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If you’ve taken a few months, or years, off from exercising and want to rebuild your muscle, there’s no time like the present. Getting back into the fitness habit with strength training and certain forms of cardio exercise will stimulate muscle growth and help you develop lean muscle mass. By challenging your muscles to work beyond their current ability, you force your body to repair and rebuild them stronger than before. When combined with a muscle-building diet, this process can help you gain back what was lost and give you a stronger, leaner body.
Be sure to consult with your physician before beginning any new exercise or diet program.
Weights
Cardio equipment
Calendar
Step 1
Hit the weights at least twice a week. To build muscles, you have to work them against resistance. Start by scheduling two strength-training sessions every week: one for your lower body and one for your upper body. Focus on the main muscle groups, including your shoulder muscles, back muscles, biceps, triceps and chest muscles on upper-body days and your quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves on lower-body days. Train your core (abs, lower back and hips) during both sessions and allow at least 48 hours to pass between workouts to allow your muscles to recover.
Step 2
Start a cardio routine that builds both muscle and endurance. The key to developing muscle with cardio is to increase the resistance or incline of your workout, forcing your muscles to work harder. If you already do cardio workouts, such as walking or running, add hills to your route or increase the incline on your treadmill. If you are a beginner, ease into a routine by aiming for 30 minutes of activity five times a week and incorporate hills and inclines as you get stronger. Another option is to add regular sessions on a stair climber, which is one of the most effective cardio machines for building leg muscle.
Step 3
Avoid overtraining, which can lead to injuries, illnesses and burnout. Rebuilding muscle takes time and commitment and forcing your body to do more than it can handle at first will be counterproductive. Make sure you prioritize sleep and take at least one day off from training every week.
Step 4
Calculate your caloric needs. To bulk up, you need to eat more calories than you burn. To shed fat pounds while building muscle, you need to eat fewer calories than you expend. Calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR) by using the Harris-Benedict formula. For women, this is 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years). For men, it is 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years). Multiply that number by 1.2 to 1.375 if you are sedentary or lightly active during the day or 1.55 to 1.9 if you are moderately to extremely active to find the number of calories you can eat to maintain your current weight. Finally, factor in the number of calories you burn through exercise and aim to create either a 500-calorie deficit or overage through a combination of diet and activity to lose or gain at a rate of roughly one pound a week.
Step 5
Create a meal plan. Building muscle requires a protein-rich diet that helps your body repair and rebuild muscle tissue after exercise. Eat six small meals a day every 2 or 3 hours to increase your metabolism and reduce the number of calories stored as fat and include a serving of both protein and complex carbohydrates at each sitting. Quality protein sources include lean meats, nuts, low-fat dairy, eggs and protein powder. Carbs should come from whole-grain breads and pastas, oats, brown rice, fruits and vegetables. Schedule a meal within 30 minutes to 1 hour after your workout to maximize your body’s muscle-building potential and also refill your glycogen stores. Include healthy fats in at least two meals a day from sources such as olive oil, nut butters, avocados or fish.
Step 6
Create a workout schedule at the beginning of each week to help you stay accountable and track your progress. This will also help you evaluate your plan and know how to make adjustments in the future.
Warnings
Things You'll Need
Whether you lost a large amount of weight on purpose -- through dieting or bariatric surgery -- or due to a lengthy illness, if you weren't exercising during your weight loss, you may have lost as much as 25 percent muscle along with the fat. First, get your physician's release to start exercising, particularly in the case of illness or surgery. Then, start as soon as possible to rebuild muscle.
Step 1
Start walking. While resistance training is required to build muscle, to stay healthy you need to meet the American Heart Association's minimum guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate activity per week. This will help maintain your weight loss, if that's your goal, but even if you want to gain weight back, you still need activity for a healthy heart. Walking will also build muscle in your calves, thighs and buttocks and won't put undue stress on bones and joints that are not yet protected by muscle. Walking outdoors on different terrains provides the most benefits. Next is walking on a flat surface, such as a track. Treadmills are also beneficial, but you'll have to do additional exercises for your hamstrings and glutes.
Step 2
Engage in head-to-toe -- or at least shoulder-to-calf -- resistance training with special emphasis on areas that might be weaker. This means working the deltoids of the shoulders, the pecs of the chest, the lats and other muscles of the upper back, biceps and triceps of the upper arm, and the quadriceps, hamstrings, gastrocnemius and soleus of the thighs and calves, and, of course, your abdominals. Work each muscle group two to three times per week, leaving at least 48 hours between your workouts for recovery. Those who have lost large amounts of weight often need particular emphasis on the triceps and abs, which tend to sag.
Step 3
Choose the right method. Resistance training means working against resistance provided by a machine, free weights, exercise bands or your own body weight. Machines are a good way to start because they aid in maintaining proper form -- which avoids injury -- and distribute the weight throughout the move. However, if your weight loss was due to an illness, your physician or physical therapist may recommend even lighter resistance using very light hand weights or light resistance bands. Body-weight resistance, such as pushups and pullups, is not recommended to start as you have less control over the weight, and it can put stress on fragile bones.
Step 4
Select the proper resistance. If you are new to exercise, the rule of thumb is using a weight or band resistance with which you can do eight repetitions of the exercise easily but with which 10 or 12 reps are difficult. If your weight loss was due to an illness, such as cancer treatment, start with only one set and don't work your muscles to fatigue. If you are otherwise healthy, try to do two sets.
Step 5
Strengthen your core. These are the abdominals, back muscles and certain muscles around the pelvis. As the term implies, they are the basic muscles used for movement and balance. If you've undergone weight-loss surgery, your doctor may recommend a slow start on abs, like hollowing, which involves pulling in muscles rather than lifting off the ground. Planks, where you lift yourself on your elbows and toes and maintain straight alignment of your head, neck, back and pelvis are also good. Start by trying to hold the position for 10 or 15 seconds and gradually increase it to 60 seconds.
Step 6
Challenge yourself. The key to building muscle is to add more resistance when it becomes easy. The standard is to increase the weight when you can do 12 to 15 reps without much effort. Don't increase the weight more than 5 pounds at a time. Some dumbbells come in smaller increments, for example, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 15 pounds.
References
Tips
- If you were formerly obese and lost a large amount of weight, you may not be able to get rid of sagging skin entirely through exercise alone.
Warnings
- Soreness after exercise is normal, but if you feel pain while exercising, particularly a sudden, sharp pain, it could be a sign of strain or sprain. Stop that exercise immediately and consult a physician.
- If you are working with a personal trainer, make sure she knows any health conditions you might have or any restrictions recommended by your physician.
Writer Bio
Nancy Cross is a certified paralegal who has worked as an employee benefits specialist and counseled employees on retirement preparation, including financial and estate planning. In addition to writing and editing, she runs a small business with her husband and is a certified personal trainer with the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA).
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