Gym Workouts

Posts Tagged ‘build muscle mass’

So, how many kilos can you bench? It is certainly one of the top few questions that weight trainers like to ask each other around the world. In fact the amount you can bench is a great yardstick for over all strength and is probably the best way to gain muscle mass on your upper body and therefore the exercise has reached almost mythical status. So in this article we will provide you with three tips for developing your bench press.

1) Use drop-sets. These are really effective for giving your chest a massive muscle burn and really stressing the muscles. To do these quite simply do your bench-press exercise as normal but once you can no longer do anymore reps simply take off a weight disc and bang out as many more reps as you possibly can. Then lower the weight yet again and do as many more as you can. Keep reducing the weight on the bar in this style until their is no weight left on the bar or until you cannot complete any more repetitions. This is a very intense technique and will leave you sore for a few days after. Keep your protein intake at a high level to ensure your muscle grow back stronger as soon as possible and to get rid of the muscle soreness.

2) Cease training your chest. Instead give your triceps a separate workout. By doing so you can focus on strengthening your tricep muscle a great deal more. Once you have done this for 3-4 weeks return to your regular bench-pressing workout and you will are highly likely to top your previous best bench-press. This is due to the fact that your chest will have had a really good rest period to completely recover from all of your previous workouts and also your triceps will now possess greater strength. As your triceps do a great deal of the work along with your chest muscles when benchpressing it stands to reason that you will be able to press more.

3) 10 sets of 10 repetitions. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a fan of this method and was the first person to bring it to real prominence. Basically you benchpress as much weight as you can possibly cope with for ten repetitions and then do another ten reps. Repeat this until you have done ten sets of ten reps. You will have to reduce the weight each time and have to give yourself a two to three minute break between sets. The point of this is to provide your muscle withe some really unique stimuli for growth. Once more expect to be particularly sore for maybe a week or so following this workout but also expect increase your maximum bench-press on your return to the gym. This is perhaps the fastest way to gain muscle on your chest if done correctly nd is great no no nonsense muscle building.

OK, I hope you found that useful so why not go ahead and give those tips a try in your next pecs workout.

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Depending on where you look there is a lot of great information out there on how to build muscle up. However provided here are a few seldom mentioned tips that can certainly aid you in your quest for muscle mass. Here they are:

Try drinking green tea. This can inhibit the enzyme that inhibits nor-epinephrine which mean that you should experience raised levels of this muscle building metabolic hormone which can also aid in weight loss. It is also rammed full of anti-oxidants that can greatly aid in post workout recovery and also for your general health.

Take on board healthy fats. These are crucial for correct working of many parts of the human body for example the heart, brain, production of energy and the regulation of hormones too. Oily fish, natural peanut butter, avocado and oily dressings are all excellent sources of this.

Ingest casein protein. This particular protein is released more slowly in to the body as it takes time to ingest it properly. This is great news if you consume it just before sleeping because your body can then make use of it in order to build muscle up whilst you sleep.

Ingest 20 to 30 grams of whey protein first thing. Upon rising take a protein shake. This will put a stop to the catabolic state of your body that you may have been experiencing whilst you were asleep and also give you a solid start on achieving your protein intake target for the day.

Try drop sets for difficult to grow body parts. This technique is very intense and can be used to stimulate growth effectively in any weaker areas that you struggle to grow. Firstly, complete your set as you would normally and when you have pushed out your final rep lower the weight by around 20 percent and perform more reps, then decrease the weight once again and do more reps. Continue this as long as you can it will provide you with an extreme burn and probably leave you extremely sore the next day.

Ingest lots of water. It is important not to under estimate the positive benefits of reminaing well hydrated during the day. water is critical for many reactions in the body especially muscle building ones.

Continue learning as much as you can. there are a wide variety of ways to make your muscles grow. experiment and find out what helps you build muscle up the best and stick with those.

So, by applying some of the above weight gain tips you should be able to build up muscle even faster than before. If you wanto to look lean and ripped we highly recommend the following burn the fat build the muscle ebook. Good luck.

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Spending hours in the gym to build muscle up and not making progress? Great news! There is a real cahce that just this one oversight is stopping you from building muscle up fast. this knowledge alone will help you enormously in your attempts to build muscle up. For a lot of people this little known truth can easily help them build muscle up fast.

So what exactly is this well kept secret? A new drug or something?

No not at all. It is something known as Cortisol and has actyually been known about for a long time but its affects are still ignored by some.

What precisely is cortisol?

Produced in response to stress placed on the body cortisol is a hormone released by the body throughout the day. Levels of cortisol drop slightly from their peak in the morning.

What does it do?

Well it enhances your short term memory, aids in regulation of blood sugar levels and helps detox the liver. However it can raise blood pressure and decrease bone density if your cortisol levels get too high, however this would be unusual. However critically it does diminish muscle because it aids in the body using muscle for energy rather than fat. It is for this reason that bodybuilders should keep their workouts down to an hour at most. After this they will be doing more harm than good!

Here are a few guidelines to ensure that you are not wasting your time trying to build muscle up:

1) limit your cardio workouts, too much cardio causes the body to release cortisol which as explained is not what we need.

2) Try to not drink too much caffeine as this can also cause corisol levels to rise.

3) Make sure your training sessions are less than an hour. wear headphones if this helps you to stay focussed.

4) Chill out an take it easy as cortisol is produced in response to stres.

5) Consume small frequent meals as infrequent meals make the body assume it is starving and will thus try and use muscle mass as a form of energy before it makes use of fat reserves by releasing more cortisol.

6) Sleep. This is the time when your muscle mass building hormones are highest and your level of cortisol is lowest therefore attempt to get 8 hours sleep.

With those building muscle tips in mind you should be able to give your workouts a great boost and help you to build up muscle more efficiently.

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A typical dilemma for any active sportsmen who lifts weights and wants to gain muscle mass is that they know there goal to build muscle up conflicts with the fact that they do a lot of cardio-vascular work. How can someone like this doing a muscle building routine build muscle fastest whilst still doing cardio, indeed is it even possible?

Well often you will read that in order to build muscles fastest you should keep cardio workouts to a minimum. This is said because cardio workouts do two main things that work against muscle building, they are: 1) use up a lot of calories 2) increase the speed of your metabolism. Both of these two things contribute to the same problem, namely, not getting enough calories on board. How many calories ought I to be eating is therefore the next natural question?

Well, to keep at the same weight every day you would be required to consume enough calories to cover the energy usage of your body as if it were resting (basal metabolic rate), then eat enough extra calories to provide energy for your workouts. Every day you will have to take on board another 500 calories if you want to build muscle mass.

Is there a method to work out this number?

Yes, certainly one method of doing so is by using the Katch-McArdle formula (BMR based on lean body weight). Here it is:

Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X wt in kg) + (5 X ht in cm) – (6.8 X age in years)

Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X wght in kgs) + (1.8 X hght in cm) – (4.7 X age in years)

Once you have gotten this figure you should then multiply it by one of the following to allow for your daily activity levels:

Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active equals BMR X 1.375 (1-3 days/wk sports/light exercise )
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (sports 3-5 days/wk/moderate exercise)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (sports 6-7 days/hard exercise/wk)
Extr. active equals BMR X 1.{9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i}.e marathon, competition etc).

So, if you are doing cardio and weights frequently then you should multiply this by at least 1.725. This will cover the amount of energy for your daily needs. This total then needs to changed according to your specific goals. Assuming your goal is muscle building a further 500 calories each day need to be added to this amount.

So if your final figure is 3000 calories then you would be looking at eating 6 meals per day of 500 calories each. To follow this strategy one snack or meal would be based around 11 gram coming from fat, 62 grams coming from carbohydrate and 37 grams coming from protein. This is calculated as so because one gram of fat equals 9 calories as opposed to one gram of protein or carbohydrate which is worth 4 grams.

Correct muscle building nutrition and working out your calorie needs like this is what is going to ensure you build muscles fastest, not any miracle new exercise!

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Here are a few quick tips to help you build muscle as fast a you possibly can. No messing around here seven top build muscles tips:

1) Eat frequently and often. For bodybuilding newbies you may possibly find it difficult to consume enough calories. To get past this problem you ought to consume 5-7 snacks and meals each day and eat double your usual portions.

2) Rest plentifully. Your body’s muscles need plenty of time at rest if you want to increase their mass. They do not increase in muscle mass in the weights room. So just as you should workout to build muscle mass you should also rest a lot to get big.

3) Workout for no longer than 45 minutes at a time. A hormone is released at around this time marker that will actually restrict your muscles growth. Finishing your workout after 30 to 45 minutes means that your body’s hormones are at an optimum level to support muscle growth.

4) Maintain a logbook of your training. tracking your progress provides information on what workouts work well for you. At a later date you can then use them again. They also mean that you can have meaningful goals for every single training session which enhances your motivation and proves that you are improving.

5) Use supplements in your diet. If you have cash spare make use of the following supplements to enhance you progress: essential fatty acids, whey protein, multivitamins and possibly creatine. You can make excellent progress even if you can’t afford supplements so do not lose heart.

6) Train with determination, focus and intensity. Make use of techniques such as super sets, giant sets, negatives and drop sets to maintain intensity in your workouts.

7) Don’t give up! You are going to be in this for the long haul. Sure you want to get big as soon as possible but remember the journey to get what you want is half the fun. So with those brutally effective building muscle tips in mind go out and get huge.

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A typical dilemma for any active sportsmen who lifts weights and wants to gain muscle mass is that they know there goal to build muscle up conflicts with the fact that they do a lot of cardio-vascular work. How can someone like this build muscle fastest whilst still doing cardio, indeed is it even possible?

Well often you will read that in order to build muscles fastest you should keep cardio workouts to a minimum. This is said because cardio training session do two major things that could possible restrict muscle building, namely: 1) burn heaps of calories 2) increase the rate of your metabolism. Both of these two things contribute to the same problem, namely, not getting enough calories on board. This takes us to the question of exactly what amount of calories should I therefore be taking on?

Well, to maintain weight each day you must eat enough calories to cover the energy expenditures of your body as if it were at rest (this is known as the basal metabolic rate), then consume enough extra calories to cover the exercise that you will do. If you want to add muscle mass on top of this then you have to add an extra 500 calories every day.

Can I work this number out?

Yes, one way to do this is using the Katch-McArdle formula (BMR based on lean body weight). Here it is:

Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X wght in kg) + (5 X hght in cm) – (6.8 X age in years)

Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X wght in kgs) + (1.8 X hght in cm) – (4.7 X age in years)

Once you have gotten this figure you should then multiply it by one of the following to allow for your daily activity levels:

Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (desk job, little or no exercise)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active equals BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active equals BMR X 1.725 (sports 6-7 days/hard exercise/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.{9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i}.e marathon, competition etc).

So, if you are doing cardio and weights frequently then you should multiply this by at least 1.725. This will give you the figure that will cover your daily energy needs. This amount then needs to be altered to suit your goals. A further 500 calories a day need to be added if your goal is indeed to gain muscle mass.

So, for arguments sake lets say the number you figure out is 3000 calories then that would mean 6 meals everyday which each contain 500 calories. the constituents of every meal would therefore be protein: 37 grams, carbohydrate 62 grams and 11 grams would come from fat. This is because 1 gram of carbohydrate or protein is 4 calories and one calorie of fat equals 9 calories.

Correct muscle building nutrition and working out your calorie needs like this is what is going to ensure you build muscles fastest, not any miracle new exercise!

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Stressing your muscles in different ways is one of the keys to continuous and uninterrupted growth to build muscles mass. By completing the same weight training routine again and again your muscles become very familiar with that particular type of stress and gradually the workouts ability to trigger muscle mass growth will decrease significantly. Luckily there are a great deal of strategies that can be employed in order to introduce variety to build your muscles mass and ensure your muscles start growing again.

1) Continuous/Progressive Overload. Well actually this should be done as a matter of course. You can either keep increasing the amount you are lifting as often as you can or you can keep the same weight and try and do more reps. A combination of the two is fine also

2) Giant sets. This is done by following one set of an exercise with another exercise that targets the exact same muscle group. For example, side lateral raises done after shoulder presses. You may then break for a couple of minutes and do another a set.

3) A superset is where you do one regular set immediately followed by an exercise for the opposing muscle group. A great pump is often felt in those muscles after doing this. For example, shoulder press followed by pull ups, tricep presses followed by barbell curls.

4) Reps that are forced. On a regular set, instead of failing on the last rep you basically get a friend to asisst you in completing the final rep and then to help you in doing a further 2 or 3 reps. The aid ough to be very minimal and only just enough to allow you to finish the repetitions.

5) Negatives. This is when you complete a regular set to failure and then with the assistance of a buddy do another rep but this time you have to lower the weight with no assistance under complete control yourself.

6) Drop set exercises. Do a regular set until failure, lower the poundage and do a few more reps, decrease the weight again and keep doing more reps and so on. This is a very intense technique that creates a real burn and can help build muscle mass a great deal.

This is just a start on the different varieties of exercise that can be done to build muscles mass but be warned these can leave you feeling quite sore for the next few days so always ensure that you allow sufficient rest between exercises.

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Ok great, so you have decided now is the time in your life that you would like to pack on some muscle mass. Whether it is because you want to look lean and trim for your holidays or you have just seen another ‘Rocky’ film or you just wish to make a bigger impact on the sports field. So obviously you know that you are going to have to get in to the pumping iron game. However you may not be aware of what you are supposed to be eating for muscle building nutrition. This short guide will show you exactly what to eat but first we’ll go through a few of the basic guidelines for a sensible muscle building diet.

Firstly to build muscle eat more often. Attempt to eat 5-6 meals every single day. This is due to the fact that your body needs excess calories to support muscle growth and build muscle. You will not be able to build any muscle mass if your body is running short on calories. 5-7 meals per day will allow you to take on more food comfortabley without eating too much at anyone sitting.

Secondly, you will have to significantly reduce the amount of junk food in your diet. Go hands up, we are all guilty of having the odd meal of junk food and it is these which need to be replaced with quailty muscle building nutrition.

Thirdly, you are going to have to consume more water than you did before. Ensure that you have a bottle of water near you throughout the day to sip from. nearly all of the bodies reactions need H2O to some extent and of course it is required for muscle building reactions too.

Fourthly, try to divide each meal up into portions of the following amounts of protein, carbohydrtates and fats. Try to make them equal to 50% carbohydrate, 30% protein and 20% fat.

Fifthly, you need to learn what foods you should be eating for muscle growth. Here is a start to illustrate what some of the best muscle building foods are:

For protein: turkey, chicken, fish and shellfish, eggs, red meats, dairy products. Include these sources of protein in your meals as much as you can as these are all great for muscle building. However caution is advised as these foods are high in saturated fat so it would be sensible to mix them with the following foods that supply protein but with a great deal less fat: egg whites, lean meats like poultry and fish, non-fat or low-fat milk and dairy products, lean cuts of red meat, turkey breast,and skinless chicken breast.

For carbohydrates and sustained energy release: bread, brown rice, oatmeal, bagel, pasta cereals and potatoes. For immediate shots of energy consume: fruits such as apple, grapes, bananas, raisins, orange mand sports drinks.

The fat portion of the meal will naturally come from the foods that you will be consuming and will thus take care of itself. Also make sure you include plentiful lefy green vegetables which are packed full of vital vitmains and minerals. If you have enough money for muscle building supplements then go for a decent multi-vitamin, essential fatty acids, whey protein and creatine.

Finally a few words of advice on exactly when to eat. To build muscle eat within one hour of finishing your workout, before bed and immediately on rising. If you wish to pack on muscle mass then these are very important times. You will be in a great place to start making good muscle gains if you follow the above guidelines.

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Just before I tackle the main purpose of this article which is to show how to build muscle vegetarian style I will briefly outline the different types of vegetarians. Vegans do not eat dairy products or any other animal by products,  pesco-vegetarians will eat fish and dairy products and lacto-ovo vegetarians will drink milk and eat eggs but won’t eat meat. This is enough detail for our purposes here although bear in mind there are a few other types.

Why choose to be a vegetarian?

Due to the nature of the food that vegetarians avoid they are at a significantly reduced risk of the following potentially life threatening diseases :coronary artery disease, hypertension, cancers and diabetes mellitus. As you can see the reasons for becoming vegetarian are quite compelling and that is before we even talk about the idealistic side of things such as saving animals, keeping food available for others, saving the rainforest, being more enviromentally friendly and so on.

Ok , then as a vegetarian how exactly am i going to take on board enough protein?

Well, the answer to for vegetarians is remarkably simple, soy. Soy actually contains more higher levels of protein than beef and is also a complete protein meaning that it contains all eight essential amino acids. Great sourcces of soy include: miso, soy milk, seitan, tempeh, textured soy protein and of course tofu. These can all be put in to a variety of delicous tasting dishes. Beans, rice, seeds, legumes, nuts and even vegetables are another great supply of amino acids which together should ensure you never get short on protein.

Alright so that is protein dealt with but what about vitamins and minerals, particularly zinc, vitamin D, calcium, iron and vitamin B12?

Well, supplements should be taken by vegans for this. Vitamin B 12 is found in dairy products so other types of vegetarians ought to never go short of this. A good meal replacement powder will see that you get adequate amounts of the other. Of course however many minerals and vitamins are easily available in the form of leafy green vegetables and fruit that you should not overlook if you wish to build muscle up vegetarian style. 

So, overall there are many health benefits to being a vegetarian and being a vegetarian need not prevent you from achieving your bodybuilding goals. Planning is the key and this is just as true for none vegetarian bodybuilders also. With the above guidelines in mind go ahead and build muscle vegetarian style!! 

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There are many advice columns, hyped up products, infomercials, e-books and so on all giving advice about the newest latest and easiest ways to build muscle. so, if there are all these varied methods to stimulate muscle growth then how come it is so such a difficult task for certain people? The answer is in part within the question. With so much differing advice about, both on the net and in bookstores, web sites and magazines, how on earth is someone new to weight training supposed to make sense of it all?

The new bodybuilder really needs to merely have knowledge of the essential basics in order to start growing therefore much of this information will be irrelevant. So with that in mind here are three sure fire steps to help anyone build muscle easily.

1) Train intensely. Try to include the following proven muscle building exercises in your routine: dead lifts, rows, squats, benchpresses and pull ups. These exercises will help you build muscle easily and have been tried and tested for many years now. Try to veer away from exercises that promote isolation of individual muscles, these are really for muscle carving and defining and not for building mass. Also do not hang around in the gym, be focused push yourself hard for 45 minutes then get out.

2) Pay attention to muscle building nutrition. It has been said for many years now that bodybuilding success is due to 20% how you train and 80% how you eat. This is as true today as it has ever been! As a rule of thumb 50% of your food should be from carbohydrates, 30% from protein and the rest made of fats.

The following source of food come highly recommended, for carbs: rice, potatoes, pasta, brown breads. For protein: turkey, beef, chicken and fish especially tuna and mackerel. the foods mentioned will supply adequate amounts of fats. Whey protein, essential fatty, acids, creatine and a good multi-vitamin product would really boost your muscle growth if you can afford them.

3) Rest. Muscle grow whilst you are asleep and at rest so it therefore comes as know surprise that you need to spend quality time resting. This sounds such simple advice but so many people out there do not give their body enough time to recover from their last session and grow. Most people will find that two workouts per week are sufficient.

Ok, I said it was simpie and it is. If you just stick to those basics you too can build muscle easy. Whilst you may delve as deep as you like into all of these topics, essentially that is all you need to know if you wish to grow. Now with those things in mind, ensure correct muscle building nutrition, train hadr and intensely and give yourself time to recover!

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