Building Muscles

How to train and build strong legs at home| massive calves

Day 57 training calves at home with limited equipment

There are no shortcuts to building big calves. They are a very hard muscle to develop so you must be patient and just keep training them even though it can take months without seeing hardly any results. They are often neglected because they are so hard to develop. Winners see things through no matter how long it takes and especially when you know it is going to be tough.

I did 6 sets of some light weights with 20 reps per set.

You will get an incredible burn like I did when you do lots of reps with light weight.

How to train and build big legs at home| strong hamstrings| leg biceps

Day 57 training your powerful leg biceps

I decided that today I would do medium/light weight dead lifts. These are an amazing exercise and really help the whole body. I wanted to focus on the hamstrings. Hamstrings are called leg biceps as they work the same as the arm bicep. Contracting them bring the leg back. They are necessary for you to be able to walk or run. Sports people often damage these by pulling or tearing this muscle. This happens because they are not warmed up enough before putting them under a lot of stress. 

You really need to make sure you are nicely warm before you sprint or lift heavy weights. It is best to do some light jogging before sprinting or some light weight reps before you put them under a lot of stress by going heavy.

I trained with medium light weights and did 6 sets with 15 reps per set.

This kind of training does not build muscle but is fantastic for muscle conditioning. Do not be surprised if you find that the following day you are a bit stiff even though your are quite used to training hamstrings.

How to train and build massive legs at home| Big quads

Day 57 training quads with limited weights

I am very lucky as I bought a stand that helps me do proper bench presses, squats, lat pull downs and normal seated rowing. Many people who train at home do not have this kind of equipment so they would have to do something different for legs. I love doing Bulgarian split squats because you need almost no equipment except a pair of dumbbells. You could even use 2 bags with a few bottles of water in them for weight.

When you do Bulgarian split squats they are very hard to do so you will only be able to do light weights which make them such an effective exercise.

I did 6 sets with light weights. For each set I did 12 reps per set

These exercises hammer not only the quads but the inner thighs, gluts and hamstrings.

Training at home| how to train and build massive trapezius muscle

Day 56 developing your traps is essential if you want a balanced good looking body

The explanation of this muscle is taken from Wikipedia.

“In human anatomy, the trapezius is a large superficial muscle that extends longitudinally from the occipital bone to the lower thoracic vertebrae and laterally to the spine of the scapula (shoulder blade). Its functions are to move the scapulae and support the arm.
The trapezius has three functional regions: the superior region (descending part), which supports the weight of the arm; the intermediate region (transverse part), which retracts the scapulae; and the inferior region (ascending part), which medially rotates and depresses the scapulae”.

As you can see they have an important job to do.
I have found for me the best way to develop them is to do the simple yet effective shrug.
 
I did 6 sets with medium weight. I did 20 reps per set

If you have never trained them much before then go light and do 10 reps per set till you get used to doing them and you get over the initial stiffness.

Training at home| how to train and build huge back| latissimus dorsi

Day 56 developing your lats with simple exercises like bent over rowing

Bent over rowing is a wonderful alternative to lat pull downs. If you are training at home and you have limited equipment then you can use a straight bar as I have shown in the video or you can use dumbbells. They work equally well and you will see some nice results from your workouts.

   

You have to be patient when you train and often we all want results too quickly which leads to a loss of motivation because we cannot meet our expectations. Building muscle takes time and patience along with some good eating habits.
 
I did 6 sets light medium weights with 18 reps per set.
 
I loved the bent over rowing because it is the first time I have done these for quite a few months now.

Training at home| how to train and build big shoulders| deltoids

Day 56 developing deltoids with military press

I love doing any kind of shoulder press. I do know that with shoulder presses you are almost guaranteed a fantastic result. That is probably why I like them so much.

There is very little chance of cheating when you do a shoulder press which means most people will do them with good form. The main thing I have seen people doing wrong is how low they allow the weight to go. If you train in front of the head, then come down to about shoulder level and not any lower. If you train behind the head, then definitely not lower then ear level. You can do lateral side raises which are a great exercise too. When I do them, I get a lot of pain in my shoulder - it was damaged many years ago playing rugby. It is for that reason I hardly ever do them with heavy weight. I like to do them with very light weight as an extra and they work really well for me with almost no pain in my shoulder.
 
I did 6 sets light medium weight with 16 reps per set

It was an awesome workout for me.

How to train and build big guns at home| biceps

Day 45 training biceps so it counts with concentration curls

I was reading more of Arnold’s bodybuilding for men book and how he explains that no matter how big you want to be, there are some limiting factors that you have to take in to account. The biggest one is your genetics. If you do not have great genes you cannot change that. I am so lucky that I have very quick responding muscles. I have reasonable genes so I can build fairly quickly. I will never be the size of Arnold and neither do I want to be. I want that all natural great build look. You see it when the shirt is off but in normal cloths you just look in good condition.  That is my aim.

Today I did 6 sets light weight with 16 reps per set of concentration curls.

Concentration curls are an isolation exercise. You basically only work the bicep. Your arm rests against your inner thigh so you cannot cheat. The bicep must do the full lift. It is an amazing exercise that really works.

How to train and build huge triceps at home| big arms

Day 45 training triceps so you can feel the difference with one arm overhead extensions

I am blown away by how stiff my triceps are, along with a lot of the other muscles I have trained over the last few days. It's a brilliant feeling when you can feel the muscle that you have, even when you are relaxed. This is what makes the training worthwhile.  It is that inner feeling you have about how good you feel about yourself that gives you confidence and helps you in all areas of your life. I see quite a few overweight people and although they make light of it you can see deep down they are actually quite sad. I know when my stomach stuck out and I looked like I was pregnant, I would pretend it did not bother me but deep down inside it did.

I feel years younger and I have a lot more energy for my age.

I did 6 sets light weight with 15 reps per set one arm over head extensions.

My arms felt like jelly when I finished this.  Don’t get me wrong, they felt really swollen but still like jelly with no power left in them. You would not think doing light weight could do that to you but it does. I know with this kind of training I am burning fat even though I know I will not build any more muscle. I am quite happy with my size for the moment. Looking more cut is my goal right now and I am well on my way to getting that.

How to train and build big chest at home| flat bench press

Day 55 flat bench press for an overall chest workout

I attended a networking meeting and was talking about this blog and my YouTube site and was given what I consider to be a wonderful compliment. A lady at the meeting asked me if I actually do bodybuilding. If I was a poser who walked stiff-legged and arms out from my side, that might have been an indication that I was a body builder. That fact that only when I take my shirt off can you really see the muscle means I am being as natural as possible and that is awesome for me. You see, your training should be for you and how you feel about yourself and not to impress others around you.

The light weights with lots of reps have certainly done their work. I am stiff like you will not believe. I thought with all the training I do it would be very difficult to be stiff from basic exercise. Well that is what makes lifting weights so fantastic. Changing the reps has made such a difference to my training. I will finish this week with light weight and lots of reps. Next week I will go back to the heavy stuff again.

I did 6 sets light medium weight with 18 reps per set flat bench press.

The burn is out of this world.

How to train and build strong big legs at home| massive calves

Day 54 training killer calves with seated calf raises

I know that machines for these exercises are better than the way I have to do them. I improvise with what I have. I have a stand for bench press and squats so I use this leaning slightly forward to do standing calf raises. I sit on the end of the bench and use plates or a weighted up dumbbell on my knees to do seated calf raises. These do a perfectly good job for me. You can see from the photo exactly how I did my seated calf raises.

I did very light weights with lots of reps - 6 sets of seated calf raises with 25 reps per set

Calves are a hard muscle to build and will require a lot of patience and hard work. Normally it is good to go as heavy as you can with around 12-15 reps for the best growth. I am doing a bit of muscle conditioning right now.