Gaining muscle mass is all about lifting heavy weight. The stronger you get, the more muscle you gain.

So the key is, to focus on increasing your strength in your workouts. When you get stronger, over time, you'll also gain more muscle mass.

And in order to get stronger, you must train and eat correctly. But even then, your body could use a little extra, to help supplement this training and eating.

So here are 5 simple, proven things you can use in your workouts that will help you increase your strength and gain more muscle mass.

1. A Belt: Belts are probably the most used weight lifting accessory. Belts help increase your strength by providing back and ab support during exercises.

The tighter the belt, the greater the ab pressure against the spine. This helps keep the spine and your entire torso tight, maximizing your strength and safety.

The belt can be used to increase your strength on deadlifts, squats, and overhead presses. Belts allow you to use more weight safely, therefore increasing muscle stimulation and growth.

2. Gloves: Getting blisters or calluses on your hands can prevent you from gripping the weights. They also can help prevent grip slippage.

They help you get a better grip on almost all exercises that require pulling or curling movements. A better, stronger grip means a stronger lift.

3. Wraps: Wraps are used to help support the knees. They are best used on maximal lifts and should not be used as a crutch.

Most powerlifters use wraps on the knees when squatting and deadlifting. They provide knee support, so you can use more weight in the squat. The key with wraps is to use them for only a few sets and a few reps, since they can stop circulation if used for too long.

4. Straps: When you start using heavy weights on your lifts, it's possible your grip strength will give out before the muscle you're training gives out.

When you have weak grip strength, it can limit how much weight you lift on lat pulldowns, deadlifts,
and shrugs.

Straps can help you gain muscle mass because they allow your arms to act as hooks to lift the weight. Straps prevent grip failure from coming into play before reaching muscle failure on the muscle you're training.

You can use cotton straps, nylon straps, and even straps with hooks.

5. Chalk: Like gloves and wraps, chalk is meant to give you that little edge. It helps you grip the weights better, preventing grip slippage or failure.

Many times, just by using chalk, you can get 4 to 5 extra reps on an exercise. You can use chalk for your bench press, deadlift, squat, curls, and shrugs.

There you have 5 effective tools for increasing your strength and gaining more muscle mass. Any time you can give yourself an edge and allow yourself the chance to lift more weight, you will also gain muscle mass as a result.