Building muscle is a fairly complex process, but by following a few simple tactics and strategies, you can greatly improve your body's ability to create and conserve muscle. One huge important aspect of building muscle is being on the right diet. Nutrition makes up almost 70% of the muscle building process. Without the right mix of carbohydrates and protein, you won't get very far. Follow the 5 tips below to help you on your muscle building journey.

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[edit] Steps

Stretch before and after your workout. Stretching of any kind, using a foam roller, and getting massages will all help keep your flexibility, prevent injury and improve recovery between workouts. It’s also a good idea to get loose before your workout, as well as wind down with a few stretches of the body part you’ve been lifting hard that day.
Get your food frequently. You should be allotting enough time to intake 5 – 6 small to mid-size meals a day. As long as you’re eating clean, quality meals—especially protein and carbs—you will have the calories to build muscle, as well as the metabolism boost you get from eating so often, to lose fat. (Or at least keep most of the fat off)
Drink protein shakes regularly. By surrounding your workouts with nutrition, starting with a high carbohydrate and protein meal about an hour before, you’ll provide your body with vital muscle building nutrients to help provide energy during your actual workout. You can also put together a protein shake that has a ratio of about two grams of carbs for every one gram of protein, and drink that throughout your workout. Keep in mind that after your workout is a solid time to take another shake. Surprisingly, whole foods aren’t best right after a workout, because they take far too long to digest.
Switch it up entirely. Every 4 to 6 weeks, you’ll need to switch up some part of your routine, whether it’s simply the number of reps you do per set, the exercises you perform, the amount of rest you get between each set or any other training variable. Keeping a workout journal will help you keep track of your changes and record your progress. You can also create a fitness profile on sites that offer an account to track your workout, upload photos, etc. (SwoleFitness.com offers a free service like this)
Rest, recover and relax. Although the ideal amount of sleep is seven to eight hours per night, we sometimes have prior engagements. Feel free to not be so strict a few times a week, but when you do, make sure to schedule in some time to make up for it as soon as you can. By training no more then 4 times a week, you also allow your body the rest and recovery time it desperately needs. As for your work schedule, do whatever you can to avoid excess stress and anxiety. Chronic nervousness elevates cortisol, a hormone that makes your body store fat and burn muscle, which is definitely not an ideal side effect.

[edit] Tips

By involving more muscles, either in one training session or one exercise, you’ll release a higher amount of hormones, which will help stimulate muscle growth all day. When you hit each muscle group with roughly the same volume, this will guarantee balanced training, allowing you to grow and progress quickly, preserving flexibility as well as avoiding injuries.
Eight to twelve repetitions of any given exercise will begin to stimulate muscle growth. Lifting for smaller repetition amounts of three to six will work on strength building but will not necessarily build muscle mass. Lifting for more repetitions, such as fifteen to twenty, will stimulate muscle mass growth, but not to your bodies full potential.
The amount of weight that you should be lifting should be heavy enough to restrict you to only doing a max of twelve repetitions but light enough that it will allow you to finish at least 8 repetitions.
Only do between six to nine sets. That’s all you need to be doing per muscle group/body part to stimulate lean muscle mass growth. This will allow you to keep your workout time around forty-five minutes. Therefore, only perform a maximum of nine sets on any particular body part.
Stress makes the body enter a catabolic state, which begins to break down muscle. A calm and relaxed person tends to build muscle faster than his easily upset and hot-tempered counterpart. Try not to let stress steal your weightlifting gains from you.

[edit] Warnings

Warming up is essential to having a good lift. Make sure to get your heart rate up and blood pumping by doing a few warm up sets before any hard working sets.
By keeping strict form and accomplishing each rep with controlled movements, you can cut down on any possible injuries.
Drinking enough water is vital to building new muscle. Make sure to get atleast a gallon of water per day to cut down on dehydration, cramps and strength loss.
Avoid training without a workout partner on moves where you need a spot. (Like the Bench Press).