Muscle Building Information

Real Muscle Real Fast!


Adding muscle seems to be a mystery to most, yet if you pick up a copy of any fitness or bodybuilding magazine and you'll almost always see a headline like this: "Gain 15 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks."

If it were so easy you'd have millions of muscle-heads running around. Even though building muscle tissue can be a challenge, I'm going to outline some very specific principles that can pack on the muscle faster than you can throw away that copy of "Muscle and Fiction"!

Before we get started though I want to clarify a few points.

  • The ridiculous claims made by most fitness and bodybuilding magazines are only there to get you to buy that issue - nothing more!

  • If you are serious about strength training you need to be reading books and NOT cheesy fitness magazines

    Ok? here we go.

    In order to add muscle tissue you must force the body to add it. Your body won't just add a pound of muscle just because you followed a 3-set workout that you read about in Muscle + Fitness. You need to give the body a reason to make improvements - in this case add muscle tissue.

    You have to provide what I call a "stimulus". This can be done in many ways and I'll address a few in just a moment. Basically, you need to force the body to add muscle by subjecting it to levels of stress it is not used to. Some methods are more obvious than others but all can work. Here are a few examples of how this can be done effectively.

    First, the basic and common methods:

  • Increase weight or resistance

  • Perform more repetitions

  • Perform more sets

  • Move the resistance slower

  • Rest less between sets and exercises

    Now for the more advanced methods:

  • Pre-exhaust (perform an isolation exercise first and immediately continue with no rest on a compound movement. ex. chest flye and then chest press)

  • Static holds (hold the resistance in the hardest position of the range of motion. ex. the top position during a leg extension)

  • Partial reps in weak range (perform a portion of the rep where you are weakest. ex. the top half of a rep of leg extensions)

  • Strip-set (after a warm-up set, perform 3 sets back to back with no rest while starting with the heaviest weight possible and each time strip off some weight to allow you to continue)

  • 1 ½ reps (perform one full rep and then on the second rep only perform half the normal range of motion and then return to starting position to begin the next rep. ex. one full rep of lat pulldowns, pull second rep all the way down, resist weight back up but only half way and then pull back down)

    These are just a few examples of methods of increasing intensity to ensure progress. The key point to remember is that whatever you do it must be progressive in order for it to elicit a physical change. This is even more critical for those looking to add muscle size.

    Although this article is geared towards individuals who are interested in gaining muscle size, the principles can also be used for individuals who want to build strength, increase metabolism, or tighten and tone muscles.

    Here are some general recommendations for different goals?

    If your goal is to tighten and tone muscles:

    • Focus on increasing reps, decreasing rest, and changing exercises frequently

    • Train each muscle group twice per week

    • Perform fewer sets of many different exercises (1-2 sets per exercise)

    If your goal is to increase strength and power:

    • Focus on increasing weight

    • Train each muscle group once every 7-10 days

    • Perform multiple sets of each exercise (2-5 sets per exercise)

    If your goal is to increase muscle size:

    • Focus on shocking muscles by changing variables frequently (exercises, set and rep schemes, rest time, etc)

    • Train each muscle group on a variable schedule (experiment by training a muscle group 3 times a week and then once every ten days)

    • Perform multiple sets for a while and the perform single sets for a week or two

    Some final reminders:

    The recommendations above are general and of course would need to be adapted and adjusted for your personal goals and experience. For those of you who are advanced and may be thinking there's no way you can build strength by training once every 10 days I challenge you to try it for at least 4 weeks, or those of you who think that you need to stick to the same basic movements like bench to build size I challenge you to try shocking the muscles by changing the exercises you perform each week for 4 weeks, and those of you with little experience I hope that you'll throw away the fitness magazines and learn what really works.

    There are some great books on these subjects and for those of you who are serious about strength training I personally recommend you check out the books "APEX" and "No Turning Back" by Brian Johnston. You can find them online at www.iart.com

    If you have any questions about the techniques described in this article please feel free to contact me. You can email me at jesse@achieve-fitness.com

    I wish you the best!

    About The Author

    Jesse Cannone is a certified personal trainer, nutritionist, and best-selling fitness author. Sign up to receive his free email course, Muscle Building Tips which is full of powerful tips and techniques for maximizing strength and size. http://www.seriousstrengthtraining.com

    support@seriousstrengthtraining.com

      


    MORE RESOURCES:

    In building muscles, seniors are still going strong
    Newsday, NY - Oct 11, 2008
    Pack on the muscle and fight back. A new study from Ball State University found that even people in their 70s can still build muscle, which can help them ...


    Balance protein and carbohydrates to build muscle mass
    Statesman Journal, OR - Oct 9, 2008
    First, dietary protein does provide your body with the necessary amino acids to build contractile muscle. Your body requires essential amino acids from your ...


    Paunch got you feeling punchy?
    Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN - 15 minutes ago
    Now, let's talk muscle. Untrained core muscles lead to weakness, protruding butts and bellies and lousy posture. So get to work. Our goal? ...


    Fliers Can Keep Blood Clots at Bay
    Washington Post, United States - 18 hours ago
    The exercises also will help prevent fluid build-up in the legs, and stretching the back and the muscles around the torso will prevent stiffening," said ...


    How to build a bigger and
    SkyNewswire.com (press release), Netherlands - 4 hours ago
    5 sets, 8-10 reps per set at 75% of your 1 rep max if your looking to build muscle and gain mass and size, stick to free weight exercises like the ones ...


    Calgary Herald

    Consider goals when planning your fitness program
    Calgary Herald,  Canada - Oct 9, 2008
    Do you want to build muscle, shed body fat, improve your athletic performance, feel better or just be more healthy? By establishing clear objectives you ...
    Enjoy the benefits of being fit Inquirer.net
    all 2 news articles


    Supplements are like politicians
    Ontarian, Canada - Oct 9, 2008
    That is, do they build muscle, burn fat, and if so, do they do it in a more efficient way than you could do on your own? If you're going to dip into your ...


    PR Web (press release)

    New Muscle Building Program Delivers Elite Level Muscle Gains
    PR Web (press release), WA - Sep 25, 2008
    The launch of the Athletic Muscle Building program brings the secret training programs of elite athletes to everyone trying to gain muscle. ...


    Is your horse steroid-free?
    Daily Racing Form (subscription), NY - Oct 10, 2008
    They can also be used to build muscle mass, but to get that effect in a horse - or a person - the drugs have to be administered frequently. ...


    Wake-up call at 10th and J streets
    Sacramento Bee,  USA - 15 hours ago
    Renovations to the historic 1925 building have been in progress for three years, but only now is visual muscle starting to build on the structure's elegant ...

    build muscle - Google News

  • Article List | Index | Site Map
    All logos, trademarks and articles on this site are property and copyright of their respective owner(s).
    The comments are property of their posters, all the rest is Copyright © 2006 CanadaSEEK.com - All Rights Reserved.