Basic Principles of Muscle Building

It’s always refreshing to visit the very basic principles of muscle building. With so much hype nowadays about the “latest and greatest” we sometimes forget about the basics. Without a good understanding of these basics it can become a challenge to make progress and see gains on our journey to build muscle.

The 80/20 Rule for Muscle Building

The 80/20 rule

What does this principle have to do with muscle building? It means 20% of things related to muscle building are responsible for 80% of your results. What is this 20%? The author mentions things such as:

Researching & following a good, fundamental, bodybuilding program. (Not a perfect one, it doesn’t exist).

Putting in hard work in the gym, consistently, over a long period of time.

Following the rule of progression, and ensure that over time you are lifting more weight, more reps, or more sets.

He goes on to talk about the 80% that’s trivial:

Should I do 3 sets of 8 reps or 5 sets of 10 reps?
What’s better, 1.25g protein per pound or 1.37g/lb, or 1.5 g/lb.?
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All too often we find ourselves focused on the trivial 80% (which is only responsible for 20% of our results) instead of focusing on the vital 20% (which is responsible for 80% of our results).

He backs up his claim by asking the reader to consider the wide variety of workout programs, splits, exercise selection, training frequency, and equipment recommendations from top bodybuilders. Do they agree? No. But what they don’t agree on is the trivial 80%. All of them agree on the vital 20%.

The message here is to think, but don’t over-analyze. Focus your attention on the vital 20% of things that matter and don’t get too caught up with the trivial 80% of things that aren’t as important.

Good Form Trumps Weight

I encourage every single one of you to never sacrifice doing an exercise with proper form in order to lift more weight. We’ve all been there. We want to impress our friends or maybe the opposite sex across the room. It gives us bragging rights and makes us look cool (or so we think).

But consider this. When you’re 45 do you want to be complaining about your joints and muscles hurting because you lifted heavy weight with poor form when you were younger? Or do you want to be the most in-shape 45 year old around who feels great, looks great, and continues to lift weights?

I know where I stand. I want to be lifting for the rest of my life. It’s my passion. And I know I wont’ be able to do that if I cripple myself right now by sacrificing poor form to lift more weight.

A cheat rep every now and then is acceptable. But it’s like eating a sweet; do it sparingly. If you’re arching your back just to push up 300 lbs on the bench press or ripping apart your lower back just to pull up 350 on deadlift, I suggest you re-think your style of lifting.

Don’t get discouraged if you have been lifting for a while with poor form. I was there. I did it for years. But I have since changed my ways and felt great ever since.

Proper Nutrition is Critical

Remember we talked about the 80/20 rule above? One of the vital 20% of things that matter with regards to muscle building is to have good nutrition habits: eat enough good food and not too much bad food.

You can spend hours lifting weights everyday but if you don’t have your nutrition in check, you’re not going to get the results you want. Sure, you’ll make some gains but you’ll be shortchanging yourself. Proper nutrition and muscle building go hand-in-hand.

Consistency is Key