When figuring out the best way to gain muscle fast, you should first review your definition of "fast." Not to be a bubble-burster, but you need to stop setting unrealistic goals. Adding 20 pounds of muscle in 6 weeks probably won't happen unless you are taking steroids. You could definitely add 20 pounds of muscle in 4 months, however, but a lot of people are not willing to put in the time to gain muscle. Setting realistic, attainable goals is the first step on your fitness journey.
The best way to gain muscle fast is a deceptively tricky subject. People think, "Oh, all I have to do is lift and eat. I can do that." What they don't take into account are all the little things that slow you down. When setting goals that deal with deadlines that are months away, it is easy to think that you can skip a workout or a meal and make up for it the next day. Do this enough, and you will wake up on your deadline day wondering what happened. Every day counts when trying to build muscle. Not only do you have to train and eat like an animal, you have to have a no-BS mindset. Unless there is an unavoidable conflict, never miss a workout. Be sure to eat 6-7 meals a day, satisfying a goal of 1-gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Also be sure to eat tons of simple and complex carbohydrates to fuel your workout sessions. Drink a gallon of water a day and sleep at least 8 hours a night. Keep junk food to a minimum.
Hard workouts are the best way to gain muscle fast. Emphasize compound movements, such as the squat, deadlift, clean, press, and their variations. Stay away from machines and save isolation exercises (e.g. bicep curls, tricep extensions, etc.) until the compound lifts are completed. Try for a weight that you can only complete 5-8 repetitions with. Once you can do 8 reps at that weight, move up. Shoot for 2-4 sets per exercise, with the big compound exercise being the first one performed. Work out once every other day. For example, if you start on Monday, you will work out on Wednesday and Friday. This is the best way to gain muscle fast without over training yourself. Overtraining smaller muscle groups is relatively easy to do and can stagnate growth for a while. This is another advantage to doing your compound lift first. If you do your sets of squats first and give it all you have, you hopefully won't have enough gas in the tank to do 16 sets of biceps exercises and burn them out.
A common misconception is that the best way to gain muscle fast is to use the Arnold plan of working out 6 days per week. While Arnold was a fantastic bodybuilder and knew what he was talking about in terms of training, the average person would not benefit with such a program. An inexperienced lifter training 6 days a week will fatigue his or her muscles and not allow optimal time for recovery. Compound this with the fact that Arnold was a genetic freak of nature, and steroid-user, and I hope you can see why training like a bodybuilder will not work for you. Not to mention, a bodybuilder's job is to build muscle. Nothing else. Unless you have a lot of money and time, pursuing the professional bodybuilder's lifestyle will prove to be difficult, time-consuming, expensive, and ineffective.
For some, the best way to gain muscle fast is a question that underlines uncertainty and possibly confusion. Unfortunately, since this is such a vague topic, it can be oversimplified to a fault (see above), and it can be analyzed to death. Hopefully, this article has helped you out a little bit and pointed you in the right direction when trying to decide the best way to gain muscle fast.
The best way to gain muscle fast is one of the most deceptively tricky parts to a fitness endeavor. Regardless of your goal, you must train with weights if you want to see results. If you are serious about training for muscle gain, I recommend Jason Ferruggia's "Muscle Gaining Secrets" program [http://www.musclegainingfitness.com] This program thoroughly explains everything needed to gain some serious muscle. If you are tired of substandard gains and progress, try Jason's program [http://www.musclegainingfitness.com].
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