Is There A Way To Build Muscle Faster Than Expected?

April 23 2025, Published 2:20 a.m. ET
It’s a dream of every person or first-time athlete to build muscles overnight. But the reality is even more far-fetched. Even though building muscle might take time, your progress doesn’t have to be slow. You just need to have the right combination of training, nutrition, and recovery to get your gains even faster. While there are no shortcuts, we are going to look at some ways to speed up the process of building muscles faster than expected.
1. SARMs & Steroids: What You Should Know
Some athletes may explore SARMs and muscle steroids to improve their muscle growth. These compounds stimulate muscle receptors to increase strength and size. The difference is that SARMs don’t affect other organs, but their research is ongoing. So, for those considering buying such supplements from places like DeusMedical, it’s important to choose trusted sources and only after consulting professionals. At the end of the day, building muscle through proper diet and exercise is the safest and most sustainable option.
2. Progressive Overload: The Key To Growth
If you are looking to improve your gains after each gym session, then you must understand the concept of progressive overload. You can’t build muscle by lifting the same weight for months; you need to gradually increase the weight, reps, or intensity to break down your muscles and position them for growth. When you add weight in small increments regularly, your muscles will adapt to the new force, which will lead to continuous growth. It’s best to focus progressive overload on compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses to engage multiple muscles at the same time.
3. Optimize Your Protein Intake
Protein is needed for muscle growth - it provides the essential amino acids needed for repair and gains. For starters, you need to consume about 1.2 - 2 grams of protein per kilo of body weight to support muscle development. There are a lot of protein sources available in the market: fish, egg, chicken, and dairy are some of the whole food sources, and protein powder is a good supplement choice.
4. Maximize Recovery For Faster Gains
Your muscles don’t grow when you work out. They grow when you take proper rest. This means recovery is just as important as training, and you need to give your muscles the proper time to repair. You should aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night to allow your body to properly build muscle fibers. You can also take supplements such as BCAAs, creatine, and omega-3s to help speed up the recovery process.
5. Train Smarter, Not Just Harder
Make sure to train smarter, not just harder. This means don’t just do more workouts. If you overtrain yourself, it can lead to fatigue and may lead to more negative results than you might expect. A good training program will have 4-5 training sessions per week, each hitting a muscle group at least 2 times, with 3-4 workouts per muscle group.

Final Thoughts
Even though instant muscles might not be an option, you can still speed up your muscle-building process with these steps. Make sure not to overburden yourself and adjust based on what your body can do.