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Building muscle is about more than just exercising around the clock. In fact, studies show that exercise alone isn’t enough to get practical muscle-building results.

Experts advise a co*bination of several factors at once, including an understanding of balanced nutrition, the use of healthy exercise, and the addition of the right supplements.

Whether you’re a bodybuilder, weightlifter, athlete, or improving your personal nutrition goals, understanding muscle growth at its core is essential for preparing a smoother journey to better health.

How do you start building muscle, or maintain the fitness level you’ve already attained?

Here are the 7 essential building blocks for muscle health.

An Introduction to Better Muscle Health

Better muscle health isn’t just about exercise, say leading nutrition and exercise experts like the American Medical Association (AMA). Exercise and muscle building can lead to a better quality of life, and might even contribute to an overall longer lifespan—but only when this is co*bined with balanced nutrition, supplements, and the best quality exercise.

Mike Tyson’s return to the boxing ring at 58 facing a much younger opponent has brought questions about exercise, balance, and muscle back into the spotlight.

How do you build better muscle health, and build better muscle?

Experts point to these important building blocks for muscle health, which includes balanced nutrition, understanding exercise, and muscle strength.

Without balance and these essential muscle building blocks, nutrition and muscle-related goals are often much harder to achieve.

1. The Best Protein

Protein is an essential co*ponent of muscle-building, and the body relies on this particular co*ponent the most when putting together muscle on a molecular level. When geared towards building muscle, a nutrition and exercise plan is often focused on protein—and your body should be getting the best natural protein from food that money can buy.

Choose organic rather than manufactured products for your protein needs, say nutrition resources like The Nutrition Insider. High-quality protein is easier to absorb for the body, and one often needs to consume less of high-quality protein foods to get the same effect.

The old saying is true, you get back what you’ve put in.

2. Balanced Nutrition

Nutrition shouldn’t just push protein, but also aim to achieve a dietary balance between all things. Balanced nutrition is key, and should include all important building blocks of the old-fashioned dietary pyramid—including healthy fats and oils like olive oil and natural butter.

A good, key health plan should focus on boosting the immune system with superfoods, as well as seeking out high-protein foods and snacks.

The body can only build muscle when it’s most basic nutritional needs are simultaneously met.

3. Amino Acids

Without amino acids, there can’t be muscle growth. Understanding how muscles are put together is an important part of learning how to build muscle. Amino acids function as the “links” that bind muscles together—and they’re essential for promoting any kind of new growth.

Amino acid levels should be tested regularly, and adjusted with nutritional intake as well as supplements where necessary.

The body finds some of its amino acids from foods that are high in protein, but this doesn’t mean the body gets enough.

4. Understanding Exercise

An effective exercise plan should be as balanced as your diet, requiring tailor-made solutions for every individual person. There’s no single successful exercise plan for everyone, and there are many factors that help to determine what might work for you.

Experts advise working in accordance with a trained fitness coach and nutrition expert.

The best exercise is balanced between strength training and cardiovascular, with specific areas of the body being targeted. Understanding exercise is about understanding balance: never skip leg day.

5. Muscle Strength

Muscle strength means exercising muscle, but also means that exercises have to focus on strength training. Cardiovascular exercise might have benefits for the body, but won’t do anything for specific muscle growth.

For muscle strength, work on specific strength-based exercises that target particular areas of the body. Remember to keep this balanced, and never overco*pensate on one part or muscle group while ignoring another.

If you’re starting to feel the strain, always take a break or switch to another exercise. This could be one of the best ways to prevent serious muscle strain or potential injury during exercise.

6. Low-Fat, High-Protein

For active muscle-building, athletes and bodybuilders often rely on a low-fat and high-protein diet. This is because this particular diet happens to be high in antioxidants and amino acids too, which helps the body in its strength and progress towards building better muscle.

A low-fat and high-protein diet can be customized to suit your individual calorific needs. Depending on the type of muscle you’re working to build and the progress you want to see, there might be specific reco*mendations as to what you should be consuming more (or less) of.

7. The Best Supplements

Nutrition experts know that even the best diet doesn’t necessarily guarantee a perfect balance within the body. Have nutrition and levels checked often, and make sure that you know exactly where adjustments need to be made.

If you’re focusing on building muscle the natural way, the best supplements could be a good way to get on the road to better health. According to WebMD, muscles rely on amino acids and micronutrients—many times, supplements are advised as the best way to include these factors in your diet.

Make sure that any supplements you buy are from a leading, reputable retailer. High-quality products will always guarantee the best quality results.

Can You Match 7?

Muscle-building doesn’t have to be co*plicated or expensive, and you don’t have to buy eggs by the carton to keep up with your basic nutritional needs. This isn’t the 90s anymore, and there are better nutritional guides and studies to support what you should be doing instead.

Experts advise matching the 7 building blocks behind muscle-building for the best possible results. Practical muscle growth could be yours in just weeks from now—and there’s no need for snake oils or fad diets anymore!

M&F and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.