Nick Nilsson asked:


When I say “muscle building,” I’m sure the first thing that jumps into your head is NOT high-rep training!

In fact, when trying to build muscle, most trainers will actively stay FAR away from anything resembling high reps (and when I say high reps, I mean anything more than 13 to 15 reps per set).

Here’s the thing…that can actually be a huge mistake!

Just like heavy weights and low reps, the higher rep ranges can be a very valuable and even essential tool in your muscle-building arsenal.

I’ve got three high-rep training techniques I want to share with you right now. And I’m going to explain exactly why each one is critical to your muscle-building success.

1. Very Light Weight, Very High Reps

Yep, I know this sounds absolutely CRAZY. How can light weight and very high reps do anything for building muscle? Here’s a hint…it’s not about resistance…it’s about physiology.

In order for a muscle to grow, first you’ve got to stimulate growth by overloading it with resistance – no argument there. But after you’ve stimulated the growth, you’ve got to supply nutrients to the muscle cells to help them rebuild.

What if your blood supply is poor to the trained muscle? Got a muscle group that doesn’t pump up very easily? It’s probably one of your hardest muscle groups to develop. Poor circulation means fewer nutrients get to that muscle for recovery and rebuilding, leading to reduced growth.

THAT is where light weight and very high reps come into play. You see, very high reps have the effect of increasing capillarization in muscle tissue (simply defined, capillaries are the tiny blood vessels where blood cells release their nutrients to the rest of the cells in the body).

Bottom line, you do a set of 100 reps and your body responds by increasing capillary density in the targeted muscle, which sets the stage for future muscle growth.

The high reps sets don’t directly cause muscle growth (the resistance isn’t high enough), they just improve blood circulation to the target muscle so when you DO train heavy and for lower reps, your target muscle gets more nutrients and can grow and recover more easily.

Want to put this tip to work?

Pick a “hard to pump” muscle and at the start of EVERY workout you do for that bodypart (e.g. every time you train biceps), do a single set of 100 reps with a very light weight. Basically, pick an exercise and just crank out the reps. Do this every time you train that bodypart and you soon will start to notice a difference in how easily that muscle pumps up and how well it grows.

2. Moderate-Weight, High-Rep Training

This sure sounds like an oxymoron. After all, how can you use moderate weights when you’re performing high reps!

As a matter of fact, you CAN. In fact, it’s one of the best training techniques you can use for building muscle fast. It’s a technique even elite powerlifters (who normally train with very low reps) use to increase muscle mass.

There are definitely certain exercises that lend themselves more to heavy-weight, high-rep training. Squats, for example, are the best example for this technique (you may be familiar with the popular “20-Rep Squat” program),

This moderate-weight, high-rep training has many of the same circulation benefits of the very high rep training but with the advantage of increased resistance, which will help directly stimulate muscle growth in addition to helping improve circulation.

Using myself as an example, I used squats with this technique and worked up to performing a set of 40 reps with 315 lbs (believe me, THAT was fun…). I’ve also managed a set of 25 reps with 225 lbs and a set of 70 reps with 135 lbs on the bench press.

This technique can be used with any exercise, really. You’ll find some exercises work better for it than others but basically, you’re taking a weight that is a bit lighter than your normal working weights and you’re just focusing on cranking out the reps.

Like the previous technique, I find this is best done at the beginning of a workout when you’re still fresh. You’ll be able to get more reps out of the exercise that way. Some trainers like to use it as a back-off set (powerlifters generally use it this way), doing the high-reps with moderate weight after finishing with the heavier stuff.

So next time you’re about to do squats, put a moderate weight on the bar and just see how many reps you can crank out! Forget about what you’re going to do on the rest of your sets – just get as many as you can. Your legs will be hit with a whole new muscle-building stimulus!

3. High-Rep Partial Training

This final tip brings us into an interesting area. High-rep partial training actually allows you to do high-rep training with HEAVY weight! In fact, you will be amazed at how much weight you can use with this style of training.

We’re going to be getting the benefits not only of the increased circulation that I mentioned with light-weight, high-rep training, but we’re also going to get the substantial muscle-building benefits of using heavy weights at the same time.

Another benefit…because you’re using heavier-than-normal weights, you’re going to be working your connective tissue very effectively as well. And, because you’re using high-reps, you’re going to be forcing a LOT of blood into that connective tissue, which is notorious for its normally poor blood supply. This helps immensely with strengthening and healing.

High-rep partial training is fairly straightforward to perform. It’s best done in a power rack, where it’s easy to adjust the range of motion. For example, using bench press, you can set the safety rails to a few inches below the lockout position.

Working in only that top range of motion (which is the strongest segment of the range of motion) means you can use a LOT more weight than you normally could for the full-range exercise.

So you set up the bench, set up the rails and add some weight. Now you just perform as many partial reps as you can! To give you an idea of weight and reps, I’ve done sets of 50+ reps with 315 lbs on high-rep lockout partial bench press.

High-rep partial training can be done at any point in your workout, as an addition to your “normal” training (1 or 2 sets) or as the complete bodypart workout on its own.

The Final Word

Overall, I’m a big fan of high-rep training for building muscle, when PROPERLY used. These three techniques are very effective for not only setting the stage for muscle growth but actually building the muscle itself!



End Anxiety And Panic Attacks

Bernice Eker asked:


Organically or naturally building muscle means that you develop your musculature the old-fashioned way.

Although there are supposedly a lot of other options to creating the perfectly sculpted physique using “easier” methods (like drugs, supplements and surgeries,) these options are not particularly encouraged by health care providers, and certainly not favored among the lot of hard core body building enthusiasts. In fact, professional body builders who use these methods are eventually banned from the sport; and have to suffer the dire medical consequences of choosing the easy way out.

The old-fashioned and gradual way is always the best means to building muscle mass. However, this does not simply mean that you pump iron 24/7, and always pushing yourself to the brink of exhaustion.

Here are some tricks of the trade when it comes to organic muscle building.

1. Get enough nutrition. Despite its popularity, the misconception of living on protein shakes and eating nothing but protein based food can have devastating effects on your body when you are trying to build up your physique – and none of these effects can be rightfully called as positive. Yes, protein helps with building muscles, but you would need other nutrients to keep the rest of your internal organs in tiptop shape as well. Glucose in carbohydrates is essential in keeping the brain functioning and whole. Without glucose, all the normal functions of the body slow down, and that will eventually hamper daily activities and your more strenuous workouts.

Minerals and vitamins from vegetables and fruits are necessary in keeping up one’s resistances and strength. Lightly prepared or raw vegetables and fruits are also great in satisfying normal hunger pangs without putting on unwanted pounds. Small amounts of oil from food (e.g. olive oil, essential oils rich with Omega 3 compounds) are imperative in retaining the luster of hair and nails. Furthermore, too much protein in the system can negatively affect heart functions as well. It would be best to get a balanced meal that contains almost all food groups, during every meal. Know the exact portions you could take to keep the calories down.

2. Take it easy. Pumping iron is beneficial to any body building workout, but so is rest and sleep. The body can be trained to work longer hours and to accommodate the most demanding workouts; but internal organs, and muscles need their own time out as well. For starters, most workouts need to elevate the heart rate to make the blood pump fasters, which eventually supplies oxygen to all the muscles in the body. However, the heart needs a breather every once in a while, or it will start to strain causing palpitations or even painful heart attacks. This is the reason why you need to warm up and cool down before and after strenuous workout sessions. This gives the heart the time to speed up and slow down respectively.

At the same time, muscles that are worked continuously can be inadvertently strained causing minor or serious injuries. Minute tears in the musculature can lead to internal hemorrhaging, while major tears can take months and months of healing period and physical therapy.

Take the time to really rest your muscles. If you have a workout regimen, make sure that you have ample time to rest in between exercises, and that you get as much as eight to ten hours of uninterrupted sleep per day.



End Anxiety And Panic Attacks

Bernice Eker asked:


Building muscle mass the natural way entails work, work and more work. There are really no acceptable shortcuts to creating the perfect or near perfect physique, no matter what the exercise “gurus” declare.

Although physical exertion is always needed, there are other ways on how the person can help the process go along on a faster pace – and these do not even have to involve using dangerous drugs, or questionable supplements or risky surgeries. Shifting key areas to your lifestyle can be great support systems in building muscle mass, the organic way. One of them includes: creating a multiple meal plan.

A multiple meal plan means spacing your food intake between 5 or 6 small meals per day. This helps the body consume fewer calories but increase the calorie burning process as well. As long as you maintain within the recommended portions (according to your current weight and the calories you tend to expend during workouts); your food intake should be able to provide your body the nutrients it needs to keep those muscles growing. Avoid the all protein diet altogether. Protein alone will not make your musculature bulk up, nor can it maintain the functions of your other internal organs. Go for the well-balanced meals instead, preferably meals with good amounts of carbohydrates.

You should also try to plan for slow burning carbohydrate-rich foods just prior to your daily exercise regimen. These foods are slowly digested by the body, and that is tantamount to the slow release of glucose in the blood stream. This makes the blood sugar level stable all throughout the workout period. This sustains the muscles on a longer period of time, enabling you to train harder and longer without suffering from muscle fatigue. Examples of slow burning carbohydrate rich foods are: bananas (raw or made into sugar free smoothies), boiled beans (no or less salt,) cereals (sugar free), pasta, red rice and whole grains (whole grain wheat bread, cornmeal bread, etc.)

After exercising, you can plan meals with fast burning carbohydrate rich foods to quickly sustain your blood sugar level. Examples of these foods are: buckwheat breads, fruit juices, pastries, any drinks with low to medium sugar content, white rice, and white bread – or any baked food made of white flour (e.g. pancakes with syrup, saltines, etc.) However, it is important to keep to the recommended portions to avoid possible unwanted weight gain.

Another example of a great support system in building muscle mass is to gain enough rest and sleep. Body building experts cannot say this loud or often enough. Get some sleep! Sleep is essential in the cell regeneration process. This is the time when the cells repair torn muscles, soothe strained joints, and incorporate the nutrients from the last meal into the rest of the internal components of the body. 8 to 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night is essential, and experts are even recommending naps in the middle of the day, or just before the workout session to help invigorate the muscles.



The Fat Loss Secret

Jerold Smith asked:


It is not surprising that there is a lot of confusion in these modern times on how to exactly build muscle. Besides that, there are just too much information and misunderstanding on how to build muscle such as what type of equipment to use, how long one should spend in the gym, whether or not to use steroids.

Therefore, you must be aware and do your own research on the principles of muscle building.

Despite the information overload out there, principles do not change. For example, you must begin to understand how muscles are formed. Muscles are formed when they are recovering, not when you are in the gym.

When you are in the gym pumping away, you are actually creating micro-tears in your muscles. Therefore, when your muscles recover, they will naturally form better muscle tissues.

Combined with proper nutrition, it will escalate the recovery process of your muscles, resulting in bigger, leaner muscles. This is a principle you must remember.

Therefore, there are a few things other principles and points you must keep in mind in order to build muscles effectively.

1) Do not attempt a low calorie diet.

Increase in the intake of calories in you wish to gain weight and build muscle effectively. Protein and fats are a great source to start with to boost your body with the calories it needs. However, be careful with consuming too much calories as you will gain too much fat instead.

When you try to lose weight or fat by starving yourself, your body will lower its metabolism rate to preserve energy. Muscle building requires you to burn as much energy as possible. This is exactly why people lift weights. They want to burn as much energy as possible, to create as much micro-tears as possible for the muscle to recover and become bigger.

2) You must have a proper nutrition intake.

Just by lifting weights alone is not enough. You need to know the right nutrition intake to consume. This is important because without the proper nutrition, your body will lose muscle instead of gaining muscles. With proper nutrition, using free weights and heavy weights will quickly give you the muscles that you desire.

Having proper nutrition to build muscles also does not mean it is all protein based products. Although many perceive protein to be extremely important and the only nutrition needed, this is not true. Protein is definitely important but effective muscle builders know exactly what and the right amount of nutrition to consume.

3) Muscle building is a long term endeavor

When you start building muscle, you must realize that it must become your lifestyle. Although results can be achieved in a few months using proper methods and routines, you must continue to work and endeavor on this lifestyle. If not, your muscle will slack and eventually it’ll be back to square one again. But don’t worry, if you can hang on for a few months to achieve the body you want, you won’t find this lifestyle difficult.

Therefore, muscle building can be fun and extremely rewarding to boost your confidence and to increase the quality of your life, However you must remember to be practical at all times.



The Fat Burning Furnace

Tony Smith asked:


When building muscles fast, there are a few things you must understand. Although, working out is a big part of gaining muscles, you also must perform a few other basic steps as well. So, what I’m going to share with you are 5 ways to build muscle fast.

Before I dive into the top 5 ways of building quality muscles, I’ll like to tell you that while trying to put on size, you need to be consistent on your efforts and honest with yourself. Now that I’ve gotten that out the way, let’s go over the top 5 ways.

Exercise

In order to put on muscle, you have to do the right exercises, or lifts, that will allow you to do that. The types of lifts you should focus on doing is compound lifts. These lifts consist of bench press, squats, military press, and deadlifts. These are the “mass building” lifts.

You should also do a few isolation lifts, such as bench flyes, tricep pulldowns, preacher curls, upright rows, and side lateral raises. And don’t forget to work on your abs, too.

Nutrition

In order to build muscle fast, you’ve got to be serious about your nutrition. It’s extremely important. You have to intake a lot of protein and carbohydrates (or carbs). You should consume at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day and at least 1.5 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight per day.

An example of this would be if you weighed 170 pounds, you should consume at least 170 grams of protein per day and at least 255 grams of carbs per day.

A few foods you should add to your meal plan is steak, chicken breast, turkey, tuna, salmon, and eggs for protein. And for carbs you should eat pasta, oatmeal, fruits, rice, and potatoes.

Supplements

You probably won’t get this information anywhere else, but you should consider taking supplements. One of the supplements you should consider taking is whey protein. It’s essential for building muscles fast. Also, you could take vitamins, amino acids, glutamine (an amino acid), and creatine.

These are great mass building supplements and will help you build muscle fast and safely.

Pre-Workout Meal

Pre-workout meal is important for muscle growth. You don’t want to hit the gym without properly fueling your muscles. So, before you workout, you should consume about 20-40 grams of protein (whey protein shake, tuna, chicken, or turkey) and about 40-60 grams of complex carbohydrates (apples, oatmeal, banana, or brown rice).

Post-Workout Meal

As noted above, supplements are important. So, post-workout is one of the most critical times when it comes to building muscles. Make sure you drink about 40 grams of whey protein (roughly 2 scoops) and about 50-80 grams of simple carbohydrates (baking potato, honey, powerade, or white bread with jelly).

Also, you should add some bcaa (amino acids), glutamine, and creatine to this power drink and consume it immediately after your workout.

These are the top 5 ways to build muscle fast. Make sure you eat, train hard, and rest. When you do, you’ll add on some serious muscle mass.



The Truth About Abs

Muscle Build asked:


Hard gainers have it rough in the sport of bodybuilding. We find it terribly difficult to pack on the pounds like our mesomorphic friends. But building muscle, even for the hard gainer, is easy if you know how.

Think of your bodybuilding lifestyle as a barstool: It’s got three legs. If one leg is missing or is longer or shorter than the other two, you’ve got problems. The same goes for muscle-building.

The three components of your regimen are your weight training routines, your meal plans (including proper supplementation), and your relaxation and recovery programs.

Shortchange any one of these three parts and you’re in for little to zero gains. You may even lose weight if you’re not careful.

In brief, I’ll lay out the conceptual framework for the three prongs.

Exercise

You need to train infrequently, at most 3 times per week, with each body part getting no more than 2 workouts per week. This is how I do it: Legs and arms on day A, torso on day B. Each day is separated by at least one day and you alternate day A and day B. Something like this: Monday — day A, Wednesday — day B, Friday — day A, then the following week you do Monday — day B, Wednesday — day A, Friday — day B.

Continue alternating like this for up to 8 weeks. Let your body be your guide.

This may sound like an easy exercise plan. It’s not!

It’s designed to work hand-in-hand with your Rest and Recovery portion of the program. You see, most hard gainers follow conventional advice as espoused by professional bodybuilders, who are genetically gifted, may be taking steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, and whose sole job is to bodybuild.

Most of us aren’t like professional bodybuilders in any way, shape, or form.

Reducing the workout frequency will give you the rest and recovery time necessary to explode your muscle growth. However, you must lift using High Intensity Training (HIT) techniques. Go heavy, do 6-10 reps for the upper body and 10-15 reps for your legs, with as much weight as possible (the last two reps should be killers). Use cheating, forced reps, and negatives to add even more intensity. Use super sets and pre-exhaust techniques to further up the ante.

Nutrition

You have to consume more calories than you expend. Follow a high protein, moderate to low carb diet. Don’t worry about fat. Eat plenty of eggs (4-8 a day, I’m not kidding), dairy, and beef. Chicken and fish are also great sources of protein.

In fact, if you just concentrate on getting 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, using the food sources above, you’ll be on the right track.

Supplement with high-quality protein powders, growth-hormone-inducing amino acids like arginine and ornithine, and dessicated liver tablets. Also ensure you’re laying a sound nutritional foundation by ingesting a mega-pak or two per day of a vitamin/mineral supplement (you can buy them in 30-packs at GNC).

Eat frequently, up to eight times per day: Three “squares” with snacks in between. On workout days, take in 20-30 grams of protein before and after your weight training.

Rest and Relaxation

Get 8-10 hours of sleep every night and use a set schedule for going to sleep and waking up. Nothing is more important than this for this prong of your training program.

If you can do it, take naps after your workouts. You grow when you sleep. A 30-minute nap is better than nothing. On your off-days, try to do something that’s relaxing, like reading, surfing the internet, or fishing. Something that sets your mind at ease. Many hard gainers who have success have found that meditation is helpful. Yoga works, too. It’s NOT easy, but in a very strange way, it’s grueling and relaxing at the same time.

There you have it. Three equal but different prongs for building muscle and gaining weight. Best of luck to you!

Don’t forget to check out Muscle-Build.com and Hard Gainer’s Manifesto for more helpful tips and training techniques for building muscle, gaining weight, and packing on the mass.



The Truth About Abs

Tony Smith asked:


Building muscles fast require that you do a few things properly. And it’s essential that you incorporate effective muscle building strategies if you are serious about building quality muscle. So, what I’m going to do is share with you the fastest way to build muscles.

The first thing you need to focus on is your training. You should train at least 3 times a week. Make sure you add compound lifts to your workouts. Compound lifts consist of squats, bench press, military press, and deadlifts.

Also, be sure to change up your workouts every 4 weeks. Changing your workouts will force your muscles to continue to grow. If you keep doing the same workout and same exercises over and over again, your muscles will get use to it and stop growing.

Another thing you should focus on when trying to build your muscles fast is nutrition. Make sure you eat alot of protein and carbs. You should eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight and 1.5 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight.

An example would be if you weighed 180 pounds, you would intake 180 grams of protein and 270 grams of carbs.

Also, be sure to add these proteins to your meal plan: eggs, steak, beef, chicken, salmon, and cottage cheese. And for carbs, add these to your meal plan: pasta, brown rice, apples, oatmeal, and whole wheat bread.

The fastest way to build muscles also includes one more thing. It requires that you take supplements. The supplements you should consume are whey protein, creatine monohydrate, bcaa (branch chain amino acids), and vitamins. All of these supplements are safe and won’t cause you any harm.

To get the best results from the supplements, drink your whey protein with complex carbs (apple, oatmeal, or banana) about 1 hour before your workout. And drink another whey protein shake with simple carbs (gatorade, honey, a few pieces of white bread with jelly, or baked potato) immediately after your workout.

Also, after your workout, take your creatine and bcaa with your whey protein shake.

These muscle building tips are the fastest way to build muscles. Follow these tips and you’re guaranteed to notice a difference in your muscle mass.



End Anxiety And Panic Attacks

Bernice Eker asked:


With the fast growing popularity of health and fitness today, everyone’s just dying to know well kept secrets in building muscle mass.

Body building doesn’t depend on potions or extreme diets. You can attempt to take in a dozen eggs a day, but it won’t help you attain your dream body at all. In fact, keeping extreme diets like this one will only give you a heart attack or cause serious kidney failure. Building muscle mass depends on a well-rounded lifestyle, a gentle but consistent work out routine, and the right mentality. You can’t get instant muscles simply by drinking protein shakes all day long. It takes a lot of work, discipline, and balance.

How the pros do it

If you’ve been enrolled in a fitness gym before, you’ll notice that instructors take note of your weight, height, diets, lifestyles, and other important factors that may affect your body built. This is because there is no one way to build muscle mass fast. Every individual has a specific matrix of lifestyle and genetic factors which may affect his/her metabolism and muscle building capabilities.

The first thing you will have to do is find out what your body type is. Some people tend to be heavier around the abdomen, while others have flabbier arms, legs, and buttocks. Whatever your problem area may be, it all relies heavily in the way you eat and how much you burn energy throughout the day.

If you’re stuck in an office the whole day, and you feed on burgers and fries at least three days in a week, you’re most likely to have blocked arteries and unflattering bumpers. Salt and sugar overload throughout the week will leave your body retaining unwanted water and deadly bad fat.

Aside from improving your diet by eating leaner food products like fish and vegetables, you also need to exercise. We don’t mean carrying weights and doing lunges in your office while the boss is out. We mean taking your cardiovascular exercises more seriously than before.

In building muscle mass, you can’t forget about the importance of fat loss. You can’t depend on weights alone to fight your flabby arms because target fat loss never works, and muscles can’t really be seen with layers of fat covering it.

You should alternate your cardiovascular and strength exercises throughout the week. During your first few weeks of training, you can focus on fat loss first with 30 minutes to an hour of healthy jogging and/or running. You can lessen these and focus more on building muscle mass with strength exercises as you go further into your program.



No Nonsense Muscle Building

Jason Hobbs asked:


Many people interested in making their bodies the best they can be are not only interested in weight loss, but in building muscle as well. This makes total sense. If you have ever seen someone who has lost a significant amount of weight without exercising, you will understand the need for building up the body’s muscles. When there is no muscle to replace the fat that was lost, it becomes saggy. In some cases, this is massively so. This is one of the biggest reasons for advocating exercise along with a good eating plan for people who wish to lose weight.

There are many safe ways to go about building muscle, even if you are not a professional body builder. You can visit your local gym and speak to a trainer. This is a person who knows what you will and will not be capable of doing. He or she will set up a work out program focusing on strengthening your muscles as you lose weight. In this way, your muscles will be in place when the excess fat comes off of you. So, instead of looking saggy, you will be not only be slimmer, but muscular in the just the right areas.

If you have been researching programs for building muscle, you most likely have seen just how many different books and DVDs are available on the subject. In fact, there are so many to choose from, each claiming to be THE perfect one, that you may find yourself just giving up on the whole idea. You don’t have to do that. It may take a little work on your part, but it is very possible to find a good, honest, and effective program just for you. Start by reading some reviews from real people on some of the more popular programs, and work from there.

Building muscle should not be a tedious project for you. Therefore, you will want to do something that you can safely do without hurting yourself. Your muscle building exercises really do not have to hurt you in order for them to work. It may be that you need something a bit easier to begin with. There are programs available just for beginners. If you have performed muscle building routines in the past, you may be able to start with a slightly more advanced program. Whatever you choose, make sure it is something that you will be able to do, and stick to as long as it takes to work.



The Fat Burning Furnace