Smart Ways To Build Muscle Using Household Items

Are you interested in packing on some muscles right in the comfort of your house, without the need to spend a lot of money on a gym membership or buying weight machines or free weights? That is what this article is about. You can build muscle and become fit with the items you already have at home – no need to buy anything.

For starters, I would advise that you get some dumbbells; they are quite affordable if you buy used sets. However, you don’t have to buy them if you have no money to spend; there are household items that you can use as a good replacement for a pair of weights. For example containers of different volumes (1, 2, 3, 4, 10 and even 20 litres) filled with water can be used as a replacement – remember 1 litre of water is approximately equal to 1 kilogram.

Another option you have for building muscle is using your bodyweight as the resistance. I am sure you already know about a few common exercises that are used for muscle growth, examples are: squats, pull-ups, chin-ups, press-ups and squats. These are known as bodyweight exercises because they require no equipment.

Another very effective bodyweight exercise is the triceps dips. You do this exercise with one or two chairs/bench depending on the variation you are doing. When using one bench, sit on the edge and place your palms behind you on the bench, then lift your body with your arms and lower your body towards the ground and then raise it up again – repeat continuously.

You can use your bottles or Jerry-cans as dumbbells and do it the same way you do triceps presses and biceps curls. These items can also be use to work out your shoulders by lifting two of them to your shoulder level, and then returning them back slowly. You can do 8 – 10 repetitions of 12 sets.
Ensure you are lifting items (bottles or Jerry-cans filled with water) that are heavy enough.

When it comes to press-ups, a lot of people usually get disheartened when they realise they can’t even do up to ten repetition when they first start. 

If you have been living a sedentary lifestyle for too long, it would be difficult. However, the good thing is that you would build up strength gradually and finally be able to do even more than 10 reps.

Doing crunches is an easy and equipment free method of building your abdominal strength and muscles. It entails lying on the floor, then you bend your knees and put your hands at the back of your neck and use your stomach muscles to lift your torso midway up, then you lower your torso slowly back down.

Have your heard of the reverse crunches? This exercise helps to work out the lower part of your abdominal muscles. To perform this exercise, lie on the ground, raise your legs up till it makes 90 degrees with the floor, and then use your stomach muscles to move your legs to your head... then gradually lower your legs.

Pull-ups and chin-ups are two exercises that require either a bar or support. These exercises are popular in fitness programs and gyms because they are very effective in helping a person pack on muscle. In the beginning you may not even be able to do 5 repetitions at a go; however you would gradually build strength and be able to a lot more than what you started with.

Although it might look like you have to go to a standard gym to build muscle and stay fit, however the fact is that you can pack on considerable muscle mass without having to buy expensive weight machines or paying for expensive gym membership.

Tips For Making Your Weight Training Sessions More Effective

So many guys are interested burning off excess body fat and increasing lean muscle mass; however they do it using ineffective techniques.


If you are going to get involved in weight training, you should do everything to get the best results from the efforts you are using and the time you are expending at the gym.

This means that you have to consistently look for how to train more efficiently and not spend more time lifting weights if you really want to achieve better results.

If you are performing your workouts efficiently, you would be able to reduce your excess body fat at the same time increase the amount of lean muscle mass that you have.

Side Note: Just like there are exercises to build skeletal muscles, there are also exercises that target the smooth muscle tissues in the penis – click to get the details. These penis exercises are effective and can help increase your penile size by up to 2 inches in length and 1 inch in girth.

To start with, you should be doing mostly compound exercises in your training sessions. This kind of exercises train more than one muscle group at the same time.


An example is the weighted squats, when doing these exercise, you are working out the muscles in your thighs, buttocks and calves.

As you can see, you workouts would be more effective when you are doing this kind of exercises that train multiple muscle groups at the same time.

Some other examples of compound exercises are:

•     Deadlifts
•     Barbell curls
•     Bench press
•     Push-ups
•     Chin-ups
•     Rows

If you are not a professional bodybuilder (who has hours to spend in the gym), you are better off not doing isolation exercises. And when doing compound exercises, use a weight that challenges you muscles and you can safely lift it (if it is too heavy, you are likely to get injured).

As a better alternative to doing a lot of repetitions and sets, do one or two sets using a weight that causes your muscle to get fatigued when you end the set. This approach would help your body build more lean muscle at a faster rate than using lighter weights and doing more repetitions.

Another important thing you MUST be doing is giving your muscles enough time to heal after each training session. A lot of guys ignore this aspect and it shows itself either as injuries or slow muscle growth.


If you workout intensely on Monday, then you take the whole of Tuesday as a day to rest and allow your body to heal and re-grow muscle tissue.

A lot of guys take the approach of training different parts of their bodies daily and so they don’t need a full day of rest. In this case, you still need at least one day per week of rest. If you continuously put stress on your body without giving it time to rest and recover, you are not going to get any muscle growth.

Another essential tip is stretching properly when you have finished your workouts. Doing this simple activity assists your muscle tissue to heal and becoming bigger. It is also helps to reduce sore muscles and lower your chances of injury. Flexibility is more important than you may think.

As for training frequency, you can successfully build decent muscle mass by training three days a week as long as you train intensely on those days. It is better to train hard and give your body the necessary rest so that you can get stronger and have more muscle mass.

In order to build decent muscle mass, you don’t have to become a gym rat. However, it is important that you understand and stick to the fundamentals diligently if you want to achieve the body that you desire.

Using Dumbbells And Barbells To Build Muscle At Home

There are a lot of men that want to be able to do their weight training in their house and skip the discomfort of having to go to a crowded gym.

It is possible for you to build an impressive amount of muscle mass using dumbbells (and barbells) as your primary weight training equipment.

However, you must make sure that you are using the appropriate type of dumbbells that can challenge your muscles so you can increase your strength and muscle mass.

Only go for the kind of dumbbells that have adjustable weights. You want that type so that you can start with lighter weights and gradually increase to heavy weights as you get stronger (and build more muscle).

This is better than buying dumbbells that have fixed weights, because you would have to keeping buying a new set. With the adjustable type, you only buy more weight plates and it takes up less space in your home. 

You can just put the dumbbells and weight plates in one corner of your house.

When you have a good set of dumbbells and barbells, then you would have to decide on the workouts that you would be performing with them.

You can start with a weight training program like P90x which is packaged as an instruction video that teaches you how to build endurance and strength. This program requires that you have your own set of dumbbells and barbells to do all the workouts.

Another option is for you to come up with your own training routine. It doesn’t have to perfect when you start, you keep adjusting it as you stay consistent with your weight training. Include exercises like: triceps extensions, lateral raises and bicep curls in your routine.

Ensure that you are also training your lower body by including these workouts: squats, calf raises and lunges. You have to perform all of them while holding dumbbells or barbells.

Since dumbbells, barbells and kettlebells are free weights, there is no mechanism to stabilise it to make sure your using the correct form unlike weight machines. This is the reason you must pay attention when you are lifting weights, so that you would be using proper form on each repetition.

Doing correct form means that you are lifting the weights in a controlled and smooth motion. Using proper form also means that you are completing the full range of motion by fully extending your joint during each repetition.

If you realise that it is difficult for you to use proper form in most of your repetitions, reduce the weight.

Always start with a weight that would ensure you are lifting with proper form. As you get used to the movement, you start increasing the weight that you are lifting gradually.

After a while, you would have to buy more weight plates because you would have outgrown your current set.

In situations where you are unsure how you should perform particular workouts, the best thing to do is to look for video tutorials online. This is cheaper that trying to hire a trainer which may charge you more than you can reasonable afford.

The moment you have the correct equipment and you have learnt the workouts, you would be able to build muscles using just dumbbells and barbells in the comfort of your own home.

Ways To Build Decent Muscle Mass Affordably

There are so many guys that are interested in building more muscle so they can improve their physique and become more muscular but are discouraged because it seems impossible to do that if you don’t excess money to spend.

If you barely get by every month, then a monthly gym membership, bodybuilding supplements and extra protein foods are likely going to be too expensive for you and out of your budget.

However, you can still build an impressive amount of muscle mass without having to clean out your little savings. There are different ways to engage in weight training, get extra calories (from protein) and still have money to save.

First of all, you must look for where to get foods at an affordable price, since you would need more lean protein in your diet when you start training.

Weight Training On A Tight Budget

If you join a gym, then you would have access to different machines that you can use to train. The issue is that some gyms are more expensive than others. This is why you would have to look for a gym that offers affordable gym membership. 

There are a lot of generic gyms that sell memberships that are $10 - $15 per month.

If you’re in a situation where you cannot even afford to a monthly gym membership, you would have to get some home gym equipment like gym bench, dumbbells, barbells and Kettlebells. This equipment can be bought second hand, so you do not have to worry about buying them brand new.

Although it would definitely cost you more than $15 to buy equipment for your home gym, you would not have to spend anything again. So it is well worth your while to save and get them so you no longer have to worry about whether you have extra money to pay for your gym membership each month.

Getting Cheap Sources For Protein Foods

For people that have lots of money to spend, they go for expensive whey protein supplements and the likes of them. However, there are ways to get protein (which is important for bodybuilding) at afford prices; you just have to look for them.

Once you find a store selling protein foods at affordable prices (or whenever the food stores near you are offering discounts) stock up on them so that you can take advantage of their low prices.

I would advise that you also include eggs in your daily diet. They are affordable and are among the best sources of protein that you can get from real food. 

And make sure you also eat the yolk because it contains twice as much protein, vitamins and minerals as the albumen (egg white). Eating whole eggs is perfectly healthy (more details on that here).

Another good source of protein that is affordable is canned tuna. Aim to eat at least one can of tuna every day and you would be supplying your body with high quality protein that would help your in building muscle.

Another choice you can add to your diet is canned mackerel. It contains lesser amounts of trace mercury than canned tuna and you may even like the taste better.

Milk and cottage cheese are also cheap protein options that you can add to your diet. They are usually low-priced in most supermarkets.

If you don’t like milk or cheese, you can go for whey which is basically a milk protein. It is a powder form so you can add it to your oat meal or custard. It is an affordable way to increase your protein intake without having to eat more food.

And finally, I highly recommend you add more chicken breast to your daily diet. It is an easy source of protein. To get it at an affordable price, wait till when it is being offered at a discount so you can buy a lot and put in your freezer.

As long as you are willing to put extra effort, you can get a lot of quality foods needed for your bodybuilding at affordable prices.

There you have it, now you know how to build muscle without spending a lot of money.

Tips For Building Muscle If You Are A Skinny Guy (Ectomorph)!

If you are a naturally skinny guy, your body shape is known as Ectomorph. This means that you need to really understand how to build muscle if you want to see any noticeable increase in your muscle mass.

If you are an Ectomorph then it means that you have naturally thin body type. Individuals with this body type find it extremely difficult to either build muscle or gain fat. This is because they have high metabolisms that prevent the accumulation of body fat or the growth of muscle tissue.

Being an Ectomorph does not mean that it is impossible to gain muscle.

Also, Ectomorphs have the super power of being able to consume a lot of calories without gaining much body fat. This is why for you to build significant muscle mass, you need to make the effort to increase the amount of calories you are consuming considerably and steadily.

As a rule, men who are Ectomorphs need to consume as much as 3,000 calories per day if they are seeking to build decent muscle mass. Your body is super efficient at using calories for energy so you would have to supply it with an abundant amount of calories for it to build more muscle tissue.

You also need to be careful about the kinds of foods you eat to increase your calorie intake. Stick to lean protein and complex carbohydrates. Do not take the easy route by eating a lot of fatty foods, this category of food don’t easily get converted to lean muscle tissue.

Whole foods should be a staple in your diet. These kinds of foods usually have high amounts of nutrients which your body needs to heal and grow muscle tissue when you are resting (after your weight training workouts). Stick to foods like:

•  Fruits
• Vegetables
• Whole grains
• Nuts and seeds
• Lean meats
• Healthy oils (unsaturated fats are the healthy fats)

And of course you must be engaged in an intense weight training regimen that is intended to assist you in building muscle mass. You should always take 24 hours as rest after each workout. This means you only train once in two days.

You also need to make sure that you are doing workouts that cause fatigue in your muscles when you are nearing the end of your set. It would take doing 40 – 60 minutes training sessions regularly for a few months before you experience a clear increase in your muscle mass.

Only do minimal cardio exercise (20 minutes of brisk walking) when you are trying to build muscle. 

A Mesomorph or and Endomorph can get away with doing cardio while building muscle because they have a slower metabolism than you.

Another reason is that too much cardio would reduce your strength and your ability to lift more weights or do more repetitions which limits your muscle growth.

Intense cardiovascular exercising requires lots of energy and this energy is what you need to conserve so that you can be able to lift weights intensely. If you expend all you energy on a treadmill or stationary bike, you would have little or no energy to lift weights that would build your muscles.

Any time you train intensely, you would have to allow at least a day for your body to rest and build muscle tissue. This is because actual muscle growth doesn’t happen when you are lifting weights, it happens after you have trained and you are resting and sleeping. So, ensure that you are giving your muscles enough time to recover from your workouts.

And lastly, you have to structure your schedule so that you are getting at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. This is the primary period when the body repairs worn-out tissue and builds muscle.

So, yes if you are skinny guy, you can pack on decent muscle mass. However you must be strict with these suggestions if you want to achieve your desire of becoming more muscular.