If
you are clueless at the gym and yet hungry for plain, good 'ol
professional advice to help you on the road to that sculpted physique of a
Greek god, fret not! All you have to do is to have a solid commitment, use
the knowledge gleaned from this article and you will attain the body you
want pronto. But remember to warm up and cool down, as well as stretching
before and after each session; Or even better, after each set for better
muscle recovery and prevention of injuries.
Use Free Weights instead of Machines More Often
Machines will have its uses, but for a start, concentrate on free weights.
That means work almost exclusively with barbells and dumb bells. Free
weights recruit many stabilizing muscles for balance and control. That
means you will work a lot more muscle parts other than the intended ones.
That will give rise to little bumps, striations and definitions all over
your body instead of one huge lump of muscle on your intended muscle.
Because of the extra stimulant created, your muscles grow faster too. Why
else do you think all professional body builders almost exclusively use
free weights?
Compound Exercises Instead Of Isolation Exercises
Use as many compound exercises as possible to your workouts. Compound
exercises are exercises that involve 2 or more joint movements. Because
they utilize more joints, that means greater muscle mass are involved.
Greater muscle mass means heavier weights. Heavier weights means greater
muscle gain.
Some excellent compound exercises are the Squat, Deadlift, Chin ups, Dips,
Bench press, Barbell Press, Lunges, Bent-Over Barbell Row...etc.
Train with Intensity
You must train intensively like a mad man for your muscle to grow. Try to
do more reps or add more weight than the previous session or your muscles
will think, "Ah... we've done that. Nothing new, so no need to grow bigger
and stronger."
Because of this, it is important that every time you train hard, you give
your body time to recover as it has suffered strains and actually
sustained many small scarring. Your muscles grow when you rest, especially
when you sleep and not in the gym. So sleep at least 8 hours a day. Also,
do not train everyday or work the same muscle group more than once or
twice a week. If your training was vigorous enough, do no more than an
hour per session.
Try not to do cardio work on the same day as your weight lifting work. In
fact, during the muscle building phase, you should do less cardio work as
aerobic exercises burn muscles. You can increase your cardio work when we
come to the cutting phase, to lose fats and gain rippling definition.
Correct Technique And Form
Everywhere, everyday, you will see people using wrong form and technique
when training with weights. This not only compromises your growth, it will
also make you susceptible to injuries.
Wrong form occurs usually when people try to lift weights that are too
heavy, whether out of vanity or ignorance. As a guide, always lift with
strict focus on the muscle you intend to build for that particular
exercise. Feel it contract and extend. Lift the weights deliberately and
slowly. Never ever swing your weights up especially when doing bicep curls
or the military press. Lower the weights slowly, taking about 3 seconds
instead of letting gravity pull the weight down. You must fight gravity to
stimulate the muscles, if not, half of your effort is going to waste.
Another common mistake is when people arch their back when they are doing
their bench presses. By arching your back, you are using your spine to
press the weight up. Your back must be pressed against the bench at all
times for the exercise to be effectively working on your chest! However
you MUST arch your back when doing squats and deadlift.
With some exceptions, as a general rule, if you can lift a weight in good
form for more than 10 reps, it is too light. Conversely, if you can't lift
it more than 5 times in good form, it is too heavy.
To Grow Fast and Huge, You Must Perform Lower Body Exercises!
This is what most people don't realize. Your lower body makes up 60-70% of
your musculature. If you don't train them, not only will you look
spider-legged, your entire body will not grow as quickly and as large.
Don't think that you can hide those skinny legs in your pants! Most people
do not train their legs because squats, dead lifts and lunges can be very
grueling exercises. But it is precisely because of such intensity that you
will produce more growth hormones when you sleep and overall muscular
development is stimulated.
EAT and EAT Correctly
Losing weight and building muscles cannot happen at the same time although
there are methods to do so and will be too technical to describe here. To
lose weight, you must have a caloric deficit. To build muscles, you must
have more calories, period! So do not be afraid to eat. Have plenty of
protein, moderate complex carbs and some good oil like Omega, olive,
flaxseed, fish etc., especially immediately after a workout. That is when
your body is most nutrient hungry and will absorb whatever you eat very
quickly. The longer you delay eating after a workout, the less effective
it will be. Even better, take quick absorption protein shakes and high
glycemic carbs during this time. The carbs will induce insulin production
almost immediately and shuttle the protein to your muscle cells very
quickly.
Eat about 2 gm of protein for each kg of your bodyweight or 1 gm per pound
of your body weight. Spread your meals evenly throughout the day about 3
hours apart. It is advisable that you have supplementation of Creatine,
Protein, Multivitamins and L-Glutamine.
Yes, you will probably gain weight, but a lot of it will be muscle weight
because muscles are heavier than fats. You may also gain some fats because
of the extra calories consumed. Don't worry, it is a happy problem because
the more muscles you have, the easier the fats are to shed when you come
to the cutting up phase to get those rippling definitions.
Easy isn't it? Now that you know the facts, the rest is up to your
determination.
About the Author:
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