How can I maximize my muscle and strength gains from working out?

To gain definition or ripped look you have to diet/lose fat and do high volume high rep counts workouts…lots of reps. To gain muscle size it is all about max weight lifts low rep count. 3–5 reps max and only 3 sets is needed. Think squats and bench press. Chin-ups with a weight belt will blast your traps and shoulders in just 3–4 weeks. You will be sore.

Changes to your diet are a good idea.Yes,snork down some protein!!
If you want more mass use heavier weights,less reps.Sometimes it’s good to mix up the type of exercises you do too :)

A rule of thumb I’ve been told is “train a lot, eat a lot, sleep a lot.”
Where “train a lot” is pretty much self-explanatory, “eat a lot” means protein, complex carbs and more protein, and “sleep a lot” means 9 or 10 hours a night.

Furthermore to measure muscle growth I think it’s more useful to keep track of how much you can actually lift, rather than what you can see of it. If you can lift more than you could earlier, you’ve gained muscle, even if you can’t tell yet.

And as @Cruiser mentioned, if you want muscle definition, then fat loss is at least as important as muscle growth, if not more so.

I’ve had success with the pyramid concept of sets.

Low weight/high reps to start, getting the muscled warm to help prevent injury. 2nd set somewhere closer to max weight/lower reps; 3rd set is max weight 2 or 3 reps and use a spotter if you can find one nearby. 4th set same as 2nd set, but you’ll find you won’t be able to do as many reps as before. Last set same weight as 1st and you’ll be surprised to see how few you can do by the time you get there.

The point is to completely fatigue the muscle group for that day. (arms and shoulders on Monday, aerobics on Tuesday, legs and calves on Wednesday, aerobics on Thursday, chest and back on Friday, take the weekend off.

The growth occurs in the recovery phase. If you don’t give the muscles enough time to rebuild, atrophy will result – same as UNDER use of the muscles! Then eat 30 grams three times a day. A can of tuna is a great serving. You can jazz it up with a little mayo to keep it from getting boring.

If you get on the Zone diet and start following a watered down version of the workouts on Crossfit.com, you’ll likely get the best results you’ve ever had.

As stated before, less reps with more weight adds definition (though more reps with less weight increases ability, so its a trade off).

Also, spread your meals out hardcore. 6–8 small meals would be ideal. Your body will work through the food in your stomach and then it will still have time before your next meal, so to make energy it will cannibalize muscle and fat. You avoid this by having many small meals throughout the day.

@tedd
”(though more reps with less weight increases ability, so its a trade off)”
Um. High weight low rep business also increases ability, if by “ability” you mean “ability to pick up heavy stuff”. It’s by no means less functional than high rep exercise, on the contrary.
High weight low rep trains strength. Low weight high rep trains muscle stamina. Personally I think the former is more useful.