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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Curbing Mistakes: Critical Advice for Strength Training

By Brad Morgan

Starting any kind of fitness program can be difficult because of the sheer amount of advice out there. It is often hard to know where to start your muscle building efforts.

There is more than one way to build muscle, more than one exercise that works, but there are also many things that can hurt your efforts to build muscle. Let's take a look at some things to avoid.

1. Buying overpriced gym memberships.

You may think that they only way to get a good workout is to go to a gym: they have stack-pulley, computerized, and hydraulic machines that you could never afford. And they're safer, right? Not necessarily. Often, the low-cost exercises that you do at home are much more effective and safe. If you are considering a gym membership, you may want to save yourself the expense.

In the comfort of your own home, you can use inexpensive free weights or totally free exercises like pushups, lunges, squats, and more. These are some of the most effective moves for building muscle, and all you need is your own body and a few free weights.

2. Not changing your workout.

When it comes to exercising and building muscle, what worked for you in the beginning may not work for you now.

Doing the same exercises all the time doesn't challenge your body. In fact, your body becomes so efficient at performing the moves that it works less hard. Your muscles will not be challenged enough.

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.

You may think that if you want to build muscle, you restrict your exercise routine to weight training. This does not work. If you want to build muscle, you have to add cardio.

Cardio can keep you from gaining fat and also help your body recover from weight training sessions. For optimal muscle building, perform cardio immediately after your weight training. Also, cardio should be performed with high intensity intervals for no more than twenty minutes.

4. Exercising too much.

Your body builds muscle while it is resting, so it is important to take breaks for your training regimen. Take two or three days off per week and allow your muscles to rest.

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. Not paying attention to what you eat.

Many people neglect to consider their diet when they are trying to build muscle. But because food is such an essential part of your body's health, you need to eat to gain muscle.

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.

Quitting is the biggest mistake you can make when trying to build muscle. If you have been working out and not seeing results, it is tempting to stop. Your body might just take longer to build muscle than others.

If you feel discouraged at your progress thus far, it is a good time to look at your routine. What can you do to change it? Should you add some intensity? Are you resting enough? Do you use supersets or compound moves? It may be that you simply need to stick with it a little longer in order to start seeing results.

Either way, quitting won't give you the body you want. Keep up with your efforts; if it is not working, then by all means change something. Just don't give up. - 17273

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