Posts Tagged ‘body building’

Find a Tailored Weight Lifting Program Just for You

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

The right weight lifting program is crucial in attaining the goal of any muscle builder seeking to build his muscle mass. It entails the design of a program that will bring about the desired result. This means that a muscle lifter should not simply go into the gym and throw weights around. Rather, he should have a specific routine to follow. Specifically, lifting weights involve weight training programs that are based on the proper science and tested techniques. According to some professional weight trainers, there are some rules that should be followed. Here are the five rules in weight training.

Stand with feet wider than shoulders and hold a heavy dumbbell in both hands. Bend knees and, keeping weight in the heels, lower butt until it is parallel to floor. Keep abs in and make sure you can see your toes. Push through the heels to raise back up and repeat. Come onto all fours, hands a bit wider than shoulders, lower body resting on knees. Pull the abs in and, keeping back straight, bend elbows and lower body towards the floor until elbows are at 90 degree angles. Push back up and repeat.

Progressive overload requires having more time in your discomfort zone. This is the most basic rule of all strength-training principles. But this is nit understood well enough by trainers. The body is only able to gain strength and muscle mass if it is being exercised to its limit. In contrast, if one exercises only in his comfort zone, the body learns to adjust so no muscle mass is built. This means that the more time in your discomfort zone equals less time in the gym.

The other type of weight training is dubbed periodization. This type of weight training shifts the focus from intensity to frequency. So the weight lifter goes through three phases of weight training under this type of program. In the initial stage, he needs to go through light training for at least a three-week period. After a few weeks, this is followed by medium training. Obviously, this medium type is an improvement from the initial stage of the workout.

Holding on to a chair for balance, bend right knee to 90 degrees. Keeping body upright, lift bent leg straight up until it’s parallel to the floor. Slowly lower back to start and repeat on each leg. For added resistance, use 1-5 lb ankle weights or a resistance band. Stand with feet hip-width apart and bend at the waist until back is parallel to floor. Pull the elbows up next to torso. Keeping elbows static, straighten arms by contracting triceps. Lower and repeat.

It is not enough to just lift a weight. It is important to explode with it, that is, raise it as fast as you can while still retaining control. This is also known as speed-strength conditioning, and it has great influence on power, endurance, and metabolism. It is important to be warned though, this training style will easily drain you like never before.

Lastly, a weight lifting program involves the fundamentals of a science. As such, it involves proper form and execution. Any weight lifter must approach it with precision and care. Otherwise, the time he spends in the gym comes to naught. It is important that he goes through the program with this in mind if he seeks to be successful in transforming his body into the muscle buff he desires that it becomes.

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Are muscle building supplements worthless?

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

If you have ever read a book on goal setting, you know that one of the most important concepts is being able to divide your goal into smaller chunks. Writing your goal on paper and pointing out obstacles from the very beginning are also important to help you reach your destination. However, I think the most important aspect of goal setting has to be the emphasis on long-term gains instead of short-term achievements.

Like many people, I usually focused on the short term results of my actions rather than focusing on a long-term investment. Basically, if a project didn’t work out immediately, I would get discouraged or distracted and move on to something else. After all, there’s always something new and exciting to drag you away. Now, how exactly does this tie into strength training or muscle building?

When it comes to trying to build muscle, too many people are spending their precious time trying to find that perfect supplement that will take care of all their needs. Instead of focusing on the most important concepts, they try to find a shortcut so they don’t have to do the work.

Let’s face it, supplements are not the core of a muscle building program, regardless of what the advertisements out there might be telling you. The latest supplement fad from the bodybuilding gurus will not improve your workout or make up for your lack of self discipline.

Unfortunately, it seems that human nature is to look for a shortcut or silver bullet that will give us the results that we want without the hard work. This is absolutely relevant to bodybuilding supplements, because most trainees are looking for an easy way out instead of focusing on the fundamentals. If you try to look for a muscle building supplement to do all the work for you, you really are wasting your time and money. When you think about how simple (although not easy) natural weightlifting methods are, it really is unnecessary to focus on supplements. It all comes back to self discipline and trying to achieve a goal slowly over time.

Many experts trainers who have the muscles to back up their theories are warning us about trying to rely on supplements. Supplements will have only a slight benefit for the advanced bodybuilder, and they might have zero benefit for a beginner.

Most supplements, however, are either useless or are simply not necessary. The essential components of any bodybuilding program will always be progressive resistance training and increasing one’s daily calories. Looking for shortcuts when you have not even mastered the basics will simply lead to disappointment and a lot of wasted money.

I know it doesn’t sound very exciting when you’re told that supplements are not the way to go and that you’ll have to work hard to achieve the results that you want. It’s also not that comforting to imagine all of the workouts you’ll have to complete and how strict you’ll have to be with your diet plan. However, when you realize that there really are no shortcuts, you have to decide whether or not it’s worth it. I think you know that it is worth it, but you just have to start thinking about long-term results.

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How a little planning can avoid a lot of muscle pain

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

Starting out on any project can be a lot of fun. There’s usually excitement, and this is enough to get people going for a while. Unfortunately, this period is more like a honeymoon and doesn’t really last long. Building muscle, for example, takes consistency over long-term.

If you’re serious about building a huge amount of muscle, you’ll need the right information to get started. This information can help you make progress more effectively and more quickly while avoiding injury. If you don’t take time to learn some fundamentals in the beginning, you may end up paying for it down the road.

The first thing you should do is address any preexisting injuries before taking on an intense muscle building program. Getting a checkup with your family doctor is a good start, but you may need to consider some other therapies such as myofascial release to clear up any trigger points or scar tissue. Even some forms of massage therapy can be quite helpful, and many are surprised by the relief that these therapies can provide.

You may not be familiar with these kinds of therapies, but more and more people are taking advantage of them. The key is to tackle these injuries before they get out of hand, and you certainly should be careful before beginning any kind of weight training while nursing an injury.

After beginning a muscle building program, many unfortunately don’t follow a good recovery program. You have to remember that the actual growth of your muscles does not occur in the gym, so you need to give your muscles enough rest in between workouts. Following this warning can help you progress more quickly as well as avoid injury. So many make the mistake of increasing their workouts when they don’t see immediate results.

Their logic is simple: more is better. While this may be a simple concept, it is inherently flawed because it ignores the basic principles of muscle-growth. The goal of a strength training workout in the gym to is to challenge the muscle beyond its previous limits and create small tears in the muscle. The body will adapt to this new stress by rebuilding the muscle in a larger size (hypertrophy). However, the growth of the muscle itself will occur during the recovery phase, not during the actual workout in the gym. Allowing the body to heal before the next workout is critical to long-term success, and many experts only recommend as few as 3 hours of training per week!

Getting plenty of rest is actually one of the most important parts of muscle building. Do not underestimate the importance of a good night’s sleep. Growth hormone is released during deep sleep, which is why you need to get plenty of sleep if you’re serious about building a good amount of muscle. Also remember that your entire body is under stress during a workout, not just your muscles. You need to give your entire body a chance to recover before returning to the gym.

The last bit of advice I would like to give you before you begin your new weightlifting program has to do with listening to others. When you start going to the gym or hanging out in a bodybuilding forum, you’ll probably be exposed to many different opinions that contradict each other. It’s tough to sort it all out, but you need to look for people who have proven their philosophies and achieved success. Look for a trainer who has proven how to build muscle naturally without steroids and even with no supplements (or a minimum of supplements).

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