How to workout
You should alter the heaviness of the weights so that the most you can do is 6-10 reps, this will promote muscle mass. If you want to do more reps than this, it will focus more on toning. The workout should have in total 15-20 sets from about 4-5 exercises, with a 1-2 minute rest between each set.
Do not work out longer than an hour. As soon as it's been an hour stop your workout and drink a protein shake to prevent the catabolic hormone cortisol from rising. This hormone will lower your testosterone level and inhibit muscle growth.
Another common mistake that people make is that they don't separate cardiovascular exercise from weight lifting days. Attempting to do both in the same workout means that there isn't enough time to focus on weight lifting, therefore you will get much less muscle improvements.
Make sure you change your routine after about 4-6 weeks. If you stick with the same exercises all the time you will stop gaining as much muscle. You should also sometimes change the number of reps you do. Don't always stick to 6-10 reps otherwise your body will get into a comfort zone, you should keep it surprised instead.
Muscle building diet
When you're trying to build muscle mass weight lifting is only a portion of the work, the rest is down to your diet. You need to focus on eating food which has nutritional value so that it will help grow and repair your muscles.
The things you should eat:
Low fat proteins such as turkey, chicken, fish, egg whites, lean beef and quorn.
Complex carbohydrates to provide you with long lasting energy for your workouts and for building muscle. Examples include pasta, brown rice, potato, muesli and oats.
It's actually necessary to eat fats too; you can get beneficial fats from oily fish, soya, nuts and olive oil.
How much food do you need to eat?
One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to build muscle is that they don't eat enough. In order to build muscle mass you have to eat more calories than you burn off. You should consume 3000-3500 calories everyday, this will provide you with enough calories to build muscle mass whilst minimising fat gain. Your calories should come from 40% protein, 40% carbohydrates and 20% fats.
To promote muscle growth the number of grams of protein you should eat should be approximately 1.25-1.5 times your body weight in pounds. For example, if you weigh 152 pounds then you should have at least 190 grams of protein each day.
Do you need supplements?
They aren't a necessity if you eat enough good food. However, if you're struggling to consume enough protein each day, protein shakes can be very useful. There are a lot of expensive supplements out there these days, but you shouldn't believe all the amazing things written on supplement labels.
Standard whey protein powder is probably the best supplement you can get for muscle building. Creatine is also a popular supplement which accelerates muscle growth, but it will also give you water retention in your muscles. Once you stop taking creatine your muscles will decrease in size.
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