There are many ways to train, with many different beliefs as to what is the perfect mix of training and rest. I believe that a two day on, one day off routine allows you to train your overall body with a great mix of total body fitness and upper and lower body splits. Training bewteen 3-5 days a week is the optimum amount of training for you to make and notice a difference in you fitness and your body.

The rule of thumb amongst muscle gain fanatics who want to increase their muscle mass is to eat 1 gram of protein per lb (pound) of body weight. E.g: Body weight: 185lbs - Protein intake: 185 grams. (1 chicken breast = 31/32g protein).

It Depends on your body type, metabolism and current fitness level. if you are somebody who goes to the gym regularly and you are finding you are atrophying when doing long stints of cardio to burn excess fat then you need to think about HIIT training. while working at high levels of intensity for shorter periods of time, the body will use it's carbohydrate and fat stores around the muscle while you retain muscle depth. The obvious answer is to ensure the you are consuming complex carbohydrates and the correct 'good fats' as these are stored and utilised as energy providers as oppose to energy storage.

Strength gains can be achieved through changing the way you train your muscles. If you are used to doing mid weight sets for reps of 10 - 15 over 3 or 4 sets then you have to change your approach. If you lower your reps, increase your weight and increase your sets that you are lifting heavier, you'll see a vast change in your strength and size. An example of this would be 5x5 training. This is 5 sets of 5 reps with a weight which is 80-90% of your maximum achievable weight. Alternatively you can train for more muscle endurance by lifting a relatively heavy weight for high reps. E.g: 60kg bench press for as many as you can within 1 set.