Posts Tagged ‘muscles’

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Compound Exercises for Muscle Building

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

If you are trying to pack on some serious muscle you need to concentrate on compound or multi-joint lifts. These are exercises that unlike isolation exercises, involve a number of muscle groups to perform. Exercises include the squat, bench press and deadlift, are examples of some of the best.

These compound movements put a lot of stress on the body and shocks the nervous system into releasing the largest amount of muscle building hormones. Also stimulating growth all over the body, so you will pack on size everywhere!

Compound exercises also allow you to shift a lot of weight which is what you need to develop new muscle. I must however stress the importance of proper technique with all of these exercises, as there is a high risk of injury if you try to shift a heavy weight with the wrong technique. I know I always go on about this in my posts, but it really is ever so important and i’ll continue to nag you with it in the future…sorry!

So base your workouts around compound exercises, but don’t completely dismiss isolation exercises. Exercises such as bicep curls are still great to throw in there, just perform them after your compound exercises.

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Posted in Muscle Building Training, Muscle building | 3 Comments »

Cardio and Muscle Building

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

It is a much debated question, should you do cardio when you are trying to build muscle?

Some people claim that you should stay completely away from cardio if you are trying to gain muscle, some say that doing cardio whilst trying to gain muscle, but who is right?!

I think that firstly the following points must be considered:-

  1. Are your cardio sessions planned around your resistance training, so as to still allow adequate rest for your muscle groups. For example if you train your legs on a Monday, you shouldn’t be running on a Tuesday. Your legs won’t be getting enough rest, and this may lead to over training.
  2. To build muscle you must be overfeed, in other words consuming more calories than you are using up. You will have to allow for the fact that cardio burns up calories (energy), so allowance must be made in your diet to make up the burnt off calories.
  3. Do you struggle to put on muscle? If you are someone who finds it hard to put on muscle, then it may pay to leave out the cardio and concentrate on the resistance training aspect of training. Cardio will not build up muscle, it is the resistance training that will do that.

So in short my answer would be if you can fit in cardio without overtraining, and you are able to consume the amount of calories that you need to build muscle then it is fine to carry on with cardio training. If you are finding it hard to gain weight, then it is a good idea to reduce or even eliminate your cardio training while in a muscle building phase. When you have reached your target weight, or have reached the end of your muscle building phase, you can add back in your cardio as normal.  

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Posted in General, Muscle Building Training, Muscle building | 2 Comments »

Should You Stretch If You Are Trying to Build Muscle?

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

For most bodybuilders, only interested in building muscle, stretching is the last thing on their mind. It has even been said that stretching before a weight lifting session actually leads to a reduction of strength during the session. There has been no definate answers to this come from research, but it has become a rule among bodybuilders that pre session stretching should be avoided. There is also the argument that stretching a cold muscle has the danger of causing an injury.

So what about stretching after a workout? This has been proven to increase flexibility, and unknown or ignored by most bodybuilders can actual lead to an increase in muscle strength. Spending an extra ten or fifteen minutes stretching after weights session, can really have a positive affect on your muscles. Concentrate on holding your stretches for at least twenty seconds or more, gradually increasing the stretch.

Not enough people stretch after they exercise there muscles, it is something that I highly recommend you give a try.

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Five Points for Muscle Growth…

Friday, May 16th, 2008

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!

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Don’t let your friend do all the work!

Monday, May 12th, 2008

It is great to have a training partner motivate you and to give you a spot while you are training. The thing that isn’t so good is having a training partner, is when you have one who is a bit to keen to help you with your reps. By over keen, I mean that they try and support you with virtually ever rep that you do. Although they are obviously trying to help you, you need to be completing as many reps as you can on your own to truly monitor your progress. Even just the sightest support can make a huge difference to how hard you are working to lift the weight.

The main reason I have brought this up today is because of a training session I had last week and then an observation I made in the gym today. I usually train on my own, mainly due to the fact that I like to keep my training time short and to focus on my own workout (sounds a bit selfish I know, but if I train with a partner I’m the worlds worst for chatting away!) Anyway I was working my chest in this particular training session, and at the time I was doing the raised dumbell press. A kind passer by had offered to pass the weight to me, and then proceeded to spot me during my set. Although this was very generous of him, he was a bit keen with his spotting and was pushing my elbows in on every rep. Not wanting to seem ungrateful I didn’t say anything and just carried on and ended up doing alot heavier weight for alot more reps than I would do on my own to try and compensate. Now you may think that I’m just an ungrateful whiner, but the reason for my moaning is that I couldn’t tell if I had done more than in my last session, as I was being helped a bit too much. For muscle gain you need to continually progress with the weights you lift and the repitions you complete, and if you have someone doing some of the work for you it becomes really hard to monitor your progress.

My other story was from being in the gym again today. I noticed a couple of lads shoulder pressing some huge weights, but the were hardly moving the weight at all and the other friend was taking most of the weight. For the best results you should be performing every exercise with proper form, which means completing the whole movement. So combining bad technique with someone else doing all the work for you, really isn’t very good at all. 

The job of someone who is spotting you is mainly a safety role, they are their to make sure that you don’t end up crushed under a heavy weight! They can help you by lifting you the weight and supporting you while you steady yourself, but for maximum results you should be doing all of the work yourself. Only when you come to failure and you can’t move the weight any more should they come in to assist, and maybe even for one more rep out with you.

So don’tlet your friend do all the work for you, the harder you work the better the results you will see.

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Posted in Muscle Building Training | 2 Comments »

Resistance Machines or Free Weights?

Friday, April 25th, 2008

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.

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How to Succeed in Fat Loss and Muscle building…Dont be a Jumper!

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

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!

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A Quick Guide to Carbohydrates

Monday, April 21st, 2008

With some of the new fad diets that are out there, people have been led to believe that carbohydrates are bad for you and should be avoided. This is not true and whether you are dieting to burn fat or lose muscle, a certain amount of carbohydrates are important. They contain sugars and are your bodys preferred energy source. There are two main types of carbohydrates, simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are usually referred to as the ‘bad carbs’. This is actually wrong. The problem with them is that are easily digested by the body and absorbed into the bloodstream, which causes a sudden rise in blood sugar levels. This will give you a quick lift in energy, but will soon drop again and leave you feeling even more tired than before. This sudden rise in blood sugar levels also creates a sudden rise in insulin levels which can cause the sugars to be turned into fat.  That said the natural simple carbs, such as fructose which is found in fruit and lactose which is found in dairy products are perfectly healthy eaten in moderation. Fruit also contains many vitamins and minerals that the body, and dairy products are an excellent source of calcium and protein. So you shouldn’tcompletely avoid fruit and dairy products, just limit the amount you eat. Complex Carbohydrates are the second main group in the carbohydrate family. Complex carbs take a lot longer for the body to digest than simple carbohydrates. This means that they supply the body with a steadier and longer lasting supply of energy, without the sudden rises and drops in blood sugar.  Complex carbs can be split into two sub groups, Starchy (starch) and fibrous (fibre). They are found in foods such as potatoes, whole grain pasta, brown rice, oats, wheat, grains and vegetables. These really are the better type of carbohydrates and should be your chosen source of energy. They alsohave many health benefits. So why do carbs have a bad name? Well it’s mainly due to the Processed and Refined versions of complex and simple carbs. Processed complex carbs can be eaten so long as youlimit the amount you have. Food such as pasta and rice are good examples of processed complex carbs, with these you should go for the wholegrain or brown options as they will have been refined less. The more that complex carbs get refined the closer to simple carbs they start to act. The really nasty ones are the refined sugars. They are found in ready meals, sweets, cakes and pretty much any fast food places. These contribute to bodyfat gain, high cholesteral and can decrease your growth hormone. They are the ones that should be avoided at all costs!  

 A good way to look at it is the more natural the carbohydrate the better, if it hasn’t been. For both fat loss and muscle gain, the majority of your carb intake should be from natural complex carbs. Small amounts of natural simple carbs and even slightly processed complex carbs are ok, but avoid refined sugars as much as you can! 

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Posted in Fat Loss Diet, Muscle Building Diet | 3 Comments »

Pyramid Sets for Muscle Building

Friday, April 18th, 2008

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. 

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Reduce Post Training Muscle Pain… With Fruit?!

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

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.

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