Why Some Bodybuilders Are Better Off Not Training To Failure

After doing just a little research a new trainee will see that most people promote the principle of ‘training to failure’. Failure is the time at which the nervous system simply can’t take anymore at a given weight and crashes, causing your muscle contraction to come to an end. Training to failure would seem to make sense in that you are pushing yourself to the limit.

And, as we’re constantly being told, pushing ourselves to the limit is the only way to make the best gains possible – anything else is stopping short or copping out. However, for some people, is there more to be gained by not training to failure constantly?

For some people, I truly believe training to failure too frequently causes negative central nervous system effects that will hinder progress. I think this for a few reasons. Here’s why…

Everybody is different. Not only physically but mentally, and both are interconnected. Now, it’s well known that even mental stress can affect muscle and strength gains negatively. And training to failure causes mental stress – plus, a lot of physical stress.

Some people can cope with physical and mental stress better than others; this is just how it goes. By not training to failure regularly, some people will be leaving a lot of potential gains on the table, while another group of people who attempt to train to failure regularly will cause themselves too much physical and mental stress and hurt their progress.

Trainees should experiment with training to failure regularly, sporadically, and stopping short of failure for certain periods and see what progress they observe to get a better picture of which training intensities work best for them.

It’s also worth mentioning that some people would get better results from training to failure regularly, but they underestimate how long it takes them to recover fully and could in fact benefit by training the same muscles to failure still, but training them less frequently. I’ve had some of my best results in strength and size by training my body parts very hard once a week.

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Building Muscle Tips - How to Perform Slow Reps on Weight Training Machines

If you are thinking of weight training but think that heavy duty weight training might be too hard on your joints, depending upon how old you are and what condition you are in, this could be true. That's why you might be able to benefit from slow rep exercises instead. Weight training that is done slowly and still has controlled and intense movements is going to be a lot easier on your joints, will actually be tougher on your muscles, which will help them grow and it will also add a little cardio benefit as well.

You should get yourself an exercise notebook so you can keep track of your progress. A lot of people forget to do this and they think it's silly but the fact is your body doesn't want to change so keeping track is a good incentive to keep you going. When you start seeing the results down on paper it helps to motivate you.

When you decide on a program to go with on the weight training machine you should try and pick about eight different exercises that are going to work the upper and lower parts of your body. This is the kind of workout you should do at least twice a week with a few special cardo sessions included between those two workout days. Don't alternate the body parts and do a lot of sessions during the week, this is only counter productive. You need to remember that it's not the actual workout that's important, it's the recovery time that you give your body that counts most in building the muscle. If you train every day you do not give your body the time it needs to repair itself and grow new muscle.

You will next need to figure out just how slow you want to perform your eight exercises. With each rep you have a positive portion as well as a negative portion of each exercise. Your first part of the motion is at the start and that is the positive and then returning to the original position is the negative. You should make the time for each portion anywhere from 3 seconds to 10 seconds. In other words each part of a rep should be say about 3 seconds each.

After you have figured out how slow you want your reps to be you should then set the amount of weight that you think you can do for say 10 seconds each half of the rep. It can be less but it should be for longer so that if you know you can hold it 10 seconds then there is no doubt you can do it for less time. When you do start your exercise remember to breathe at all times it does you know good to hold your breath when you are performing your reps.

You should start off by doing 5 to 8 reps of each of your exercise or until you reach that point where you know your muscles cannot take anymore and this is called the muscle failure point. If however, you are able to go past 8 reps then you know right away that you have the weights too light and you will need to adjust until you reach that muscle failure.

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Five Weight Training Tips to Pump Up Those Muscles

To get the results you seek from lifting weights, you have to use good form and proper technique. You must also allow your muscles plenty of time to develop. Allow at least four months to get that pumped up look, that is four months of consistent effort toward achieving your muscle gain goals. With determination and perseverance, you will get that chiseled look you seek. Here are five weight training tips to help you out.

If you are new to weight training, do not rush into the gym and start throwing around weights until you know what you are doing. Seek advice from a staff member on the correct technique to use and the routine that would work best for you. Ask them for some weight training tips that will help you get quick results and spare you from injury.

Keeping records of your progress is a good idea too. After each session, write down the weights you used, the exercises, and the weights. This will help you track your progress and tweak your weight training plan.

1. Set Goals: Create realistic short term and long-term goals. These will help keep you motivated to hit the gym and make progress. Goals keep you focused on achieving the end result, which is building up those muscles to whatever limit you have set for yourself.

When you achieve a short-term goal, have a celebration, then head back to the gym and keep plugging away towards your end goal. Having many easily achievable short phase goals along the way will motivate you to train hard.

Work backwards from your end goal to help you determine your mini-goals. For example, if you hope to gain 50 pounds in a year from weight training, then set a goal to gain five pounds in your first month.

2. Vow To Succeed: Failure is often the result of lack of commitment. It is hard to be enthused and committed to a weight training program if you are not sure you are on the right track. Pick out a weight training program that lays out everything for you systematically and follow it faithfully until you arrive at your goal.

Be sure to select a muscle-add program that is in alignment with your goals. It shouldn't be difficult to find one. It will save you the work of plotting everything out yourself, plus you can be assured it will work as long as you stick to it and follow the instructions.

3. Learning: For the most effective workout, learn all you can about bodybuilding and how exercises affect your muscles. Knowledge is power when it comes to getting ripped muscles. There is much to learn and most people have no idea how to go about it. Becoming knowledgeable could mean the difference between having a sculpted body at the end of six months and barely being able to see any progress. Sources of information are readily available in books, on the internet, and in weight training courses put together by experts.

4. Proper Technique: A torn muscle hurts and it delays your progress. Using good form eliminates the risk of injury while weight training. However, proper technique has a more important benefit than safety and that is muscle gain. To pack on muscle weight, you have to lift weights using proper form.

Simply lifting a lot of weight is not the answer to building muscle because if the weight is too heavy it causes you to lose your technique. Of course, you always want to progress in the amount of weight you lift, but never do it at the expense of technique.

5. Development: Take your muscle development step by step in a logical manner. You will not gain 50 pounds of muscle in a month and you do not want to develop maxed out arms and neglect your legs. Gear your weight training workout in such a way that your whole body is enhanced by your muscle building workouts. Keep these five weight training tips in mind when you hit the gym for your next workout and maybe they can help you get the best results.

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10 Things To Avoid When Training To Gain Mass

Womens’ fashion magazines always feature articles in giant print on the cover, announcing the “Four Million Ways to Lose Flab in Under A Week!” or “Eight Hot Moves That Are Sure To Drive Him Nuts”.  The titles may be over the top, but numbered lists are a great way to share a wealth of information without making you squint at a sea of words.  To that end, this article will discuss the ten things you should not do when you are trying to build muscle, to help you avoid looking like the twiggy folks on those womens’ magazine covers.

1. Doing too many isolation exercises

How good an exercise is directly relates to the time it takes you to get adapted to it.  No matter what you do, with enough time and enough weight you will build muscle.  The thing is that while this is true, some exercise are a lot more effective at building muscle than others.  Scientifically speaking, this relates to something called the ‘scale of motor unit recruitment’.  This is really a fancy way of talking about how a given movement activates the various tissues in muscle.  Cam and pulley exercises use less body fibres than things like dumbbell lifting because of the way their mechanics relate to the body’s natural design.  The closer an exercise is to something our monkey ancestors would have needed to get by, the more likely it is to be recruiting the most motor units possible.

Imagine carrying a dead gazelle back to the cave for dinner – that would be a great muscle-building exercise.  Using free weights is exponentially more effective than doing single-movement machine exercises.  Getting big is about doing chins, dips, squats and deadlifts rather than triceps kickbacks or cable crossovers.

2. Spending too much time on the machines

Since we discussed scale of motor unit recruitment, this is a great point that expands on it.  Sitting on the machines every day of the week is going to leave you growing much slower than if you spent some time doing chin-ups.

3. Buying into the bulking up myths

Back in the days of Arnold and Sergio, it was normal to bulk up in the off-season and cut up after.  Besides the fact that adding tons of fat is bad for your health, bulking up just doesn’t do anything towards achieving your fitness and physique goals.

You want to know why? Here’s six reasons:

#1 Reason bulking is no good

Bulking-up diet programs won’t help you build muscle anymore than ingesting an ideal amount of nutrients. Sorry, but it’s simply not possible to force additional muscle growth by overfeeding.

Bulking up does not somehow magically cause the body to create more muscle.  You can keep adding food to your diet, but anything in excess of an ideal amount of nutrients will not

#2 Reason bulking is no good

Because you develop an insulin resistance from bulking up, building muscle is harder in the long run.  Carbohydrates preferentially go to fat stores rather than muscle when bulking up.

#3 Reason bulking is no good

Insulin resistance is hard to reverse which means bulking up will make it more difficult to get lean.  Each pound of fat you bulk on is a little bit more difficulty you will have getting lean again.  This is especially true for female bodybuilders, as it is generally much harder for women to achieve competition body-fat levels.

#4 Reason bulking is no good

When you get fat, your body produces aromatase enzyme.  In extreme cases, you can think of being fat as self-castration due to the fact that your testosterone gets converted into estrogen (as in female hormones) which can cause some bad side-effects.  If you want to start bra shopping with your girlfriend and actually need to buy something yourself, bulking will get you there.

#5 Reason bulking is no good

Fat messes with how effectively your thyroid can produce hormones – further hampering your ability to lose fat.  T4 and T3, the metabolically active forms of thyroid, get converted at very low rates as your abdominal wall gets fatter.

#6 Reason bulking is no good

As your body fat percentage gets lower, your body is better able to do what is called nutrient partitioning.  This is a fancy way of saying that skinny people are better at building muscle from digested food than fat people.  When your body has less fat, the body is better at storing nutrients as glycogen in the muscle tissue and building more muscle.  Muscle begets muscle, and fat begets fat.

#7 Reason bulking is no good

All calories are not created alike.  You can eat 500 calories of lean beef, and 500 calories of fried twinkies.  Which one is going to build muscle?  Not the twinkies.  Not to mention, being fat increases your chances of death from just about everything from heart attacks to bank robberies.  Large targets are easier to hit!

4. Doing too much non-gym calorie burning

Basketball, dancing and running on the beach are fine for cardio, but you can’t build muscle doing that stuff.  In the words of 1972 olympian Al Schoterman:

The Phases of Rest

Never run when you can walk

Never walk when you can get a ride

Never stand when you can sit

Never sit when you can lie down

Never lie down when you can go to sleep

5. Doing too few reps

Relative-strength protocols are great for training the nervous system to do high load lifting, but not the most direct route to hypertrophy.  If you alternate your cycles of 9-12 reps with cycles of 4-8, you will build muscle more quickly.

6. Not drinking post-workout shakes

Post-workout shakes are critical for gaining mass.  Protein synthesis rate and muscle growth can be doubled by consuming protein immediately after your workout.  University of Connecticut researchers studied post-workout protein and carb shakes cause an increase in testosterone receptors.  A good ratio is 4 grams of carbs per gram of protein, and one gram of protein per pound of lean body weight.  A good solution is Quadricarb.

It is also good to have a post-workout glutamine supplement as this helps with muscle recover and will speed up resynthesis of glycogen and glutamine – critical in creating an anabolic environment while keeping you from being overtrained.  Glycine and Primal Greens are good for lowering post-workout cortisol.

7. Not keeping hydrated

Most people do not drink enough water.  Higher cortisol output is a result of dehydration, which leads to an increase in oxydative stress on the brain and increased fat storage.  Drinking 0.6-0.7 fluid ounces of water per pound of bodyweight is a good rule to go by to remain hydrated.  Filling the day’s water bottles ahead of time is a great way to make sure you drink enough water as it is easy to see if you have any left to drink at the end of the day.  You will likely find that you’ve only been drinking 40% of the water you have been needing all along.  Clear urine that is odorless is a good indicator of proper hydration.  If your pee looks like lemonade, you’re not drinking enough.

8. Guzzling energy drinks

Cortisol is increased by stimulants.  That’s not a big deal if you’re drinking an energy drink on the way to the gym to help get you amped.  However when you are done working out the stimulants have to go.  If you drink coffee all day long, your progress will be limited on the bench.

9. Not getting enough sleep

Just like with losing fat, not getting enough sleep can disrupt muscle gain.  When you are sleep-deprived you have lower androgen and growth hormone levels which kills your potential to build muscle.

10. Not eating enough protein

If you have 200 pounds of lean body mass, 300 grams of protein a day is the minimum, and 400 grams of protein would be even better.  You will eventually hit a ceiling of lean body mass that cannot be topped until protein intake is increased to 2 grams per pound of body weight.  If you handle carbs well, the protein requirement is not as high.  Everyone is unique.

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Top 10 Weight Training Exercises for Building Muscle

To build muscle you need to use the best weight training exercises out there otherwise you’re just wasting your time.

Since I’ve already written about the best bodyweight exercises I figured it was time for the top weight training exercise list.

DO NOT piss around with isolation exercises like flyes and concentration curls.

Those do absolutely no good for anyone.

Unless you’re injured, rehabbing or someone’s great grandmother they’re useless.

Most machines fall into the same category.

Compound, multi-joint free weight exercises that allow you to use the greatest amount of weight will build size and [...]]]>

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Top 20 Training Tips

In a world that is flattered by the health care industry, individuals are always looking out for the best ways to learn how to build muscle fast and develop a body that is lean, athletic, ribbed and muscular. Let’s have a look at the top twenty training tips one can adopt in their daily or weekly routines that will offer them the body that they have always desired.

1. Don’t Be Stronger Than You Appear

A lot of people workout under the common misconception that they can do more than what their body can handle. It is for this reason that they push themselves to the limit so as to bench a few pounds more and run a few miles further. However, the best of professionals in the world of bodybuilding say that it is imperative that one ensures that their bodies are one with their mind. This means that individuals need to work out just the right amount that they can handle and not push themselves over the top in order to build muscle fast.

2. Split those Routines Up

All through our lives we have been told that a balanced life is the way to live. This renders itself to be the same in the gym as well. Mixing those workout routines with diverse forms of exercise, body building and weight lifting is the ideal way to get your desired results. It has been proven that to build muscle fast, split routines in workouts delivers better results than fixed ones.

3. Abs with Squats

Getting ripped abs and that much desired six-pack is going to take some effort. Don’t expect to see results overnight. It has been noticed that most individuals tend to fail in helping their abdominal muscles get accustomed with new workout scenarios. If you want to see those abs develop, it is best recommended that you start squatting and tightening up those abdominal muscles. If you can push yourself a little more, try out dead-lifting.

4. Cables and Weights

Cables are simply dumbbells that have been redesigned to look cool. So if your gym does not have a cable machine to lift up weights, don’t worry. You can still get the best body around by lifting up some dumbbells. However, if you plan on working out on certain parts of your body, cable pulleys are sure going to help you out.

5. Dumbbells are there for a Reason

There are a lot of fitness instructors that believe lifting up rocks and carcasses is the best way to getting a rugged body. Unless you are training for a bull fight, its best advised to stick with dumbbells. Dumbbells are crafted in such a way that they provide the muscles of the body with balanced support. Dumbbells are the way to go if you want to build muscle fast.

6. Trying out Super Squats

If you want to get toned up perfectly and if basic squatting is not yielding the results you want, its best advised that you give yourself a try at super squatting. Basically, you need to take three deep breaths for 10 seconds each in between every 20 set squat that you do. It’s going to pain and make it hard to breathe, but if you can cough up a lung at the end of every set, give yourself a pat on the back.

7. Bench Pressing

Ask anyone, what can I do about my chest and they will say bench press. It’s a given fact that if you are looking out for a way to get those wings to look good, throw on some weights and start lifting them off your chest. If that is something you don’t intend looking into, try out barbell bench presses that are much easier.

8. Stretch those Quads

Taking alternative workout routines, stretch out your quadriceps and mix in some dead-lifting for your hamstrings. Not many people know this but their quadriceps are well connected with their hamstrings and mixing up these two workout routines will complement each other quite well.

9. For your Hamstrings

If you take a look at your legs and feel that you need to work out on those hamstrings, head on over to the leg curl machine at your gym. Basically, your aim is to perform higher reps with your legs that are stiff such as in a dead-lift. Not only will this help your thighs build muscle get that amazing look, it will straighten out your spinal region as well.

10. Rep it Up

Whatever you do, it is imperative that you rep up your workout patterns. This basically means that you need to give your body its desired rest before you move on to your next set. Ideally, a rep should last for two to three minutes till one’s breathing returns back to normal.

11. Variety is the Spice of Life

Why bore yourself and your body by following the same program day in and day out. Mix those workout routines a little and see how you enjoy your training sessions. Additionally, the more you expose different parts of your body to a good workout, the faster will you be able to build muscle and get your desired results.

12. The Barbell Row

While the barbell row seems like something that can develop a good posture, it can have a negative effect by using up the glutes and quads of the lower back instead of working on the lats and flexors of the elbow. The best alternative in this regard would be to use a one arm barbell row to work on individual parts of the body.

13. Doing the Upper Body Squat

The chin-up and its variations is the most popular form of training where it helps develop the upper body. It is typically a form of squatting and is considered to be at the apex of mass muscle building. Chin-ups not only help develop the upper body but on the whole they help build muscle in the biceps and pronator teres as well.

14. Add Little More

When you have a little muscle to show, it is best recommended that you measure up your arms and legs and keep track of it. For every inch that you gain, add at least fifteen pounds of additional weights in your next workout session. The goal here is to help acclimatize your body to handling more weight and not pushing it over the limit in order further build muscle.

15. Grow those Biceps Up

Grasping the chin up bar and pulling yourself to heaven is the way to get those biceps that you have always wanted. Make sure that the palms of your hands are facing you on the bar and your fingers are spread out evenly. Hang down and then pull yourself up with your chin just hitting the top of the bar. If your arms don’t grow, mix up your workout.

16. Triceps Anyone?

The best way to get those triceps bulging out is to indulge your body into a few press-downs. The downside of press-downs is that it only offers triceps growth. However, if you want to develop your triceps and at the same time work on other parts of the body, it is strongly advised that you look into parallel dips and seated ez-bar French presses.

17. Traps To Give You Wings

Traps look incredible if you are able to give them time to grow. They are the easiest muscles in the body that can grow pretty fast provided you are able to give them their attention. Most people tend to perform dual barbell shrugs. However, if you can split it up, individual shrugs will help the trap build muscle quickly.

18. Calf on The Donkey

Calves are a part of the body which look sexy provided they are worked upon with ease. The goal here is to avoid putting too much stress on the calves as it can rupture something somewhere. Using the donkey calf raise or the dumbbell one legged calf raise, you can build muscle quickly and get the results you want.

19. Inch Up on those Calves

All it takes is 30 days to get your calves to look firmer and feel tighter. If you want to do this, start cycling 16 sets a day with around 250 reps. Alternatively, you can also do 8 sets a day with around 90 reps. It will work.

20. Double Up that Workout

There is a French term called Doublé used widely in training which basically means doing things twice. It is ideally formulated for individuals that want to give more attention to a training session they are weak at. This is applicable at the beginning and at the end of each day’s training program. For example, if you have weak abdominal muscles, you should begin your workout with squats and end it again with squats.

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