Is it possible to get muscular without working out

Sit ups are a multi-muscle exercise not just building your abdominal muscles, but also other groups in your chest, hip flexors, neck and lower back.

Building muscle with zero exertion might sound too good to be true, but electrical muscle stimulation EMS is proven to work. Electrical muscle stimulation is delivered via an EMS machine that stimulates your motor nerves and induces muscle contractions, mimicking the way they contract during a workout. Here at The Good Body we recently explored the benefits of EMS and discovered that since it has been known to be an effective tool for building muscle. A research project in Russia looked at how highly trained athletes could benefit from EMS treatment.

The World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology came to a similar conclusion, discovering that both strength and muscle size was increased. Yoga has grown phenomenally in popularity over the last few years, with an estimated 36 million Americans now practicing. Though yoga might look like a super relaxing form of exercise, and it can be, it can also strengthen most of your muscles! In fact, there are a number of asanas that are particularly powerful for building muscle strength.

Why not grab your mat , and start stretching today! Eating more protein is another way you can encourage muscle growth without heading to the weight rack. Great sources of protein include chicken, turkey, eggs, lentils and tofu. To increase microtrauma, try taking your lunges for a walk or stepping out on a diagonal. Or add an incline or decline to your push-ups, suggests Galbraith. Changing the angle can both incorporate other muscles into the move, but also work different parts of the same muscle group.

It's also a good idea to slow down the eccentric or downward phase of an exercise like when you lower to the bottom of a deadlift and then explode up quickly moving up from a deadlift or hinged position.

Another option: Slow down the entire exercise. For example, lower into a squat on a count of three, holding at the bottom for three, then stand up on another count of three. This increases the time your muscle is under tension, meaning you're more likely to create microtraumas within your slow-twitch muscle fibers, which have more endurance capacity than fast-twitch fibers. This can add more metabolic stress to the muscles, thus resulting in more gains. For example, if lunges feel easy, hold the bottom of the movement both knees bent 90 degrees for a few seconds before standing up.

Or, step back into your lunge, lift halfway up, then drop back down before you come back up to standing. Also, try stopping short of standing all the way up from a squat or lunge, or stop short of lowering all the way down in a glute bridge.

This works because you're putting the muscle under tension for a longer period of time, or eliminating any points in the movement where the working muscle gets a break.

To increase the tension on your muscles, add some explosiveness to your moves. Squat jumps, lunge jumps, hinge jumps, burpees—they all count toward more muscle building. When a muscle is stretched, it leads to nerve firing that signals a concentric contraction shortening of the muscle. A quicker stretch like what happens during the explosive portion of a plyometric exercise leads to a stronger nerve firing and greater resulting contraction of the muscle. That stronger contraction means your muscle is working harder, and will likely result in more microtrauma and thus more gains.

One study on young soccer players found that those who performed plyometric moves had similar muscle gains to those who did resistance training. Perform single-sided exercises. Switch your typical bilateral or two-sided exercises to unilateral or one-sided movements. These simple switches can increase the microtrauma to a muscle, as well as add more tension or load to that muscle, says Galbraith. Think about it: One side is handling all the weight rather than splitting it. Comments 1.

Sort by: Newest. However, the truth is that even when you cannot hit the gym or undergo strenuous training, you can still build lean muscles. All you need to do is some dietary and lifestyle changes to get in good shape. Protein acts as the building block for muscles, and when you include high protein in your diet, it can significantly help in building and maintaining lean muscles.

Apart from building strong muscles, protein also helps in supporting ligaments, tendons, and several other body tissues. Take your children to activities that require physical activity, such as water parks and the zoo. Walk along the beach and bend over to pick up seashells. If you play with your children instead of just watching them, you may never need to work out.

Walk vigorously at every chance throughout the day. Walking is one of the easiest exerises you can do according to ACE Fitness. Make your daily walks through the neighborhood or on local trails worthwhile by including stairways and hills in your stroll.

Walk vigorously from the far end of the parking lot when you go to work or out shopping. Push a shopping cart quickly through the store without leaning on it. Hop on your bike and take a ride around the neighborhood. You can ride by yourself or with some pals. Riding a bike will build the muscles of your legs according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics , your glutes and even do wonderful things for the core —your abdomen and lower back.