Exercise, Diet, And Supplement Tips For Packing On Muscle From Home  

Before you lift another barbell or grab another hand weight, wrap your head around this: Fatigue is what builds muscle, not just heavy weights. How is that the case exactly?

Hypertrophy

Hypertrophy is something that occurs when muscle fibers go through what’s called mechanical overload. When a muscle is fatigued, each muscle fiber has to end up producing even more force to complete a lift, which then increases the overall mechanical load on that muscle, which, subsequently will stimulate your muscle growth. This is a big deal since if you don’t have access to a great home gym situation, your ability to lift is limited to whatever weights you have on hand.

The following methods can help you reach maximum fatigue and build muscle, all without having to add weight to whatever it is you’re lifting.

Stimulate Muscular Fatigue By Increasing Reps

A lifting method that allows you to use relatively light weights and higher repetitions can produce just as much muscle growth as a protocol that uses heavier weights, so long as the light weights were lifted to complete fatigue (which could require more repetitions). For an effective workout, you don’t need heavy weights: Body weight, lighter weights, and even resistance bands will do the trick long as you perform the number of repetitions required to hit that fatigue threshold.

Go Slower To Stimulate Muscular Fatigue

Lifting tempo, or the time it takes per repetition, can also contribute to muscular fatigue. Light, super-slow lifting has the ability to increase both muscle thickness and maximal strength just as much as heavy, normal-speed training. Super-slow training can also lead to a decreased risk of injury, while also ensuring good technique.

A slow tempo of three seconds for the lifting portion (known as the concentric action) and three seconds for the lowering portion (known as the eccentric action) has been proven to be most effective. Proponents of “super-slow training” recommend to go even slower, and suggest an action of 10-second concentric motions followed by a 10-second eccentric action, for a total of 20 seconds per repetition.

Increase Your Protein Intake

The amount of protein you need each day depends on your age, gender, and activity level. The U.S. recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of protein is 0.36 grams per pound of body weight per day (0.8g/kg); however, this estimate does not account for active people or those looking to add lean mass.

If you’re training for hypertrophy, you’ll may need approximately 0.7–1 grams per pound (1.6–2.2 grams per kg) of body weight.By adding high-quality protein sources such as grass-fed meat, wild-caught fish, pastured eggs, and appropriately prepared plant-based sources, you’ll most likely be able to meet your protein requirements without having to overdo any one food source.

Upgrade Your Workout With Kaatsu Bands, Suspension Trainers, Resistance Bands

Blood flow restriction (BFR) is an easy way to measurably upgrade your home workout. You can enhance muscle hypertrophy and strength gains, even with the use of low loads.

BFR works by restricting blood flow through the use of occlusion or Kaatsu bands strategically placed around your upper arms and legs. The bands engorge your limbs and reduce blood flow from your extremities back to the heart, which elicits an enhanced hormonal response favorable to building muscle.

You might also want to consider investing in a suspension trainer or resistance bands if you’re looking to add more movement options to your routine without incurring significant cost or the need to buy bulky equipment.