If you have been working out for a while, and you have the physique to prove it, you might take some of what I'm going to say for granted. Many people, who start out or get back into strength training or body building, look at the big guys and imitate their muscle building routines. This habit is stopping a lot of people from building muscle and burning fat.

There are others who think that they will look like Franco Colombo with a half an hour a day workout and a closet full of supplements. Unfortunately building muscle and burning fat takes time. Here are the four key components that you need to consider when building solid muscle mass.

Diet
You will need to get a balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in six meals a day. If you are over 10 percent body fat, lean more toward the protein end of the balance and burn more fat with compound exercises. If you eat right and take supplements, you will give your muscles the energy to burn.

Exercises
If you are looking to build muscle mass, you need to focus on compound exercises. These work a group of muscles to allow you to lift more weight than you would in isolated exercises. Some of the best compound exercises are:
* Squats
* Dead lifts
* Military press
* Bench press

Put these four exercises to work on your body and you can't go wrong. Use a light weight for warm ups and dedicates some time to mastering the proper form for each exercise. Add pull ups and chin ups to your routine as well as the tried and true push up to round out your workouts and get great stimulation.


Variety
You can alternate between short reps with heavier weights and more reps with lighter weights to vary your routines. You can split your workouts between upper body and lower body workouts as well as switching to isolation exercises for a week before going back to your normal routine.


Rest and reconstruction
During the night, your body produces a series of growth hormones that repair and rebuild your muscles. Sleep also influences the pituitary gland; the nerve center of your hormone factory. This gland is the link between the mind-body connections. Sleep allows you mind to rest, recover and refresh it. You mind cause your brain to send out signals to your pituitary which in turn sends signals to your glands throughout your body. Building muscles require sleep more that you think.

Pay attention to these four factors in muscle growth and you'll get ripped and buff in record time.