3 Fundamentals To Build Muscle (Most Beginners Get These Wrong)

Three principles decide whether resistance training works: form, intensity, and progressive overload. Form means filming yourself, starting lighter than you think, and taking two to three seconds on the lowering portion. Intensity means training one to three reps shy of failure, an RPE of 7 to 8.

Progressive overload means beating last week's numbers with more reps, weight, sets, or better form, which requires writing your sets down. A meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found strength training cuts injury risk by 66%. The beginner setup: three sessions a week, compound lifts, 6 to 20 reps, 2 to 3 minutes of rest.