Tuesday 20 October 2009
Sunday 12 April 2009
10 Ways to Gain Muscle
Get the rewards for your efforts by following these must-do principles.
1. FUEL UP
Start reading food labels to get a sense of how many calories you're already eating. Then add 500 to that number and start eating that many calories every day. Aim to take in about one gram of protein per pound of body weight each day.
2. LIMIT CARDIO
You can do up to two days of light jogging on the treadmill, but keep it to around 30 minutes per session. To lose fat while sparing muscle, you'd do even better to perform sprint intervals—for instance, running all-out for a minute and then backing off to a light jog for two minutes. Do this for 30 minutes, three times a week.
3. DO LESS
Do no more than 20 sets per muscle group—closer to 12 is even better. Your reps should be between six and 12 per set for the most muscle growth, and your workouts should never last much longer than 45 minutes. In lieu of more volume, use heavier weights and move through each rep at a controlled speed. Your sets should last between 40 and 70 seconds—any less, and you're not tensing your muscles long enough to shock them into growth.
4. USE FULL-BODY WORKOUTS OR A SPLIT ROUTINE
You'll get the best results from your workout by either training the whole body in a single workout or concentrating only on the upper body in one session and the lower body in another. There are advantages to each setup, but both are better than trying to iso- late one muscle group in a single session. Concentrate on lifts that involve lots of muscles at once, such as squats, deadlifts, presses, rows, and pullups.
5. STRETCH
Stretching of any kind (getting into a stretched position and holding it, or moving fluidly in and out of position), using a foam roller (see page 28 for a description), and getting massages will all help keep you flexible, prevent injury, and improve recovery between workouts.
6. EAT REGULARLY
You should be wolfing down five to six small meals a day. As long as good-quality fuel keeps coming into your body—particularly protein and carbs—you'll have the calories to build muscle and the metabolism boost to lose fat.
7. CHANGE EVERYTHING
Every four to six weeks, you need to alter some part of your rou- tine, whether it's the number of reps you do, the amount of time you rest, the exercises you perform, or any other training variable. Keep a journal of your workouts to record your progress.
8. TRAIN THE WHOLE BODY
The more muscles you involve—either in one exercise or one training session—the greater the hormone release you'll get from your training, and that stimulates muscle growth all day long. Hit- ting each muscle group with roughly the same volume (such as five sets of rows after five sets of bench presses) will ensure balanced training, allowing you to grow quickly and safely, avoiding injuries and preserving flexibility.
9. DRINK SHAKES/TAKE SUPPLEMENTS
Surround your workout with nutrition, starting with a high protein- and-carbohydrate meal about an hour beforehand. Mix up a pro- tein shake that has a ratio of about two grams of carbs for every one gram of protein, and sip that throughout your workout. After- ward, finish the drink or mix a new one and drink that quickly. Believe it or not, whole foods are not the best option post workout—they take too long to digest.
The links on the right hand side of the page contain pages which show you which supplements are needed for fast and effective muscle growth --> they are a must if you want significant changes quickly.
10. RECOVER
The ideal amount of sleep is seven to eight hours per night. You can let loose a night or two each week, but when you do, try to make up for it ASAP. Train no more than four times a week. As for your job, do whatever you can to avoid excess stress—chronic nervousness elevates cortisol, a hormone that makes your body store fat and burn muscle.
1. FUEL UP
Start reading food labels to get a sense of how many calories you're already eating. Then add 500 to that number and start eating that many calories every day. Aim to take in about one gram of protein per pound of body weight each day.
2. LIMIT CARDIO
You can do up to two days of light jogging on the treadmill, but keep it to around 30 minutes per session. To lose fat while sparing muscle, you'd do even better to perform sprint intervals—for instance, running all-out for a minute and then backing off to a light jog for two minutes. Do this for 30 minutes, three times a week.
3. DO LESS
Do no more than 20 sets per muscle group—closer to 12 is even better. Your reps should be between six and 12 per set for the most muscle growth, and your workouts should never last much longer than 45 minutes. In lieu of more volume, use heavier weights and move through each rep at a controlled speed. Your sets should last between 40 and 70 seconds—any less, and you're not tensing your muscles long enough to shock them into growth.
4. USE FULL-BODY WORKOUTS OR A SPLIT ROUTINE
You'll get the best results from your workout by either training the whole body in a single workout or concentrating only on the upper body in one session and the lower body in another. There are advantages to each setup, but both are better than trying to iso- late one muscle group in a single session. Concentrate on lifts that involve lots of muscles at once, such as squats, deadlifts, presses, rows, and pullups.
5. STRETCH
Stretching of any kind (getting into a stretched position and holding it, or moving fluidly in and out of position), using a foam roller (see page 28 for a description), and getting massages will all help keep you flexible, prevent injury, and improve recovery between workouts.
6. EAT REGULARLY
You should be wolfing down five to six small meals a day. As long as good-quality fuel keeps coming into your body—particularly protein and carbs—you'll have the calories to build muscle and the metabolism boost to lose fat.
7. CHANGE EVERYTHING
Every four to six weeks, you need to alter some part of your rou- tine, whether it's the number of reps you do, the amount of time you rest, the exercises you perform, or any other training variable. Keep a journal of your workouts to record your progress.
8. TRAIN THE WHOLE BODY
The more muscles you involve—either in one exercise or one training session—the greater the hormone release you'll get from your training, and that stimulates muscle growth all day long. Hit- ting each muscle group with roughly the same volume (such as five sets of rows after five sets of bench presses) will ensure balanced training, allowing you to grow quickly and safely, avoiding injuries and preserving flexibility.
9. DRINK SHAKES/TAKE SUPPLEMENTS
Surround your workout with nutrition, starting with a high protein- and-carbohydrate meal about an hour beforehand. Mix up a pro- tein shake that has a ratio of about two grams of carbs for every one gram of protein, and sip that throughout your workout. After- ward, finish the drink or mix a new one and drink that quickly. Believe it or not, whole foods are not the best option post workout—they take too long to digest.
The links on the right hand side of the page contain pages which show you which supplements are needed for fast and effective muscle growth --> they are a must if you want significant changes quickly.
10. RECOVER
The ideal amount of sleep is seven to eight hours per night. You can let loose a night or two each week, but when you do, try to make up for it ASAP. Train no more than four times a week. As for your job, do whatever you can to avoid excess stress—chronic nervousness elevates cortisol, a hormone that makes your body store fat and burn muscle.
Wednesday 1 April 2009
Fast Muscle Building
How To Build Muscle and Mass Using This Site
You can navigate around our site using the main links to the right hand side or you can use the main links contained on this page.
You can check out the following pages to gain the pounds and build the muscle -->
You can navigate around our site using the main links to the right hand side or you can use the main links contained on this page.
You can check out the following pages to gain the pounds and build the muscle -->
How to Build Muscle - Do You Struggle To Pack On the Pounds and Build Lean Muscle?
You may have tried everything under the sun to try and gain weight, but that doesn't mean you can't gain weight. There could be a number of reasons why you have struggled in the past. One very common problem with people trying to gain weight and build muscle is their genetics. Are you one of those people? Well if you can eat and eat and put on hardly any pounds whatsoever, then you are what's known in bodybuilding circles as a "Hardgainer" or in medical terms an "Ectomorph".
The general appearance of a hardgainer is a flat chest, delicate frame, fragile, lean, small shoulders, and just an overall thin appearance. We have known for quite some time now in bodybuilding that different body types respond differently to both training and nutrition. As a result, it is incredibly important to be aware of what your body type is so that you can design a training and workout program accordingly. That is what this site aims to do. Here on this site you will find honest reviews of the programs that the skinny guys before you have designed specifically with the hardgainer in mind.
The general appearance of a hardgainer is a flat chest, delicate frame, fragile, lean, small shoulders, and just an overall thin appearance. We have known for quite some time now in bodybuilding that different body types respond differently to both training and nutrition. As a result, it is incredibly important to be aware of what your body type is so that you can design a training and workout program accordingly. That is what this site aims to do. Here on this site you will find honest reviews of the programs that the skinny guys before you have designed specifically with the hardgainer in mind.
Monday 30 March 2009
5 Essential Tips!!!
Weight gain is something that isn't easy to do and you probably know this already. I know first hand because it is something I have to do every day. I am an ectomorph by genetics, which is the "skinny body type" and the one with the fast metabolism which makes gaining so hard for guys like me. The key to weight gain is to do everything BIG. You have to eat big, to lift big, to get big. Say that over and over again in your head until you fully understand it. A lot of people think weightlifting is the key to gaining weight, and I won't argue, it is an extremely important part. BUT, there is another thing that is just as important when it comes to how to gain weight, and that is your diet.
So, to put it as simply as possible, there are 5 simple steps to how to gain weight, and here they are:
1) Count how many calories you eat in a normal day. Don't change anything, just eat like you normally would and count how many calories you consumed. This is an extremely important step, so try to be as exact as possible. Also, weigh yourself.
2) Starting the day after you counted calories, eat 500 calories MORE then you normally do. So, lets pretend that the day you counted calories you counted 2000. For the rest of the week, you would now eat 2500 calories a day. Instead of eating 3 big meals a day or eating all day all the time, spread those calories out over 5-6 smaller meals. Eat one meal every 2 and a half to 3 hours. To get big, you have to eat big! Remember that.
3) Weightlifting! Get in the gym and lift! This is another important step to how to gain weight, so make sure you are doing it correctly. For more information on weightlifting workout routines and splits, read the workout routines and splits section.
4) At the end of that week, weigh yourself. You'll notice you're gaining just after one week! Now, don't expect to see a 10lb increase. Gaining anymore then 1 or 2 pounds a week is unhealthy and means you're putting on way to much fat. So look for 1 or 2 pound gains at the end of the week. Don't sound like much? You can be gaining 5-8 pounds a month!
5) Heres an important one. At some point, you will stop seeing weight gain. At this point, you will have to eat even more. So, when you stop gaining for at least 2 weeks, it means it is time to start eating an extra 250 calories a day. Every time you see you haven't gained weight for at least 2 weeks, add an extra 250 calories.
Check out the links on the side - some of these are priceless and helped me understand what was really needed to put weight on quickly -->
So, to put it as simply as possible, there are 5 simple steps to how to gain weight, and here they are:
1) Count how many calories you eat in a normal day. Don't change anything, just eat like you normally would and count how many calories you consumed. This is an extremely important step, so try to be as exact as possible. Also, weigh yourself.
2) Starting the day after you counted calories, eat 500 calories MORE then you normally do. So, lets pretend that the day you counted calories you counted 2000. For the rest of the week, you would now eat 2500 calories a day. Instead of eating 3 big meals a day or eating all day all the time, spread those calories out over 5-6 smaller meals. Eat one meal every 2 and a half to 3 hours. To get big, you have to eat big! Remember that.
3) Weightlifting! Get in the gym and lift! This is another important step to how to gain weight, so make sure you are doing it correctly. For more information on weightlifting workout routines and splits, read the workout routines and splits section.
4) At the end of that week, weigh yourself. You'll notice you're gaining just after one week! Now, don't expect to see a 10lb increase. Gaining anymore then 1 or 2 pounds a week is unhealthy and means you're putting on way to much fat. So look for 1 or 2 pound gains at the end of the week. Don't sound like much? You can be gaining 5-8 pounds a month!
5) Heres an important one. At some point, you will stop seeing weight gain. At this point, you will have to eat even more. So, when you stop gaining for at least 2 weeks, it means it is time to start eating an extra 250 calories a day. Every time you see you haven't gained weight for at least 2 weeks, add an extra 250 calories.
Check out the links on the side - some of these are priceless and helped me understand what was really needed to put weight on quickly -->
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