Here are the five things that you should pay attention to if you want to build muscle…
1. Progressive Resistance Training.
2. Workout Techniques.
3. Calories.
4. Nutrient Ratios.
5. Rest.
Still need to know more? I’ll be explaining each in detail over the next few weeks, so keep checking for more!
Resistance machines or free weights, which is better? Firstly let’s have a look at the advantages and disadvantages of both…
Resistance machines are a lot safer than free weights to workout with. There is a high risk of injury when working out with free weights, you have to control the weights path without the assistance with machines. You have to really concentrate on proper technique, otherwise you can cause yourself muscle strains, tears and numerous other possible injuries.
Machines work on a pre-determined path which makes them good for isolating the muscle group that you are working, when lifting free weights it is a lot more difficult to isolate muscle groups. That said resistance machines don’t strengthen your stabiliser muscles, as there is only one path that the weight can go. When training with free weights, you have to control the movement of the weight yourself. This balancing of the weights movement develops your stabiliser muscles.
Free weights give you alot more flexibility than resistance machines, there are countless different movements that you can perform with free weights to suit your needs. Resistance machines have the one or maybe two set exercises that you can perform.
Resistance Machines have the advantage that they are quick and easier to set up for a workout, a quick adjustment to a seat and a the movement of a pin to set or adjust the weight is all that is usually required. When using free weights you have to swop over plates and mess around with putting them back in the racks.
You can see that resistance machines both have there advantages and disadvantages, which you prefer to train with is down to personal preference. My personal opinion is that resistance machines are great for beginners to start to develop their muscle strength. For more advanced trainers i think that for the majority of your workout you should use free weights, with proper technique great results can be achieved. The fact that you also develop your stabiliser muscles, makes them great for an all round strength. I do also believe that adding in the odd exercise performed on a resistance machine can give great results giving variety to your workouts.
Being a ‘Jumper’ is the main reason why people fail when trying to achieve both fat loss and muscle growth. A Jumper is some one who ‘jumps’ from diet to diet and from training program to training program, never staying with a one system long enough to find out whether it works or not. If they don’t see the results they want immediately, they assume that the diet or training program that they are following doesn’t work so they jump to the next one. While it is true that there are alot of diets and workout routines that don’t work, there are alot of good ones out there.
The key to getting the results that you want is to find a good program and stick with it. If you are trying to lose fat, look for a program that combines and good calorie controlled balanced diet, with a training routine which includes some resistance training and cardio sessions (jogging, exercisebike, rowing, etc.). With your diet you should stay away from all the fad diets, they just don’t work! This includes diets that cut out carbs completely, extremely low calorie diets, diets that tell you to eat just one type of food and no fat diets. Your body needs a certain amount of the good fats, just try and avoid saturated fats as much as possible. Your diet should have controlled calories and should include a variety of foods, obviously junk foods are a not included in the list! Remember that you need to combine exercise with your diet, it’s the best way to see great results.
When Looking for a Weight training program again look for a program that has a good high protein high calorie diet, combined with a sensible weight training routine. Remember rest is vital for your muscles to grow, so avoid any workout routines that tell you to train the same muscle groups more than twice a week maximum. Also don’t let yourself get drawn into the trap of believing the hype around some supplements that promise you miracle results, they don’t work,this also applies to diet pills if you are trying to lose weight. If a program is based around a specific supplement it should be avoided.
So getting back to the point of this post, I did stray a bit with a few tips on selecting a program! Pick a sensible fat loss or muscle gain program to follow and stick with it, Jumping from program to program will never get you the results you want. Be patient, results may not be immediate but they will come. So remember, DON’T BE A JUMPER!
There are many ways in which bodybuilders try to do more damage to their muscle fibres trying to produce more growth. One such technique is pyramid sets. This is basically when you start at a heavy weight and then continuously work down dropping the weight each time for five, ten or more sets. Eventually you will be struggling to lift virtually no weight as you have exhausted your muscles completely.
This ‘Pyramid’ technique is widley used among bodybuilders, so should we be following their example if we too want to build up our muscles? In my opinion no! You have to remember that alot of these ‘genetically gifted’ bodybuilders out there use drugs, steroids and other growth hormones are common. So for us natural trainers, it would be crazy to try and complete the same sort of training. Performing pyramid sets or similar techniques will extend the time that it takes for your muscles to recover.
There is no research out there to suggest that performing these pyramid sets, or even just extra sets with lighter weights at the end of your workouts, will help you build any more muscle than your usual three to five sets.
So in conclusion I would ignore what the bodybuilders are doing out there, and stick with three to five sets making sure you fail on your last rep of your last set. This should be more than enough to produce new muscle growth.
After a tough workout it is normal for people to suffer some muscle pain for a day or two during recovery. If you are a new to weight training, you will find that for the first couple of weeks you will find the muscle pain can be quite bad. I remember when I first started training with weights, many years ago! I think I had worked my arms and my chest, and I’d really pushed myself. I woke up the next day and could hardly move my upper body at all! It was even painful to touch! Even seasoned trainers still experience muscle pain after particularly hard workouts, or if they perform exercises that are new to them.
Apart from this muscle pain being uncomfortable, it can also affect performance. If you train again when you muscles are still sore, you can find that you strength will be diminished.
There has been research done into ways of reducing this muscle soreness, and the discovery that has been made is that certain fruits taken after exercise can reduce this soreness of the muscles. Fruits such as cherries, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries, consumed after a workout have been proven to help with the problem of muscle soreness. These fruits are high in phytochemicals, which have an anti inflammatory effect, which seems to be behind the positive effect they have on muscle recovery.
So try adding a handful of cherries, strawberries, blackberries or blueberries to your post workout protein shake and help reduce the time you spend suffering after a heavy training session.
Hi everyone,
I’ve put the post I wrote for today on hold for the time being, the reason being that I came across this very informative post on oatmeal! May sound strange but oatmeal is an extremely valuable food to have in your diet. Click the link to find some great information on oatmeal. This really is worth a look.
The Importance of getting enough water each day is greatly under valued and ignored. Water is vital for the body to function, in fact 60 to 70% of your body is made up from water.
Every process in your body requires water, including tissue repair and growth, digestion, circulation, and the list goes on! If you aren’t supplying it with enough water, it will not be able to function properly. The body also uses water to flush out waste via urine. If you haven’t got enough water in you, your body will hold on to any water it has and won’t discharge any waste. This is not good for the body.
When it comes to the fat burning process, if you haven’t supplied your body with enough water it won’t happen. The body needs water to complete the process.
If you are trying to build muscle, you should know that water is essential for your body to complete the process. If you are dehydrated muscle growth just won’t happen.
So many people don’t drink enough water each day, and are constantly in state of slight dehydration. If you ever feel groggy, have a headache and are tired this could be put down to being dehydrated. So the question is how much water should you be drinking?! Well as a rough guide you should be aiming to drink at least 8 to 10 cups of water through out each day. You should take care to drink more when you are exercising, as exercise tends to dehydrate you.
Remember to get you quota of water each and every day, it is a vital ingredient for fat loss and muscle building!
So What is the key to getting into great shape? It’s simple really… DON’T MISS YOU WORKOUTS!
It may seem obvious, but we all know how easy it is to get into the habit of skipping workouts because we are tired, or we have something ‘better’ we want to do instead. The key getting into great shape is to train consistantly, get yourself to every single workout that you have planned in.
Combine your consistant training with good nutrition, keep it up for the long term, and you won’t be far from reaching the body you dream of.
Progressive overload is a must for anyone who wants to gain size or strength. So what do I mean by progressive overload? Progressive overload simple means continuously increasing the amount of stress you put on your muscles each time you workout over a period of time.
There are several ways you can do this. Firstly you every workout you could increase the weight on each exercise that you are doing. Add perhaps 5lbs on your previous workouts lifting weight. Secondly you could try and complete more repetitions than you did on your previous workout. Finally you could add extra sets to your workout, increasing the volume.
This progressive overload is the key to muscle gain. Every time you exercise your muscles, the stress you put on them actually damages the fibres within the muscle. These fibres then repair themselves stronger and thicker, so the next time they have to complete the task that damaged them, they will be able to do it with the damage. Now if you increase the stress they are put on each time, they will continue to repair stronger and thicker each time (providing you are giving them enough rest and feeding them enough proper nutrition!).
That’s the basic theory behind progressive resistance, put in very simple terms anyway!
There is much confusion out there about how many reps you should be aiming to complete when weight training. There are many different views on how many reps is best for strength, gaining size and for toning. In my opinion the following ranges are a good guide to work to:
3 to 5 reps – Increasing strength, but will also add size to your muscle.
6 to 12 reps – Increasing muscle mass.
12 reps plus – Endurance and toning.
If you follow these guide lines you should be heading in the right direction.
