October 8th, 2009 — Gain Muscle
If you’ve been working out for some time, then it’s extremely significant to change your workout after sometime, so that you can get explosive muscle growth; as workouts which are consistently the same will never give you the kind of rapid muscle growth that you want to see. But, before you just change your workout completely, there are a few things to be taken into consideration, and one of them is, that you don’t have to completely do a 180 on your workout and start doing things which you don’t normally do, but rather you just have to change a few key things which you should normally be doing in your workout already. Read on to find out how you can turn your workout into an explosive muscle building session….
Switching the sets - Most people would be happy just switching from something like 3 sets of 10 to 4 sets of 8; or perhaps moving over from the flat bench to the incline, but these are normal changes which come with your workout over time. If you haven’t been switching your sets yet, then you haven’t been effectively challenging your body, and this is something you need to start doing as soon as possible if you have been working out for some time. As well, drastically switching your sets is not recommended, because the last thing you want is muscle strain. But rather, what you want is to challenge your body so that it reacts by rapidly building more muscle, and switching your sets is one effective way to do this.
Flipping your workout - Changing your workout so that you can maximize on muscle building and growth is known as flipping your workout, and it has a few variations. Switching your sets does not count as flipping your workout as its something you should regularly be doing in the first place, and it should still be done regardless of how you flip your workout, as its part of your regular routine. Here are a few variations on how to effectively flip your workout….
Last to finish first to start - By switching up the order of your workout, you can instantly get results, because you are not always working the same muscle groups at the same time. Keep in mind that your body can easily adapt to things, such as your workouts, so this is why changing the order of the things you do, can instantly help you to achieve better results. One of the easiest ways to do this is to simply do the last part of your workout first, such as calf work; and the last part of your workout, then, would be what you normally do first. This does not, however, mean that if you do any stretching or other prep things, that these will be last. Always do any prep first, and anything else that is not workout prep can be interchanged. What will happen once you alter your workout, is that you can completely change the stimulus of your body, but keep in mind that you will have to adjust the weights accordingly.
Mixing up your sets and reps - while most people get on a continuous routine of sets and reps which seem to make sense, what happens, once again, is that your body build resistance to your sets, and in turn you will get less from your workout. What you want to do then, is simply mix up your reps altogether. If you normally do 3 sets of 8, start doing 8 sets of 3! Reverse everything, and this will become a very useful variation to your workout, because your body will once again have to start building resistance, and resistance leads to faster muscle growth.
February 19th, 2009 — Gain Muscle
If you did a Google search for ‘Building Muscle’ you would get nearly a million results, many of them offering conflicting advice. Reading much of this information may confuse you and lead you to give up as you do not know which information is correct. The purpose of this article is to give you some information you need to know about muscle building.
You need to remember:
1. A low calorie diet will not help you build muscles- Starving yourself will not help you build muscle. If you are lifting weights to build muscle, they will need fuel from the food you eat to grow effectively. Starving yourself with a low calorie diet means that your muscles will not get the energy they need.
2. Effective Muscle Building combines nutrition and exercise- If you want to build muscle effectively, you cannot rely purely on diet or exercise. You need to combine a healthy diet with the right exercises for you to ensure you can effectively build muscle.
3. Effective Muscle Building is a long term endeavour- When it comes to muscle building, there is no such thing as the quick fix. Muscle Building is like a series of foundations, with each foundation being built on top of the one below it. If you try and build muscle too quickly, you will most probably end up injuring yourself or over-training.
4. Effective Muscle Building is a simple, but not easy, process. If you follow a good program consitently, you will build muscle. This doesn’t mean that muscle building is easy. Following the process requires dedication and hard work.
There you have it. No jargon and no scientific words.
December 16th, 2008 — Gain Muscle
There are a wide variety of exercises you can perform to build muscle and strength train and each one of these exercises has its limitations and drawbacks. The most common exercise for developing the bicep muscle is barbell curls. As with most other bodybuilders, I started off by doing scores of bicep curls in the hopes of developing my biceps. Barbell curls and bicep development after all seem to just go hand in hand. Through the process of trial and error I discovered that barbell curls have limitations when it comes to bicep development.
The typical weight lifter performs barbell curls in a free standing position. A free standing position means you are standing free of any other forms of support such as a wall or a bench. A free standing position means your muscles have the freedom to sway during each repetition and this reduces concentration on each muscle. The point of a muscle building exercise is to concentrate the force of the weight on to the group of muscles being exercised.
The free standing position reduces this concentration and the result is that your muscles are not fully exercised. The simple solution to the free standing problem is to place your back against a wall during each repetition or to sit on a bench with a barbell in each hand. Eliminating the free standing position from your workout can make an enormous difference on your muscular development. If your gym is like mine then you’ll likely find that standing against a wall during your exercise is simply not feasible. If this is the case then consider using a seat with an adjustable back rest which just about every gym has.
It’s not uncommon for barbell curls to result in pain deep within the forearms and biceps. There is a big difference between the pain caused by lactic acid and the pain caused by not doing an exercise properly. While many bodybuilders may be able to perform barbell curls with little discomfort, this is not the case for most bodybuilders. The solution to the problem is actually a very easy one. Instead of using the standard bar, consider using the easy-curl bar. The easy curl bar can be identified by the sharp twists in the bar itself.
In addition to excessive pain and lack of concentration, perhaps the biggest problem associated with barbell curls is the inherent limited angle of resistance. This means that if your bicep exercises consist primarily or exclusively of barbell curls then you are missing out on additional angles of resistance. For proper muscle development your bicep exercise regimen should heavily incorporate dumbbells. Combining dumbbell and barbell exercises will inevitably have a profound effect on your bicep development.
