Health and fitness magazines provide a wide variety of articles that make claims to increase your muscle mass with the use of creatine. Creatine, a nonessential dietary element found in meat and fish, is used as a supplement by athletes to enhance exercise performance. While creatine is perceived as relatively safe, the American College of Sports Medicine notes that there's been little critical evaluation and research done to establish the positive and negative health impacts of this supplement 4. Increasing your muscle mass is achievable without taking creatine.
Perform weighted compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups at the same time like bench presses, lat pull-downs, squats and lunges. Mix with body weight compound exercises like push-ups, pull-ups and burpees. Perform 10 to 12 repetitions for each exercise.
Eat every three to four hours to fuel your workouts and aid in muscle recovery. Avoid processed foods. Consume foods in their whole form focusing on fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and complex carbohydrates.
Get some rest. Take at least one rest day per week to allow muscles to recover from your workouts. Sleep eight hours per night to allow the release of growth hormones that help build muscle.
Drink 1 gallon of water per day to stay hydrated and support activity. Drink enough water to replace your daily fluid losses and drink more on days when temperature and humidity are high.
Tips
Lift heavy weight and keep your repetitions low. The last few repetitions should be very challenging.