12 Muscle Building, Fitness and Diet Myths
MYTH 1 >>Weight Training Turns Women Into Men.
TRUTH: This myth is particularly common because women worry that lifting weights will bulk them up If you were to look at 1 pound of fat, and 1 pound of muscle side by side, you would notice how much smaller the muscle is even though it's the same weight.
Which blows another myth out of the water, muscle is heavier than fat 1lb of muscle will always weigh the same as 1lb of fat.
Meaning, the more muscle you have on your body, the less space you will take up.
Women can not bulk up using heavy weights. Ladies have too much estrogen in their hormone makeup. Yes, heavier weights build muscle and strength, but most women aren't lifting anything so heavy that we are at risk of looking like the Incredible Hulk. Plus, muscle is the secret to a revved up metabolism, as it burns more calories than more fat, even when you're sitting on the sofa or at your desk.
So the trend for women to lift lower weights and do higher reps then men is irresponsible information. Without chemical assistance, women cannot achieve extraordinary muscle growth. Because women's testosterone is lower, they likely won't be able to lift as much weight as men, but the typical three-pound lady dumbbells won't work because the resistance is too low to create change in the muscle.
If women aren't supposed to have muscles, why have them? The definition of "manly" differs from one individual to another, but we all have a different body structure. Some women have more feminine lines, others more androgynous. Wide hip bones and narrow shoulders are typical female shapes, but that doesn't mean an athletic woman is less feminine. Our society forms our ideals; you choose what you find attractive.
What makes athletic women bulky is more-than-average muscle mass combined with "excess" body fat. If you couple weight training with a smart diet, you'll be much smaller than you'd expect.
Bottom line, strength training will help you lose weight faster and keep it off in the long run. If you also do cardio, it'll help you retain muscle as you drop fat, as well as prevent your metabolism from slowing.
MYTH 2>>I can spot-reduce my problem areas
TRUTH: Spot-reduction is not possible unless you go for surgery. Without it, your body will draw fat from different regions at different rates depending on your genetic makeup. Instead of focusing on one area, spend your time doing full-body workouts that blast calories.
This is the same for six packs or flat belly.
You can do crunches till you pass out, and you still might not get a six-pack. Save yourself the wasted time and probable back pain -- the best way to get a six-pack involves making better dietary choices and doing high-intensity interval training.
Everybody is born with abdominal muscles. You just need to lose fat to make them stand out.
MYTH 3>>Carbs are the Enemy
TRUTH: The only way to lose the right amount of weight is by adopting a balanced diet that supports your goal, training with weights, and doing some cardio. Your program should include all of these aspects long enough to see a difference.
Diet, weights, and cardio-the holy trinity of fitness!
If you want to gain muscle, you're going to need carbs. If you take them out completely, you'll burn more body fat during training perhaps, but you can't keep it up for long. Carbs are fuel for intense workouts, fats are not.
The macronutrients needed for a well rounded nutritional program are carbs, protein and fat. All three of these are necessary and have important functions within the body. I am not going to go into complete detail here as a complete breakdown of macronutrients and their function is extremely lengthy and would be better suited in an article on nutrition which I will write at another time.
The best way to phrase this myth would be - Which carbs are you eating and when?" Whole grains, legumes, vegetables and minimally processed grains are all good examples of the carbs that you can eat frequently
MYTH 4>>Running Is the Only Way to Lose Weight
TRUTH: Your fitness success depends upon your goal. If you want to be able to run 10 miles without breaking a sweat, then yes, you'll have to run.
If your goal is fat loss or muscle gain, the most effective way to lose weight is to include both cardio and weights in your routine.
Weight training is what keeps us upright, aligned and strong. Raising the arches of our feet, strengthening our pelvic floor, and keeping our head from falling forward are the ultimate goals in preventing our bodies from collapsing as we age. Weight training strengthens tendons and ligaments as well as creates good bone density. While cardio can help with bone density and is an essential part of keeping your heart strong, it doesn't keep your body in alignment and strengthen your key postural muscles. Keep the balance and be sure weight training and cardio are in your repertoire.
MYTH 5>>The best time to exercise is early in the morning.
TRUTH: Unless you are a professional athlete training two to three times a day, then there is no one best time to exercise.
The best time is the time that appeals to you and fits into your schedule.
Listening to your body and knowing when you perform the best will help you decide if, in fact, mornings, afternoons or evening workouts are your time of power. Energy and attitude are keys in having great workouts. So learn your body clock, and try to hit the gym when you feel the strongest.
MYTH 6>>No pain, no gain.
TRUTH: A sign of a good workout is results, not soreness. Some localized muscular soreness that dissipates over a couple days can indicate that you worked hard. To increase muscle and develop endurance you may need to experience a slight level
of discomfort, but that's not pain. "No pain, no gain" is no good when it comes to developing a lifelong fitness plan.
Soreness is inflammation and the chemical response to inflammation. The only yardstick by which you need to measure progress is that of your goal. Judge your workout by what happens during that workout.
MYTH 7>>The best way to lose weight is to drastically cut calories
TRUTH: Our bodies are smarter than we think,When we eat too little, our body believes that it's starving so our metabolism slows down and holds onto fat as a potential energy source.
When some people try diets more than 90 percent of all people who lose weight by dieting gain it back.
Dieting for a quick fix is different from changing your eating habits
Eating healthy means developing a new mind set. The real trick to losing weight is a lifelong pattern of moderate exercise.
MYTH 8>>If you want to lose fat, avoid fat
TRUTH: Fats are necessary to maintain healthy hormone levels and make use of vitamins. Without it, you'll create a terrible environment for muscle growth. Fats also help you regulate your appetite. A carb-and-protein-only diet can make any fat-loss or muscle-build goal almost impossible to reach.
Healthy fats, such as Avocados, nuts, peanut butter, olive oil are "clean" and can help you lose weight are an important part of your diet, but having even a 100 percent clean diet doesn't mean you'll lose weight. You can be overweight and eat nothing but "clean" food.
MYTH 9>>You Can Eat What You Want If You Train Hard
TRUTH:You can't out train a bad diet.To burn fat, you need to expend more calories than your body uses. You can't hope to sit around and eat hamburgers all day and expect a few sessions a week to make you thinner. That's just silly.
MYTH 10>>The more you sweat, the more fat you lose
TRUTH: Sweat has nothing to do with intensity; it's your body's way of getting rid of heat. Fat is oxidized inside your body, and it is not going to vaporize because you're sweating!
MYTH 11>> Fruit is a healthy snack that can't make you fat
TRUTH: We eat food because it gives us nutrients and fuel, but any kind of food, no matter how healthy, can make you gain weight. Fruit has a lot of easily accessible carbs. When you provide your body with easily accessible carbs, you're basically telling it to stop burning body fat for fuel. Also, fruit's sugar is mainly fructose, which is stored in the liver instead of in the muscles. It's also true that filling yourself with high-calorie fruit means you won't achieve your fat-loss goal.
Vegetables have more minerals, vitamins, and even more anti-cancer properties than fruit. The difference between the two food groups is the calorie content. In general, vegetables have fewer calories than fruit.
MYTH 12>> You can't gain muscle after 40
TRUTH: Age does bring wear and tear, but at 40 you're still a training baby unless you've been a competitive professional athlete since you were a teenager. The reason metabolism slows down as we get older is a combination of lower hormone levels and less athletic activity. You can build muscle at any age. As long as you're challenging your muscles and feeding them the proper nutrients, your body will respond. As you age, building muscle gets more challenging.
But like anything else, if you do your best, you'll get good results.
Jonathan Nardinochi is the founder of JWN Personal Training based in South London. A former international Athlete, he has brought vast knowledge to his clients as a fat loss and body composition expert from experiences training with Olympic Athletes and coaches.
Level 3 Personal Trainer and Level 4 Obesity and Diabetes.
http://www.jwnpersonaltraining.co.uk
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7486455
Muscle Building Principles
Principle One- Lift Heavy
This is self explanatory but I see way to many people in the gym lifting way to light and not even reaching failure. To grow you must push your muscles to the point to where they must adapt by getting bigger and stronger. Basically when you contract a muscle using resistance (weight) you create little tears in muscle fibers, which must grow back bigger and stronger. The most common rep range used to build muscle is 6-12 reps with relatively heavy weight.
Principle Two- Fail
You must go to failure when lifting. This doesn't mean go to failure on every single set, but the majority of sets you should fail in the desired rep range e.g in the 6-12 range you should fail anywhere in between, if you can go above 12 increase the weight, if you cant reach 6 reps decrease the weight. YOU MUST FAIL TO SUCCEED.
Principle Three- Progress
You should be increasing the weight week to week. When you first start training your strength gains should be quite fast. Remember you must keep giving your body a reason to grow or else it will plateau and your gains will come to a stand still.
Principle Four- Keep Workouts Short
In general your workout should be 45 minutes to an hour and a half no longer. Its widely accepted that you will cause drops in testosterone (vital muscle building hormone) if you workout too long/overtrain. Length of your workout will be directly related to the rest you take in between sets (60-90 seconds).
Principle Five- Structure Your Workouts
Your workouts should be well structured. They should start with heavy low rep compound lifts e.g bench press, and then followed by lighter high rep isolation exercises e.g chest flyes. The main reason behind this is that you will have more energy at the start of your workout for lifting heavier loads.
Principle Six- Use Correct Form
Form is everything, when you use bad form e.g using your back while doing barbell curls, you decrease the stimulation on the bicep, and your just cheating your results. There is a time and place for cheating and that called forced reps. (I will do an article on that later, this article is just a basic outline of building muscle). Also when you use weight you cant handle you increase the chance of getting an injury. Trust me injuries are no joke they are very taxing physically but more so mentally.
Principle Seven- Eat Enough Calories
In reality you must eat more calories than you spend to grow. You may grow slightly if your just starting lifting without changing your diet. Most people say you need an excess of 3500 calories in one week to gain a pound of muscle. This is a myth in my opinion. 1 gram of fat = 9 calories 1 pound of fat = 3500 calories
1 gram of protein = 4 calories 1 pound of muscle = approximately 1800 calories ( including glycogen store)
You do the math, if your gaining a pound a week most of it is probably fat. Eat a surplus of about 150-300 calories daily to gain muscle slowly but surely. You cant bully your body into building more muscle by eating 5000 calories.
Principle Seven- Protein Power
Ideally you should get around at least 1 gram per pound bodyweight. You need protein to provide your muscles with the building blocks it needs to grow and repair. Don't think if you eat 500 grams of protein a day you will gain muscle twice as fast than eating 250 grams. Your body can only synthesize a certain amount of protein daily,after that it is either stored as fat or excreted as urea. This is determined by genetics and hormone levels. Why do you think pro bodybuilders get so big, they take hormones e.g testosterone to increase protein synthesis... they can expect to grow more on extremely high protein diets.
Principle Eight- Sleep To Grow
Ideally you should sleep 8-9 hours a night, realistically you should sleep at least 7 hours. Sleep increases hormones such as testosterone, growth hormone, leptin and also improves insulin sensitivity. All key for muscle building.
Principle Nine- Supplement Wisely
Supplements are to supplement an already good diet not replace it. You should only supplement what you cant get in your diet from whole foods. I recommend whey protein, fish oil, multivitamin, pre workout or creatine ( if you have the money). This is not an essential muscle building principle but it will give you that extra 10%.I will do a separate article on supplements in the future so check back under the nutrition header.
Principle Ten- Educate Yourself
Probably the most important muscle building principle. You cant go into this process of building muscle blindly, you have to know what your doing. Unless your some genetic freak who gains muscle just looking at a dumbbell, you have to do your research.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7286738
This is self explanatory but I see way to many people in the gym lifting way to light and not even reaching failure. To grow you must push your muscles to the point to where they must adapt by getting bigger and stronger. Basically when you contract a muscle using resistance (weight) you create little tears in muscle fibers, which must grow back bigger and stronger. The most common rep range used to build muscle is 6-12 reps with relatively heavy weight.
Principle Two- Fail
You must go to failure when lifting. This doesn't mean go to failure on every single set, but the majority of sets you should fail in the desired rep range e.g in the 6-12 range you should fail anywhere in between, if you can go above 12 increase the weight, if you cant reach 6 reps decrease the weight. YOU MUST FAIL TO SUCCEED.
Principle Three- Progress
You should be increasing the weight week to week. When you first start training your strength gains should be quite fast. Remember you must keep giving your body a reason to grow or else it will plateau and your gains will come to a stand still.
Principle Four- Keep Workouts Short
In general your workout should be 45 minutes to an hour and a half no longer. Its widely accepted that you will cause drops in testosterone (vital muscle building hormone) if you workout too long/overtrain. Length of your workout will be directly related to the rest you take in between sets (60-90 seconds).
Principle Five- Structure Your Workouts
Your workouts should be well structured. They should start with heavy low rep compound lifts e.g bench press, and then followed by lighter high rep isolation exercises e.g chest flyes. The main reason behind this is that you will have more energy at the start of your workout for lifting heavier loads.
Principle Six- Use Correct Form
Form is everything, when you use bad form e.g using your back while doing barbell curls, you decrease the stimulation on the bicep, and your just cheating your results. There is a time and place for cheating and that called forced reps. (I will do an article on that later, this article is just a basic outline of building muscle). Also when you use weight you cant handle you increase the chance of getting an injury. Trust me injuries are no joke they are very taxing physically but more so mentally.
Principle Seven- Eat Enough Calories
In reality you must eat more calories than you spend to grow. You may grow slightly if your just starting lifting without changing your diet. Most people say you need an excess of 3500 calories in one week to gain a pound of muscle. This is a myth in my opinion. 1 gram of fat = 9 calories 1 pound of fat = 3500 calories
1 gram of protein = 4 calories 1 pound of muscle = approximately 1800 calories ( including glycogen store)
You do the math, if your gaining a pound a week most of it is probably fat. Eat a surplus of about 150-300 calories daily to gain muscle slowly but surely. You cant bully your body into building more muscle by eating 5000 calories.
Principle Seven- Protein Power
Ideally you should get around at least 1 gram per pound bodyweight. You need protein to provide your muscles with the building blocks it needs to grow and repair. Don't think if you eat 500 grams of protein a day you will gain muscle twice as fast than eating 250 grams. Your body can only synthesize a certain amount of protein daily,after that it is either stored as fat or excreted as urea. This is determined by genetics and hormone levels. Why do you think pro bodybuilders get so big, they take hormones e.g testosterone to increase protein synthesis... they can expect to grow more on extremely high protein diets.
Principle Eight- Sleep To Grow
Ideally you should sleep 8-9 hours a night, realistically you should sleep at least 7 hours. Sleep increases hormones such as testosterone, growth hormone, leptin and also improves insulin sensitivity. All key for muscle building.
Principle Nine- Supplement Wisely
Supplements are to supplement an already good diet not replace it. You should only supplement what you cant get in your diet from whole foods. I recommend whey protein, fish oil, multivitamin, pre workout or creatine ( if you have the money). This is not an essential muscle building principle but it will give you that extra 10%.I will do a separate article on supplements in the future so check back under the nutrition header.
Principle Ten- Educate Yourself
Probably the most important muscle building principle. You cant go into this process of building muscle blindly, you have to know what your doing. Unless your some genetic freak who gains muscle just looking at a dumbbell, you have to do your research.
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Let's Talk About Muscle Building
Muscle building has always been famous and it even became more than a necessity in our modern world due to advanced products, methods, and techniques developed to complement the traditional ways. When we talk about muscle building, the word steroid always comes up. This is because it's normal for people to aim for faster results when it comes to any goal and steroids changed the way body building is viewed by society.
The traditional ways of muscle building involve natural ways of developing muscles and promoting overall health. These methods involve pure hard work. The modern methods sometimes focus only on the results. For instance, there are a lot of people who use steroids or drugs that can increase muscle mass by altering some of the body's natural hormones. You can sometimes see an ad presenting only the benefits without revealing the possible side effects. These drugs also work by increasing muscle mass and at the same time adding density to your bones. These products claim that they are safe and tested. A lot would even testify of their effectiveness.
You can choose the method that you want; you can stick to the old style or the modern style. But always remember that in any decision, safety comes first. This means that you need to know everything about the choices that you will take. Muscle building is a serious thing. It can be life changing and it's up to you to decide if it's for the better or for worse.
For people who are fanatics of muscle building, there may be times when the results that they want seem so hard to achieve. These are the times when they start comparing their bodies with others'. If you have been working out for several months now and somehow not satisfied with the results, you may be considering the known shortcuts to a better physique called steroids.
Before you make this serious move, you have to consider a lot of factors as these drugs may involve your health and at times, your future. If you're planning to buy any of them, you need to do some research first. It would be helpful to know that these drugs contain adrenaline boosting components. Imagine being chased by a dog. That is the type of alertness that you can gain from this drug. Along with the increased hormones produce, the chemicals inside your body will also react to make your muscle growth faster than the usual. With this effect that you can get, it requires a lot of care and safety precautions. Improper use can affect your respiratory and cardiovascular system.
Obtaining great results requires responsibility and it is very important to always consider safety. This means that you have to be aware and knowledgeable about the choices that you make. Any wrong move may put your overall health at risk so make sure to consider all the factors involved.
Know more about muscle building and start living a healthy life.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7467177
The traditional ways of muscle building involve natural ways of developing muscles and promoting overall health. These methods involve pure hard work. The modern methods sometimes focus only on the results. For instance, there are a lot of people who use steroids or drugs that can increase muscle mass by altering some of the body's natural hormones. You can sometimes see an ad presenting only the benefits without revealing the possible side effects. These drugs also work by increasing muscle mass and at the same time adding density to your bones. These products claim that they are safe and tested. A lot would even testify of their effectiveness.
You can choose the method that you want; you can stick to the old style or the modern style. But always remember that in any decision, safety comes first. This means that you need to know everything about the choices that you will take. Muscle building is a serious thing. It can be life changing and it's up to you to decide if it's for the better or for worse.
For people who are fanatics of muscle building, there may be times when the results that they want seem so hard to achieve. These are the times when they start comparing their bodies with others'. If you have been working out for several months now and somehow not satisfied with the results, you may be considering the known shortcuts to a better physique called steroids.
Before you make this serious move, you have to consider a lot of factors as these drugs may involve your health and at times, your future. If you're planning to buy any of them, you need to do some research first. It would be helpful to know that these drugs contain adrenaline boosting components. Imagine being chased by a dog. That is the type of alertness that you can gain from this drug. Along with the increased hormones produce, the chemicals inside your body will also react to make your muscle growth faster than the usual. With this effect that you can get, it requires a lot of care and safety precautions. Improper use can affect your respiratory and cardiovascular system.
Obtaining great results requires responsibility and it is very important to always consider safety. This means that you have to be aware and knowledgeable about the choices that you make. Any wrong move may put your overall health at risk so make sure to consider all the factors involved.
Know more about muscle building and start living a healthy life.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7467177
Best Muscle Building Tip
Muscle building is all about the right weight training and correct diet. With proper training, even a skinny person can flex his muscles within a few months. Muscle building is not only about looking great, but it is also about healthy living.
Muscle building improves the metabolism rate of the body naturally, thereby boosting your calorie expenditure even while you are resting. Moreover, strong muscles are good for the bones, joints and spines. Risk of injuries can be minimized by increasing muscle mass.
Tips for Building Muscles
Increase Calorie Intake
You cannot build muscles without gaining weight. Hence, you have to shed all inhibitions of overeating. Your muscle mass will increase only when your total energy expenditure is less than your total calorie intake. Adding calorie dense foods to the daily diet will help to meet your enhanced calorie requirement. However, while adding calories to you daily diet make sure you are not increasing consumption of saturated fat. Divide your daily calorie requirement into six meals.
Eat More Protein
In addition to increasing your daily calorie intake, consume sufficient amount of healthy protein each day. Your muscles can grow only with increase in protein synthesis. The higher is the protein reserve in the body, the larger will be the size of the muscles. Apart from muscle building, protein is also needed for numerous other activities of the body. To make sure that sufficient protein is available for muscle building, you must consume maximum amount of protein. For each pound of your body weight, you need about a gram of protein to build muscles. Lean meat, chicken, eggs, milk and dairy are the best forms of proteins that can be included in your muscle building diet.
Weight Lifting
After balancing your daily calorie requirement, it is time to build muscles through weight training. Weight lifting helps to increase the size of the muscles and facilitates fat burning. Weight with which you can complete not more than 6 to 8 reps smoothly is appropriate for muscle building. As your body becomes conditioned to weight lifting, you will start gaining muscles gradually by lifting heavier weights.
Target the large muscle groups
To increase muscle synthesis, work the muscles of the chest, legs and back, the large muscle groups of the body.
Lift Every Alternate Day
Muscle synthesis occurs while you are resting after weight lifting session. Full body workouts every alternate day is usually recommended for best result.
Joshua "Coach" Kozak has been a fixture in the world of health and fitness for over 10 years. Gain mass and size with HASfit's weight gain diet! Best massive bodybuilding leg exercises
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7448806
Muscle building improves the metabolism rate of the body naturally, thereby boosting your calorie expenditure even while you are resting. Moreover, strong muscles are good for the bones, joints and spines. Risk of injuries can be minimized by increasing muscle mass.
Tips for Building Muscles
Increase Calorie Intake
You cannot build muscles without gaining weight. Hence, you have to shed all inhibitions of overeating. Your muscle mass will increase only when your total energy expenditure is less than your total calorie intake. Adding calorie dense foods to the daily diet will help to meet your enhanced calorie requirement. However, while adding calories to you daily diet make sure you are not increasing consumption of saturated fat. Divide your daily calorie requirement into six meals.
Eat More Protein
In addition to increasing your daily calorie intake, consume sufficient amount of healthy protein each day. Your muscles can grow only with increase in protein synthesis. The higher is the protein reserve in the body, the larger will be the size of the muscles. Apart from muscle building, protein is also needed for numerous other activities of the body. To make sure that sufficient protein is available for muscle building, you must consume maximum amount of protein. For each pound of your body weight, you need about a gram of protein to build muscles. Lean meat, chicken, eggs, milk and dairy are the best forms of proteins that can be included in your muscle building diet.
Weight Lifting
After balancing your daily calorie requirement, it is time to build muscles through weight training. Weight lifting helps to increase the size of the muscles and facilitates fat burning. Weight with which you can complete not more than 6 to 8 reps smoothly is appropriate for muscle building. As your body becomes conditioned to weight lifting, you will start gaining muscles gradually by lifting heavier weights.
Target the large muscle groups
To increase muscle synthesis, work the muscles of the chest, legs and back, the large muscle groups of the body.
Lift Every Alternate Day
Muscle synthesis occurs while you are resting after weight lifting session. Full body workouts every alternate day is usually recommended for best result.
Joshua "Coach" Kozak has been a fixture in the world of health and fitness for over 10 years. Gain mass and size with HASfit's weight gain diet! Best massive bodybuilding leg exercises
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7448806
Muscle Building Tips - The Big 3 For Big Progress
Muscle doesn't just look good: It is also vitally important for health and especially fat loss. Therefore, it pays to know which exercises will bring about the most muscle gains in the shortest possible time. Forget about the muscle building tips that you read about in magazines such as Flex, these 3 exercises are the bread and butter of gaining muscle mass. Incorporate them into your routine and watch the fat begin to melt away.
1. The Bench Press - This is probably the most talked about exercise in the gym. Most males in the gym compare their fitness progress based on how much weight they are able to bench press: And with good reason. It happens to be a very important movement. This exercise utilizes not only the chest, but also the shoulders, triceps and to a very small extent, the back. The bench press offers a lot of variety. You are able to choose between a barbell, dumbbells or even machines.
2. The Deadlift - Nothing is better for building raw power and muscle mass than the deadlift. Because the deadlift uses so much of the lower body, you will find that you are able to life a considerable amount of weight when performing this exercise. This is what makes it so effective: The more weight that you lift, the more energy you will use. The more energy you use, the more fat you will burn. As with the bench, the deadlift offers a wide array of variety, all the way from barbells to machines. If you do decide to go heavy, it is best to invest in a weight lifting belt to support the lower back and prevent injury.
3. The Squat - If there were an exercise that was a close contender to the effectiveness of the deadlift, it would be the squat. The squat targets your entire lower body and also produces growth hormone if you are willing to up the weight. You are in no way limited to the use of a barbell: Dumbbells are also an option, as is your own bodyweight. If I were giving muscle building tips to a stranger, I would always recommend to perform some variation of squat whenever they were training their legs. Again, if you feel the need to lift heavy with the squat, I would recommend using a weight lifting belt.
I hope that you have found these muscle building tips to be informative and also an indication that gaining quality muscle doesn't have to be complicated. Don't be the person who is always searching for that next "secret" exercise that will bring results. If you make these 3 exercises the core of your resistance training, you will make consistent progress, week after week.
John Stamford is a personal trainer, nutritionist and an expert in everything relating to fat loss. Visit his website in order to discover "One Tip That May Be Preventing You From Losing Fat", plus receive free updates for life at:
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How to Build Muscle - 5 Things You Should Know to Start Building Muscle
Here is a list of 5 things you need to know on how to build muscle mass. I will cover exercises to build muscle, recovery methods and all the essential information you need to start building muscle as quickly as possible. Only the truth about what really works for people genetically normal like you. So let's start.
1. Gaining strength is key to develop muscles
When people ask me how to build muscle, the first thing I say is that they should add more weight to the bar before trying something else. If you want to grow, you have to gain strength. If you always use the same weight, you'll never get big. This rule applies not only to weight lifting. Some of the most effective exercises to build muscle are bodyweight exercises. You must progress to more difficult levels of any move you make.
2. Use Compound Exercises
Don't waste your time doing exercises like leg extension and Concentration Curls. Compounds exercises (multi-joint exercises that allow you to use more weight) develop muscle faster than anything.
These exercises are:
• Squats
• Deadlift
• Pull-ups
• Standard Push-Up
• Military Press
• Bench Press
• Rowing with bar
3. Use free weights and body weight exercises
Your exercises should be done with free weights or body weight resistance (Pull-ups, Standard Push-Up). Those exercises lead to a higher level of neuromuscular activation and build muscle and strength faster.
4. Train at least 4 days a week
When I say "train" I do not necessarily mean lifting weights. You could do three days of strength training and one day of sled pushing or hill sprints. But forget about training three times a week for 13 minutes and then rest for the rest of the week. There are 168 hours in a week. Are you going to train only 90 minutes of those 168 hours? The human body is capable of much more than you think.
If you really want to gain muscle as fast as possible, you should do strength training at least three times a week. Also, you have to do 1-3 sessions of sled or hill sprints. Rest is very important to build muscle but don't be afraid to train hard. The body is very strong and will adapt to that training.
5. Don't let your training lasts more than 60 minutes
Frequent and shorter sessions give faster results than infrequent and longer sessions. When you start training, your body will raise your testosterone levels naturally. In the 45th minute, testosterone levels return to normal and after 60 minutes the body starts producing less testosterone and more cortisol, a hormone that eats muscle tissue and increases fat storage. So don't train more than 60 minutes, or you will not be able to build muscle and gain weight.
If you want more tips about how to build muscle, please visit the provided links. You will find some articles about training, diet, etc.
John Douglas
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_N_Douglas
Egg White Protein - Muscle Building Supplements - Natural Protein
Eating more Egg White Protein as Muscle Building Supplements may not have been on the top of your New Year's resolutions...but it should be! As a Personal Trainer, I know that the New Year brings with it an onslaught of well intentioned fitness and nutrition goals. I'm happy to support this new found enthusiasm in my clients, however regardless of the motivation, it always comes down to basics. To build muscle and lose fat means committing to a clean diet high in protein and a consistent and effective workout routine.
Today I want to dispel the myth that you need a kitchen cabinet full of muscle building supplements to reach your goals. It's simply not true! You may have noticed recently that I started writing more about raw food diets and natural protein supplements; and today I'm going to tell you about Egg White Protein. I'm a firm believer that we should focus on eating foods in their most natural state. The human body wasn't designed to be a chemical filtration system! While there are tons of protein supplements available online or through your local vitamin shop, the purest form of proteins come in their most natural state!
Whether you're looking to lose weight, build muscle, or just researching the best muscle building supplements, look no further than our good friend the egg! The egg is one of the most complete and versitile foods available to us and bodybuilders, gym rats, and weekend warriors have been singing its praises for decades.
What is Egg White Protein?
Well this is a no brainer, but let's pretend we don't know! lol The egg white is the clear liquid contained within an egg and constitutes about two-thirds of the egg's total weight.
How Much Protein Is In Egg Whites?
The average egg will contain about 6.29 grams of protein. A little more than half of that protein (about 3.6 grams) comes from the egg white itself. This is according to the Egg Nutrition Center (ENC). Yes, that's a real organization!
How Much Protein Do I Need To Build Muscle?
The United States RDA (recommended daily allowance) is about.4 grams per one pound of body weight. Figure that out by multiplying.4 with your body weight. That is an average and based on a sedentary lifestyle. The most widely accepted minimum protein requirements by most fitness professionals is about 1 gram of protein per 1 pound of body weight if you're looking to supplement a workout routine.
Los Angeles Personal Trainer Riley Daye is part of the ProGrips Fitness Team. His areas of study include Weight Lifting, Strength Training, Nutrition, Body Building and Sport Specific Training.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Riley_Daye
Facts About Muscle Building for Women
It's common to come across articles, videos, and any information about body building. But most of these are geared towards men. While there is a big percentage of men who are interested in building muscles and weight training, only a small number of women go for similar workout goals. Oftentimes, they simply want to lose weight, tone their curves, or get abs but not exactly on building bulges or what others usually refer to as getting "ripped". If you fall under that small percentage of women interested in bodybuilding, knowing some vital information may help you achieve workout goals effectively. Here are some information about muscle building for women.
Many wonder if women should workout differently from men to build muscles. Many experts believe there should not be any specific difference in workout, but results will always vary due to the difference between the male and female physical makeup, capacity, and responses to bodybuilding. Men generally have more muscle mass and less fat than women. To be able to build muscles, women need to reduce carbohydrates and increase protein intake in the process. That is why many experts recommend that women watch their overall caloric intake to achieve better results. The best part, however, is that women have a higher capacity to burn fats than men, making low-carb diets more effective for females. However, lessening total caloric intake too much will also slow down muscle formation. It is effective to have more protein in diet and lower percentage of carbohydrates and fats in total calorie count.
With testosterone hormone significantly aiding in muscle mass formation, men obviously have a substantial advantage over women who only produce minimal testosterone in the body. Others choose supplements, specifically testosterone boosters and growth hormones, to achieve bigger results. However, many avoid such supplements due to fear of androgenic side effects like deepening of the voice and increased hair growth and libido. Ever wonder how many women body builders achieve those ripped bodies similar to men? They use these testosterone boosters or anabolic steroids to gain significant strength and muscles mass. If you are keen on getting a ripped body, supplements would help but always be cautious in how you use them to minimize the side effects that come with it. At the least, you can still enjoy a leaner body and toned muscles with safe and effective supplements, regular workout, and controlled diet. No growth hormones involved.
While standard workout for women involves a lot of cardio and lifting of light weights, muscle building requires women to lift heavier and challenging weights to increase strength and gain muscle. You don't have to worry about getting too ripped from heavier weights because this can only be possible with higher testosterone levels as mentioned above. With challenging weights and a variety of pull-ups, shoulder press, bench press, curls, and deadlifts, women can expect a toned up body and more solid curves.
Bodybuilding for women, just like that of men, requires a workout program and great effort to achieve the desired results. It is best to follow weekly programs and get help from trainers who are experienced and knowledgeable about muscle building specifically for the ladies.
Liam Wills is a health and nutrition writer. He has over ten years experience in nutrition and fitness and hopes to share his knowledge and understanding of health, fitness, and supplements like Creatine, whey protein powders, Musashi, and energy boosters. He is currently training to join triathlons in Australia
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liam_A_Wills
Muscle Building Tricks
Building muscle comes down to the 2 things. The basics, and the things that you probably aren't doing. There is a line that says "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got." If you find that you can't seem to build muscle, here are a couple of cutting edge muscle building tips that you can throw in your gym bag and take with you when you lift.
Muscle Building Tip #1
Use wrist straps. You are in the gym to build muscle, not work on your grip strength. When you are doing exercises like barbells rows, dumbbell rows, lat pull down, pull ups, or even shrugs, your grip can give out before your muscle group does. Doing this compromises your ability to fully stimulate your targeted muscle group. Using wrist straps will alleviate this problem so you can put all of your focus on hitting your muscle group, instead of worrying about your grip giving out.
Muscle Building Tip #2
Listen to music. Music is one things that many lifters must absolutely have in their gym bag, and I would recommend the same for you. It has also been proven that listening to your favorite tunes can actually help you lift more. More weight lifted equals more muscle stimulated, which leads to more growth. Use some type of MP3 player and be sure to fill it with motivating music that will get you pumped up for your workout. Not only that, less people will come up to you when you are lifting if you constantly have your headphones in your ears. In this scenario, the local gym "know-it-all" will have to preach his bad advice to someone else. Definitely a win-win situation.
Muscle Building Tip #3
Take longer rests in between sets. The greatest advantage of taking longer rests is that it allows your muscles to (just about) completely recover from your taxing sets. More time to rest in between sets equals more weight lifted on the next set. An example of a longer rest period is 2-3 minutes or even 3-5 minutes.
Muscle Building Tip #4
Work on your weaknesses. Everyone has that muscle group or certain exercise that they avoid like the plague. Stop avoiding it. Many times lifters will focus on their strengths and by doing that, they completely forget about their weaknesses. Work on your weaknesses and you will find out that by doing those exercises you don't prefer, you can actually grow to like them over time. What was once your weakness, has now become your strength.
Make sure you are focusing on your mistakes as well. They must be fixed. Now a days lifters make the same mistakes over and over again and it ruins any chances they have to build muscle. Check out what the 3 WORST muscle building mistakes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Canzanella
Muscle Building Program Myths
Is that how you feel when you are on a muscle building plan that just seems to be not working anymore? You may have had great results in the beginning but now things have come to a screeching halt. Better yet, you are not on any program at all and you're just winging it. Well I can tell you that every muscle building programs lifespan is very short. You'll see great gains in the beginning but then suddenly your body adapts. What do you do?
We are going to dive in and debunk some common myths about muscle building programs.
1. I have to work out even harder than I did before.
While there may be some little truth to this like adding a few more pounds to your bench the next time you do chest, sometimes doing something different is far better. You can only add weight so many times before you stop, so then what?
Most programs need to be switch up after 4-6 weeks. Your body adapts to different stresses very quickly and when that happens its time to switch things up a bit. We are creatures of habit and we tend to stick with the same training methods for months or even years. You got to change it up. Hire a trainer if you need to. A really good one will change it up for you all the time.
How do people get those crazy looking physiques that they have? Is it because they stuck with one thing? Or a variety of things? While some programs will get you well on your way towards your physique goals it won't make you look like a cover model on the front of a magazine. Those guys on the magazines and bodybuilders did a variety of programs through years and years of different forms of training. Just be ready to invest in yourself over a period of years.
It's just like in life, you go through different seasons and things change. There are good times and not so good times but nothing is permanent. Take what you are doing in the season that you're in seriously and when it's over move on to the next one. I know it's natural to stick to one thing, we are creatures of habit but its time to get uncomfortable and move forward.
2. All I have to do is buy the supplements advertised in muscle building magazines to look like him or her.
Don't be fooled by the guy or girl inside the muscle building magazines advertising that x supplement will make you look like a fitness model or bodybuilder. Do supplements help? To a degree, but don't totally rely on them until your training and nutrition are 90-100% dialed in.
Most of the models you see in the muscle building magazines are either on steroids or a little bit photo shopped.
3. I don't have good genetics to build muscle.
Don't believe the lie that you have to have good genetics to build muscle, that's just an excuse some people use to not go to the gym.
We all have some type of limitations but that doesn't mean that you can't change your physique and build muscle. Genetics only play a very small role to your muscle building goals. I come from a family who doesn't have the best genetics and in my early years I was very skinny. As I began to educate myself on nutrition and building muscle, I put on weight, built muscle, got my nutrition in order and still do it today.
If you are dedicated to your physique goals you can go well beyond your genetic potential.
If you are dedicated to your physique goals you can go well beyond your genetic potential.
If you want to see an example of a guy other than me and want to go beyond your genetic potential go here http://turnaroundfitness.com/live-large-tv
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_A_Ernst
Muscle Building for Rugby Players
Rugby players seek to build muscle for a variety of reasons perhaps to tackle harder, push with more intensity, increase strength and endurance or to have more physical power in a ruck or scrum. Or they may want to run faster, increase recovery after a game, play harder and with more strength than ever before. Much of the training that many rugby players do is not productive. By that I mean that muscle building for a rugby player needs to be demonstrable rather than just cosmetic.
Having the biggest muscles on the pitch is not going to make you, by itself, a better player. However, having bigger stronger muscles than you currently have, especially if you have developed the correct muscles can significantly improve your "on pitch" performance.
For rugby you need to work on your main muscle groups with a view to developing explosive power. Doing set after set with light to moderate weights will do little to improve your performance levels, but doing intense exercises that target your legs, back, shoulders etc., if done correctly will produce amazing results. These intense exercises do not necessarily need to be based solely on lifting weights. The key is "resistance" high intensity resistance. This can be achieved in a number of ways ranging from dragging tyres across a field, to running while carrying your team mates, to weighted dips, press ups and chin ups. The possibilities are endless but the key to tangible muscle growth in them all is intensity and DO NOT over train. Over training can be as bad for muscle growth as not training at all. Let your body fully recover after training before training the next time if you really want to maximise your muscle growth.
The key to all Rugby Training, as with training for any sport is that the training should improve your performance when in real match conditions. For every sport there will be people who excel at training sessions yet cannot put the training into practice in a match. In rugby you will often see people who are very skilled at mastering complex training passing movements, but when match time arrives they cannot adapt what they have learned onto the pitch.
The nature of the game of rugby means that you have short bursts of very high intensity followed by periods of lower intensity. This being the case, it would seem logical that High Intensity Interval Training was the basis of any training protocol, both for fitness and of course muscle building.
The Tabata method of High Intensity Interval Training has been used successfully for years for fitness. It involves a 20 second burst of maximum intensity followed by a 10 second recovery phase - repeated for seven times. Done correctly this can have the most amazing results. For rugby training this exercise protocol should be adapted to core exercises such as the Squat, Front Squat, Deadlift, Dips etc etc.
To be effective this needs to be done at maximum intensity. After you have finished a set you should be totally burnt out and need several minutes to recover. If you don't then either the intensity was too low or the weight was too light.
Rugby training done in this way is both safe, effective and fast and the muscle building and associated demonstrable fitness gains associated with it can be quite outstanding.
Rugby Players looking to increase muscle size, strength and power, should train with very high levels of intensity and used a Tabata style of training to maximize overall gains. For more information go to http://www.247creatine.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Zack_R_Lanzas
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