collocation · neutral
build muscle
/bɪld ˈmʌsəl/BUILD MUS·cle
Band 5-6speakingtask2
increase muscle size or strength through exercise
Examples
“He goes to the gym mainly to build muscle.”
“A balanced diet helps when you're trying to build muscle.”
“Beginners often focus on lifting weights to build muscle.”
Band 8 sentence
“She structured her workouts to progressively overload the muscles and thus build muscle efficiently.”
Collocations
- build muscle mass
Word family
build muscle verb phrasemuscle building noun
Common mistakes
make muscle→build muscle
get muscle→build muscle
Say it for a higher band
5get bigger→6gain muscle→7+build muscle
Synonyms
gain muscle
Easily confused
gain weight
“He wanted to gain weight but preferred to build muscle rather than just get fat.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Sport & Exercise
Learn it with its set