Category: How to Build Muscle


Proper Bodybuilding Routines

May 16th, 2009 — 1:48pm

Bodybuilding is not a hit and miss affair. It does not take a genius to develop the proper bodybuilding routines. Together with the determination to carry out the right workout, the proper way of doing it will surely result in building muscle mass.

Any bodybuilder, either a beginner or a professional, must bear in mind that results from weight training do not happen overnight. He must have the determination and patience to stick with a program to gain the muscle size and strength he wants. He must make his weight training routine a priority.

Also, he should keep his workouts as efficient as possible. The really good bodybuilders know that the amount of time spent inside the gym does not guarantee muscle mass. You do not have to spend 3 hours a day in the gym to build muscle mass. In fact, spending that much time inside the gym while exerting the muscles will likely lead to overtraining. This will be counter productive. If you keep your weight training workouts under an hour and a half (or better yet, and hour) and perform them 3 or 4 times a week you will get enough rest to grow bigger and stronger.

The following are just some traits of proper bodybuilding routines.

One, it must be short. This means that it should be between 45 to 75 minutes maximum while the best should be 60 minutes being best. The reason for this is simple. After 75 minutes, the levels of muscle building and fat burning hormones that the body produces begin to drop. What this means is that training more than 75 minutes will prevent you from gaining muscle and losing fat fast! It will also prevent you from fast recovery. As crazy as it sounds, more is not necessarily better for huge bodybuilding gains.

Two, the rest in between sets should be kept to a minimum. The ideal is 90 seconds or less. Keeping your rest in between sets and exercises down not only helps you to perform a lot of work and still finish within the 75 minutes, but it also helps improve your cardiovascular system. Also, it has also been known that this kind of training stimulates growth hormones output the most.

Third, the sets should be between 8 - 15 repetitions for muscle mass gains and 15-25 repetitions for body sculpting purposes.

There are many reasons for this range in reps:

You get the best blood pump to flow into your muscle cells within these repetition ranges. This is important since along with the blood come nutrients that nourish the muscle cells and help them recover and rebuild bigger faster. Since you are doing so many repetitions, there is less probability of injury since you will be using a weight that you can control.

Also, it ahs been shown in studies that muscle building and fat burning occur more efficiently at these repetition ranges.

Lastly, training must be varied and cycled. It is not wise to get stuck with the same routine for a long workout period. If a bodybuilder does this, this would result in zero muscle growth. Also, sticking at the same workout regimen will surely lead to a boring and unenthusiastic day at the gym.
Therefore, proper bodybuilding routines must possess four characteristics, namely; right duration, enough rest, proper reps, and variation.

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Mistakes that Prevent the Best Muscle Building

May 10th, 2009 — 11:36am

Without knowing it, people who frequent the gym encounter some common mistakes that prevent them from getting the best muscle building. To make sure that they get the most out of their bodybuilding workouts, it is important to identify these common mistakes. There are five mistakes that prevent muscle building. Read on and get the most of your bodybuilding programs.

The first of these common mistakes is trying to do too many reps. Most bodybuilders think that doing the most reps would help them achieve bigger muscle mass. This is obviously wrong.

If this was true, then people who use their arms a lot as part of their work would have arms the size of the best bodybuilders.

Obviously having a lot of reps would not do the trick because of a simple reason. Once you keep on increasing your rep without raising the level of your weight then your muscle will become used to it and would not get any exercise at all. Keep in mind that the body has the tendency to adjust.

The second mistake is related to the first. Most people fail to use enough weights because they tend to believe that more reps will be able to help them get more muscle mass without lifting big weights. They have failed to realize the value of ‘lifting big to get big’.

A person who lifts 500 lbs once builds more muscle mass than a person who builds 100 lbs five times. Though they both lift an equivalent weight, the effect is not the same.

Keep in mind that people will only build mass if they try to go beyond their limit. Muscle mass grow only if muscles tear and they only tear if they lift weights that are beyond the usual weights that are lifted.

The third mistake is that people do not workout with the right routine. They simply go to the gym and start lifting the first weights that attract their attention. Many of them do their workouts like crazy.

It must kept in mind that building muscle mass needs a proper plan that must be put into action. Workouts must be done by following this plan. Unless a bodybuilder shows up at the gym with a muscle building plan, he cannot expect to gain any improvement in his muscle mass.

The fourth common mistake is doing both building mass and losing weight at the same time. Chances are both these efforts will fail. It would be best to choose one over the other. Remember that to add muscle mass into your body would require considerable effort on your part. If you do cardio before or after the weight lifting, chances are you are going to fail your goal of building muscle mass.

The last mistake is connected with the previous one. People think that by doing cardio workouts on days where they would not do any lifting is the answer to the problem. This is wrong. Remember that the so-called non-lifting days are the days when
the muscles actually do their most growth. Allowing the muscles to recover is the only way they are strong enough when it is time to go back in the gym and lift more than before.

Do away with these mistakes and you are surely to achieve best muscle building.

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Important Principles of Building Muscle Mass

May 9th, 2009 — 2:17pm

Building muscle mass would seem difficult for the average person. Come to think of it, it is not complicated at all. All it takes are simple principles that are known to everyone, both bodybuilder and the average person. This simple guide will explain these principles to help the reader build bigger muscle in no time. All it will take is a bit of patience and time.

The two basic principles of body building are lifting heavy and lifting big. Both involve lifting different kinds of weights. Follow these two guides and muscle mass will be built within a month.

Lifting heavy means that the muscle builds mass as it reacts to the amount of weight being lifted. Look at it this way, when a muscle lifts a weight that it cannot handle or difficult to handle, it becomes broken down and torn. This is an initial reaction. The really important buildup in the muscle mass happens after this initial reaction.

This time, the muscle reacts by increasing its strength in expectation of another load that it may have difficulty lifting. To become stronger, it has to build muscle mass. Put in simple terms, becoming stronger means that the muscle has become actually bigger so it can lift the heavy weight it expects. The reason behind this increase in muscle mass is actually easy. By exceeding the weight it was originally able to carry, the muscle has no choice but to become bigger and stronger.

Lifting big means exercising the big muscles of the body. The big muscles are those that make us buff and massive. It is important that if we would like to build mass then we should put a lot of time in developing the big muscles we have. If we do this, our muscle mass will increase a lot in time.

A bodybuilder must keep in mind that it is important to use mixed exercises to build up big muscles. In the past, people were taught that to build muscles, it would be best to focus on one big muscle at a time. This may have been true in the past, but nowadays it is best to exercise a combination of big muscles because in the process more muscle mass is developed at a shorter time.

This is may be done through a superset or a compound set. These combine two or more exercises with similar movements to maximize the amount of work a single muscle or a group of muscles does. If done properly, you can do a lot of muscle buildup by effectively using either of these two.

So anyone who would like to develop his big muscles should incorporate either of this type of workout into his program. That way, he will gain a big increase in his muscle mass in shorter time.

These principles would be useless though if a bodybuilder will not listen to his body. Keep in mind that our body builds muscle mass only when it reacts to the exercises it goes through. It would be best then to consult a medical professional before we even subject our body to any kind of exercise.

Having said that, all that a bodybuilder has to do in building muscle mass is to keep these two principles in mind.

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Best Bodybuilding Workout for the Back

April 5th, 2009 — 2:34pm

Most bodybuilders would enter the gym almost clueless on the right bodybuilding workout program that would suit their needs and strengths. In order to build muscle fast, many simply copy the workout routines of bodybuilders they idolize. As such, it is natural to see people who are beginning with their workout routines committing mistakes in their desire to build muscles that are buff.  It must be remembered that we have 650 different muscles.

However, one of the most underdeveloped muscles is the back. This is especially true for office workers because they sit down most of the time. This creates weakened back muscles. So they are likely to come to the gym with posture problems.
 
Therefore, a total a bodybuilding routine must include an exercise that would develop the back. The following exercises will help with building muscle mass as well as strengthen the back muscles.

A. Trad Bar Deadlift

1. Squat down in a trap bar with your feet flat on the ground. Grasp the handles on the sides. Keep your shoulders tight, your arms and back straight. Also, keep your knees pointing to the same direction as your feet.

2. Lift the trap bar as you stand upright. Pull your shoulders back at the top of the lift. Then return to the starting position. Completing this would already be one rep.

B. Standing Dumbbell Power Clean

1. Stand straight while holding a pair of dumbbells with an overhand grip at your sides. Keep your back straight and inhale before you exert effort to tighten your abs. Bring your shoulders to a shrug.

2. Lift both weights up to chest height. Quickly drop underneath the weights and bring them above your shoulders as if you’re about to do a shoulder press.

3. Return to the starting position. This is already one rep.

C. Face Pull

1. Attach a rope to the high pulley of a cable station and grab an end with each hand so your palms face each other, thumbs toward you. Back a few steps away from the weight stack until your arms are straight in front of you and you feel tension in the cable. Keep your shoulders tight, and stand with your knees slightly bent.

2. Pull the rope toward your eyes so your hands end up just outside your ears. You should be positioned in the classic bodybuilders “double-biceps pose”.

3. Slowly return to the starting position. This is already one rep.

D. Cable Seated Row

1. Sit in a position where your back is straight and your arms holding the handles are extended. Your knees should be slightly bent as push your feet towards the support. Inhale before exerting effort.

2. Pull the cable towards your waist. Avoid using momentum to bring the weight close to your waist. Try to bring your shoulder blades closer together, and pull your elbows back.

3. Return to the starting position. This is already one rep.

Adding these exercises to your program will help strengthen the upper back or the area from the neck to the armpits. Also, this will gain strength for the posterior chain or the area from the lower back, butt and the hamstrings. Any bodybuilding workout that includes these exercises will surely help create a well developed body, and a strong back.

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Build Bigger Muscle

February 5th, 2009 — 6:32am

How to get women’s attention? Millions of people especially men are dreaming of having a bigger muscle mass. Their reason is to have a healthier body and good physical features however their most common objective is to earn everybody’s attention. For most people, achieving bigger muscles may boost their self confidence for whatever reason they have.

Our body is composed of millions of muscle fibers which when grouped together will make up the various muscle types. All these muscle groups are what we call the muscular system. The skeletal muscle feeds from protein, however protein alone is not enough in order to build bigger muscle mass.

Adequate amount of calories from carbohydrates as well as fats can also help you build bigger muscle, and are important in addition to protein intake. Caloric intake should be high as possible depending on your body mass. Try to keep your diet as balanced as possible and make sure that you are eating healthy food. Your body essentially needs those caloric stores for you to have a sufficient source of energy.  

Along with proper and disciplined diet, a vigorous physical training is considered as one of the best muscle building foundations. Finding a quality workout program is the key factor if you want to start building your body muscles. Start by training in a gym for few days per week, without exceeding an hour approximately on each training session. Longer  than one hour may put you at risk of overtraining. Overtraining causes your muscles to tear and become weak. Try to keep your workouts around key exercise movement - bench press, leg press, etc. - then proceed to much more vigorous training such as lifting a few weights as long as your body can tolerate it.

Some people struggle to build bigger muscle because they see little or no results after  several workouts compared to others. This is of no  concern because it only means that their muscles have a slower recovery from workouts than others. Don’t forget that your muscles also get tired and sometimes you may experience sore muscles. This means that you also need an essential rest in between workouts to give your muscles an ample time for healing and a chance to actually grow.

Bear in mind the fact that “muscles grow while you sleep”. Sleeping actually stimulates your pituitary gland to release growth hormones which include tryptophan, glycine, ornithine, and arginine. Getting enough rest is as essential as dieting and physical training. Sleeping for six to eight hours will benefit you a lot. Your resting time is actually the time when your muscles are starting to grow and physically enhance. 

Another way of growth muscle training is the use of the superset. Superset training system is the use of three or four different types of exercise for the same muscle. You will experience an ultimate pump in the muscle belly and an increase in muscle size and strength with repetitive training sessions. However, do not favor a single body part when working out as this can cause muscular imbalances. Proper balance is essential, and this involves training the lacking muscle first or the one needing the most attention.

Cardiovascular exercise is another important activity that should be remembered in building muscle mass while burning fat. You only need this exercise for a minimum of once a week to a maximum of once every two weeks. Anything too much is not good because performing cardio beyond these limits can take away the quality of your muscle gains resulting in a much smaller size. Cardiovascular exercise is usually done in the early morning particularly in an empty stomach.

The biggest and most common mistake committed by people who work out especially the novices or even the hard gainers, is their lack of patience. Their eagerness to gain muscle mass early on only hurts them in the long term. What they don’t know is that patience is the only key to success. The secret of muscle growth also involves consistency, discipline, knowledge and determination. As long as the proper techniques are applied muscle packing is as easy as memorizing the alphabet.

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Eating to Build Muscle

January 8th, 2009 — 3:16am

If you’re wanting to learn what foods to eat to build muscle, and how to lose weight and build muscle, you’re in for a treat here.  I’ve come across the following article that addressed all of these issues, including information on foods that build muscle, the best way to lose weight, and exactly what to eat to build muscle.

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Ten Commandments Of Training
Christopher R. Mohr, PhD, RD
www.LifeStyleHealthy.com/mealplans101

How many of you have heard from your clients or friends, “I am a hard gainer and no matter how much I eat, I can’t gain weight”? Maybe that is how you feel yourself. Or I’m sure many of you want to lose fat and maybe build a little muscle too. Even if your weight training goals are just to remain healthy and maintain your current physique, there are certain “rules” you should follow. Therefore, I thought I would compile a list of what I’ll call the “Ten Commandments of Training.”

1. Eat a balanced diet. Some of you may think I am a bit biased since I’m a dietitian; however, training is at best half the battle. If your goal is to pack on slabs of muscle, you can lift until the gym staff has to scrape you off the floor with the trash, but without refueling those muscles, your efforts are futile. It is actually after training, when you allow your muscles to rest, that they will grow. The best way to refuel and recover your muscles is by eating a sufficient amount of calories, high quality carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Similarly, if fat loss is your goal, it will be next to impossible to be successful if you change nothing about your eating habits and only increase your exercise. Not monitoring your food intake while training hard is like riding a bicycle with one flat tire; sure, you may get to your destination, but there will be ton of wasted effort.

2. Keep a food log. This may be a barrier for many of you, but how do you plan to monitor your changes without writing them down and seeing what can be altered? This journal does not have to be detailed; record the portion sizes and foods you eat and beverages you drink, the calories, carbohydrate, protein and fats each contain. This will allow you to see what foods or food groups you may be missing or limited in, what foods you can eliminate or reduce if your goal is to lose weight, or just closely monitor your intake if you are trying to gain muscle and limit fat gain.

3. Keep a training log. Similar to the above recommendation, you can’t effectively track your progress if you don’t know what you’re doing. You may learn from recording and watching your physique that a particular exercise or series of exercise is effective and maybe some that is not. Similarly, it will help you track your progress to ensure you are on track.

4. Vary your routine. To be ultimately successful in the gym, you need to vary your workouts. In fact, there is no other aspect of your life that is stagnant—why should the gym be any different? However, this probably describes many of you: Monday is chest day, in which you start with 3 sets of 10 reps on flat bench, followed by 3 sets of 10 on incline press, and maybe 3 sets of 10 for dumbbell fly’s. You then move to triceps, where you do pushdowns and maybe lying tricep extension. The rest of the week follows suit. You always pair back and biceps together, legs are granted their own day, and shoulders fit somewhere in the mix. Mix it up-do a different body part(s) on Monday’s, do dips instead of flat bench, pushups on a stability ball, 4 sets of 5, whatever. If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.

5. Rest!!! When was the last time you took some time off from training? Go ahead, get out of the weight room for a week. I’ll rarely tell you to be a couch potato, but here’s your opportunity. OK, fine, don’t undo what you’ve worked so hard at by sitting with the remote in hand and a bag of chips at your side for a week straight, but being active doesn’t mean you must live in the weight room. Remember, growth happens during recovery, not when you’re in the gym. If you hit the weights day in a day out, you are never giving your body a chance to recover. A week off now and then is great for the body and I bet you’ll come back stronger.

6. Stretch. I bet there are a lot of you out there who do not stretch at all or if you do, stretch the muscle you’re going to work for about 5 seconds. Stretching helps muscles recover, increases muscle elasticity and decreases the chance of injury. Make sure you leave plenty of time to stretch after your workout, do a number of stretches for the body parts you just worked, and hold each stretch for about 20 to 30 seconds. I’m not asking you to mimic Gumbi, just do some basic stretches. Heck, try a yoga class for a change of pace.

7. Lift heavy weights. If I had a nickel for every time I heard “I don’t want to lift too heavy because I will get bulky,” I would be giving Trump a run for his money. Yes, I’m picking on the women here because they are usually the group who is afraid of looking like Hercules. But flapping your arms with 1 lb dumbbells like you are trying to take off will do nothing more than bore you to tears while you claim that weight lifting is useless. Challenge the muscle and lift heavier weights within your comfort zone.

8. Use proper form. I know I was guilty of this the first day I stepped into my high school weight room. I was trying with all my might to bench press 135 lbs since I saw someone else using that weight. Any ounce of “coolness” I had as a gawky freshman left my body faster than the weight falling straight to my chest. I would have rather been injured than suffer through the embarrassment of an upperclassmen “rescuing” me from underneath the bar between his laughing in the corner. I looked like I was having a seizure as a squirmed and twisted to get that weight up. Save yourself from the embarrassment and more importantly a potential injury. If you can’t lift the weight in a controlled manner, it is too much weight. Take it from me; it is not pretty when you let the weight “control” you.

9. Cross train. Weight training is a great form of exercise, but you will ultimately be much better off health wise if you try different activities (both aerobic and anaerobic in nature). Hit your local high school and run some bleachers, ask a friend or spouse to play tennis, swim, do some sprints at the local track, pull together a group of friends for some flag football, mountain bike, etc. The list can go on forever, but cross-training will not only make you stronger, it will help your body recovery by hitting it with varied movements, and will also decrease your chance of injury.

10. Drink like a fish. My college days are over; I’m talking about non-alcoholic beverages. Keep in mind that if you are thirsty, mild dehydration has already set in. This may not sound very important, but even mild dehydration will be a decrement to your performance. It’s not only important to carry a water bottle with you to the gym, but you should be consuming fluids regularly all day. Shoot for 8 cups of water for every 1000 calories you consume (that is ½ gallon for every 1000 calories). Of course this is most important during the summer months when the mercury is nearing triple digits, but should not be negated during the colder months too.

Keep these “rules” in mind to help keep you healthy, strong, and injury free.

About the Author:

Dr. Chris Mohr RD, PhD is a health nutrition consultant to a number of media outlets and corporations including Discovery Health Channel, Clif Bar, Waterfront Media, and Fit Fuel. He has authored and co-authored several textbooks and textbook chapters, including consulting with LL Cool J on “LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout” (Rodale Press, 2006).  He is also co-creator of Meal Plans 101 nutrition software. For more information on how you can utilize Chris’s expertise go to www.LifeStyleHealthy.com/mealplans101

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Bodybuilding Workouts

December 25th, 2008 — 2:40am

Bodybuilding Workouts to Build Muscle Fast

If you have a fast metabolism it can be very embarrassing and frustrating.  You might have dreams of playing in certain sports but you are too small.  You are known as a hardgainer and you can gain the muscle mass you have been trying to achieve for so long when you know the right meal plans and the right bodybuilding workouts for your lean body.

You really can gain the weight you have been trying to gain for so long when you get on the right hardgainer plan.  The importance is knowing which muscle building techniques you need to use.  If you have been following the bodybuilding magazines and other recommendations chances are good these techniques are working against you.  When you are too lean you need a workout entirely different than what the bodybuilders are using.  You need to have the right mix of cardio, weight training, and more.  A bodybuilder is already happy with their physique.  They are trying to build muscle and get bigger.  Your body is too lean and you need to get to the point where you are happy with your weight too. 

You must know the right hardgainer techniques and bodybuilding routines for your body type.  You don’t have the body type of a bodybuilder.  You can gain muscle mass really fast when you follow through with a 7 week program designed for your body type. These hardgainer programs are not designed for bodybuilders at all.  You really can gain 30 pounds of muscle in just 7 weeks.  When you continue with additional programs and keep up the hard work you can have a rock hard body and look like a completely new person.

When you are working hard to gain weight with bodybuilding workouts you also need to know the right meals you should be eating.  It is true the foods you are eating are probably working against you.  You can eat healthy meals daily at 6000 calories.  You just need to know which foods and supplements are right for your body and your goals.  When you have the right mixture of meals for your plan you will be able to gain the weight you have been trying to for so long.  When you use a hardgainer program you will have a complete shopping list and know exactly which meals to prepare each day.  You won’t have to try and figure out what to stuff your face with or continue to eat the wrong things everyday.  Plus, the supplements you have been taking you might be taking entirely wrong.

The right bodybuilding routines for a hardgainer include the workout itself but it also means you need to know the right foods and supplements for your body. You might have tried just about every workout you can find through bodybuilding techniques but nothing is working.  That is because these are not for your body type.  You need the right meals, supplements, and training for your physique. 

You can add the muscle mass you have been trying to gain for so long and love the way you look.  You can finally have the confidence you have been lacking for so long.  Confidence about the way your body looks is very important for your mind and your health. You are a hardgainer and you can gain the muscle mass you have wanted to for so long when you use a program designed just for you.

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Top 10 Body Building Tips

December 7th, 2008 — 6:16am

If you want to build a fabulous body then there are some essential body building tips you should follow to help increase your results and reduce potential injury.

Here are the top 10 body building tips for maximum effect:

1. Heavy Weights

The action of lifting heavy weights helps to increase muscle mass. By lifting weights that are too light for your level of body building, you reduce the effectiveness of your work out.

2. Correct Technique

Lifting weights and working out is pointless if your technique is wrong. You can also sustain some serious injuries if you’re using massive weights incorrectly.  Be sure your technique is correct, take your time, and get it right for maximum effect.

3. Slow and Steady

Repetitions can be boring and the temptation to rush through them beats most people’s will power. Don’t give in and be tempted to rush through your reps. Take your time with each set and perform each lift slowly and steadily. This forced slow control is a great way to build muscle mass very quickly.

4. Correct Amount of Reps and Sets

When you’re working on your body building session, cutting the amount of repetitions short or not doing enough sets can defeat the aim of what you’re trying to achieve. On the other hand, going overboard and doing way too many sets in an attempt to speed up your body building can do damage as well.

5. Intense Training

Following on from the last tip, you still need to be sure your body building training sessions are intense. There’s no point stopping your workout at precisely 7 reps if you feel capable of doing 10. Be sure you work hard at each set until you really feel you can’t do one more using good technique to complete it.

6. Cardio

Keep your cardio sessions to a minimum if possible. If you’re trying to build muscle then you’ll need calories. By doing too much cardio, you’ll be burning any calories you’ve taken in during the cardio workout instead of during your muscle building session.

7. Hydrate

Water is vitally important while you’re body building. Be sure you drink lots of water every day to keep your body hydrated and to flush any toxins from your body. It also helps to increase the blood circulation around your body.

8. Body Building Section Days

Don’t try to complete a workout that covers your entire body on the same day. Use different days to focus on individual areas. By working on arms and shoulders on one day and choosing a different day to work on legs you’re giving the individual muscle sections time to recover for maximum body building potential.

9. Food Intake

Monitor your food intake and be sure you’re eating food that promotes muscle growth.  High carbohydrate healthy foods like apples, bananas, oatmeal, rice, and potatoes should be included in your daily diet. These will supply your energy levels to maintain your body building workout intensity.

Lean foods like chicken and fish are also great for muscle building. Tuna is ideal as a low cost, high protein food that contains almost no fat or carbohydrates. Perfect for any body building plan!

10. Sleep

When you’re building muscle you need to get plenty of rest and sleep. This gives your body time to recover and regain strength before your next body building workout.

……. well, that’s the conventional wisdom.  In truth, there are some gems in the above article, and some absolute myths.  For the FULL story and even better body building tips - click here!

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Bodybuilding Exercise

December 7th, 2008 — 2:58am

When you are looking for a bodybuilding exercise it is important to use the right techniques designed especially for your body type.  Many very skinny people try to use real bodybuilding exercises and find nothing works.  That is because they are not designed for skinny people.  To gain weight fast the exercises need to practise things like postural imbalance, shoulder stability, core stability, flexibility training, bodyweight conditioning, and more.

Postural imbalances help align your body and your posture.  You must have good alignment before you can even begin.  Most bodybuilders have great posture so the programs designed for them never include this information.  When you have proper posture you can look bigger just by the way you hold your body.

When you perform bodybuilding exercises you also need to learn shoulder stability.  With the wrong stability in your shoulders it can be working against you rather than for you.  Your shoulders need to be healthy so you are not in pain 10 years from now because you performed the wrong techniques for building muscle.

Core stability is important if you don’t want lower back pain to last you for a lifetime.  You might find the bodybuilding workouts you have been doing are hurting you and not working for you.  This is because they are designed for bodybuilders who are already buffed and have a lot of large muscle mass.  Your core needs to be stable but you need to learn how to make it stable.  You cannot practice a weight gaining program that assumes your core is stable or you will only injure yourself.

The right bodybuilding exercise is also going to focus on the right flexibility training for your physique.  The flexibility will include your lower and your upper body.  You cannot be stiff as a board before you begin working out or you will cause injury also.  You need to perform the right stretches and exercises designed for your body type that will give you maximum flexibility so you do not injure your body.

Lagging body parts can hold you back from building the muscle mass you want on your body.  If you have small muscles in places on your body then you need to learn techniques to build those up too.  The right bodybuilding exercises will help you build every muscle in your body so you have no muscles limited or holding you back.

When you want to learn the right techniques for building muscle mass you also need to know the right conditioning program.  You can add additional muscle mass to your body and look ripped.  You can bulk up and add the muscles but you must know the right conditioning for your heart and lungs.  Healthy building is the most important thing you need to do so you are not injured while you are gaining the weight you need.

There are many things you need to know if you are looking for bodybuilding exercises so you can build up your skinny physique with muscle mass.  The best program is going to include exercise techniques which can help you work on your postural stability, core stability, shoulder stability, flexibility, and conditioning.  You can have massive muscles but you need to learn the right techniques for your body type. - Click Here for more …

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How to Build Muscle

December 5th, 2008 — 12:09am

Keep a Record of Your Progress!

How to Build Muscle

So you want to build muscle?  Building muscle can be very beneficial for your body.  Not only will building muscle make you look better and more fit, as well as make you feel better about yourself and increase your self confidence, but building muscle will also make you much stronger, making you more able to do things, such as lifting heavy boxes or other items, with ease. 

Building muscle mass is not a very easy task; however, it is not necessarily overly difficult either.  There are many different ways of which you can build muscle; you just have to be dedicated to the task at hand. So, how to build muscle?  Well, one way you can build muscle would be by going through strength training.  The stronger you are, the more muscle you will have.  You can do this by weight lifting. 

Begin with small weights and gradually work your way up to the heavier ones.  You do not want to start out with weights that are too heavy because you can strain yourself, thus creating the possibility of injuring yourself.  If you are injured, then you will not be able to work out and build any muscle, so just begin slow and work your way up. 

Another method of strength training is calisthenics.  Calisthenics include push-ups, dips, pistols, pull-ups, crunches, and reverse crunches.  Begin doing calisthenics in small intervals then gradually work your way up to do more intervals more frequently once it begins to get easy.

Okay, so aside from strength training, what else can I do to build muscle, you might ask? 

Well, you definitely want to work out your legs.  Though the upper body is probably where you want to build the most muscle, building muscle mass in your legs is important as well.  Your legs support your upper body, so the stronger your legs are, the stronger your upper body can be.  To work out your legs, do squats and deadlifts.  Not only will squats and deadlifts work wonders for your legs, but they also work out your entire body as a whole.

Another great way to build muscle is to do compound exercises.  Solitary exercises are great if you want to work on certain areas of the body, but if you want to build your overall muscle mass, then you want to do compound exercises.  Compound exercises work more than just one or two muscles, but several muscles at a time.  When you work more than one muscle at a time, you are speeding up the muscle building in all areas of your body, as opposed to just one.

When building muscle mass, just remember that it is vital that  you drink plenty of water and get an adequate amount of rest.  If your body is not fully rested and if you are dehydrated then you won’t be able to work as hard in building muscle.  Follow these steps and you will be on your way to building muscle.

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