7 Best Nutrition Tips for Athletes

Food is the fuel that helps athletes perform their best. Without it, endurance, strength and overall performance will be down. If you want to get the most out of your workouts and athletic capabilities, your diet should be a top priority in your fitness efforts.

 

In order to perform your best at game time, your body needs the right nutrition. Here are some tips from to help maximize your athletic performance and avoid injury.

 The seven key components to your contest preparation are weight training, protein, cardio, calories, carbs, fats, and supplements. The only 2 things that will remain primarily consistent is your protein intake and your weight training.

 Weight Training
 –Typically stays consistent throughout you training. Small adjustments will be implemented toward the last stages of your preparation.

 Protein
 – Typically stays consistent throughout your training. There may be some slight modifications at the end of your preparation to help achieve that shredded look.

 Cardio
 – Should be used as a tool, not a crutch. We are not advocates of doing 2-3 hours a day of cardio. We try to stimulate your metabolism and get you as lean as possible through your diet and use cardio as only a small part of the training.

 Calories
 – Should be kept as high as possible to help keep you full, mentally alert, and energized for training. Calories will be adjusted as necessary.

  Carbs
 – Carbs, Carbs, Carbs, Carbs! Everybody love carbs! But not everyone can eat them… Carbs can be a necessary tool for keeping muscles pumped, keeping glycogen levels high, helping with mental alertness and getting you through those hard workouts. The key to carbs is finding and balancing the ones that work best with your body

Fats
 – Like carbs, fats play a significant role in your physique. Some fats are good and some fats can destroy your body shape.

Suppliments
 – There are plenty of supplements out there on the market.

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Top 11 Amazing Health Benefits of Making Love

Most people think that making love is a kind of physical enjoyment and a good way to have a healthy relationship. But making love can do more than make you feel good and close to your partner. It can actually make you both physically and mentally healthier. Sexual activity benefits your body in the same way as exercise, it boosts heart health and immunity and reduces blood pressure. Thinking beyond the pleasure of making love, there are other various Health benefits of love making, that it keeps you young, boost your mood and immune system, helps you live longer and much more. Read the article to see how making love can benefit you.

Here I will try to discuss 10 amazing health benefits of making love. You may like this !

1. It Helps You Sleep Better.

The sleep that you get just after you’ve made love will be much more relaxed. Getting a good night’s sleep will make you feel alert and overall healthy. One of the brain’s stress-relieving chemicals, oxytocin, is released during it. That oxytocin does not only increase endorphins and decrease pain, but it can also help put you to sleep. Feeling loved, decreases stress, which makes worries disappear and allows you to fall into a deep sleep.” It also involves muscle contractions and movement that deplete the body of energy, allowing it to be flooded with those feel-good, soothing hormones.

2. It boosts mood

Oxytocin promotes feelings of joy and happiness.An investigation of 30,000 American people somewhere in the range of 1989 and 2012 found that having intercourse at any rate once every week in a submitted relationship was sufficient to satisfy individuals.It’s more than the coital demonstration that brings Health benefits of love making. Investigations of more established grown-ups found that clasping hands, embracing, kissing and common stroking likewise add to a more prominent personal satisfaction.

Getting it on can avoid sadness, as well. Studies demonstrate that people who have sex with their accomplices have more prominent fulfillment with their psychological well-being. (Lamentably, the advantages didn’t reach out to masturbation.)Yet, the lift doesn’t seem to work for easygoing sex or hookups. One investigation of about 7,500 US undergrads crosswise over 14 state-funded colleges found that the individuals who had more hookups had brought down dimensions of bliss and confidence, and more elevated amounts of sorrow and uneasiness.As opposed to the thought that men are bound to approve of easygoing sex, the scientists found no contrasts between the genders.

3. It Burns Calories.

 S-x is a great form of exercise and helps burn those stubborn calories. Studies suggest that s*x on a regular basis is as good as pumping some iron in the gym. Also, it involves muscular movement of the thighs, legs, arms, shoulders and lower abdomen which equals a total body workout. The average session burns about 150 calories, comparable to an easy yoga session or a walk. It’s a nice exercise. It burns calories, especially if it is doing by a variety of styles and position. S*x is a good way to lose weight.

4. It Boosts Your Immune System.

Making love just once or twice a week has been linked to having higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin, which can increase your protection from colds and other infections by up to 30 percent.

5. It Keeps You Young.

There’s no doubt that an active romantic life makes couples live a happy and longer life. Research suggests that regular lovemaking allows the release of endorphins and boosts the skin’s production of vitamin D, which in turn makes one look and feel young.

6. It Helps to Get Relieves From Stress.

A big health benefit of making love is lower blood pressure and overall stress reduction, according to researchers from Scotland who reported their findings in the journal Biological Psychology. They studied 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their activity. Researchers found that it helps to get relieves from stress.

7. It Helps to Improve Fertility.

Frequent exercise regulates menstrual cycles, which makes conception easier. Orgasm is a fact here which actually assists with fertilization. All those of you who are planning to become mommies anytime soon, here’s good news! According to this report, better practice leads to better chances of conception (Yay). The best way to achieve this is by not treating it like a chore; instead better the quality to increase your chances of getting pregnant.

8. It Helps Fight Disease.

A good session of lovemaking helps in combating a lot of diseases in both men and women. You will be surprised to know that making love reduces the risk of cancer, heart diseases and even common cold.


9. It Helps to Reduce Pain.

Making love is a nice natural pain reducer. According to studies, vaginal stimulation may lead to increased pain tolerance which in turn has the power to ease out pain during periods, arthritis and migraine. As the hormone oxytocin surges, endorphins increase, and pain declines. For chronic pain sufferers, forget about popping toxic pain pills, it is the way to go. Migraines and chronic back pain have been shown to be reduced, thanks to these incredible natural healers. It also wards off the flu and colds. A lovemaking session can release the tension that restricts blood vessels in the brain.

10. It Helps Women More Beautiful.

It helps women to be more beautiful. During making of love, women produce the estrogen hormone in significant amounts. These hormones can make women’s skin smoother and makes hair becomes shiny. Sweat that released during practice can cleanse the pores and make skin glow. Beside that, love relationships can increase the amount of pheromone in the body that can make a woman look more beautiful and attractive.

11. It Promotes Overall Well-Being

If you are comfortably happy, then be assured that nothing else can challenge your health. And it has the capacity to promote the overall well-being of a couple. A steamy session powered by love can easily perk up your mood and keep you in a happy zone.

Researches shows that a positive relationship significantly improves the overall health and well- being. Happily married couples are less likely to develop health problems such as cancer and heart failure, and will live longer on average. Your body will experience a whole roller coaster of hormones during, and reminisce afterwards. The main hormone is oxytocin, also known as the hormone of love is called. This particular hormone is important for binding and cherish with your partner and will be released when you’re hugging and have contact with your partner.

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Will a 2-Week Vacation Ruin All Your Gym Progress?

It’s probably happened to you. You’ve finally gotten into a steady routine at the gym, showing up like clockwork every evening at 5:25 p.m. It’s taken you about a month, but your squats have been feeling great, you’ve managed to go a whole week without getting sore, and you swear your shoulders are looking more toned.

But your vacation is coming up, and you’ll be going to France for two weeks. Naturally, you’re thrilled to go because it’s been a lifelong dream to see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. But if you’re being completely honest about it, it’s stressful knowing you’ll be away from the gym for that long.

Not only are you worried that you’ll gain 10 pounds from all the croissants you plan to eat, but you’re afraid of losing a month’s worth of fitness. You know all those gains won’t stick around while you’re off galavanting in Europe, and that you’ll have to start all over when you get back.

Maybe you’re thinking you should just skip the gym tonight. After all, why are you working so hard for something you’re about to lose?

Before you get hasty and banish your gym sneakers to the darke

How Long Does It Take to Lose Strength?

You already know it takes a while to get stronger. You’ve also probably heard that if you don’t use those muscles, you lose them. But how quickly does that happen?

In 2016, a group of researchers was curious about how long it would take to gain strength, as well as how long it would last. So they designed a study to test it out. If they could show that even short-term training helped build strength, it would allow physical therapists and other rehab professionals to develop simpler and cheaper programs to help their patients recover from injury.

The researchers recruited 19 healthy men who were minimally active and didn’t have a regular gym routine. They divided them into two groups: a control group that didn’t exercise at all throughout the study, and an experimental group that participated in a resistance-training program.

What’s cool about the exercise program is that it wasn’t your typical eight-week cycle consisting of a variety of total-body exercises. No, the training program lasted only three days, and it consisted of only one exercise that worked only one limb. That’s right — the experimental group did only leg extension exercises with their dominant leg for three days.

After completing all three days of training, the participants came back to the lab three times for follow-up tests: 48 hours, one week, and two weeks after the final training session. All three assessments indicated that three days of training was enough to elicit strength increases from the participants. The strength of the trained leg, on average, was about 22% greater than it was during the pre-training assessment.

Yet that’s not even the most impressive statistic. All three post-training assessments showed about a 16% strength improvement in the untrained limb. Even the leg that wasn’t trained got stronger.

What’s more, these effects didn’t disappear instantly. The post-training assessments showed that even after the participants went back to their minimally-active lifestyles, their strength gains stuck around for two weeks.

How Does This Happen?

A lot happened in this study, and it might be challenging to comprehend. How did three days of training have such a noticeable impact on strength? How did those gains not vanish within one day of inactivity? And, for Pete’s sake, how did the untrained limb get stronger too?

It seems the brain might be responsible for all three of these effects. Let’s break them down.

1. Short-Term Strength Increases

When you first started working out, you probably noticed that you got a little better each time you stepped foot in the gym. Personal records came quickly, and improvements in strength and endurance were frequent and sometimes astonishing.

The initial improvements you saw were mostly due to neural adaptations. That means it’s not so much your muscles getting bigger (although that happens); it’s more your brain’s ability to activate the muscles you have. This effect is called neuromuscular efficiency.

That’s likely what happened to the participants in this study. It’s not that they suddenly developed more muscle fibers — it’s that their brain responded eagerly to the training and learned to activate the right muscles in just three days.

2. Detraining

Losing part or all of your strength after you stop working out is a principle called “detraining.” You can blame your brain for the bulk of this effect — at least at first. It likely happens because your neural drive — that is, the sum of all the brain signals going to your muscles — gets weaker. This decreases motor unit activation (which is your brain’s ability to stimulate the appropriate muscles) and prevents you from being able to bench press as much as you used to.

Some studies suggest that elite athletes experience detraining more quickly than recreational exercisers (or novices), but this doesn’t seem to be a hard-and-fast rule. A study done on both rugby and American football athletes showed that they maintained their strength levels for three weeks after pausing their resistance-training program. However, they did continue to practice their sports during this hiatus, which may have helped preserve their gains.

Even though it’s possible to retain strength for weeks without training, that doesn’t mean athletes are wasting their time by working out so frequently. Other research has illustrated that lack of exercise can cause rapid, significant declines in power output, even if strength is still unaffected — so it’s crucial that athletes stay in the gym.

3. Contralateral Strength Gains

Now, what about the leg that didn’t work for its strength? How can it just mooch off of the other limb?

You may notice that the researchers in this study had participants train their dominant leg. That wasn’t just an arbitrary choice.

In motor control theory, there is a concept called bilateral transfer, which means that learning a single-handed task is easier if you’ve already learned it on the opposite hand. While this effect happens in both directions, it’s generally accepted that the result is more pronounced if you train the dominant side first. That’s why the researchers had participants use only their preferred leg.

How do strength gains transfer to the untrained leg? There are a few different theories, but again, you can thank your brain! One theory is that you have a motor schema (a representation in your memory) of how to perform the movement, which is accessible by both limbs. Another is that the motor neurons activated during exercise also trigger the neurons that go to the same muscles on your body’s other side.

What This Means for You

Yes, the study exploring the effects of three days of strength training was intended to help clinicians write smarter rehab programs. But you don’t have to be injured to take advantage of this information.

Everything you just read means it’s okay to go on vacation and leave the gym at home. Especially if you’re active (walking along the beach, exploring Tokyo on foot, climbing the Swiss Alps), you won’t have to start over from scratch when you come back. Even though you may feel out of shape when you return, it’ll only take a couple of sessions to get your brain back online. Then you can pick back up where you left off.

This also means that it’s never too late — or too overwhelming — to start exercising. Your body can benefit from doing just one exercise for three days, which means you don’t need the fitness level of an elite athlete to see some meaningful improvements in your health.

So, lace up your shoes and get on your way! Your brain will be very excited.

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Skinny People Build Muscle Differently / Tips

If you are on of those lucky people that are blessed with a skinny body that never puts on fat then you also know you carry a curse as well that makes it very difficult to put on muscle mass too. Skinny people build muscle quite differently to other body types you see and if you need to gain weight and pack on muscle you need to know how to gain muscle mass in a different way.

Tired of people telling you how lucky you are because you can't gain weight?  Kick your body into gear with these  tips for packing on the pounds.

if you need to gain weight and pack on muscle you need to know how to gain muscle mass in a different way.

in any activity in life there are three phases: Understanding, planning and action! So before you start building a workout schedule and hitting the weights you need to understand what it is that stops your skinny body from gaining muscle like other people who seem to be able to put on bulk but just looking at some weights and eating a diet of Twinkies and hamburgers. You see the same blessing of being skinny and not putting on FAT is also what limits muscles growth because of your high metabolism.

In case you do not know about metabolism, it is basically the process of your body breaking down food intake and converting it to energy which is used immediately, to keep you warm, stored as fat cells, used to repair and grow muscle or even just wasted. A skinny person will find they chew through energy and nutrients at a very fast rate leaving very little excess to be stored as fat cells and also nothing left to repair and grow muscles which both happen at the end of these phases. This does not mean you can never be fat nor can you never gain muscles it just means your approach to working out, diet and fitness needs to be altered from what the bodybuilding magazines suggest because they are not selling you the things you need to actually work WITH your metabolism.

How to gain weight quickly comes down to a few basic concepts when skinny people build muscle, or try to at least.

    Diet & Meal Planning
    How You Exercise & Lift Weights
    Workout & Resting Regime (this is often neglected by people looking to gain muscle mass fast)

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Best 3 Golden Rules for Muscle Growth !

As it is with everything in life, there are two ways to do things - do it as everyone else is doing it without questioning, or try to get the maximum output for the efforts you put in. When it comes to weight training, sadly most people don't have a clue about how to train.

 #1. The specific order in which you perform your exercises directly affects the order of muscles you fatigue, which greatly influences your gains from the whole ordeal. And if you want your overall size and power to grow, you’ll need to emphasize the big muscle groups. A good rule of thumb is to hit the smaller muscles only after you’ve finished with the heavy lifting and drained all energy from the big ones, so never place isolation movements which tire out the small muscles before compound exercises.

#2. Always place weightlifting before cardio. If not, long cardio sessions will use up most of your strength and fatigue your muscles before you even touch a bar. Keep in mind that this rule also applies for the day before having a heavy lifting session. On the other hand, if you do cardio the next day after a lifting session, the fresh muscle gains can improve your performance.

#3. Finally, try to put free weights before exercise machines. Free weights allow you to train functional movements with full range of natural motion, protect the health of your joints and increase muscle coordination, but most importantly, they work almost all muscles in your body. On the other hand, machines are great for isolating smaller muscle groups and we’ve already discussed their place in an efficient muscle-building routine. In general, free weight exercises are more difficult and place a lot more stress on the body, which is essentially the key to a ripped physique.
Got it? Good, because it’s really as simple as that. Now go and make every one of your iron-pumping sessions count!

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Resistance Training – Muscle Strength Burns Fat!

  In fact, I recommend that anyone wanting to lose body fat should incorporate resistance training into their regular routine.  The importance here is one of metabolism.  When you get metabolically active tissue (muscle) active on a regular basis, you will increase your metabolism, enhance the way your body utilizes calories and lose more fat.   This can have an impact by allowing your body to burn more calories even after you have stopped exercising, as your metabolism can be elevated for hours post-exercise.  In addition, elevating your lean mass (increasing muscle tissue through resistance training) will elevate your metabolism even when your body is at rest.  Resistance training is a must to improve fat loss success.

What Is Resistance Training?

Simply put, resistance training is any kind of movement of your muscles against an external resistance like free weights, weight machines, exercise bands, or even lifting rocks, that causes your muscles to contract. Doing these kind of muscle movements causes microscopic tears in the muscle in a process called catabolism, or break down, of the muscle fibers.

The healing and repair that our body does in response is known as anabolism. It causes the muscles to not only repair themselves but also grow stronger, denser, and more resilient. The result of that two-stage process creates a more toned you and increases your metabolic rate which helps you burn fat faster. If you burn fat faster, guess what? You lose those stubborn pounds of fat faster.

Here are some other side benefits of resistance training that I bet you’ll be surprised to know:

• Can help lower blood pressure – current research shows that resistance training lowers both systolic (upper) and diastolic (lower) blood pressure by several points. It also decreases stress hormones in the blood which helps lower blood pressure.

• Prevents osteoporosis by building bone – friction of the muscle against bone during resistance training stimulates the bone to grow and become thicker.

• Reverse or slow down the aging process – along with a higher protein intake, resistance training helps release Human Growth Hormone (HGH) which slows aging.

• Improve glucose metabolism – weight training improves insulin usage by utilizing glucose for muscle work. Helps prevent type 2 diabetes.

Aerobic and Resistance Training – Both Work Together

Don’t get me wrong, aerobic exercise is very beneficial to your overall health. It also improves your mood, decreases your blood pressure, increases your metabolic rate, increases lung and heart capacity, and helps you sleep!

However, I have some patients who exhaust and dehydrate themselves doing aerobic exercise every day for 1 hour, trying to lose fat and tone muscles. This is actually counterproductive. You can shorten your aerobic exercise time to 20 minutes, 3 times a week, doing interval aerobic exercise instead which not only energizes you but strengthens your heart and boosts your metabolic rate far better and faster.

Interval aerobic exercise, is doing a 10 minute slower warm up with your chosen exercise (walking, jogging, traditional bicycling or “spinning” on a bike in a club, elliptical machine, swimming, brisk dancing) and then alternating between short, 2 minute bursts of more intense, faster, higher resistance level exercise and slow, resting exercise for the remaining 10 minutes. As you get used to doing intervals like this, you can gradually increase your length of high intensity bursts to 5 minutes.

Resistance training, on the other hand, specifically targets the strength of each muscle group and should be done 3 times a week. Whether you use free weights or standing weight machines in your gym is your choice. However, you may want to start out on weight machines and incorporate some free weight exercises into your resistance training routine after you’ve become comfortable with it. Also, a good warm up session of stretching before resistance training is important to avoid injury.

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How Long You Should Train To Notice Muscle Gain? bodybuilding110

If you glance in the mirror after doing a set of push-ups or curling a set of weights, it might look like you managed to build muscle instantly. But that short-term pump is temporary, thanks to increased circulation in your muscles. Building permanent, measurable muscle gains takes a few weeks.

Tip

You may notice your weight-training exercises getting easier within a few weeks, thanks to neural adaptation. But real, long-term gains in muscle mass usually take about two months of consistent training.

When you see someone pushing forward towards their goals, you are probably wondering how long it will take you to get to where you want to be. Of course, there is no single rule that applies to everyone, so if you want to know the answer to this question, you’ll have to dig deeper and explore a multitude of factors.

First of all, you need to know what your goals are. If you want to lose weight, pack on lean muscle mass or completely change your body is a key determinant in how you want to go about fulfilling your plan. If you already know, the quest becomes easier and you can actually calculate how much time you’ll need to get to your goals. Let’s break these possible goals down and see the results.

1. Building Muscle Mass

You can put on a couple of pounds of muscle mass monthly, but if it’s your first time trying to pack on the beef, you might grow a bit more. Be aware of the fact that some of this will be body fat instead of lean muscle, which means you will need to do a cutting phase after a good bulk. If you get heavier really quickly, you might be putting on a lot of body fat, and you want to try to avoid this by burning more calories, working out longer or eating fewer calories. If your bodyweight stagnates, eat 300 extra calories per day. If that doesn’t work too, add on the calories until you can grow two pounds per month.

2. Losing Weight

More often than not, losing weight is a lengthier task than putting on lean muscle. This is because you can only drop one or two pounds of body fat weekly, so it needs a bit less time when compared to the time it takes to grow muscle. But when you want to lose weight, you might find it difficult to keep track of, simply because you can only drop about two pounds a week healthily – if you want to lose more weight, you can have issues with gallstones, your liver or loose, flabby skin. To lose weight easier, several things are key – getting enough sleep, eating healthy and drinking water. You want to eat lean meat, some nuts and green veggies if you want to cut properly. Also, you will minimize the amount of muscle mass lost when cutting, and you’ll be able to keep yourself healthy while losing weight.

3. Completely Transform Your Body

If you want to put on, say, 40 pounds of lean muscle, the calculations become a bit easier, meaning if you can grow 2 pounds per month, it would take you 20 months to get it done. If you find yourself stagnating, know that sometimes your body may refuse to grow more than two pounds per month. Also, remember that you will also be growing some body fat which you will need to cut later to appear more muscular.

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Natural Secrets For Bodybuilding

There are some secrets in natural bodybuilding that easily get missed or even overlooked in the never ending bombardment of information through the net, magazines and gym gossip. So where do these gems really lie?

The secrets for the most part, get missed or left out because they're obvious and in plain sight, as a natural bodybuilder, you need to come to grips with training smarter, harder and be more patient with yourself from that of a drug-induced bodybuilder.

 Proper training

When you are a beginner it’s natural to believe that more exercise will yield better or faster results. This is not true in bodybuilding. Over exercising results in exhaustion and injury to muscles. During training the muscles are worked out but they do not grow. They grow when you rest and so it’s important to give your muscles that resting time to grow and develop.

Regular workouts

For a complete bodybuilder it’s important to work the whole body out. Exercise on a daily basis will include a wide range of exercise that are for the chest, back, shoulders, legs, hips, arms and abdomen. Squats, stretches, strength training, weight training are all a must.

Building lean body mass

Proper weight training helps to build the body lean mass which is important to cut flab as it burns calories when your body is in resting. For muscles to shape lean body mass helps to fending off flab revealing the real muscles.

Stretching and cardiovascular exercise

Stretching helps to enlarge the size of your muscles. It also gives them shape. This happens when the outer cover of the muscles called the fascia is stretched prompting the muscles beneath to expand and grow. It also increases flexibility of movements. Cardiovascular exercise done once a week is good for muscles structure and overall health.

Proper nutrition

To develop muscles and help repair them when they wear out you should have a diet rich in protein and all the vital nutrients for a healthy body. They give you support and energy to workout and replenish the worn out muscles.

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How to build muscle for ectomorphs ?

Do you eat, eat and eat, but it never goes anywhere?

Why can't you seem to put on muscle fast enough?

If this sounds like you, then your body type is most likely an 'ectomorph'.

Hallmarks of this physique are long thin limbs, narrow shoulders, fast metabolism, low body fat, and narrow hips and glutes. Very different than your naturally larger endomorph or mesomorph with a symmetrical physique.

While others may envy your lightning-fast metabolism and slender frame, you may view your ectomorph 'blessing' as a curse!

If you’ve failed every attempt to put on lean muscle, it’s time to try a different line of attack using a training and nutrition plan that is suited to your unique body shape.


 Home > Build Muscle > How to build muscle for ectomorphs


How to build muscle for ectomorphs
What is an ectomorph?

The ectomorph is one of the three most common body types (somatotypes), characterized by a “thin frame” and difficulty to gain muscle mass as well as fat. People that belong to this somatotype are usually skinny, lean and have a high metabolic rate.

When exposed to a constant unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle, ectomorphs can actually gain some weight, which will most probably be belly fat, while their arms and legs will stay unusually thin.

The good part about being an ectomorph

As mentioned before, ectomorphs have a really hard time putting some meat on their frame. This opens an opportunity for the ectomorph to eat more liberally, including junk food. Because of the fast metabolism, mos of the weight they put on them will be lean muscle rather than fat.

A fit and shredded body is an easy goal for the ectomorph; The effort they need to put in to create a visible six pack is really small. Most of the professional models belong to this somatotype.

On the other hand, a bodybuilder that has this body type can never be very massive (compare Frank Zane and Dorian Yates for example).

Training errors that ectomorphs make

– Too much cardio – if you are an ecto,  you need to forget about long cardio sessions – ectomorphs are already skinny and lean enough, that too much cardio will only make things worse.

– Too many weight lifting sessions. Two to three weight lifting sessions a week are just enough for an ecto to make some progress. A bit more than this, and they will start losing weight again, by not allowing the muscles to recuperate.

How can ectomorphs gain muscle

Most of the training should revolve around the big basic moves: squats, bench press, shoulder press, deadlift, chin ups. Cut the isolation exercises as they do not provide enough stimulus for muscle growth.

Compound exercises performed with moderate to heavy weights and repetitions in the range of 5-8, will activate multiple joints and the larger muscle groups, which causes the body to produce testosterone and other anabolic hormones, important for gaining quality muscle.

Ectomorph Diet

Ectomorphs don’t have to count the calories. They can usually eat pretty liberally and eat as much as possible. This, however, doesn’t mean that ectos can turn exclusively to junk food or overeat on sweets. Remember to stick to a healthy diet, containing protein from lean meats, low fat dairy, eggs and fish as well as complex carbs.

The amount of protein consumed per day should be in the range of  1 – 1.5 grams per LB of body weight. The amount of carbs should be anywhere around 2 grams per LB up to 4 grams per LB of body weight.

Muscle building supplements

1. Protein shakes – they are essential of you want to get all your protein on a daily basis, but you are not able to eat enough foods. You can combine whey, egg and casein throughout the day. The post-workout shake should be whey because of the faster absorption, the shake before sleep can be either egg or casein.

2. Take BCAA before exercise, they will provide the body with more energy and sustain anabolic process.

3. Add 10 grams of creatine a day, which not only increases the volume of the muscle cells, but also improves energy processes.

To sum it up : The basic rules on training/nutrition for ectomorphs

– short but intense training up to three times a week,
– focus on the basic exercises,
– eat at least 1 gram of protein and 2 grams of carbs per LB of body weight per day.

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How long does it take to build muscle?

Would you be rather be told wrong information that would make you happy rather than being told less pleasant information that would help you reach your goals??

of course you want to know the truth and the truth is that body building takes time.
Don't expect to see amazing results after a month or even three months.

Body building is not the type of sport that can help you change your body shape by exercising at the end of April in order to look good in summer.

I know tens of people who come to the gym 2 month before the summer hoping to be in shape then leave disappointed at June when they found that nothing changed.

What is the best way to build muscle?

Incorporating strength training into a person’s workout is a great way to build muscle tone, strength, and overall fitness levels.

Strength training involves using weights, although this does not have to mean dumbbells, squat racks, or machines.

Strength training can be done using a person’s own body weight or with resistance bands, for example.

Some common strength training methods include:

•     body weight exercises, such as push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and lunges

•     resistance band exercises

•     weights that can include dumbbells, kettle balls, cans, or water jugs

•     weight machines, such as those used in a gym or home gym

Typically, it is recommended that strength training is done at least 2 days a week and includes all major muscle groups of the body. These major muscle groups include those in the arms, legs, back, and chest.

An individual should be careful not to overdo it with the weights they use to avoid unnecessary injury. It is important to gradually increase the amount and type of weight used to build strength.

It is recommended that 8 to 10 strength training exercises are done 2 or more days a week. These should be completed in groups of 8 to 12 repetitions using the 2 to 3 sets principle. This means that a person repeats the movement of each exercise 8 to 12 times and then again 2 to 3 times.

As the body increases its strength, a person may find it easy to complete the 8 to 12 repetitions using the same weight.

Some in the fitness world say that an individual can progress to heavier weights once they are able to complete more than 12 repetitions using the same weight.

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Beneficial And Repairing Knee Strengthening Exercises For A Meniscus Tear / gymguider

A common knee injury is the meniscus tear. The meniscus is a rubbery, C-shaped disc that cushions your knee. The knee has two menisci, one on the outer edge of the knee and one on the inner edge. The menisci keeps your knees steady by balancing your weight. A torn meniscus can prevent your knee from working correctly.

A tear is usually caused by twisting or turning quickly. Meniscus tears can occur when you lift something heavy or play sports. Unfortunately the older you get, your meniscus gets worn. This can make it tear easily.

There are three types of meniscus tears:

• Minor tear, you may have slight pain and swelling. This usually goes in 2 or 3 weeks.

• Moderate tears can cause pain at the side or centre of your knee. Swelling gets worse over 2 or 3 days. This may make your knee feel stiff and limit how bending your knee, but walking is usually possible. You might feel a sharp pain when you twist your knee or squat. These symptoms may go away in 1 or 2 weeks but can come back if you twist or overuse your knee. The pain may come and go for years if the tear isn’t treated.

• Severe tears are where pieces of the torn meniscus can move into the joint space. This can make your knee catch, pop or lock. You may not be able to straighten it. Your knee may feel “wobbly” or give way without warning. It may swell and become stiff right after the injury or within 2 or 3 days.

So here are some exercises to help recovery and prevention:

1. Flexion Extension

Start off with 1 set of 5 reps on each direction. Perform this exercise in a smooth controlled movement with a good contraction at the end of each of the movement. This exercise targets the hips and the isolation contraction of the muscles around the knee.
The purpose of this exercise is:

• When you stand on one leg, you isometrically work on the muscles around the knee and in the hip.
• When you swing the leg of the injured knee, you work on the muscles around the hip.

When you have a knee injury, it is very important to make sure that you have a strong hip to help you recover from the meniscus tear and subside pain and prevent a future injury.

 How to:



    - Begin in an upright standing position and put your one hand up against the wall.
    - Place your weight onto one leg.
    - Swing the other leg forward and backward.
    - Repeat the movement.

2. Heel Slides With Band

If doing this exercise with both legs is too challenging for you, you can do it with one leg at a time.
Start off with 1 set of 5 reps, then you can progress to 10 repetitions. Perform this exercise in a smooth controlled movement with a good contraction at the end position, specifically the muscles around the knees. This exercise mainly works on the activation, endurance and strength of the muscles around the knees.
The purpose of this exercise is:

• Work on the range of motion of the knee for flexion extension.
• Work on the activation, endurance and strength of the muscles around the knees and to utilise the restive tubing to increase the challenge of the exercise.

    - Begin in an upright sitting position.
    - Bend your knees, step both legs into the tubing below the arches of your feet and grab the handles.
    - Straighten your legs out front, then bring them back to the start position.
    - Repeat the movement.

3. Hip Abduction

Start off with 1 set of 5 reps on each side. Perform this exercise in smooth controlled movement with a good contraction at the end position.
The purpose of this exercise is:

• First is to strengthen out the outer part of the hip.
• When you bring the leg out to the side, if that’s the injured knee, then it strengthens out the outer part of the hip.
• A strong hip is important to prevent knee pain and recover knee injury.
• The second benefit or purpose of this exercise is if the injured leg is the one you used to stand on, it isometrically contract the muscles around the knees and hips.
• The injured leg will work the whole time and target the important muscles, which are helpful for the meniscus tear recovery.

How to:

    - Begin in a nice and upright standing position.
    -  Put one hand against the wall to help with balance so you can focus on the isolation of the exercise and work on the muscles that you need to exercise.
    -  Place your weight onto one leg, lift the other leg out to the side for about 30-45 degree.
    - Bring your leg back down.
    - Repeat the movement.

4. Static Quad Contraction

Start off with 1 set of 5 reps. Perform this exercise in a nice and smooth contraction at the end of the movement for a hold of a second. This exercise works on the activation, endurance and strength of the quadriceps.
The purpose of this exercise is to:

• Train the activation, endurance, and strength of the quadriceps muscles which might not be working properly after the meniscus tear.

How to:

    - Begin in an upright sitting position and put your hands to the side.
    - Contract your quads, tighten the quad muscle, hold it for a second.
    - Relax and repeat the movement.
    - Contraction of the quad will straighten out the leg more and press the end range extension.  

5. Glute Bridge

Start off with 1 set of 5 reps then you can progress to 10 repetitions. Perform this exercise in smooth controlled movement with a good contraction of the glutes and hamstrings.
The purpose of this exercise is to:

• Work on the muscles around the hips, specifically the glutes and hamstrings to help with the recovery and prevention of a future injury.

How to:

    - Lie on your back on the floor and put your arms to the side.
    - Relax the upper body.
    - Bend your knees and feet are hip width apart.
    - Push through the heels and bring your hips up.
    - Maintain a good alignment with the knees, hips and shoulders.
    - Bring the hips back down and repeat the movement.

source :  gymguider

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Best Tips On How to Burn Fat Build Muscle

If you've had the goal of transforming your body and building muscle, you may feel slightly overwhelmed with how to get started. With so much information floating around, we get that it can be extremely complicated figuring out what actually will benefit you and help you reach your goals.

In order to provide you with the best information, POPSUGAR spoke to various experts within health and wellness to find out the most effective ways to burn fat and build muscle. They covered everything from nutrition to why progressive overload is important.

If you’re serious to burn fat build muscle, your nourishment needs are very different from individuals that just want to lose belly fat naturally so they can go to the seaside especially during the summer months. For people who simply wants to lose fat instead of to get muscles, then the low carbohydrate diet could possibly work. As a way to build up muscle mass, you are likely to subject the body to a few really high intensity fat burning workouts for women and men. When you start out to do very high intensity fat burning workouts for women and men the same as muscle builders, you can expect to need supplemental nutrition for you to first recuperate, build more muscle mass.

Bodybuilders may be compared to an effective sports vehicle while people that wishes to lose belly fat only are similar to a family vehicle. These two types of cars require various class of petrol – the high performance car require highest quality of fuel possible. To supplement the muscles when doing highly intense fat burning workouts for women and men, we are going to need to have ingredients that will provide you with sufficient nourishment.

Caloric reduction eating habits may help individuals who merely wants to lose belly fat naturally. A caloric deficiency method means burn more calories than you are taking every day. However, calorie reduction may not deliver the results so perfectly for bodybuilders or perhaps folks who truly wants to burn fat build muscle simultaneously. The foodstuffs needed by body builders and those who wants to burn fat build muscle really needs to be high in proteins. Healthy proteins are micro-nutrients that assists in the building up of muscular mass. Which means you must take food items high in proteins before you start to accomplish those highly intense fat burning workouts for women and men.

Once the amount of proteins you eat is enough, the body will build brand new muscle mass. That’s why muscle builders go on a disproportionately high amount of healthy proteins in contrast to ordinary folks. The type of foods quite definitely depends upon the individual’s health and fitness target, health levels and age. Knowing these details are important to make sure you produce a healthy eating plan that’s nicely custom made to your wants and provide you a great basis to burn fat build muscle effective.

This is a sample diet program or diet plan for those serious to burn fat build muscle at the same time. Take Two eggs and some wholegrain bread in the morning. In the later part of the morning hours, you could possibly try out some lean chicken meat and banana. A pound of lean meat for instance lean poultry as well as lean turkey together with some vegetables and fruits will probably be great for lunchtime. For the afternoon treat, you may want to try out a lean poultry sub or simply a whole meal breads. A serving of vegetables and fruit will provide some natural carbs. Dinner can be served with lean meat or poultry. Using these meals, ensure you consume at least a cup of water. Before and after your fat burning workouts for wo men and men in the club, take about 25 grms of whey proteins mixed with cold water.

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7 Tips to Help You Grow Your Muscles Fast

For some guys, the answer to the exercise question will always be that they're looking to put on muscle. Whether you have a very specific goal, like getting into figure contests and bodybuilding, or you just want to fill out a t-shirt, you have to start somewhere, even if you've always struggled to add and keep weight onto a skinny frame in the past.

But forget about your alleged high-revving metabolism, says Doug Kalman, PhD, R.D., co-founder of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN). “Most lean men who can’t gain muscle weight are simply eating and exercising the wrong way,” he says.

Here’s your fix: Follow these 7 principles to pack on as much as a pound of muscle each week, especially if you're just starting to train in the weight room.

Eat meat

You need at least one gram of protein to gain one pound. This is the maximum amount your body can take in 24 hours, based on a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Assuming you weigh 160 pounds, you may want to use 160 grams of protein in 24 hours. This is the amount of protein you will get if you consume one cup cottage cheese, an 8-ounce breast of chicken, two eggs, a roast-beef sandwich, 2 peanuts and one glass of milk.

Eat more

Aside from protein, calories is what you need. Ideally, you may want to get 500 more calories per day.

Work your muscles

If you are just starting out, you can do just any workout to add to your protein synthesis. On the other hand, if you have working out for a while, what you need to do is focus on the bigger muscles, such as legs, back, and the chest.

You can add bent-over rows, dips, bench presses, and pull-ups to your workout routine, for instance.

Opt for a stiff drink

According to a study, lifters who drink a mixture of carbohydrates and amino acids prior to heading to the gym experience increased protein synthesis. This shake has 36 grams of carbs and 6 grams of amino acids. They help you grow your muscle fast.

Workout 3 or 4 days of week

After a day of workout, you should get rest for the next day. According to studies, if you do a challenging workout, it will boost the protein synthesis for the next 48 hours right after you have done your exercise session.

Actually, your muscles develop when you are taking rest, not when you are busy working out.

Eat every 3 hours

Not eating enough may limit the amount of protein your body gains. What you need to do is divide the number of calories you get in 24 hours by 6. Now, that the is number you may want to consume at each meal. Just make certain you have some protein every 3 hours.

Have milk before bed

You may want to have a combination of protein and carbohydrates at least half an hour prior to your bed time. Actually, your body will have better use of calories when you are asleep.

Long story short, you can grow your muscles fast with these natural tips.

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Dumbbell Moves You Need To Try | HIT EVERY MUSCLE - bodybuilding110

Dumbbells are the most accessible free weights so they’re the first most people tend to try, either in the gym or as part of a home workout. They’re also among the most versatile weights you can use, and even if you usually gravitate towards the barbell to tackle big lifts like the back squat, deadlift and bench press, there are plenty of reasons to make sure you also find time for dumbbell exercises.

“When using a barbell, your weaker side can get an easy ride,” says PT and Multipower ambassador Ant Nyman. “You can move the weight predominantly using your stronger side, meaning one side will always lag behind. Using dumbbells nullifies this problem because each side has to work individually, meaning you’ll develop strength and size evenly on both sides.

“The unstable nature of holding dumbbells also ensures that your stabiliser muscles have to work hard to keep you steady while you perform the movement. Without realising it you’ll be strengthening your core and other stabiliser muscles, which can help prevent injury.”

Dumbbell Exercise For Legs « Deficit Reverse Lunge »

set 1 : 15 reps

set 2 : 15 reps

set 3 : 15 reps

set 4 : 15 reps

Dumbbell Exercise For Legs « Deficit Reverse Lunge »

set 1 : 12 reps

set 2 : 10 reps

set 3 : 08 reps

Dumbbell Exercise For Biceps, Shoulders, Hips And Torso « Half-Kneeling Curl and Press »

set 1 : 12 reps

set 2 : 12 reps

set 3 : 12 reps

set 4 : 12 reps

Dumbbell Exercise For , Shoulders,  « Lateral raise »

 

set 1 : 12 reps

set 2 : 12 reps

set 3 : 12 reps

set 4 : 12 reps

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Basic Rules For Building Monster Strength

How Do You Actually Build Muscle?

Before we discuss the nuts and bolts of how to build muscle, we need to run through the basics on muscle physiology so that we’re all on the same page.
When someone lifts weights, they create trauma within the muscle fiber by generating micro tears. Once damage occurs, a cascade of biochemical signaling takes place and satellite cells become active. These cells actually bind to muscle cells in order to repair the damaged areas and help to synthesize new contractile components.
When these components increase in cross sectional area, you experiences the phenomenon commonly known as muscular hypertrophy.
Essentially, you must remember the goal of training is to stimulate protein synthesis but the key to building muscle is cellular repair, not damage.
Now don't get me wrong, there is some truth to the saying, "stimulate, don't annihilate." But, to quote supergenius and performance specialist Alex Viada,
"Adaptation requires pushing the body to do something it doesn't really want to do, it's gonna hurt. If it gets easier, then chances are, you're getting lazier."
 Add some serious strength to your frame with these proven strategies.

1. Lift Heavy

The key to gaining muscle strength is to lift heavy. Your body gets stronger by recruiting more fibers in a particular muscle group. Heavy training helps recruit fast-twitch muscle fiber, which have the most potential for increasing strength. Squats, presses, dips, deadlifts and other compound moves can maximize strength gains, especially when using heavy weights (at least 90 percent of your one rep max).

2. Perform Natural Strength Movements

Certain exercises are better than others for building strength. These include the barbell squat, vertical/horizontal pulling, and vertical/horizontal pushing. Basically, your workout should consist of pull-ups, military presses, bench presses, and bent over barbell rows. Once you master these primary movements, your strength will increase. Romanian deadlifts, Olympic lift variations, and power cleans can boost your strength gains too.

3. Increase Your Maximum Lifts

If you’re a newbie, stick to the basics. Start with a simple training program and be consistent. Stop missing workouts and making excuses. Focus on increasing your maximum lifts on the main strength exercises, such as deadlift or military press. If you’re able to do more than one rep, then it’s not your max at all. Lift heavier weights every time you hit the gym. Watch your form all the time. Don’t just throw as much weight on the bar as possible to improve other people. Bad form can affect your progress and lead to serious injuries. If possible, ask a friend to assist you.

4. Stay Focused

Focus on the muscle groups being worked and squeeze them hard. Use controlled eccentric movements to maximize your time under tension. If your form is less than perfect, try a different grip or pick a lighter weigh. Getting stronger requires mental focus and intense volume.

5. Eat for Strength

Eating for strength is different than eating for muscle growth or fat loss. A bodybuilder requires fewer carbs and calories to reach his goals compared to a powerlifter or a strongman. To get stronger, you have to load up on protein and carbs while increasing your calorie intake. Creatine, weight gainers, glutamine, and whey protein supplements should be a staple in your diet.

Eat slow digesting carbs before training and refuel your muscles with simple carbs and fast-digesting protein post workout. Add dextrose, honey, maltodextrin or other source of sugar to your protein shake after exercise. This will help your body recover faster and replenish muscle glycogen stores.

Lose fat with the diet that combines the principles of digestive health and intermittent fasting - Click here to find our more

Make sure your diet includes white rice, sweet potatoes, beef, poultry, nuts, seeds and other nutrient-dense foods. Eat every two or three hours to reduce muscle loss and keep your metabolism high. Get your daily calories from quality foods, not cookies, chips, or fries. The trans fats in these products can limit muscle growth and increase catabolism.

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The Results of Overtraining - bodybuilding110

There has been much debate about the exact role of overtraining and resistance exercise. Some, such as Mike Mentzer, thought that just about all bodybuilders were overtraining—and yet there were many scientists who overwhelmingly concluded that individuals could never reach a true overtraining state. Researchers were interested in a controlled study standardizing the diet and training with excessive training load and insufficient recovery time between bouts on muscle markers of anabolism and catabolism. Male rats were randomly assigned to either a trained or a sedentary group. 

 The parameters of this study were strictly controlled, with the subjects going through a standardized diet and working out excessively with heavier loads than normal, as well as shorter recovery times in between sets and muscle activity fluctuations between their anabolic and catabolic states. This study was performed on male rats, and they were assigned to a trained or a sedentary group, after which they were subjected to a program lasting for 12 weeks. During these 12 weeks, they trained with excessive intensity and really short recovery, which was supposed to make their leg muscles atrophy.

The rats were exercises for five days a week consecutively with jumps as their reps. They were trained with a progressive number of sets from 2 to 4, as well as reps, from 5 to 12 per set with 30 seconds of rest between sets. They also wore loaded vests weighing 50% of their bodyweight which provided the overtraining effect.

After 12 weeks of experimenting, researchers gathered the muscle fibers of the rats to analyze the markers of their muscle state, both the anabolic and catabolic ones like MAFbx, MyoD, IGF-I and myogenin expressions. The results showed that the rats who overtrained had a 17 reduction of muscle size in their legs in comparison to the sedentary rats, and there was also a 20% rise in MAFbx protein expression, which is a marker of muscle catabolism. On the other hand, the markers of muscle anabolism like MyoD, myogenin and IGF-I were drastically reduced by 27, 29 and 43 percent respectively.

The data concluded that the muscles atrophied because the rats went through overly strong training without sufficiently recovering between sessions, which caused the MAFbx catabolic protein to rise and all the other anabolic proteins to decrease. If this translates into human terms, and the scientists think it does, it means that you should never overtrain, especially if you’re an athlete. Don’t bump up your weight too much – instead, look for a periodizing and volume-varying program.

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Tips Barbell Shrug Exercise - bodybuilding110

the barbell shrug is one of the most commonly used exercises when people are looking to build the trapezius; whether it be from an aesthetic approach or from a functional strength approach.

Being an isolation exercise, the shrug applies only the trapezius muscle and therefore is an extremely efficient exercise when looking to target just the trapezius. Using almost any equipment in the gym (Barbell, Dumbbell, Cable, Kettlebell, Weight Plate); the shrug is one of the most simplistic and easy exercises to perform.

This is the traditional way of doing the shrug and it is an effective traps builder.

Now, I’m going to pass on a tip that will make this exercise so much more effective.

Before I give you the tip, the next time your looking at the muscle magazines, take a look at how some of those pro’s perform the shrug.

This little movement is very subtle but it makes a world of difference in the results from the shrug exercise.

What I’m talking about is making the shrug exercise a little more difficult to perform while reducing the amount of “cheat” that’s involved in the exercise.

I’m sure most of you seen dudes in the gym using 300 or even 400 pounds for the shrug but barely moving the weight up and down.

The problem here is that the target muscle group isn’t being trained in the most effective way.

I’ll tell you right now that you don’t need to slap on 300 pounds to get the most from the shoulder shrug. Way too many times have I seen guys in the gym perform this exercise in the most ridiculous manner by using too much weight.

Alright, what is my shoulder shrug tip. Here's what I want you to do.

Stand up and pretend that you have a barbell in your hands. Next perform the shrug like you normally would. Shrug your shoulders up and down. Now, try this little trick. Stand like you normally would when your doing the shrug but slightly bend forward and look at your feet. Now try doing the shrug.

By doing this, you take out the element of cheating and you really increase the pressure and stimulation on the trapezuis muscles.

It's very important that you keep your chin down because this really helps isolate the trap muscles and you get much more muscle stimulation. Also, try narrowing your grip a little be about 3 inches on the bar.

Now, I'm going to tell you now that you won't be able to handle the same amount of weight that your used to for regular shrugs because you can't hoist the weight up. Instead, your going to have much more control over the weight and your going to feel much more stimulation in your traps. I suggest giving it a try for your next workout, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

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Stretch Your Way To A More Muscular Body - bodybuilding110

Building muscle primarily takes place in two places: the kitchen and the gym. If you’re a seasoned lifter, you know the importance of properly fueling your body in order to get results. You need to have high levels of protein intake, for example, and low levels of sugar and carbohydrates. As for the gym, your workouts should probably be built around the three primary lifts, with plenty of auxiliary exercises rotated in.

 Pre-Workout Stretching:

Pre-workout stretching exercises prepare the body for the workout it is about to do. The stretches are normally held for just 5 to 10 seconds. The reason of vivacious exercise is to boost movement of the joints through a particular range of motion. This surely helps to boost core temperature and blood flow in your body, and stir the central nervous system.

Study has shown that energetic stretches particularly improve force production and fiery power. They can also help out to increase body consciousness, and help with solidity and balance all in the warm-up, getting your body ready to work out in fitness center!

Post-Workout Stretching:

For post-workout stretches cool-down your body after work out, we recommends motionless stretching. Like vibrant stretching, it particularly improves elasticity by moving joints through a precise range of motion. However, dissimilar forceful stretching, it does not boost your core temperature. Static stretching represses the central nervous system, calming the muscle spindles by broadening them, and has been shown to truly reduce power and force production in numerous studies.

Stagnant stretching is immense to relax your muscles after an intensive workout. These kinds of stretches are generally passive; meaning somebody else is stretching you as you loosen up your body. Every position is held for 10 to 20 seconds and recurring four to si-x times. Individual muscles like hamstrings, quads, and hip flexors, are prolonged vs. dynamic moves, which generally involve your full body.

Both kinds of stretching are very helpful when done at the proper time.

The Bottom Line:

Your best bet: Do some energetic stretches before and after a workout, which can get ready your body and even develop muscular performance. With all the substantiation against it, it’s possibly smart to avoid static stretches before an exercise. Still, we believe stagnant stretches can be very useful for people who splurge a lot of time sitting at office desk.

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Keys To Build Muscle With Total Body Workouts

Whether your goal is to get bigger and stronger, or improve power and explosiveness for sports, you want to see progress — and pronto.

But building muscle efficiently requires more than just putting in time at the weight rack. Along with your strength training regimen, diet and lifestyle choices all play important roles.

Before you even start thinking about how to build muscle, it’s instructive to know the primary factors that determine just how much of it you can gain.

3 Factors Affecting Muscle Growth

These are the main criteria dictating increases in muscle size, or hypertrophy — and two of them are outside your control.

Sex

Simmer down — we’re talking gender. The male persuasion unsurprisingly has a decided advantage when it comes to building muscle. That’s due in large part to far greater levels of testosterone and a higher red blood cell count among men than women, who typically have to go to more extraordinary lengths to gain size.

Genetics

Similar to the way it governs how much hair you get to keep, heredity determines how much muscle you can develop. Thanks to genetics, a segment of the populace is born with a higher number of type II, or fast-twitch, muscle fibers, which have the greatest potential for growth.

Training Specificity

The factor you can change — and the one we’ll spend much of this article focusing on — is the approach you take to your workouts overall. There are different protocols that distinguish lifting for mass from lifting for strength.

Generally speaking, lifting very heavy weights in low volume is how to gain strength, and lifting moderately heavy weights in high volume is how to gain muscle.

For those seeking tips on how to gain muscle, here are some strategies to get you started.

Constrain Workout Length To 60-Minutes

There is actually some pretty interesting research on the length of training.
Generally what you want to do is keep your sessions around 45 minutes to no more than 60 minutes.
Studies show that when you go beyond that mark your body begins to wear down and a catabolic environment is progressively created.  This has a lot to do with glycogen and ATP.
ATP is the primary fuel source of muscles.
It’s derived from glycogen.
Studies show that when glycogen gets depleted muscle breakdown is significantly enhanced.
And, in the same way, when ATP is depleted it is also enhanced.
It’s really a linear thing.  Glycogen begins to deplete during your training and then ATP generation suffers.  When this begins to happen then cortisol starts rising.
Basically, your body is getting more and more “stressed”.
When you start a lift your testosterone and other anabolics naturally will increase.
Studies show they peak at around the 30-minute mark or shortly before.
They hold there for a bit of time and then they begin to decrease as your cortisol levels build up.  When cortisol goes up testosterone goes down.  And, muscle breakdown begins to increase.
This is a vital piece of information for all exercise sessions regardless of if you are doing total body workouts or not.
However, it’s especially important for total body training in which you have the goal of maximizing your muscle benefits.
People get this idea that when you train every single muscle group in one session it is ok to train longer.
And so what inevitably happens is that they have these big long 90-minute to two-hour sessions.
Well, all that is going to do is begin to get you overtrained.
It makes no difference if all you are training is your chest in a workout or if you are training your entire body (legs, back, chest, shoulders, and arms) the length of that workout must be taken into consideration.

Limit The Number Of Exercises To 5-7

Once again, the length of your workout is vital.
We are focussed on getting the best possible results and to do that we set a hard limit on how long we are in the gym.

Now, this becomes a bit of an issue when you are training all of your muscles within the same session.
At least, it can be.
What you get is this wrong thinking mindset in which you try to simply combine all of your other workouts together.
A prototypical workout split based in which you are training certain muscle groups within the same workout would look as follows:

• Monday: Chest/Back
• Tuesday: Legs/Shoulders
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: Chest/Back
• Friday: Legs/Shoulders
• Weekend: Rest

There are other ways to build muscle.  Some guys actually prefer a one muscle group per session routine that looks as follows:

• Monday: Chest
• Tuesday: Back
• Wednesday: Arms
• Thursday: Legs
• Friday: Shoulders
• Weekend: Rest

Or, something similar to that.

Either way works and it’s really a matter of preference.
However, let’s say you want to cut down on the number of days you train each week.  You only have two days to make it to the gym but you still want good results.
Well, what many will try to do is just carry all of the exercises from each muscle group into their full body workout.
That means they just try to combine all of the workouts they would be doing into one giant workout.
They will do something along the lines of bench press, overhead press, squats, lunges, deadlift, and on and on all in the same session.
You will have a compound dominant two-hour session and it will get you overtrained in a matter of one week.
We discussed a good number to shoot for in the past and that number is no more than 5 exercises per session.  When it comes to full body workouts the same basic thing applies
Although, I generally don’t mind stretching that to 7 exercises.
Just note, you certainly don’t need that.
Which means you need to be doing the exercises that are the best for each muscle group.
An example would be:

• Barbell Back Squat for legs
• Bench Press for chest
• Dumbbell Overhead Press for shoulders
• Pull-Ups for back
• You could throw in a superset of bicep curls and triceps push down at the end.

That is just a very rough example.

It contains 4 base exercises and a quick arm superset.  6 exercises in total to be performed in no more than 60 minutes.
You would do that on a Monday and come back and repeat Thursday or something.  That would be training each muscle group two times per week.
Some will find that that is also too much.
Another way to handle your total body weekly routine is to just train each muscle group one time per week.
Actually, I prefer that way.
For your Monday session, you could train only upper body.  For your Thursday session, you could train your lower body and arms.  It’s not a traditional full body workout but it is close to it.
Again, these are just examples.
The point is that you want to limit the number of exercises you are doing for each session.

Train All Muscle Groups At Least Once

This should go without saying.
The goal is to train each muscle group at least one time per week.
How you go about doing that is really up to you.
There is not really much else to say here.  The goal of training is to stimulate the muscle but not annihilate it.  I believe it was 8x Mr. Olympia Lee Haney who first coined that phrase.
In my experience, you can accomplish this just by stimulating each muscle group one time per week.
That is plenty.
Actually, it is optimal if you are over 40.  But, even if you are under 30 it is still an excellent way to go about it.  It will ensure that all of your muscles have plenty of rest time in between workout sessions.
Again, if you are focussed on total body workouts this can be a bit confusing.
The confusion would be that it’s called “total body”.
And so you have this idea that you need to be working your upper and lower body together.
Well, if you do that on Monday and then on Thursday then what you end up with is training each muscle group two times per week.
And, honestly, that is pretty much the traditional way to handle full body training and it’s actually a great way to do it.  At least, keeping in mind that you want to limit the number of exercises you are doing for each session.
However, another way to handle a total body workout is to just do an upper and lower body split.
Or, a sort of hybrid.

An example would be:

• Monday: Chest, Back, Calves, Abs
• Thursday: Legs, Shoulders, Arms, Abs

Again, that’s just an example.
There are a lot of ways to segment your total body workouts.
However, just remember that your goal should be to train all muscle groups at least one time per week but typically no more than two.
Limit Your Total Training Volume.
Naturally, if the length of your sessions and the number of exercises for each session is constrained then you will also be controlling your volume.
Studies show that when training at around 60 – 85 percent of your one rep max that somewhere between 90 -180 reps of total weekly volume per each muscle group is pretty much optimal.
Again, that is just research.
Research is certainly flawed.
Some people can handle more volume and some not as much.  However, it is a good amount to shoot for.
And, just keep in mind that the heavier you train the lower on that rep range you will be.
That is just a general estimate it will very much depend on training experience and certain genetic factors.  Generally speaking, younger guys that are less experienced in the gym can handle more volume.
Their bodies have a lot of gains left in the tank.
But, even so, high volume training is not needed to build muscle.
In my experience, the best results are typically achieved by limiting volume.
Total body training can be problematic for the simple fact that it tends to get into super high volume.
You’ll have people trying to do 3 sets of 10 reps for ten or more exercises.  You end up with 300+ reps for each workout and that is just way too much.
Your body cannot recover from that.
That is, not unless you are taking steroids or something.
Just keep in mind that if you want to focus on training each muscle group per workout then you need to keep your volume in check for each session.  It can easily run out of control if you are not paying attention.

Rest At Least 3 Days Between Workouts

We discussed how many days rest you should get between workout in the past.

Studies show that when your body is recovering from a workout all sorts of things are happening:

• The removal of metabolic end products (lactate, for example)
• Restoration of intramuscular PH
• Replenishing phosphagens so your body can regenerate ATP
• Rebalancing sodium and potassium within muscle cells.
• And much more

 And this is why research indicates it can take 48-72 hours for the muscle to recover enough in order to begin another workout.
That is two to three full days of not training.
In other words, you do not go to the gym.
The standard protocol with total body workouts is to work out two to three days per week.
The issue is that training all muscle groups at one time will mean you need more rest between sessions.  And, in my experience, the minimum is three full days if you want to optimize muscle gains.
Most people simply cannot go three full-body sessions per week and expect to get good results.
You need more time between the gym.
Failure to understand this is a recipe for getting yourself overtrained and when you do that you will not be building muscle.
It’s the issue that so many people run into with Crossfit.
Crossfit is great but the training is too intense to be doing multiple times per week with only a day or so rest in between.
The same thing goes for intense weightlifting in which you are focussed on compound lifting.
Your body needs time to recover.
Studies also show that the more muscle mass you have the longer it takes to recovery.
It’s why men generally need more time to recover than women.  It’s also why those who have been training for several years are generally going to need more time than newbies.  However, generally speaking, if you are eating right then you should be fine with three days rest in between session.
If you need more time then take it.
Going four days between intense total body workouts is perfectly acceptable in my experience.
Let’s say you Train on Monday at 6:30 p.m.
At a minimum the next training session would be Thursday at 6:30 p.m. if you are taking three days rest.

Final Thoughts On Total Body Workouts

What you’ll often hear is that you can’t make great gains with full body training.

In my experience, that is not true.
The reason most people struggle with it is that they are violating the volume limits of their body.  The number one way this comes about is in trying to do too many exercises per session.
You really only need just one exercise for each muscle group per session.
This is especially the case if you are focussed on the most effective movements.
Squats, for example, would be all you need to do to train your legs during a session.
Again, this is doubly so if you are planning on having another workout that week in which you train your legs again.
The 5 keys listed here are pretty much all geared toward providing just enough stimulation without exceeding your volume limits.  It’s pretty much the central focus of all weightlifting geared toward maximizing gains.
But, it needs to really be hammered home when it comes to a total body focus.

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