks! I think the main point is listening to your body and not over training.
 

TopNotch

Well-known member
Ranger from Australia
Posts: 1,610
"Motivation is temporary. Discipline is forever."
That sounds like you'd be giving yourself a big day followed by perhaps not such a big day and that can be good to allow muscles to heal. If I have a big cardio day scheduled, I tend not to do it when I have MA training (though I'd probably still do some cardio just not so much, simply because it's tiring).
Yes, you're right. Try things out, see how you go. If you find you're too tired or sore the next day (or the day after!), then you might need to switch things around. You really do have to train very hard to overtrain.
Re: protein powders. Not something you need. I do tend to have a whey protein drink after my workouts simply because it's supposed to aid recovery/reduce DOMS. Oh, and it tastes nice. :LOL:
 
Warrior from Sea of the dunes
Posts: 11
"If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions."
That sounds like you'd be giving yourself a big day followed by perhaps not such a big day and that can be good to allow muscles to heal. If I have a big cardio day scheduled, I tend not to do it when I have MA training (though I'd probably still do some cardio just not so much, simply because it's tiring).
Yes, you're right. Try things out, see how you go. If you find you're too tired or sore the next day (or the day after!), then you might need to switch things around. You really do have to train very hard to overtrain.
Re: protein powders. Not something you need. I do tend to have a whey protein drink after my workouts simply because it's supposed to aid recovery/reduce DOMS. Oh, and it tastes nice. :LOL:
I heard protein powder helps build muscle faster and easier?
 

Damer

Administrator
DAREBEE Team
Warrior Monk from Terra
Pronouns: He/Him
Posts: 559
@Eagle_Warrior3 our guides and @TopNotch's suggestions covered most of what you asked here. I will add an extra layer of knowledge and insight because you mentioned the words "faster and easier" in relation to muscle building. Physics works the same all over the planet and for every person on it :LOL: so "faster and easier" is a thing only when we subvert the neurochemical workings of the body through interventionary pharmacology by taking steroids. Steroids, even when taken under strict medical supervision, exact a price on other aspects of our physiology and can seriously affect our mental and physical health so they're not advised for anyone who values their health. Supplementation, of course, is not steroids. In a world where you trained correctly, slept enough and consumed the right nutrition you wouldn't need it so when does it become necessary? It becomes necessary when for whatever reason you're not ingesting enough calories or enough protein. We have a guide on the subject.

So, if you do decide to take supplementary protein there are a few things you need to take into account:

  1. Go for a high-quality sourced product. Cheap protein powders have additives that in part countermand their effectiveness and can introduce other issues later on.
  2. Understand that there is a ceiling to how much protein your body can handle, after that you're only putting expensive protein powder down the toilet.
  3. It is not a shortcut to building muscle. Muscle is the body's adaptive response to a persistent external stimulus it encounters. Adaptive responses are always energy-intensive so the body reacts in response to the stimulus (in this case exercise that's designed to help it build muscle) not the nutrients it has available.
I hope this has helped a little.
 
Warrior from Sea of the dunes
Posts: 11
"If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions."
@Eagle_Warrior3 our guides and @TopNotch's suggestions covered most of what you asked here. I will add an extra layer of knowledge and insight because you mentioned the words "faster and easier" in relation to muscle building. Physics works the same all over the planet and for every person on it :LOL: so "faster and easier" is a thing only when we subvert the neurochemical workings of the body through interventionary pharmacology by taking steroids. Steroids, even when taken under strict medical supervision, exact a price on other aspects of our physiology and can seriously affect our mental and physical health so they're not advised for anyone who values their health. Supplementation, of course, is not steroids. In a world where you trained correctly, slept enough and consumed the right nutrition you wouldn't need it so when does it become necessary? It becomes necessary when for whatever reason you're not ingesting enough calories or enough protein. We have a guide on the subject.

So, if you do decide to take supplementary protein there are a few things you need to take into account:

  1. Go for a high-quality sourced product. Cheap protein powders have additives that in part countermand their effectiveness and can introduce other issues later on.
  2. Understand that there is a ceiling to how much protein your body can handle, after that you're only putting expensive protein powder down the toilet.
  3. It is not a shortcut to building muscle. Muscle is the body's adaptive response to a persistent external stimulus it encounters. Adaptive responses are always energy-intensive so the body reacts in response to the stimulus (in this case exercise that's designed to help it build muscle) not the nutrients it has available.
I hope this has helped a little.
Thank you very much, that helps a lot!
 
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