Rest Period | Buffing Up

Prioritization And How To Gain Lean Muscle

Jun 082010

When it comes to bodybuilding, much is written about the proper rest period needed to stimulate muscle growth. Despite common theory, muscle to not grow muscle during gym sessions. In fact the only time your muscle can grow and repair tissue damage is when you are resting or sleeping.

Besause of this; it is recommended not to exercises the same muscle group everyday. This is true for about 85% of muscles in your body. However, there are some muscle groups that not only can be worked out every day, but is almost necessary that they be worked on 5 or more days per week or else you won’t be able to gain lean muscle in those areas.

Such muscle groups include the forearms, calves and abdominals. You might be thinking, what makes these muscles so special that I can work them every day and not damage them?. The answer is simple, under normal everyday use these muscles a under constant stress are a “designed” to be very resilient and can therefore withstand normal weight training quite easily. Take your calves for example: whenever you walk you are flexing your calf muscles. Many people have found calves to be a pain in the backside in the growth department, no matter how much weight they press, the results are dismal. Every time you grab something with your hand your forearms are also used and as a result also need to be able to handle constant strain. Everytime you move your abdominals which are located at the center of your body are engaged.

So what exactly can you do in order to promote muscle growth in these areas? Basically, you can start prioritizing them in your bodybuilding workouts. You would spend a portion of every workout on these muscle groups during 4 of your workout days and, possible, you could add a special fifth workout day where you would spend the hour on these muscle groups alone.

If you do this and after a couple of month are not seeing any gain, you may want to start implementing what’s known as shock bombing. This tactic involves a high intensity workout session at the beginning of all gym sessions. Take the forearms as an example, you could begin my doing supersets of reverse barbell curls, reverse forearm extensions and forearm extensions for 3 sets of 10-15 reps. This will almost certainly shock you muscles into growth.

As with all muscle groups there is a point where overtraining is possible, so learn when to stop training those muscles. Once you have noticed that they have responded well to your exercise plans, you would then opt to just perform moderate exercises to help maintain their shape and size. Knowing when to stop your specialization training will certainly help lower the risk for overtraining them.

So yes, even highly resistant muscle groups can be boosted into growth if you know how to go about it. As such, you never need to feel that any of your muscles will ever be lagging again.

Muscular Abs

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Dec 102009

The six pack is not that easy to shape particularly since the abdominal muscles require a lot of training in order to become visible. Besides a very tough ab workout, a full body training routine and a strict diet work hand in hand. There are several factors that influence the ab workout, of which the training level deserves most of the attention. Common mistakes include over-training and under-training. Have a look over the following tips to create a good ab workout strategy.

Regardless of the level of training, you should organize the ab workout by abdominal circuits. The exercises have to be performed at least two or three times a week, allowing for the strengthening of the abdominal muscles while also respecting the necessary rest period. With enough recovery time between the abdominal exercises, the ab workout will give results sooner.

A correct ab workout routine aims at strengthening the lower, the upper and the oblique abdominal muscles, as all define this part of the body in a special way. Organize the ab workout according to sets of exercises with a certain number of repetitions. A harmonious muscle growth will occur if you increase the number of reps with no more than two per week. Sticking to the same number of reps would trigger the appearance of a plateau phase from which there is no more evolution.

Then, the variation of the exercises is also important in an ab workout. The number of possible training routines is not at all small, and one can actually find an individual pattern to suit personal needs. Even so, don’t make the mistake of believing that the ab workout can get you rid of the belly fat. Regardless of which you choose, do not believe that the belly fat can be eliminated by the ab workout alone. This myth of weight loss should be debunked once and for all. Large fat deposits can very well hide hard-rock muscles. Therefore diet and cardio exercises should support any form of abdominal training.

The low-calorie diet, regular cardio exercises and strength training go hand in hand with the ab workout. Remember that the abdominals are just some other muscles in the body, and that the rest need your attention too. After lots of training efforts and constant monitoring, many people reach the conclusion that although they get a flat abdomen, the six packs are impossible to achieve. Be realistic about your physiognomy, your health, body shape and lifestyle and then you’ll know how to define your fitness goals!

Do you find these tips of use? You can learn a lot more by clicking here: HowTo Directory

3 Quick Tips For A Bigger Bench Press

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Dec 032009

So, what’s your biggest bench press? It is one of the most often asked questions by strength athletes and bodybuilders the world over. 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 here we shall outline three great tips that will really help you improve your maximum bench press.

1) Make use of drop sets. These are fantastic in giving you a real burn and really forcing your muscles into new muscle growth. To do these simply perform your bench-press exercise as you normally would and when you can not do any more simply take off a weight disc and do as many more as you can. Then reduce the weight once more and pump out as many more as you possibly 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. Make sure your protein intake is high to help build the muscles back stronger for the next few days.

2) Don’t train your chest muscles. Instead train your triceps on their own. You can really focus on increasing the strength of your triceps by working out like this. 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. It stands to reason that by increasing your triceps strength you will be able to bench more as they take considerable strain when doing regular benchpressing.

3) Do ten sets each consisting of ten repetitions. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a fan of this method and was the first person to bring it to real prominence. Basically you press as much weight as you can for ten repetitions and then perform another set of ten reps. Continue doing this until you have done ten sets consisting of ten reps each. You will have to reduce the weight gradually but allow yourself two to three minutes rest between sets. The idea behind this is to provide some new and powerful stimulus for your muscles to grow. 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.

Ab Workout – A Quick Glance

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Dec 012009

Lots of people long for a nice six pack, but abdominal muscles are not that easy to shape. Besides a very tough ab workout, one also needs to follow a close diet and a training routine meant to burn the fat deposits on the stomach and around the waist. There are several factors that influence the ab workout, of which the training level deserves most of the attention. Common mistakes include over-training and under-training. Here are a few tips to help one develop a good ab workout routine.

Abdominal circuits are a great way to organize the ab workout, but most guides recommend beginner, intermediate and advanced levels of training. The exercises have to be performed at least two or three times a week, allowing for the strengthening of the abdominal muscles while also respecting the necessary rest period. With enough recovery time between the abdominal exercises, the ab workout will give results sooner.

Then, the variation of the exercises is also important in an ab workout. The number of possible training routines is not at all small, and one can actually find an individual pattern to suit personal needs. Even so, don’t make the mistake of believing that the ab workout can get you rid of the belly fat. That is probably the biggest myth of weight loss ever. Large fat deposits can very well hide hard-rock muscles. Therefore diet and cardio exercises should support any form of abdominal training.