Building muscle can be tough, especially when you’re out of shape or lacking muscle tone to begin with.

The biggest mistake people make when figuring out how to get buff is that they expect to see massive results overnight.

I’ve had my ups and downs when it comes to staying in shape, and I can tell you from personal experience that building muscle and shedding weight and building muscle can be hard work.

It’ll take discipline, keeping to a routine schedule, and keeping yourself accountable.

There is a lot that goes into building muscle, so let’s start from the most important thing you’ll need to do if you’re looking to get buff.

 

Want to Get Buff? Here’s How

Proper Diet

 

 

There is one key thing you’ll need in order to build muscle, and that’s protein.

Protein is the fundamental building block of muscle tissue, and without adequate levels of protein, you’ll have trouble building muscle.

You’ll want to work out a diet that consists of high protein meals, avoiding saturated fats and limiting your carbs until dinner or your post-workout meal.

You’ll want to load up on meats like chicken, salmon, lean beef, and eggs.

These foods are high in protein content (especially chicken), and are easy for your body to break down into amino acids to use in protein synthesis.

Having these amino acids available is very important, since your body stimulates protein synthesis within 2-4 hours after a workout, and this synthesis activity can remain elevated for up to 24 hours after working out.

That basically means that your body is trying to build muscle for up to 24 hours after each workout session.

If you don’t give it the fuel it needs, it won’t be able to build muscle, and all the lifting in the world won’t get you the results you want.

There are other foods to keep in mind besides just straight proteins as well.

Grains are great, as well as oatmeal, fruits and veggies.

These foods help promote overall health and keep your immune system going, as well as provide natural sugars to keep you energized and fuel your workout.

Lastly, healthy fat is important.

I know, when it comes to fitness and dieting, fat may as well be the literal devil to some people, but in terms of how to get buff, healthy fats are an essential part of giving your body what it needs to build muscle.

Fats are essential for hormone production (like testosterone, which is a key component to triggering muscle growth among other functions) as well as for general body maintenance.

Monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats are good fats, usually found in salmon, nuts, oils, leafy vegetables, and avocado.

 

How Muscle Growth Works

 

 

While it’s not essential for actually building muscle, knowing how muscle growth works can help you set proper expectations for your results, and understand what kind of workout you need to focus on depending on what kind of muscle growth you’re looking to get.

Your muscles are made up of various bundles of fascicles, which are made up of muscle fibers, which are made up of sarcomeres (or contractile units).

These contractile units work together to contract or stretch your muscles, pulling closer together when activated to pull your muscle tight (like how your bicep contracts when doing a curl) or extend to allow the antagonist muscle to properly contract without resistance (like how the tricep stretches during that same bicep contraction).

While these bundles of muscle fibers exert force to lift loads (in this case weights), they will undergo micro-tears in the fibers.

This is normal, and the tears in the fibers are so small you likely won’t even notice them until after an extensive workout (that burn you feel after a workout is partially attributed to these tears as well as muscle fatigue).

Your muscles will then use proteins as well as glucose to create more contractile units in the muscle to help your body adjust and acclimate to the increased muscle use, resulting in larger muscles.

Heavier weights and loads cause larger microtears, leading to larger muscles.

Smaller weights with high repetitions lead to more numerous smaller tears, and also work different types of muscle tissue (fast twitch vs slow twitch muscles), leading to more toning.

 

 

Where to Start

The first thing to do when figuring out how to get buff is to work out an exercise schedule.

It doesn’t have to be much, and you don’t have to kill yourself at the gym or working out every day.

Pick three or four days out of the week that you can work out, making sure to give yourself a day or two rest in between at some point.

If you can make it work, doing every other day (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday) is a great plan.

You only need about 20-30 minutes per day to start off.

If you don’t have much muscle mass to begin with, you want to keep the exercises a bit light, use smaller weights, and work your way up to the heavy stuff.

Jumping straight to 200lb bench presses is just asking for injuries.

If you have access to a gym, great! If not, you’re not totally out of luck.

Pick up some free weights, either kettlebells or dumbells, in a few different weights.

For beginners, I’d recommend grabbing 5lb, 10lb, and 20lb weights.

These should be enough to get you started, and you can always grab heavier weights as you get better with your exercising.

Once you have your days and equipment, you’ll have to plan out how you want to rotate your workout schedule.

With the exception of your core, you normally alternate muscle groups so you’re letting one group rest while working on the next.

Pick one day for biceps, triceps, and chest exercises, one for legs and abs, another for back and shoulders, and the last day can be for your core or for cardio.

This makes sure you’re working all of your muscle groups and building muscle evenly.

 

Specific Exercises

Now for the technical stuff.

The specific exercises you do in your routine are the meat and potatoes of ‘how to get buff’, so to speak.

Working out the right muscle groups and performing the right exercises determines which muscles start to grow, and can help you hone in on where you personally want to focus your attention.

When performing exercises, it is important to keep proper form and use smooth and controlled movements.

If you feel like you’re jerking your body around or having trouble keeping your motions consistent, consider using lighter weights and working your way up.

There’s no shame in starting small. It’ll actually lead to faster growth and reduce your risk of injuring yourself.

Chest Biceps and Triceps

These exercises will help tone your pectoral muscles, bulk up your biceps, and give you a toned upper body.

These should all be done together on the same day, as many of these exercises work interdependent muscle groups.

Biceps Curls

 

 

Biceps curls are pretty standard exercises, and most people have probably at least seen them done or have a general idea of how to do them.

As with all exercises though, keeping proper form is important.

Hold one weight in each hand, letting your arms rest at your sides.

Keeping your elbow in, bend your elbow and lift the weight up until the weight is at shoulder level.

Turn your wrist so your palm is facing your shoulder as you lift the weight. From there, ease the weight back down to your starting position.

Hammer Curls

 

 

Hammer curls are almost identical to biceps curls.

You start with the weights at your sides and bend at the elbow, lifting the weight up to shoulder level.

The key difference here is that you DON’T turn your hand.

Keep your hand with your palm pointing to your body.

This changes the focus from your biceps muscle to the brachialis muscle, which is the muscle that helps make your arms look thicker.

Zottoman Curls

 

 

There are three major muscles that primarily contribute to the motion of elbow flexion, which are the biceps, brachialis, and radiobrachialis.

Which muscles activate when primarily comes down to the position of your hand or wrist.

Unlike most curls, the Zottoman curl activates all three muscles.

Start in your standard curl position, arms at your sides, but keep your palms up.

Once you hit the top of your curl, rotate your hand so your palm is facing down before returning your arm to the resting position.

This works the biceps on the way up, and the brachialis and radiobrachialis on the way down.

Bench Press

 

 

Bench presses are great exercises for overall upper body workouts.

While it primarily focuses on your triceps, it also activates the pectoral muscles. Start by laying on your back, shoulders, and elbows at a 90-degree angle.

Pushing the weights up, extend your elbows and extend your arms straight out.

From there, return your arms back to neutral.

Triceps Curls

 

 

Triceps curls are great at isolating the triceps, though the name probably gave away that much. hold one weight with both hands and lay on your back on a bench or table.

Lift your arms over your head letting your forearm hang off the table, keeping your elbow bent.

Extend your elbows, lifting the weight until your elbows are straight. Then ease the weight back down to its starting position.

Push-Ups

 

 

Push-Ups are also great for working your upper body.

They work your triceps, as well as your pectoral muscles, and you can work other muscles as well by changing up your hand positions.

When doing a push-up, keep your back and legs straight.

Legs and Abs

 

Squats

 

 

Squats are great for your legs, and you can do them without weights if it is easier.

If you are using weights, it’s best to hold the weight in a goblet position (palms up with the bottom of your wrists touching, your fingers forming a goblet shape).

Hold the weight at chest level if you’re using one, and keep your knees slightly bent.

Bend your knees, keep your back straight and let your hips drop straight down.

Put a small milk crate or a low chair behind you for reference if you need to.

Then straighten your legs back out and return to a neutral position.

Leg Curls

 

 

Lay on your stomach and place a weight between your feet.

This works better with dumbbells.

Lift your legs, keeping your thighs on the ground and bending at the knees.

Bring the weight as close to your butt as you can before extending your legs again.

This works both the hamstrings and the quads, since you’re working the hamstrings as you bend the knees and your quads as you extend.

Heel Raises

 

Heel raises are great for working your gastrocs (the calf muscles).

If using weights, simply hold a weight at the sides. Stand on one leg, stabilizing yourself with your other hand.

From there, raise your heel so you’re on your toes, then lower yourself back down. For an even better workout, you can start on a step where your heel is hanging off the edge of the step.

Leg Raises

 

 

Leg raises are great for working the lower abs as well as the thigh muscles. Lay on your back, keeping your legs straight.

Lift your legs straight up, and then once you reach as far as you can go, tilt your pelvis a bit to work the abs.

Then reset, lowering your legs back down, but don’t let them hit the floor. Keep your legs about an inch or two off the ground before lifting your legs again.

Crunches

 

 

Staring on your back with knees bent, place your hands across your chest.

Without using momentum or jerking your body, try to sit up. Get as far up as you can and then ease yourself back down.

Back and Shoulders

 

Lateral Raises

 

 

Keeping your arms at your sides, lift your arms up, keeping your elbows straight.

Bring them up to a T position, then lower your arms back down.

Bent Alternating Row

 

 

Keeping your body bent forward slightly and knees bent, let your arms hang down in front of you.

Bending your elbow, pull your shoulder back, bending the elbow until your elbow is just past your back. Then reset to the normal position.

 

Final Thoughts

Figuring out how to get buff can be challenging and a lot of hard work, but the results are certainly worth the effort.

Start off small and work your way up, and keep yourself on accountable to whatever schedule you’ve set up.

If you miss a day, pick it up the next day to make up for it.

Consistency is key, so make sure you’re keeping to your routine and keeping to your diet for the best results.

While you might notice some improvement right away, it’ll take more and more work as you build more muscle to bulk up more, so just keep at it and you’ll eventually get the results you’re looking for.