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Frequently asked questions:

1. Does my body type affect my ability to build muscle?
2. What muscle fiber type is best for building muscle?
3. How often should I train to build muscle (per week)?
4. How much muscle can I expect to gain?
5. How long until I see strength gains?
6. Is training for strength and size (muscle) the same thing?
7. What is the best overall muscle building exercise?
8. Can adding muscle be harmful to my body?
9. Should I combine cardio with my muscle building routine?
10. What overall rep range is best for building muscle?
11. Is there a specific rep range for individual muscle groups?
12. How often should I change my routine to keep my muscles “guessing?”

The Answers:

1. Does my body type affect my ability to build muscle?

The three different body types are ectomoroph, mesomorph, and endomorph. People will generally be a mix of these and not just one type altogether. The ability to build muscle will come with different methods depending on which type you are predominately, so yes your body type will affect your ability to build muscle in a sense. All three types are able to build muscle but the method to reach that built muscle will be different.

For instance if you are predominately ectomorph you are lean and generally skinny. You can eat whatever you like without much consequence and would better build muscle with eating far more food than the other two types because your body metabolizes food at much higher rates. An ectomorph would also have to train with lower repetitions of weights to build muscle. I’ll write a simple chart with the types and methods to build muscle below:

Body Type:                 Diet:                                  Training:

Ectomorph                   High calorie intake                 Lower Reps (<8), Low Sets (2-4)

Mesomorph                  Moderate Calorie intake          Mod reps (8-12), Mod Sets (3-5)

Endomorph                   Low calorie intake                 High Reps (12<), High Sets (5-8)

So the ectomorph will have to train with heavy weights to fatigue doing such a low volume of exercise whereas the endomorph will have to train with light weights to meet the high volume criteria.


2. What muscle fiber type is best for building muscle?

The two basic muscle fiber types are type l and type ll. While there are many more these are the two that you should know about when creating your exercise program. Type l are fast twitch and powerful with poor endurance. Type ll slow twitch fibers and are your endurance fibers that aren’t so powerful. The best type at building muscle is probably somewhere in between those two.

On one hand you have type l fibers which are great for building strength and on the other hand, you have endurance fibers which are great at resisting fatigue. I would say that type l fast twitch will have type ll beat out at building muscle slightly because these fibers are strength fibers. While strength doesn’t necessarily mean big muscles, the two components are directly proportional and you can’t have big muscles without some degree of strength and vice versa.

In short type l will be the more superior of the two, but the true muscle building fibers are probably in between these two basic types.


3. How often should I train to build muscle?

I will begin by saying that this is a highly debatable subject. One side will swear on 5 day/week workouts will work best. Still others will say training more than 2 days a week won’t allow full recovery. So who’s right?

The answer is that they both are correct. There is no one single set number of days that will work for everyone. Sorry for the bad news but there is no golden workout schedule you can abide by. You are unique and should train to meet your bodies needs. Some will find they can workout every day and not get too sore or feel negative side effects. These people should continue this workout if they see results. Others will only be able to workout for 2 days max as they retain “delayed onset muscle soreness” (DOMS) for days after their workout. These individuals should not train more than they already are.

If you have no experience in working out, I would suggest you experiment with an old time classic: “1 day on/ 2 days off”. This is to say that you will train one day and take two days break from any workout (or do cardio). See how quickly you recover and manipulate your program to match. It should also be noted that if you are new to a fitness routine you will get a higher degree of soreness in the beginning so stick to the “1 day on/ 2 days off” routine for at least 2-3 weeks.


4. How much muscle can I expect to gain?

Depending on your body type and fiber composition most people will notice muscle gains around week 4-6 of training. Before that you will see increased strength gains due to increased neuromuscular development (brain to muscle power).

Building muscle is a hard process and some find they can build as much as 1 pound a week, sometimes more. This is not counting fluctuations in weight from day to day due to other factors such as water retention, but over a period of time (an average).

You should expect to gain no more than 1 pound a week to be realistic but it is possible to put on more muscle faster. Don’t give up hope and keep your diet and training in check—you’ll be building muscle in no time.


5. How fast until I see strength gains?

While strength isn’t necessarily building muscle, the two go hand in hand to some degree. You will most likely never see a 300 lb guy full of muscle who isn’t at least moderately strong or a power lifter who doesn’t have some defined muscles. The good news is you will notice strength gains almost immediately when starting a new routine!

Neuromuscular strength happens right after your first workout session as your body begins to adapt to this new stimuli. More motor units will be recruited which you can consider the “mind to muscle connections”. 

The more of these you have the more weight you will be able to lift. This is only one example of neuromuscular adaptation your body will undergo. Just know that strength will come almost immediately, followed by muscle 4-6 weeks down the road.


6. Is training for strength and size the same thing?

Training for strength and size are not one in the same. This is because you don’t necessarily need one to get the other to a certain degree. As stated earlier in this Q and A guide, you can be very strong but not have large muscles and vice versa. 

This is due to multiple reasons like using different energy systems and employing different repetition ranges training different fibers. I put a lot of “different's” in that last sentence on purpose to accentuate my point. While you cannot possibly have one without the other, you can noticeably excel in only one area. For the purpose of building muscle, you will want to train in the moderate rep range, with moderately heavy weight, and with sets lasting no more than 30-60 seconds.


7. What is the best overall muscle building exercise?

The best way to answer this is to use an exercise which uses the most muscles at one time to perform the movement at a higher intensity. A few of the best examples that come to mind would be the squat and dead lift exercises. These will utilize the most muscle and therefore, produce the most muscle gain. 

These are often an essential staple in any athletes program and for this exact reason. They do require a learning component prior to inclusion into your fitness plan as they are complex exercises to perform. Check out the exercise guide in the “How-To” section for more information on how to perform these exercises with tips and video.


8. Can adding muscle be harmful to my body?

This is a common myth that has often been brought up in the past. I will simply say that unless you have a serious medical condition that is affected by exercise, adding muscle will not be harmful to your body. In fact it is very beneficial to your body and for good health. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism, the less risk of developing heart disease and many other serious conditions.

The only building muscle could possibly be dangerous is using improper form! Learn as much as you can about an exercise before stacking on a ton of weight. Check out the “How-To” Exercise Guide page for more information.


9. Should I combine cardio with my muscle building routine?

This question would depend on your goals. If your goal is to purely build as much muscle as possible I would say to perform cardiovascular exercise less than half the weight lifting session in a given week.

For example, if you weight lift 5 days each week, you should perform cardio no more than half of that or 2 days a week.

The type of cardio will be different than simply running a moderate pace for a long period of time. You will need to perform what is called interval training. This training involves low intensity periods of cardio combined with high intensity periods.

You should only perform about 15-20 minutes of interval training as it is high intensity. You will have a warm-up period (5-10 minutes) followed by a 30 sec to 2 minutes period of high intensity exercise rate. Then you go back to the low intensity or warm up rate for about double the high intensity period. Keep going in this fashion until your time is up.

This will utilize all of the benefits of cardiovascular exercise, but in a small time frame as to not burn your precious muscle! Learn more about interval training in the Training Guide.


10. What overall rep range is best for building muscle?

The best overall repetition range for building muscle is often found near the gold-standard 8-12 rep range. Many reputable organizations stress this range for building muscle, and for good reason. Many studies constantly show that this range produces the overall best averages of results. What does this mean for you?

This range should serve as a guide, not an answer. Not everyone will show the same result by training in this range but it is a very good place to start. Try exercising in with 8-10 repetitions and keep track of your results for at least 4 weeks. Then switch to 11-12 repetitions and see if there is a notable difference. If these don’t produce results go below or above the gold standard range, 6-8 reps or 12-14 reps.


11. Is there a specific rep range for individual muscle groups?

Here lies another question with complexity. I will explain it in an easy way to you starting with a basic question. Is the muscles you are working in a given exercise used in everyday life excessively?

By this I mean is it a muscle group such as your lower legs, lower back, or forearms? These are all muscle areas we use on a regular basis and are used to repetitive actions so fatiguing these muscles will be harder. You can go about this in two ways: 1) Train moderate weight with very high repetitions or 2) Heavy weight with moderate repetitions. I would normally say that the heavy weight with moderate repetitions would be best for building muscle, but I have seen individuals use the other method with success.

Therefore it will be up to you to decide which method to use for these fatigue resistant muscle groups. Other large muscle group areas such as your lats, chest, gluteals, hamstrings, and quadriceps will be best utilized in the 8-12 range. Other “medium” sized muscles like biceps and triceps will be better near the 12 or slightly above repetition range. Again everyone is unique so if you aren’t seeing results after a few weeks, try increasing or decreasing that rep range!


12. How often should I change my routine to keep my muscles “guessing?"

If you are new to exercise and just starting a fitness routine, wait at least 4-6 weeks before changing your current plan. If you are a fitness veteran I would suggest switching your exercise routine every 4 weeks. This will allow enough time for muscle development to occur.

If you currently perform one “chest day” every week, than this will be 4 total workouts to improve upon. This is not a lot of time so try not to go below the 4 week minimum. If you workout the same muscle group twice or more a week than you may be able to get away with waiting only 2-3 weeks before switching up that routine.











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