So, you’re wondering how to build muscle after weight loss. Once upon a time, you had an abundance of flab hanging off your body that made you feel self-conscious. The good news is, you whittled away at that fat and have gotten to a place where your clothes are fitting looser and you finally have a shred of confidence. The hardest part is over, but what’s next? Building muscle, that’s what!

Why? Because muscle is sexy, useful and it will boost your confidence to an even higher level. In fact, it’ll be higher than it’s ever been in your life. How does that sound, hombre?

Once you learn the basics of building muscle, you’ll be one fired-up son of a gun. Just don’t get too cocky, because no one likes hanging out with a jabroni.

Don’t fear the weight room

Chances are you did a crapload of cardio to lose all that weight. That’s all fine and dandy, but it won’t build you much muscle. The best way to do that is by lifting heavy things like dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, a car, a fat person, etc.

And don’t be timid about it either! Get your ass in the weight room and start slapping some weights around. The muscleheads aren’t going to hurt you. They’re too busy checking out their pops in the mirror anyway. Just don’t stand in their way and you’ll be fine.

Once you’re at the weights, you need to choose some good exercises that’ll get you the best bang for your buck. So, what would these be? Well, I’ll tell you right now that compound exercises are the dogs bollocks. A compound exercise recruits more than one muscle at the same time. The end result is a higher amount of muscle fiber recruitment, which helps you get bigger and stronger, faster.

Do exercises like bench presses, military presses, back rows, squats, deadlifts and pull-ups. These drills will target your entire body and help you make some serious gains in no time.

Follow a structured plan

If you walk into the gym not knowing what to do, two things will happen. First, you’re going to look like a confused idiot. Second, you’re not going to make even the slightest bit of progress. To get serious results,  you need be following a kickass game plan.

Here’s one for you to try:

• Perform a full-body workout that consists of dumbbell bench presses, double kettlebell shoulder presses, barbell deadlifts, dips, chin-ups and double kettlebell front squats.
• Do 5 sets of each drill and use a weight that you can only lift 8 to 10 times with good form.
• Do this workout, take two full days off, then repeat.

Notice how all of these drills are done with free weights? Well, with the exception of chin-ups, but they’re still a great compound exercise to include. Using free weights is great because they require more overall muscle fiber recruitment for stability.

Taking a couple of days off between this workout will give your muscles enough time to recuperate between workouts. And it’s while you rest that your muscles are actually growing.

Take the right amount of rest between sets

Since you’re learning how to build muscle after weight loss, you need to know one important factor about rest. Your goal is to bulk up, so you want to hit every set with as much gumption as possible. That means you need to rest accordingly so you have the energy to give it all you’ve got.

The exact amount of time is not set in stone. But a good rule of thumb is 60 to 90 seconds. You know your body best, so you’ll have to make a judgement call. Once you feel you’re able to lift with 90% quality or better, perform your next set. Use that as a guideline.

Get your ass to the gym!

Getting shredded after weight loss is truly the best of both worlds. You reduced your disease risk by losing weight, and now you’re making yourself stronger, fitter and better-looking by adding some muscle. There should be nothing left to gripe about.

Want to become an expert on building muscle? Take a look at our ultimate How to Build Muscle Guide >