You were going to the gym regularly for months and have not been able to deliver any poundage? If you answered yes to any question, it is time to go back and make some plans. Building muscle is not rocket science. There are four main factors that will mean the difference between building muscle and staying lean. You have to ask these four questions.
My diet is ideal for building muscle?
It's time to leave the "3 meals a day" mentality. If you want to win (or lose) weight you need to feed your body as a whole food, six times a day. This means that the division of large meals and eat every three hours. This is not only good for your metabolism, but your body with food, rather than storing them as fat.
The six meals a day should consist mainly of complex carbohydrates and proteins. You should aim for at least thirty grams of protein per meal. Include foods rich in protein from lean meat, poultry, fish, egg whites, cheese and dairy products. Complex carbohydrates are rice, bread and potatoes. Stay away from foods high in salt and sugar
I use supplements, and when I get them?
If you can afford to use supplements. All three are considered as the basis of proteins, carbohydrates and creatine. The supplementation of whey protein is the quickest way to deliver quality protein known to the muscles. Thus, it is particularly effective after shaking your workouts when your body is like the protein for muscle re-growth.
There are three key moments that supplements should be taken. From early morning, after his training and before bedtime. If your diet is zero, it is not necessary at any time. Do not use supplements to replace meals. Supplements are supplements, not replacements for food.
I am training hard and not smart?
The biggest mistake the new lifters make is thinking that the more exercise the more you receive. This could not be further from the truth! Two basic rules you should remember when it comes to weight training. Firstly, the quality is better than quantity. Second, compound exercises are the kings of building muscle.
Compound exercises require at least two sets of movements. Large compound exercises are the squat, bench press, wide grip pull up and seated row. These movements recruit many more fibers of the muscles used to move the weight. This means that more muscle groups are worked, the task is more difficult, the growth potential is much greater.
In general, you should do three exercises that are an exercise in isolation. For example, back / biceps exercise could be a great grip pull ups, seated row, bent over row and standing Bicep curl. You may think that this is not enough for their work biceps? Wrong. His biceps are worked heavily in all these exercises, biceps curl just finishes them.
The duration of the training sessions should not exceed one hour. And you only need to train a muscle group once a week. This means a part of the routine that you simply need to be three days a week. In fact, most professional bodybuilders only train four times a week. Remember quality not quantity.
I get enough rest and recovery time?
When you are training muscle building, which is breaking. The reason I searched for "pumps" when you're in academia, because it is your muscle tissue is swollen and damaged. Your muscles actually grow when you are resting. Thus, in simple terms, there is no rest equals muscle growth.
So easy when you're not working. Facility in the cardiovascular system. And be sure to get much sleep. Sleep is the number of the agency for a time to build muscles. This is also why it is important to eat before bedtime, so your body has the fuel to repair muscle in your sleep.
Simple huh?
This can be seen that, despite what you read in magazines or on the web about building muscle, it is surprisingly simple.
Showing posts with label build muscle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label build muscle. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Rock Hard Abs! Do You Have What it Takes?
If your abs look good, your whole body looks good. Having Big arms and chest is one thing but having rock hard defined abs is so another.
Everyone knows that nothing turns heads like a defined full set of abs. And hey, chicks love em. What more needs to be said.
Contrary to popular belief, the abs or Rectus Abdominis is really only one muscle. It stretches from the top of your pelvis up to your ribcage. The "six-pack" as it is called is merely sections of this one muscle.
Dispelling the Ab Myths:
The action of any muscle is simply to contract. And as you can't contract half your bicep or quad, it makes sense that you cannot contract half your abs as well. Therefore the myths about "upper ab" and "lower ab" training are total nonsense. I'm not discounting those training methods but the simple fact is that if you can't see your lower abs, it just means you've got fat covering them, not that you need to work them harder.
Say goodbye to hanging knee-raises, straight-leg raises, and any other type of leg raises for building your abs. They simply don't work. The primary role of your abs is to stabilize your body. When you raise your leg for example, your hip flexors pull on your spine and arch it forward/downward. Your abs stabilize this action by resisting and essentially keeping your back from breaking. Take note that this is the static action of the abs. It doesn't build or strengthen. Leg raising exercises only feel like they are effectively working your abs because of the repeated strain and exhaustion of your muscle producing catabolic, lactic acid build up. Search for "lactic acid" at http://www.muscle-body.com for more information.
What Really Works:
What does strengthen your abs is what strengthens any other muscle in your body. Contraction! In this case - Decreasing the distance between your rib cage and your pelvis.
So we come back to the good old sit-up. But there are a few things to keep in mind.
Firstly, forget about the cool all-the-way-up sit-ups you see in the movies. Your abs are fully contracted when your shoulders are about 5 to 6 inches off the ground. So don't bother trying to impress or outperform someone by touching your elbows to your knees. It does nothing for you. Crunches as they are sometimes called are the way to go.
Secondly, don't wedge your feet under something to help you get up. You don't need to do this if you are doing crunches properly anyway. Your legs should be at 90 degrees to each other and your knees at 45 degrees to your waist. If you need to, use something to press your heels back against to stabilize yourself. This way you will use your hamstrings instead of your hip flexors which will keep the focus on your abs.
Thirdly, keep your hands lightly held against the side of your head or crossed on your chest. Don't clasp them together behind your head or neck. If you do you will be tempted to pull with your hands to get the last few reps out, which will put unnecessary strain on this fragile part of the spine.
Alternative:
Another good exercise for abs is kneeling crunches. You will need special equipment to perform this exercise. This is where you kneel and contract your abs so that your upper body arches forward/downward. You hold a rope attached to a pulley with weights for extra resistance. Most gyms will have a rope attachment to the triceps pull down to perform this exercise. The idea is to lock your arms against your upper body so that you pull down only with your abs and not your arms.
Ab Training Devices:
In 2 words - Forget it.
You don't need them. Most of them do nothing for you. Building muscle is hard and it hurts. Most of these devices are designed to take the pressure off your body making the exercise seem easy and con you into thinking you are really targeting your muscles. Don't believe the hype. Ab training is definitely hard work but definitely worth it's reward.
The Secret:
The difficulty in obtaining great abs is not so much building the muscle. It's cutting enough fat from your body for them to show. You probably know by now that spot-reduction of fat simply doesn't work here. In order to show those abs you need overall fat loss.
Everyone knows that nothing turns heads like a defined full set of abs. And hey, chicks love em. What more needs to be said.
Contrary to popular belief, the abs or Rectus Abdominis is really only one muscle. It stretches from the top of your pelvis up to your ribcage. The "six-pack" as it is called is merely sections of this one muscle.
Dispelling the Ab Myths:
The action of any muscle is simply to contract. And as you can't contract half your bicep or quad, it makes sense that you cannot contract half your abs as well. Therefore the myths about "upper ab" and "lower ab" training are total nonsense. I'm not discounting those training methods but the simple fact is that if you can't see your lower abs, it just means you've got fat covering them, not that you need to work them harder.
Say goodbye to hanging knee-raises, straight-leg raises, and any other type of leg raises for building your abs. They simply don't work. The primary role of your abs is to stabilize your body. When you raise your leg for example, your hip flexors pull on your spine and arch it forward/downward. Your abs stabilize this action by resisting and essentially keeping your back from breaking. Take note that this is the static action of the abs. It doesn't build or strengthen. Leg raising exercises only feel like they are effectively working your abs because of the repeated strain and exhaustion of your muscle producing catabolic, lactic acid build up. Search for "lactic acid" at http://www.muscle-body.com for more information.
What Really Works:
What does strengthen your abs is what strengthens any other muscle in your body. Contraction! In this case - Decreasing the distance between your rib cage and your pelvis.
So we come back to the good old sit-up. But there are a few things to keep in mind.
Firstly, forget about the cool all-the-way-up sit-ups you see in the movies. Your abs are fully contracted when your shoulders are about 5 to 6 inches off the ground. So don't bother trying to impress or outperform someone by touching your elbows to your knees. It does nothing for you. Crunches as they are sometimes called are the way to go.
Secondly, don't wedge your feet under something to help you get up. You don't need to do this if you are doing crunches properly anyway. Your legs should be at 90 degrees to each other and your knees at 45 degrees to your waist. If you need to, use something to press your heels back against to stabilize yourself. This way you will use your hamstrings instead of your hip flexors which will keep the focus on your abs.
Thirdly, keep your hands lightly held against the side of your head or crossed on your chest. Don't clasp them together behind your head or neck. If you do you will be tempted to pull with your hands to get the last few reps out, which will put unnecessary strain on this fragile part of the spine.
Alternative:
Another good exercise for abs is kneeling crunches. You will need special equipment to perform this exercise. This is where you kneel and contract your abs so that your upper body arches forward/downward. You hold a rope attached to a pulley with weights for extra resistance. Most gyms will have a rope attachment to the triceps pull down to perform this exercise. The idea is to lock your arms against your upper body so that you pull down only with your abs and not your arms.
Ab Training Devices:
In 2 words - Forget it.
You don't need them. Most of them do nothing for you. Building muscle is hard and it hurts. Most of these devices are designed to take the pressure off your body making the exercise seem easy and con you into thinking you are really targeting your muscles. Don't believe the hype. Ab training is definitely hard work but definitely worth it's reward.
The Secret:
The difficulty in obtaining great abs is not so much building the muscle. It's cutting enough fat from your body for them to show. You probably know by now that spot-reduction of fat simply doesn't work here. In order to show those abs you need overall fat loss.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
What Causes Muscle Growth?
In order for muscles to grow, three things are required:
1. Stimulus - exercise is needed to make the muscles work, use energy and cause microscopic damage to the fibers.
2. Nutrition - after intense exercise the muscles need to replenish their stores of fuel.
3. Rest - it is during the rest or recovery phase that the muscles repair the microscopic damage and grow.
Muscle size increases due to hypertrophic adaptation and an increase in the cross section area of individual muscle fibers. Intensive exercise impacts more on the strength influencing fast twitch type II fibers, therefore the increase in muscle size is accompanied by greater strength.
This will deplete the muscle's energy stores and cause microscopic damage to the muscle tissue. During recovery, these stores of glycogen and phosphocreatine will replenish from carbohydrates and creatine ingested as food or supplements. Amino acids supplied in the diet will trigger the protein synthesis that repairs the damaged muscle and lead to the creation of bigger muscle fibers.
To achieve continuous improvement you will need to keep reaching for higher levels of training intensity otherwise the improvement process will grind to a halt. Fortunately, this is relatively easy to plan for provided certain basic principles and rules are clearly followed. Subsequent articles in this series will examine these principles in detail.
1. Stimulus - exercise is needed to make the muscles work, use energy and cause microscopic damage to the fibers.
2. Nutrition - after intense exercise the muscles need to replenish their stores of fuel.
3. Rest - it is during the rest or recovery phase that the muscles repair the microscopic damage and grow.
Muscle size increases due to hypertrophic adaptation and an increase in the cross section area of individual muscle fibers. Intensive exercise impacts more on the strength influencing fast twitch type II fibers, therefore the increase in muscle size is accompanied by greater strength.
This will deplete the muscle's energy stores and cause microscopic damage to the muscle tissue. During recovery, these stores of glycogen and phosphocreatine will replenish from carbohydrates and creatine ingested as food or supplements. Amino acids supplied in the diet will trigger the protein synthesis that repairs the damaged muscle and lead to the creation of bigger muscle fibers.
To achieve continuous improvement you will need to keep reaching for higher levels of training intensity otherwise the improvement process will grind to a halt. Fortunately, this is relatively easy to plan for provided certain basic principles and rules are clearly followed. Subsequent articles in this series will examine these principles in detail.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Why You Should NOT Try to Isolate Muscle Groups When Weight Training
Working as a fitness professional, there is one type of question I get all the time that shows that many people are missing the big picture regarding the benefits of strength training. This popular question usually goes something like this:
"What exercise can I do to isolate my _______ (insert your muscle of choice – abs, quads, biceps, triceps, etc)?"
It doesn't matter which muscle someone is asking about, they always seem to be asking how to 'isolate' it. My first response to this question is always – Why in the world would you want to isolate it?
The first thing I try to teach my clients is that the body does not work well in muscle isolation. Rather, it works better in movements along a kinetic chain; that is, large portions of the body assist other portions of the body in completing a complex movement. In fact, there really is no such thing as true muscle isolation. There is almost always a nearby muscle group that will assist in some way with whatever movement you are doing. However, this article compares attempting to 'isolate' body parts via single-joint exercises to the much more effective strategy of performing multi-joint complex movements.
When you attempt to 'isolate' muscles by performing single-joint exercises, you are actually creating a body that is non-functional and will be more prone to injury. Essentially, you are creating a body that is a compilation of body parts, instead of a powerful, functional unit that works together.
Now if you really want to end up hobbling around in a body bandaged up with joint problems, tendonitis, and excess body fat, then by all means, continue trying to 'isolate' body parts. On the other hand, if you would rather have a lean, muscular, injury-free, functional body that works as a complete powerful unit to perform complex movements (in athletics or even everyday tasks), then you need to shift your focus away from muscle isolation. Believe me, focusing on how well your body functions will give you the side effect of a body that looks even better than it would have if you focused on muscle isolation. For example, take a look at the physiques of any NFL running backs, wide receivers, or even world class sprinters. Trust me when I say that these guys pretty much NEVER train for muscle isolation (their strength coaches wouldn’t be crazy enough to let them), yet they are absolutely ripped to shreds! Just look at guys like Maurice Green or Terrell Owens and tell me who wouldn’t want a physique like those guys.
Another benefit to moving away from the 'muscle isolation' mindset to a more 'complex movement' mindset is that you will find it much easier to lose body fat. The reason is that by focusing more on multi-joint complex movements as opposed to single-joint muscle isolation, you not only burn a lot more calories during each workout, but you also increase your metabolic rate, and stimulate production of more fat burning and muscle building hormones like growth hormone and testosterone.
Let's look at an example. The machine leg extension is a single joint exercise that works mainly the quadriceps, can potentially cause knee joint instability in the long run, and doesn’t even burn that many calories. On the other hand, exercises like squats, lunges, step-ups, and deadlifts are all multi-joint complex movements that work hundreds of muscles in the body (including the quadriceps) as a functional unit, create more stable and strong joints in the long run (when done properly), and also burn massive quantities of calories compared to the single-joint exercises.
"What exercise can I do to isolate my _______ (insert your muscle of choice – abs, quads, biceps, triceps, etc)?"
It doesn't matter which muscle someone is asking about, they always seem to be asking how to 'isolate' it. My first response to this question is always – Why in the world would you want to isolate it?
The first thing I try to teach my clients is that the body does not work well in muscle isolation. Rather, it works better in movements along a kinetic chain; that is, large portions of the body assist other portions of the body in completing a complex movement. In fact, there really is no such thing as true muscle isolation. There is almost always a nearby muscle group that will assist in some way with whatever movement you are doing. However, this article compares attempting to 'isolate' body parts via single-joint exercises to the much more effective strategy of performing multi-joint complex movements.
When you attempt to 'isolate' muscles by performing single-joint exercises, you are actually creating a body that is non-functional and will be more prone to injury. Essentially, you are creating a body that is a compilation of body parts, instead of a powerful, functional unit that works together.
Now if you really want to end up hobbling around in a body bandaged up with joint problems, tendonitis, and excess body fat, then by all means, continue trying to 'isolate' body parts. On the other hand, if you would rather have a lean, muscular, injury-free, functional body that works as a complete powerful unit to perform complex movements (in athletics or even everyday tasks), then you need to shift your focus away from muscle isolation. Believe me, focusing on how well your body functions will give you the side effect of a body that looks even better than it would have if you focused on muscle isolation. For example, take a look at the physiques of any NFL running backs, wide receivers, or even world class sprinters. Trust me when I say that these guys pretty much NEVER train for muscle isolation (their strength coaches wouldn’t be crazy enough to let them), yet they are absolutely ripped to shreds! Just look at guys like Maurice Green or Terrell Owens and tell me who wouldn’t want a physique like those guys.
Another benefit to moving away from the 'muscle isolation' mindset to a more 'complex movement' mindset is that you will find it much easier to lose body fat. The reason is that by focusing more on multi-joint complex movements as opposed to single-joint muscle isolation, you not only burn a lot more calories during each workout, but you also increase your metabolic rate, and stimulate production of more fat burning and muscle building hormones like growth hormone and testosterone.
Let's look at an example. The machine leg extension is a single joint exercise that works mainly the quadriceps, can potentially cause knee joint instability in the long run, and doesn’t even burn that many calories. On the other hand, exercises like squats, lunges, step-ups, and deadlifts are all multi-joint complex movements that work hundreds of muscles in the body (including the quadriceps) as a functional unit, create more stable and strong joints in the long run (when done properly), and also burn massive quantities of calories compared to the single-joint exercises.
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