How to Build Muscle Fast

his is from the book, "The 4-Hour Body" by Timothy Ferris. The author gained 15.4kg in 28 days by going to the gym only twice a week, and working out for 30 minutes each time.

Here's how he did it:

1. Go to the gym twice a week with a span of 2 or 3 days in between. Done correctly, there's no need to work out more than this.

Do weight exercises targeting different muscles of the body. Do between 2 to 10 exercises only per workout.

For each exercise, stress the muscle between 80 seconds and 120 seconds; this is enough to spur the muscle into growing. Do a 5/5 cadence for each rep, meaning 5 seconds lifting and 5 seconds putting down; this makes sure you really work the muscle. Select a weight that is heavy enough that you can no longer continue at the end of the exercise, ie when you've reached the 80 to 120 seconds.

Rest at least 3 minutes after each exercise before doing the next one.

2. Eat a lot, and especially take lots of protein. The author gave a table of how much protein you should take. Basically, it's 2.75g for each 1kg of your current muscle mass. And I believe this is on top of your daily caloric need.

For example, if your muscle mass is 50kg, then you should consume 50 x 2.75 = 137.5g of protein.

3. Take protein and other supplements that would help you gain muscle. Anabolics are not required.