The answer lies right in front of our eyes and it is actually quite simple when you think about it. What part of our body do we use most often each and every day? You can clearly argue that the arms and legs are utilized in every facet of our daily lives. However, the arms are the most visible because they are closer to our faces which are the focus points of our eyes when we interact with others. To go along with the idea of interaction, we definitely use our hands and arms more often when we are in a social environment. These physical interactions range from handshakes to high fives and even a simple pat on the back. That is why someone who has a firm handshake appears to be more confident, dominant, and in control.

Therefore, the hands and arms are an almost subtle symbol of one’s strength and power. Since the bicep muscle is the largest muscle on your arms, this in turn makes them the symbol of brawn and manliness. This concept appears to be embedded subconsciously in the social mindset and has been firmly established over the thousands of years of human evolution.

But how do you do it? Each magazine promises that it has the secret, or the magic formula to lean mass that you simply must know. Meaning: you must buy the magazine to find out. And then, once you are reading the magazine, you will realize that they all say basically the same thing. You need to lift heavy weights and eat enough food to help the muscles grow.

The fitness industry makes its money by manufacturing an information gap between the “experts” and the novice weight trainer. They want you to believe that you cannot possibly reach your fitness goals without their advice, product, equipment, or supplements.

I have some news: there is a magic formula, it just isn’t very sexy and it will not result in immediate gratification. The easiest way to build muscle is to get stronger. If you are lifting heavier weights each time you go into the gym–or if you are lifting more total weight during a workout than in previous sessions–you will be building muscle. The body reacts to the stresses we impose upon it. Lifting weight in a given pattern like a bicep curl or a bunch press creates tissue along those lines of stress.

If you are always striving to lift more, you will always be building bigger muscles. Enjoy strength training, not size chasing. They come down to the same thing, and if you are strong, you will usually be more useful and healthy.

Lift hard, eat enough food to grow, and rest well. There you go: three magic bullets. They don’t work fast, but they work every single time you combine them in that order. Guaranteed.

Body building over 40 is something that can be taken as seriously or as light heartedly as you like. There is no hard and fast routine to stick to and it is so flexible that you can adjust it to suit your lifestyle. If you are the type of person who is not a fan of exercising at all but wants to try and start bodybuilding then why not get yourself a small set of weights to use at home. You can choose whatever weight you like (no peer pressure to look good in front of a crowd of people) and even practice your lifts while watching TV. Once you have built up some confidence you can try heavier weights and even incorporate cardio work into the routine.

For those of you who are more athletic, you can join a gym or hire a personal trainer. Personal trainers are designed to push you further than you think you can go. They can devise a weight training routine for you and will help you stick to it each week. They will also give you advise on rest and diet so that you can experience the full benefits of bodybuilding.

If you absorb less energy than you spend while working out, then you will surely lose weight. A lot of people start out with an exercise routine and diet plan that is more suited to losing weight rather than gaining weight and that is the reason why their muscles are not getting bigger. In this scenario, what normally happens is that your body will first try to fight this energy deficit by using up your body fats, once it has used up all those fats it will then go for your muscle mass.

Simply put, if you are not taking in enough calories than you use, then the more you exercise and workout the smaller your muscles will get. A lot of people like to assume that if they engage in a bulk up fast workout and exercise with long hours they will start to develop muscle mass, that is actually a common misconception. The energy that you use, not just in working out, but in your normal life processes such as blood circulation, breathing and digestion needs to come from a source and if it does not come from the foods that you take in, then it comes from your body’s storage. First, it will go for your liver’s storage of glycogen, then your fat deposits. In this process, your muscles will start to lose its density and you will get too weak to even exercise.

The proper way in order to gain weight and bulk up is to consume more calories than you expend. Calories provide your body that energy it badly needs to take on the day. However, if you consume lots of it, but do not exercise, all of it will get stored as fats.