Building Muscles

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to Train and Build Big Muscles| Make each rep count

I often wonder, when I have seen people in the gym throwing the weights up and down in endless sets of reps, whether they honestly believe that they are doing themselves any favours. I guess for an aerobic exercise, you will really want to race to get it done. I think when you have committed time to go into a gym to train then you need to make that time count and it must be very rewarding. If not, then it is wasted time. I am such a strong believer of “make each rep count”. I think with this attitude you can gain a lot more for a lot less.

When I go in to train, I need to get into the mood. I take a few minutes to think about why I am training. I think about what I want to achieve. I think about the muscle I am going to train. Then it is all systems go. The mind and body are in the same place. It is so important to focus on the muscle you are training and not let your mind wander to what you are going to do when you are finished, or what you are going to do over the weekend. I truly make each rep count because of the focus I put in. I know I do a lot less than many people who train, and I am totally convinced that I get better results. This is one time that I think less is more. Believe in what you are doing and keep your mind on what you are doing. This is great advice for anyone in any part of their life.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to Train and Build Massive Muscles| The importance of your Mind

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of using your mind when you train. Lifting weights is only a small part of building big muscles. So many people go into a gym and use it as a social gathering. The first thing you need to get clear in your mind is the purpose of training. If you are unhappy with the way you look and you want to make some changes then you have to make the decision to train.

The first thing is to have a definite idea of what you want to look like when you get your ideal body. This is key to help with motivation. I put a picture of what I want to look like in my mind. On the days that I do  not feel so good I remind myself of how I want to look and that spurs me on to get into my little gym. When I enter my gym I do my absolute best to switch off to any other thoughts. I focus on only the muscle I want to work. I get "into the zone” If you are in this state there will be no time to talk to people in the gym about what you are going to do over the weekend etc. I actually see myself lifting the weight in my mind. I see the muscle growing. This is all happening in the mind. The more you can do this the more it will happen in real life.

Have an open mind. There are many ways to train and they all work for those that believe in them. Never think the way you train is the only correct way. That is just being arrogant.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to Train and Build Muscles| The Power of Sleep

I often ask some of the people who have subscribed to my YouTube channel bazblog how they spend their time, and I am quite amazed at how little sleep some of the younger people have. It is almost as if the very young feel it is a waste of time. Middle-aged people feel they do not have the time to sleep nearly as much as they would like, and the older you get you certainly do not want to sleep away what little time you have left.

On of the keys to building a massive body is rest. Sleep is all important. You will need to have at least a good 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Muscles do not grow when they are training. They grow when you rest. If you are not getting the correct amount of sleep, you will find that all the hard training that you put in will not give you the kind of results you will get from proper rest.

Sleep is fantastic therapy for the mind too. Absolute proof of this is Thomas A. Edison - he produced some of the world’s best inventions including the light bulb. He attributed his success with inventions to the fact that he often took naps during the day so he could get his sub-conscious mind to work for him.

Research has shown that a 60 minute nap is about 4 times more effective than a shorter 30 minute nap. Improve your overall performance with some good sleep. Your afternoons will be very much more effective and productive if you can have an hour nap. You will find you will no longer feel lethargic in the afternoon. You will also have a much better training session if you are a person that trains later on in the day.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to Train and Build Massive Arms| Huge Biceps| Killer Guns

This is a muscle that most people train really hard. I have yet to find a bodybuilder who does not want big biceps. That can be a real problem. I have been asked many times how to train biceps. I have also been shown training plans from bodybuilders who are quite new to training. The thing I find, more often than not, is that the poor bicep is way overworked. I have seen plans where people are doing 4 sets of bicep curls, 4 sets preacher curls, 4 sets hammer curls, 4 sets of concentration curls and then I am asked if there is any thing else they can add to their training.

The bicep is actually a very small muscle. It is only 1/3rd the size of the tricep. It is much smaller than the pecs. It is just a fraction of the size of the quads yet people want to do a massive amount of sets and reps. They will often train the bicep every day in the hope of building a massive set of arms. All that is going to happen is the bicep will not grow as it is being completely over-trained.

I think if you did 5/6 sets of a really focused standing bicep curls you will have done more than enough. You definitely must not train them more than 2 x a week. If you keep your reps around 8-12 for each set you will maximise your muscle building process. Lower reps will build more strength but will also build muscle as that is just common sense. A lot more reps will help with endurance but again will only slightly build muscle. Stick to a limited amount of sets and reps until you have built up some good size. Once you have a good foundation you can then add different types of exercise to your training plan.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to train and build killer muscles| Full body workout

I unfortunately had to miss two training sessions earlier last week so decided that I was going to make it up on Saturday morning. I did something that I normally advise against. That is a full overall muscle workout. This is just too much for one session. I decided to do it anyway. This is what I did - 3 sets of 20 reps per muscle. I took about 60% of my max weight I can lift. I made sure that I did not rest more than 1 minute between each set and exercise.

This is the sequence I did. Chest – flat bench press. Shoulders – barbell shoulder press. Dumbbell shrugs. Back – lat pull downs. Triceps – tricep push downs. Biceps – standing EZ curls. Quads – Bulgarian split squat. Calves – Standing calf raises. Hamstrings – lying leg curls. Abs – crunches.I was finished after this.

The first set was quite easy. The second one was a lot harder for the last 5 reps.  The last set was tough as I really battled with the last 8 reps. I must admit I did feel quite good straight after the session. 2 hours later I felt awesome. I am still of the opinion that it is not the best way to train if you want to gain muscle. I have decided that I will definitely do this again as I really liked the pumped feeling all over. I now think once a month or so is not going to do me any harm but will certainly give me the feel-good factor and that is also very important with your training.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to Train and Build Big Muscles| Diet| Eating and Exercise to Lose Weight

Our bodies gain fat when we eat more than we need. We lose fat when we use more energy than we have put in. All of us are different, and so how we digest food will vary. The one thing that is common is that one pound of fat is around 3500 calories. We can manipulate the calories by eating less or training more. The healthiest way is to do both.

Heavier people are less active. A study was done and it showed an overweight person playing tennis moved less and was energy conservative. They moved only when necessary. A thinner person moved a lot more and burnt more calories.

Many overweight people do not want to use exercise to lose weight - running a mile only burns around 100 calories. If you do that every day however, you will lose around 10 lbs over a year. Cut back slightly on your food intake and before you know it now the figure will be 20 lbs a year. I personally think losing weight too quick is not a healthy way to do it. The reason is - easy off, easy on.

It is so important to eat and train yourself thin. Eat small regular balanced meals every day. I remember reading in one of Arnold’s books where he claimed that he uses the push away principle. He would never overeat but would eat healthy regular meals daily. I think if we use more common sense with our eating we will be much healthier people.

Building Muscles| How to Train and Build massive Muscles| Light and Heavy Weight Training Principles

There are so many training principles. People like Joe Weider and other legions have been helping bodybuilders for years by drawing up guidelines for training methods. There are many thoughts on the speed you need to be training at.

Some people say go fast, but that often leads to form going out the window because people tend to then throw the weights around. Some bodybuilders train with slow reps, while still others use average speed.
I can only speak from my own experience. I have tried most methods and must admit I have found the best for me is to make each rep count. I feel it is taking up some of my very valuable time and so each rep must do something for me. I will pause at both the top and bottom of each rep. I use absolute focus during my training which produces some amazing results in a very short space of time.

Whether you decide to train with light or heavy weights, make each rep count. Heavy weights work and so do light weights. The choice is yours. Do not fall into the trap of believing only a certain way of training works. They all work. Decide what you want and then find the system that you are most comfortable with.  Get into the zone each time you train and train with absolute belief. With this attitude you will certainly enjoy some remarkable results.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to train and build huge muscles | Correct Form| The Perfect Repetition

There is so much said about having the right form when you train. Most of the people involved in bodybuilding will tell you that you have to have the correct form. Many will agree but do not really know what the correct form actually is. You will find people telling you that your form is incorrect because you might have gone a bit lower than someone else in the gym when doing flys.  That just means that some people have shoulders that are more flexible than others. I know - I have been a swimmer and doing loads of butterfly means I can go quite a bit lower than the average person and with absolutely no chance of doing damage to my rotor cuffs. (Shoulder joints)

So what is the perfect rep?

It is a combination of many things. First, you are mentally focused. You can actually see the movement in your mind before you do it physically. The start position is really important. If that is wrong, then it is likely the whole rep will be wrong. For example a bench press - make sure the weight is above the chest area. If you bring the weight straight down it would come to around the nipple area. Focus on the pecs in your mind. They are what you are training. They must do as much of the lift as possible. If this is not right you will find that the triceps or shoulders could do more of the lift and this is where injuries can happen. The weight is heavy and the pecs are normally stronger then the triceps or deltoids so they must take more of the weight or you can tear muscles, cause ligament and joint problems.  You lower the weight in a very controlled manner. It is not a drop onto the chest but lowered slowly and it stops just touching the chest or slightly above. (Never bounce the weight off the chest). While the weight lowers, feel the muscle (pecs) being in total control. At the bottom pause for a second and then push the weight up. This again is done in a fully controlled manner. You must really feel the pecs doing the lift. It is so easy to shift the focus to triceps or shoulders especially when you are getting fatigued later on in the set. At the top of the rep do your best to contract/flex the muscle - that means that you will pause for a second and then begin the next rep.

For strength training you will focus on reps from 2 to 6 reps. For building muscles you focus on reps from 6 to 10; for endurance you will want to do 12 reps and above. Should you struggle to finish the reps then you might be going too heavy and that often will compromise your form. Make sure that whatever type of training you are doing, you can just finish the reps. I think it is fine to end up failing on the last rep but fail with dignity (if you know what I mean) If you have to shift position and the weight is not going up properly then that is not right. If you can finish the set and you can still do a few more reps then you are not heavy enough.  This is important as this will help you to get the most out of your training. Use this thought process with every muscle you train and you will find that your form will be fine.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to Train and Build Massive Muscles| Why muscles stop growing| Break the Barrier| Reps too Low

If you are constantly training with lower than 6 reps, you will not get the muscle size you want. I always believed that muscle is built with low reps and it is the only way you can build muscle. What the lower reps do is they increase your strength and build more explosive power. Once you do from 8 to 12 reps this definitely will help with muscle growth. I personally like a combination of both as I have found that this really works well for me. If you are not fatigued with the last few reps in your 8-12 series then you are training too light and you need to increase the weight.  I would definitely consider varied sets and reps with my training if I have found that I have hit a plateau.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to Train and Build Massive Muscles| Why muscles stop growing| Beyond the plateau| Not Feeding your muscles after you train.

This is something I have started to change my opinion on. I never used to think it was important but I do feel it is worth considering. If you have just given the muscles a good going over with a heavy training session then you really should consider feeding those muscles. You have, or at least, should have, been pushed to the absolute limit which means that they are ready for some muscle building protein along with some carbs for energy. I do know if you are in the process of trying to lose body fat it is worth not eating for about an hour after your training as your body is still burning off excess fat. it is the system I have used and it definitely worked that way for me. Once you have removed most of the fat and you are focusing on muscle building then obviously you have to take a different approach to your training and food. Babies grow when they are fed and so do we.