No matter what your age, muscle building is a fun and healthy way to get into amazing shape. This article will teach you some great ways to build muscle and get the maximum benefit from your workouts. Read on for more information.

Before starting your workout routine, you must eat well. Before each workout, try to consume a minimum of 20 grams of whey protein. This can jump start the recovery of muscles so that it can decrease how much your muscles are used to fuel your workout.

Ramp up your food intake on days when you will be doing your muscle-building workouts. An hour or so before your workout, eat more calories than you would on a typical day. Make sure that you don't eat in excess but that you moderately gauge how much you're eating and plan your meals on the days you workout, accordingly.

Be careful when deciding which moves you will do with more weight; some moves are not favorable to extra weight. Neck work, split squats and dips sometimes include unfavorable joint positions that can put you at risk for serious injury. Keep heavier loads for bigger exercises like rows, presses, squats and deadlifts.

Many people overestimate how much protein they need in their diet at the beginning of their muscle building efforts. Unless there is enough exercise to burn off this increased caloric intake, the likely result is going to be fat production and the wrong sort of weight gain. Gradually boost your protein intake by just a hundred calories a day or so. This gives your body the opportunity to convert the new fuel into muscle tissue.

Carbohydrates are needed to see success in muscle building. Carbohydrates not only fuel your body, but they are necessary to increase muscle tone. If you are training extensively, you must be sure to consume about two to three grams of carbs for each pound of body weight, on a daily basis.

Alcohol can be a major deterrent if you are trying to build muscle mass. However, consuming one glass of wine on occasion is not really bad, just as long as you only have one drink. Drinking alcohol can cause health problems and doesn't help you build your muscles.

If your muscles start to hurt during a workout, take a break. Since muscles, ligaments and tendons are fragile tissues, you shouldn't push them to the extreme just to gain added muscle. When you feel sore, take a day off to rest your body so that you can get back to full strength.

Try to make your bicep curls better. If you can't get the dumbbell or up past parallel, you will lose some of the effectiveness of the motion of a typical bicep curl. However, the bicep curl is the strongest at the top half. You can correct this with seated barbell curls.

Cheating a bit when lifting can help you maximize your workout. If you use more of your body to increase the amount of reps, you improve your workout's effectiveness. Don't do this too much though. Always keep your rep speed controlled. Don't let your form become compromised.

Try drinking a protein-rich shake a half-hour before you start lifting weights. This will help to fuel your muscles without filling you up too much, so as to make your workout as effective as it can be. Shakes made with low fat diary products and protein powder are great for this purpose.

Eating enough protein is a great way to build muscle. A simple way to make sure you consume the proper amount of protein is to drink protein shakes and consume other protein supplements. These are especially effective following a workout or prior to bedtime. You must consume about one shake a day. If you want to bulk up in mass as well as muscle, then you can consume as many as three daily.

All ages benefit from better fitness, so building your muscle mass can provide benefits to you. By using the tips presented here, you are ready to start a program that will build muscle, get you into better condition and give you the skills needed for a lifetime of good health and fitness.