Building a dream body takes days, weeks, and months of persistent work in the gym and sticking to a clean diet. We can throw every saying in the book at you: Rome wasn’t built in a day; slow and steady wins the race; there are no shortcuts to any place worth going; etc.

We’ve preached patience and dedication for years, but we also understand that sometimes you just need to add mass quickly. Perhaps you have a show coming up and you need bigger guns, or you’re looking to impress someone you found on a dating app. Whatever the reason, there are ways to speed up your muscle gains.

These tips won’t make muscles magically appear, but following them will ensure a great pump quicker than whatever it is you’re doing right now.

Just keep in mind that these quick fixes are no substitute for smart programming and clean eating — while these will certainly make you look better, the quest for overall fitness and health is one that still takes some time to achieve. On that note, these tips will do nothing for you if you’re eating like garbage or not getting enough rest.

The basic tenets of bodybuilding and training should still be adhered to, even when you’re trying to speed up your muscle gains a little bit.

THE 15 MOST BASIC FACTS ABOUT BUILDING MUSCLE:

The best way to get ripped is to go back to the simple solutions that actually work.