Strength How to Build and Maintain Muscle By Jill Corleone, RD Updated on July 11, 2024 Reviewed Verywell Fit articles are reviewed by nutrition and exercise professionals. Reviewers confirm the content is thorough and accurate, reflecting the latest evidence-based research. Content is reviewed before publication and upon substantial updates. Learn more. by Heather Black, CPT Print Getty Images / Bojan89 Table of Contents View All Table of Contents How to Build Muscle How to Maintain Muscle Frequently Asked Questions Getting stronger is a healthy fitness goal, requiring you to strength train and pack your meals with protein. But building muscle can be a bit tricky. Sure, lifting weights and eating more protein can help you become stronger, but you need to push your muscles past their limit and also give them time to recover. Building and maintaining muscle mass requires patience and persistence. How do you build and maintain muscle? Proper training, nutrition, rest, and realistic goals create an achievable equation for success. Improve Your Muscular Strength and Definition How to Build Muscle You need to grow muscle cells to build muscle. This is called muscle hypertrophy, when muscle-making outpaces muscle breakdown. Strength training plus adequate protein sets the foundation for building muscle. But rest and recovery are equally important. Below you will find more information on how to build muscle in the following ways: Resistance training Calorie surplus Increased protein Recovery time Sleep Fitness Strength training, also known as resistance training, is the primary exercise for muscle building. It involves using weights, machines, or your body weight to stress your muscles, pushing them past their limits. The mechanical tension you place on your muscles when strength training triggers metabolic stress, which gives your muscles the energy they need to adapt to the strain of the weight so you can keep lifting. Pushing past the point where your muscles tire out damages the muscle fibers. This muscle damage triggers the healing process that causes your muscles to grow. To grow muscle, find your one repetition maximum (1RM), the heaviest weight you can lift without losing proper form. If you can easily do three sets of 10 repetitions, or reps, you’re not at your 1RM. Consulting with a personal trainer can help you find your 1RM. As your strength improves and your muscles grow, increase the weight load and the number of sets to continue to build muscle. Professional athlete and creator of PHIIT Strength Kari Pearce says, “You must continue to lift heavier weights to build muscle.” When your weights are no longer challenging, it’s time to increase your weight load. Kari Pearce The time frame is different for each person, but generally, within a month you will feel weights becoming lighter. — Kari Pearce Varying the type of workout you do also helps build muscle. You work different muscle groups when you switch from free weights to weight machines. Pearce suggests using compound movements to progress muscle growth. The more muscles you include in your movements, the greater the benefits. Using a vibration plate while resistance training can boost muscle mass and strength. Pearce says her advice varies for each client. “Experience level will come into play when doing a strength-training program. If you are a beginner, more basic and bodyweight movements will be included. When I am working with someone more advanced, there will be more weighted movements as well as more advanced movements. This is not only to see the best results but also to make it more fun and challenging!” There are affordable home gym equipment options, such as an adjustable dumbbell set and exercise ball, to help expand your workout routine. Strength Training: A Beginner's Guide to Getting Stronger Nutrition Building muscle requires good nutrition and high-quality calories with protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Using supplements to support your workout, such as protein powder and electrolyte tablets, can help you meet your nutrition needs. In order to grow muscles, you need to maintain a positive protein balance. The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) says you need at least 0.6 to 0.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight to maintain a positive protein balance and you may need as much as 1.3 grams of protein per pound to gain muscle. While protein is important for building muscle, carbohydrates and fat also play a role in helping your body achieve its goals. Carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are a source of energy and essential nutrients like fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Fat provides your body with energy and helps with producing the hormones you need to build muscle, according to Pearce. She also recommends “drinking plenty of water and limiting alcohol consumption.” Other Factors Giving your body time to recover is also important for muscle building. Allow your muscles to rest for 48 hours before working them out again. You also need an adequate amount of sleep to build muscle. A lot of things happen while you sleep, including repairing and building muscle. Not getting enough sleep triggers your body to release catabolic hormones like cortisol, slowing down muscle growth. Adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night. But when working out to build muscle, aim for at least eight hours of sleep, says Pearce. Adequate sleep keeps anabolic hormone levels elevated, improving muscle recovery and growth. How you manage stress also affects muscle building. When chronically stressed, your catabolic stress hormones remain high, affecting muscle growth and strength. According to Pearce, stress also affects your workouts. She recommends taking it easy on those high-stress days and the days you don't get enough sleep. Weight Training: How to Get Started How to Maintain Muscle When maintaining muscle mass, follow a "use-it-or-lose-it" mentality. After age 30, you can lose up to 5% of your muscle mass every 10 years if you’re not physically active. Like muscle building, fitness and nutrition are vital to maintaining lean body mass. Fitness Regular strength training is key to maintaining muscle mass. Like muscle building, you need to stress the muscle to maintain strength. This means lifting enough weight and doing enough reps to the point where it’s too hard to do one more. Yoga and Pilates are also muscle-building workouts that help maintain lean body mass and improve flexibility. Resistance training helps you maintain muscle strength but doesn’t necessarily add more bulk. Pearce says, “I often hear women say that they do not want to lift heavy because they do not want to get bulky. I promise you will not bulk up in a short period of time.” Further, she says “I believe all women should build muscle—there are a variety of benefits including stronger bones, increased resting metabolic rate, and it will make things in your daily life easier...to name a few!” 5 Ways to Maintain Muscle Mass Nutrition Good nutrition is also important for maintaining muscle, especially high-quality protein. The ISSN says you need 0.6 to 0.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight to maintain muscle. Eating balanced meals filled with nutrient-rich foods from all the food groups should help you get enough protein, as well as an adequate amount of carbohydrates for energy and other essential nutrients you need to maintain muscle and support overall health. 7-Day Bodybuilding Meal Plan & Recipe Prep Other Factors Finding healthy ways to manage stress is also important for maintaining muscle. One study published in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research found that stress decreases muscle strength. How you manage stress right now may affect your muscle strength in the future. Create good sleeping habits. Like stress, accumulating sleep debt increases the release of the catabolic hormones that decrease muscle mass and strength. Aim for at least 7 hours of sleep each night. A Word From Verywell Fit Whether you want to build or maintain muscle, what works for others may not work for you. Many factors influence your body composition, including exercise, nutrition, genetics, sleep, stress, and medical history. Find a routine that works and stick with it, whether it’s free weights or body-resistance exercises, the key to keeping your muscles is consistency. Frequently Asked Questions How do muscles grow? To grow muscles, you need to make more muscle proteins than your body breaks down. Though this sounds simple enough, the process of growing muscles is dependent on exercise, nutrition, and anabolic hormones.The purpose of strength training is to damage muscle fibers, creating a type of injury. Your body responds by adding more protein fibers to repair the injury, which ultimately increases muscle mass and strength. How long does it take to build muscle? Though muscle repair happens quickly, muscle growth takes weeks or months. How long it takes for you to build muscle depends on many factors, including genetics, sex, workout, and nutrition. What are the signs of muscle growth? More energy, flexibility, and strength are some of the early signs of muscle growth. Over time, your clothes may fit differently and you may see more muscle tone. How Women Can Build Muscle 13 Sources Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Greenemeir L. Unnatural Selection: Muscles, Genes and Genetic Cheats. Scientific American. de Freitas MC, Gerosa-Neto J, Zanchi NE, Lira FS, Rossi FE. Role of metabolic stress for enhancing muscle adaptations: Practical applications. World J Methodol. 2017;7(2):46-54. Published 2017 Jun 26. doi:10.5662/wjm.v7.i2.46 American College of Sports Medicine. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181915670 Schott N, Johnen B, Holfelder B. Effects of free weights and machine training on muscular strength in high-functioning older adults. Exp Gerontol. 2019;122:15-24. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2019.03.012 Jäger R, Kerksick CM, Campbell BI, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:20. doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0177-8 Klemm S. 4 keys to strength building and muscle mass. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Better Health Channel. Resistance training - health benefits. Dattilo M, Antunes HK, Medeiros A, et al. Sleep and muscle recovery: endocrinological and molecular basis for a new and promising hypothesis. Med Hypotheses. 2011;77(2):220-222. doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2011.04.017 Vitale KC, Owens R, Hopkins SR, Malhotra A. Sleep hygiene for optimizing recovery in athletes: Review and recommendations. Int J Sports Med. 2019;40(8):535-543. doi:10.1055/a-0905-3103 Poornima KN, Karthick N, Sitalakshmi R. Study of the effect of stress on skeletal muscle function in geriatrics. J Clin Diagn Res. 2014;8(1):8-9. doi:10.7860/JCDR/2014/7014.3966 Alsharif S, Ellis E. Resistance train to prevent muscle loss. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Garber CE, Blissmer B, Deschenes MR, et al. Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: guidance for prescribing exercise. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2011;43(7):1334-1359. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e318213fefb Kwon YS, Kravitz L. University of New Mexico. How do muscles grow? By Jill Corleone, RD Jill is a registered dietitian who's been learning and writing about nutrition for more than 20 years. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? 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