Muscle Builder
If you are looking for the only surefire muscle builder around,
you are looking for a solid body building programme. Lifting
weights, supported by a good diet and plenty of sleep, is
not only the simplest way to build lean muscle mass, it is
also the most effective, and enjoyable.
Forming the foundation of your new muscle building regime
is a weightlifting plan. So what do you need? Probably not
as much as you would think.
Most peoples first thought on hearing the word weightlifting
is to think of the dozens of machines in the gym that they
dare not go near because they have no idea what to do with
them. But you do not need all those fancy machines to start
building a better body right away. You can get a thorough
workout with just a pair of dumbbells, and possibly a bench
and barbell, so long as you know what you are doing.
Pick up a few good workout books and study the exercises,
and if possible visit your local fitness centre or gym and
ask a pro to demonstrate them for you. Good technique is much
more important than good intentions, or time spend working
out. bodybuilders refer to it as good form, the idea that
when your lifting technique is good, you work your muscles
to the maximum, which is the key to achieving great results.
When you lift weights, the goal is to damage your muscles
slightly, creating what is known as microtrauma. This sends
a signal to your body that obviously the muscles are not strong
enough to be able to do what you are trying to do, and so
the body rebuilds them bigger and better than before. This
is what weightlifting is all about, and it is the fundamental
process behind building muscle. Once you understand how this
works, you can better understand how to support the process
and optimize the results of your training.
Some people spend half their lives in the gym, without realizing
that they are almost certainly having a negative effect on
their performance. They might even be going backwards. This
is because once the muscles have been damaged enough to stimulate
an adaptation response, further damage will just unnecessarily
impede performance, and increase the time it takes to recover
after a workout. Your goal should be to reach maximum effort
in a short period, pushing one muscle group to the limit before
moving on to the next. Short, intensive workouts are the best
way to build lean body mass fast, which is good news for you
and I, who have the rest of our lives to be getting on with.
So, you want to make sure that your lifting technique is
spot-on, and that you are pushing your muscles to their maximum
without overdamaging them. But that is only half the story,
because your body needs the right fuel to convert this effort
into muscle growth. It needs energy to keep your pushing all
the way, and to power the repair processes, and it needs protein
to create the new muscle tissue. If you are training with
weights, you will need to consume more calories than the average
person, even if your goal is to lose fat as well as gaining
muscle mass. If you starve your body, not only will your performance
suffer, limiting your ability to stimulate muscular transformation
through exercise, but the muscles themselves will be starved
of the materials they need to build new tissue.
You should be looking to consume plenty of complex carbohydrates,
as well as quality protein and essential acids. These are
sometimes known as macronutrients, and you will need all of
them if you want your effort not to go to waste. Many workout
books will include sample nutrition plans, and you can make
things even easier for yourself with specially-formulated
meal-replacement products, shakes and bars that contain all
the ingredients your body needs to sustain top performance
while building new muscle tissue.
Finally, if you are serious about building muscle, you will
want to consider supplementing your diet with certain things
that are particularly important to the muscle building process.
Creatine monohydrate is a naturally occurring organic acid
used in the process of releasing energy from ATP molecules
in your muscle cells. When you train hard, often your muscles
cannot keep up with the amount of energy they need to do the
things you are trying to make them do. This is where Creatine
supplements come in. Numerous studies show that not only does
adding Creatine to your diet increase your strength, endurance
and muscle mass, but also your concentration and mental alertness,
helping you push all the way for that maximum gain every day.
Other popular supplements include glycogen, whey and casein
protein, and various amino acids. These are usually taken
to replenish supplies found naturally in the body, which are
depleted during intensive exercise, leading to sub-optimal
performance. The variety of supplements on the market can
be confusing, but if you take advice about which supplements
can help you achieve your particular goals, you will find
your results shooting right off the charts.
Muscle Builder
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