These days, more and more people want to gain muscle naturally. This is why fitness centers sprout like mushrooms all over town. These miracle gyms open the doors to people who want to gain muscle — all they need to do is pay the membership fee and visit the gym regularly. If you want to gain muscle naturally, this is definitely the way to go.

But what do you do if you don’t have the money for a gym subscription — a problem many of us still experience even as the economy gets better?

No problem — you can gain muscle naturally without leaving the comforts of your home. You’ll just need to design your own routines, as well as couple your exercise regimen with a good, muscle-building diet.

Routines That Don’t Require Gym Equipment

There are basically four groups of muscles you can effectively develop even at home. These are: 

1. Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
2. Biceps and Back
3. Abs and Legs

 

Let’s talk about the simplest routines you can try for each of these muscle groups.

Chest, Shoulders, And Triceps

To build muscle on the chest, shoulders, and triceps, push-ups are the best stay-at-home exercise you can do. To do a push-up, lie face down on the floor, arms bent at your side with elbows pointing up, and palms flat on the floor beside your chest. 

Straighten your arms, pushing your entire upper body off the ground, exhaling as you go up. At the “top” position, your body should remain straight, with your knees off the floor. (Keep your knees on the floor if you’re just starting out, though.)

Then, slowly lower yourself down on the floor in a controlled descent, inhaling as you go down, until you’re almost at your original position. Your nose or chin should be about an inch away from the floor at this point. One “up-to-down” motion counts as one repetition.

Do as many repetitions as you can until your muscles fail — that is, until you can’t go back up anymore, no matter how hard you try. It’s important to work your muscles to the point of failure every single set, because that’s the only way to gain muscle naturally, without the use of pills, powders, or drugs.

When you reach the point of failure, take a rest for about a minute or two. Then dive back in for more sets. Ideally, you should do nine (9) sets in total for the entire session — but if you can’t handle nine sets, just go as far as you can.

If you want a little variation, position your hands a little wider or narrower to build the other muscles in your chest area.

Biceps And Backs 

Pull-ups are the best way to gain muscle naturally around the back and biceps area. Simply find a horizontal bar strong enough to support your weight — the monkey bars at the park playground are ideal.

Simply grasp the horizontal bar with both hands, and lift your feet off the ground. The “up” motion of a pull-up consists of pulling yourself up all the way until your chin passes the level of the bar.

The “down” motion consists of a slow, controlled descent to your original position. One “up-and-down” motion counts as one repetition. Go on and do as many repetitions as you can.

When your muscles fail and you can’t go up another time, take a few minutes’ rest — and then try again. You can do as many sets as you can handle.

If you have a strong horizontal beam at home, then congratulations — you can gain muscle naturally without having to jog to the park!

Abs And Legs 

These are two different muscle groups — I just combined them because I almost always do them on the same day. First, I do squats — standing up straight, then bending my knees as I lower myself to the point that my thighs are horizontal with the floor, then going back up.

When I get tired of doing squats, I lie down on the floor and do ab exercises, such as sit-ups. That way, while my legs are resting, I can work on my core muscles. Half sit-ups and full sit-ups compose my ab exercise regimen — they do pretty well.

After my abs get too tired, it’s time to get back up and do another set of squats, then another set of ab exercises. I do this until I feel I’ve reached my limit.

These are great exercises to try at home, and should help you gain muscle naturally without ever having to pay for a gym subscription.

Tags: Gain Muscle Naturally