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If you pay attention to these basic
building muscle tips, you should see better results from your strength
training regimen:
Consistency in approach is a key element to most things in life, and
your workout routine is truly no exception. If you're fully committed
to something, you have a much better chance of being successful at it.
Conventional wisdom says that it generally takes a couple of weeks of
consistent dedication to develop a routine that feels comfortable.
Once you've passed that barrier, you're halfway there!
Try to train between 3 - 4 times per week. That frequency will give
your muscles enough stimulation to maintain an effective
hypertrophic (i.e., muscle building) environment for good muscle
tissue development. Also, by working out every other day, you're
giving your muscles a much-needed day of rest and repair. Many people
fail to understand that working
out damages your muscles (in a good way, of course), and that
muscle growth actually occurs during the rest periods when muscles can
heal.
Don't let your weight lifting workouts go too long, and never let them
exceed an hour. A thorough strengthening workout routine can be
accomplished easily in 30 minutes or less, particularly if you only
pause for less than a minute between sets, which is desirable. If you
feel any sharp pains, stop your workout immediately and try to find
out what the source of the discomfort is coming from. Further
exercising can make a bad situation even worse, so listen to your body
for warning signals.
From purely a workout perspective, muscle growth occurs when you
perform a high volume of 'work' at a medium intensity. Volume
here means the number of reps and sets you perform, and the
intensity variable is how much weight you'll lift. All beginning
strength trainers should begin their workout regimens using this 'high
volume, medium intensity' approach. Over time, as your muscle mass
begins to build, gradually increase the intensity factor a little to
keep sustaining your progress.
Weight lifting and cardio exercises work at cross purposes against
each other. Strength training is an anabolic process, meaning
that physical and hormonal processes work together to increase
protein-based muscle mass. On the other hand, cardio exercises are
catabolic in nature, which means they tend to break down muscle
protein in an effort to burn calories. If your primary goal is to
build muscle, take it easy on the cardio. If, however, weight control
is your mission, cardio comes first, only to be augmented with some
light strength training.
Of all the building muscle tips out there this one may sound the most
obvious, but your being well-hydrated before, during, and after
strength training is key to your development. Muscle tissue that's
dehydrated takes much longer to repair itself. Also, during workouts,
muscle protein throws off metabolic waste products that must be
flushed from your body. If your kidneys can't handle the process by
itself, extra water in the body fills that gap effectively.
Your diet - both pre-workout and post-workout - is critical to your
being able to maximize the effects of your training program. It takes
the human body, on average, about one and a half hours to digest a
meal. Since your body needs calories as fuel for your workout, you
have to give your body a chance to convert that meal into usable
energy before your start exercising. Once you've burned through those
calories, though, your body is now deficient in glycogen
(carbohydrates). If you don't replace that glycogen quickly (say,
within the next half hour), your body will start breaking down muscle
tissue. Make it a habit to consume a high-carbohydrate drink, or eat
some fruit, immediately after your workout to keep that from
occurring.
Unless you've balanced your diet perfectly with your workout regimen,
there may be a place in there for additional vitamin supplements
and antioxidants. A high-quality multi-vitamin can fill in some
of these nutritional gaps. To prevent damage to your muscle tissue
caused by 'free radicals' (reactive molecules that negatively
destabilize other molecules), you may want to consider taking
supplements that contain Vitamins A, E, and C; selenium and glutamine
can also help those muscle tissues temporarily traumatized by your
strength training.
Follow these building muscle tips and enjoy a safer, more effective
workout!
- - -
Need a new strength training routine that produces great results?
Check out my
review of Jon Benson's revolutionary '7 Minute Muscle' strength
training program!
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