Bad news, last-minute gym-goers, not too much is going to happen to your body in the first week of working out. If you’ve waited until seven days before spring break to nix the fast food and start pumping iron, it’s basically too late. The simple reason for this is that building muscle takes time. The protein turnover rate that is, the breaking down of damaged muscle proteins and the creation of new and stronger ones.
This doesn’t mean you should be put off, though: While the first week will be slow going, with little in the way of visible results, it has the benefit of getting you into an established routine, setting you up for bigger rewards to come.
As for the full first month, you can expect at most to gain about two pounds of muscle, if you’re really dialed in, and by “dialed in,” I mean not just hitting the gym, but eating the right food and getting enough sleep. As a general rule, the key to successful muscle growth is that muscle protein synthesis, the creation of new muscle must exceed muscle protein breakdown.
In other words, despite what most people think, the gym isn’t really where your muscles grow the process of tissue repair that makes your muscles bigger actually happens after you work out when you’re at rest, so be sure to hit the sack early if you’re trying to bulk up. Doing a lot of pushing exercises, like bench presses and push-ups, as well as pulling exercises like pull-ups and curls. Don’t overdo it, though.
Do lots of protein and fats to maintain your hormone levels. High protein foods include fish, beef and chicken. But don’t stop their fat is also really important. A big problem I run into is that people don’t get enough fat. Sadly, this doesn’t mean shoving a bunch of greasy burgers into your mouth, but quality fats like coconut oils, avocado oil, and eggs.
