No gym? No worries. We show you how you can build muscle at home during the second lockdown
When news broke that a second lockdown was to be implemented, including the closure of gyms and leisure centres around the country, it wasn’t the best news we could have had to see out the end of 2020 I’m sure we can all agree. Without access to your local gym you may be wondering how to gain muscle mass at home, especially when you don’t have the equipment.
Muscle building is still achievable from the comfort of your own home, you just have to be inventive when it comes to make-shift gym equipment, making sure you pack that protein into your daily diet and stay focused.
How can I build muscle without going to the gym?
You can still easily work out at home to gain and maintain muscle mass using easily accessible objects found around the house, you just need to know where to look and what they can be used for!
Heavy duty bottles of water, like the ones used in an office, are a great alternative to weights and come with a handy handle too so you can get a good grip on them. For something a little lighter, soup cans are ideal for a low impact workout session and will help to keep your biceps looking trim and keep the tops of your arms toned.
Un-opened tins of paint attached to the ends of a mop or broom handle is the next best thing to a bench press, all you need is some sturdy string and you’ve got yourself a makeshift lifting bar. As well as bench pressing, it’s perfect for practicing squats and overhead lifts too.
What should I eat to build muscle?
There’s not much to be gained from weight-lifting if you have a poor diet, so it’s important you feed yourself properly to give your body the fuel it needs to both make and maintain muscle. The correct diet will lay the foundations you need to start gaining muscle, and one of the main building blocks to building muscles is protein.
Lean meat and dairy such as Greek yoghurt, chicken breast and eggs are all excellent sources of protein and ones you can pick up from your local supermarket relatively cheaply too. For maximum results, you want to eat roughly 2g of it per every kg of bodyweight.
If you're plant based, look to beans, pulses and nuts for your daily dose of protein intake. Or if you prefer something a little more meat-like, most vegetarian meat alternatives are made out of soy, such as tofu and tempeh, which provide around 36 grams per 100g serving.
It’s not only important that you’re eating the right foods for muscle gain, but that you’re also eating enough of it. That’s why you need to eat in a calorie surplus if you want to see great results when it comes to getting them gains. Your body needs energy to grow muscles, and for it to do that it you need to ensure you’re eating more calories than you burn off. To build muscle, you need to aim for a surplus of 200-400 calories a day for maximum growth.
Now that you've got all the good stuff in your body, it needs to be circulated to help the process along, that's why it's really important to stay hydrated. Whilst it's tempting to indulge in during lockdown, alcohol can play havoc with our hormone levels, which can lead to muscle breakdown, so sticking to low calorie liquids such as H20 is best to achieve maximum results.