Rapid Fat Loss Diets

Friday, April 3, 2009

Controlling Mistakes: Crucial Tips for Muscle Gain

By Brad Morgan

When you are trying to build muscle, there is a lot of conflicting advice out there. You may not know where to get started.

Sometimes it is easier to start with what not to do and go from there. Here are some things that will sabotage your efforts to build muscle:

1. Buying overpriced gym memberships.

If you are considering a gym membership, it may be much better for you to save yourself the expense. While gyms tout their stack-pulley, computerized, or hydraulic machines as much more effective and safe than free weights, the best workouts are the low-tech, low-cost ones that you can do in the comfort of your own home.

In the privacy of your own home, you can workout with moves like squats and lunges, which require absolutely no equipment, or with free weights, which are relatively cheap. The best equipment is your body, some free weights, and hard work.

2. Letting your body get bored.

It is easy to see results immediately after starting a muscle building program. Be careful of becoming complacent, however. It may not work as well as you progress.

Your body is a remarkably efficient machine: doing the same workout causes your body to become used to it. It is much less work to execute moves you've done over and over. Once that happens, it uses fewer calories to complete the exercises, making the workout much less effective.

Doing the same workout time after time sabotages your efforts to build muscle. To overcome this difficulty, add variation and more intensity into your workouts. You have to make a constant effort to challenge your body so it has to work just as hard. A side benefit is that you are always changing your workouts, meaning you won't get bored.

3. Not doing any cardio.

Cardiovascular exercise is an important part of building muscle, yet it is something that many people trying to gain muscle mass usually ignore. Focusing only on weight training can halt your results.

Cardio has multiple advantages, including preventing your body from gaining fat and helping your body recover from rigorous weight training. To get the maximum benefit from your cardio, do it immediately after your weight training session when your body is primed for fat burning. Also, limit it to high intensity intervals totaling no more than twenty minutes.

4. Not resting enough.

Working out everyday can also hurt your muscle building efforts. Since muscle repairs itself and develops during rest periods, it is vital to build some into your workout routine. Two or three rest days per week should be sufficient to allow your muscles to do their work.

Also, alternate which muscle groups you work on. For instance, if you work on your arms and back one day, the next day do your abs and legs. This will keep the muscles from becoming fatigued or injured and allow them to do their work.

5. Ignoring Diet

Food is fuel, and many people who fail when building muscle do so because they are not adequately fueling their body. To put your body into muscle building mode, eat properly.

Especially important is protein, which is essential to muscle building. Make sure you get plenty of lean meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy in your diet, and eat a protein snack within thirty minutes of your workouts.

6. Abandoning your goals.

Everyone's body is different, and it takes some people longer to build muscle than others. Quitting because you are not seeing results fast enough is a huge mistake.

Maybe you need to reevaluate your workout routine and diet to determine what you can add/subtract to get results. Maybe you are laying a good foundation for muscle building and your body will start demonstrating the progress you've made if you just give it a little longer.

Whatever the cause of your stagnation, don't quit. If something is not working, change it. But don't stop; it will only put you back where you started and you won't have the body you want. - 17273

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