For the first post of my blog, I deemed it of urgent importance to explain the basics of building muscle before getting into more specific topics. This is the check list that you need to go by before asking yourself why you are not gaining muscle.
# 1 - Training
There is a lot to talk about when referring to training but I will try to deliver the most important information.
First you need to record your workouts. Include how much weight you lifted, how many times you lifted it (reps), how many sets, and your approximate rest periods between each set. This is crucial because you cannot objectively measure progress unless you can see what you were doing weeks prior to. If you find out that you are not making any overt gains, then you know that something is not right. I have witnessed many of my friends who go to the gym, without writing anything down, and ask me what I am doing to make gains. That book Is more than just a way to tally information. It is motivation. See what you did your last workout and aim to do more. Do not get lazy and neglect this, for it will only halt your progress.
Secondly, you need to know what kind of workouts to do. There is an emporium of information online about “the best workout,” but all I am going to say about this is listen to your body. I have trained legs with triceps, back with shoulders, calves with abs and every other combination that you can think of. There is no “perfect” workout, but there are a few guidelines to follow when executing one. Keep your workouts under an hour. The longer you workout isn’t necessarily better and in a future article I will discuss why. It is a good rule of thumb to do no more than 12-15 sets per body part that you exercise. Generally, allow 4-5 days before working out a muscle group again.
Lastly, keep things interesting. Change up your workouts, reps, volume, rest periods, exercises, and frequency. Your body is an adapting machine and you need to make sure that it is constantly adapting to new circumstances. If you keep your body guessing then your body will keep growing. At least every eight weeks do an overhaul on your workout plans and mix everything up.
Next, I am going to inform you of probably the most important part of bodybuilding – nutrition.
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Tags: bodybuilding, creatine, diet, Nutrition, overtrain, protein, supplements, Training, vitamins, workoutComments
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 9th, 2008 at 1:23 am and is filed under Fitness, Lose Weight, Nutrition, Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
There is whey protien and then GNC’s nitrogen protein stuff. Which is better?
Don’t let flashy advertisements and bogus ingrediants deter you from the less expensive, same quality items. Nitro-Tech is what I think you are referring to, and personally I have not read anywhere any true benefits from taking that as opposed to 100% Whey Protein. A good rule of thumb when eating anything is the less ingredients that it has, the better it is for you.