If you were able to ask one fitness based question and get a straight answer, most men would ask for advice on how to build muscle as easily as possible. Sadly, getting a straight answer on any topic in fitness is something which most men deem to be impossible. Simple techniques such as high intensity interval training and power-based explosive training have been over complicated beyond the point where most people can hold their interest.
This may come as a little shock, but the foundations of building lean tissue are primarily the same as they were thirty or forty years ago. Things have got more advanced in certain areas, but the overall principles still stand tall.
They are:
1. Lift with compound moves as a priority.
Exercises such as the lat pulldown, bench press, squat and lunge remain key figureheads in any size and strength routine.
This is because they recruit more fibers in the muscles, which will in turn cause a greater impetus on the body to grow bigger and stronger for future workouts.
2. Learn how many reps to perform.
While high rep training has it's own benefits, you should be aiming for the 8-12 range if your goal is muscular hypertrophy. This is backed up by years of key studies from medical research studies carried out on the subject.
This weight will change on each exercise, of course, but use this rep zone as a guide to tell you if you are lifting heavy enough to see progress.
3. Adapt your program to your new strength gains.
While consistently attending the gym is a great thing, consistency can also be a bad thing, as you're about to see.
Consistently doing the same routine or lifting the same figures will lead you to a plateau. In order to build a better body you need to give your body a physical reason to grow. This can only be done by giving it weights which it finds hard to deal with.
4. Sleep is hugely important to increasing muscle size.
Sleep is vastly under-rated by most gym users. You must remember that the body undergoes it's major rebuilding phase during the hours of a deep sleep.
The majority of this recovery phase takes place while you sleep, so be sure to register at least 8 hours whenever possible. If you have consistently neglected your sleeping patterns over a prolonged period, you should expect to see very little return for your sweat in the gym.
This could be compared to leaving the cement to set on a brick wall, but returning the following day and trying to build on it even further. You're basically knocking yourself down all the time and going nowhere.
These time tested, established techniques set the foundations for how to build muscle as far as relevant scientific research goes. While it's easy to over complicate things and turn any gym program into a science lesson, the basics of techniques such as hypertrophy, high intensity interval training and fat loss are primarily the same as they were a decade ago.
This may come as a little shock, but the foundations of building lean tissue are primarily the same as they were thirty or forty years ago. Things have got more advanced in certain areas, but the overall principles still stand tall.
They are:
1. Lift with compound moves as a priority.
Exercises such as the lat pulldown, bench press, squat and lunge remain key figureheads in any size and strength routine.
This is because they recruit more fibers in the muscles, which will in turn cause a greater impetus on the body to grow bigger and stronger for future workouts.
2. Learn how many reps to perform.
While high rep training has it's own benefits, you should be aiming for the 8-12 range if your goal is muscular hypertrophy. This is backed up by years of key studies from medical research studies carried out on the subject.
This weight will change on each exercise, of course, but use this rep zone as a guide to tell you if you are lifting heavy enough to see progress.
3. Adapt your program to your new strength gains.
While consistently attending the gym is a great thing, consistency can also be a bad thing, as you're about to see.
Consistently doing the same routine or lifting the same figures will lead you to a plateau. In order to build a better body you need to give your body a physical reason to grow. This can only be done by giving it weights which it finds hard to deal with.
4. Sleep is hugely important to increasing muscle size.
Sleep is vastly under-rated by most gym users. You must remember that the body undergoes it's major rebuilding phase during the hours of a deep sleep.
The majority of this recovery phase takes place while you sleep, so be sure to register at least 8 hours whenever possible. If you have consistently neglected your sleeping patterns over a prolonged period, you should expect to see very little return for your sweat in the gym.
This could be compared to leaving the cement to set on a brick wall, but returning the following day and trying to build on it even further. You're basically knocking yourself down all the time and going nowhere.
These time tested, established techniques set the foundations for how to build muscle as far as relevant scientific research goes. While it's easy to over complicate things and turn any gym program into a science lesson, the basics of techniques such as hypertrophy, high intensity interval training and fat loss are primarily the same as they were a decade ago.
About the Author:
Written by: Discover key tips revealing how to build muscle and how to implement high intensity interval training properly for maximum results on the exclusive training website from leading UK personal trainer Russ Howe PTI.
No comments:
Post a Comment