Building Muscles

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to Train and Build Massive Muscles| Why muscles stop growing| Beyond the plateau| Too many Isolation exercises

Doing  biceps curls is known as an isolation exercise. Bench press, squats, deadlifts, shoulder presses etc. are known as compound exercises. The reason they are called compound exercises is because you use more than one muscle when you do them. Compound exercises are brilliant because they cause the body to release extra testosterone and growth hormones. The results of the additional testosterone and growth hormones will cause your muscles to react and you will get more muscle mass. We never give credit to the importance of compound moves. If you want to get bigger then you must seriously consider including these in your training plan.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to Train and Build Massive Muscles| Why muscles stop growing| Beyond the plateau| Training on Gym fixed machines.

These are great for beginners as they keep the body in a fixed position so the form is much better. There is also a lot less chance of injury. Once you know how to do the exercises it is better to use resistance machines only occasionally. The more you use gym machines, the less the underlying muscles have to work so they are never stressed. When you use free weights you will use different muscles for stabilisation and they will grow. To gain muscle mass you need to work and stress as many muscles as you can. You will find that a combination of all of these muscles working will cause an overall muscle growth.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to Train and Build Massive Muscles| Why muscles stop growing| Break through the wall| Food Protein and Carbs

 
If you are not having enough protein you will really battle to gain any muscle. I believe it should be a fixed amount. The recognised amount is 1.5gms protein including all meals and shakes per kg body weight that you have.  I would never mess with this. For me this is a constant daily amount. I know some people take more but you do run the risk of straining the kidneys and wasting money.

If you are not having good quality complex carbs you could be using muscle for fuel.  Another thing to seriously consider is the amount of calories you burn outside the gym. You might well be using more calories than you are putting in. This is the food that you need to adjust according to your circumstances. Too much and you will gain fat. Too little and you will use muscle. It is a tough one so get to know your body quickly. Listen to it. You cannot have the quantity someone else has as you do not live in their skin. You have to work it out for yourself. By all means get advice and use the various guides but make sure you work it out for yourself.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to Train and Build Massive Muscles| Why muscles stop growing| Beyond the plateau| The importance of Sleep

There are a number of reasons why muscle can stop growing. There is a saying “If you keep doing what you have always done than you will keep getting what you have always got.” Of course what people then say is, if I want to get a better improvement then I had better put in a much bigger effort. What often happens is you will get a whole lot more of what you have been getting and that could cause you to get even less results.

If you are not getting enough sleep, all the training under the sun is not going to help you with muscle growth. Muscles grow when you rest not when you train. The recognised amount of sleep required is about 8 hours per night. I personally think for younger people slightly more and for older people slightly less. We are all different so 8 hours is a good bench mark. I also think 10pm is a great time to go to bed. When you hear people say "I am a morning person" or "I am a night person" - this is a habit that people have created. You made the habit, you can change it. If you want results you have to change and you have to get enough rest. This could be one of the reasons for hitting the wall with your training.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to train and build abs| Killer six pack training.

 
Abs – Abs - Abs the dread of almost all bodybuilders. The question that I am asked the most is “How do I get a 6 pack?”  There is so much rubbish (and I really mean rubbish) on the internet about training abs. It ranges from a '6 pack in just 3 minutes a day', 'a killer 6 pack in 10 days' or 'get your six pack with this miracle pill'.

I know from personal experience - no matter how many situps, crunches or leg raises you do, you will not get a 6 pack. You have to lose the belly fat. I have the most amazing 6 pack that is as hard as a rock. Pity it is never seen because of the inch or so of fat that keeps it well hidden. In order to get a six pack you need to lose body fat.  Diet is the key to a great 6 pack. You have to do some exercise for them to stand out, but it all happens when the blubber around the middle disappears.  I can train shoulders, arms, legs, chest and all of them show a marked improvement in a very short space of time. Abs ? I just seem to get more and more frustrated. It is a constant battle of the bulge daily. I have always known of the great benefits of raisins and eat a lot of them. Then I realised that is also part of the fat problem. They are the most concentrated calorie food you can eat. (Darn - a favourite too). I am now being very strict with what I put into my mouth. I am determined to have the elusive killer 6 pack.

I am a big believer in leg raises. I did 4 x 20 leg raises with weights. You hold a pair of dumbbells or barbell above your head. You then raise and lower your legs fairly slowly for 20 reps. It is an amazing way to do abs. If you want to make it more challenging then you just lower the weights above your head further back and you can almost double the resistance just with that alteration.

Then I did 4x20 crunches. I place my heels on the bench, then I lift my head up toward my knees. At the top I hold the position for a second and lower the head back down to the floor. I can assure you 20 reps gives an incredible burn. The reason for the number of reps is because abs are like calves. They are designed for endurance. Biceps have a lot of explosive power but tire very quickly. They also build easier too.

As I said, the abs are there and rock hard - it's just a pity they are constantly in the shade. Lol. It will not take that long to get some good looking abs if the fat goes. The time it takes to get them is totally dependant on how long it is going to take me to lose the fat. I am not in favour of quick weight gains or losses as I do not think that is healthy.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to train and build massive muscles| Nutrition| Raisins and their wonderful benefits.

 Half a cup of raisins is around 60g of carbohydrates which is the top source of energy for muscles during training. Raisins are not only dense in carbs, but they don't bloat the stomach. They are also rich in powerful antioxidants. The California Raisin Marketing Board along with Sphera Foundation in Los Altos California did tests on athletes who ate a cup full of raisins before athletic events and found that they were better protected from oxidative damage then those who had a glucose drink.

Hard training causes the muscles to build up free radicals. This is because of the increased oxygen that is required while training. This build up of the free radicals will then affect the training performance. This can often result in increased muscle soreness afterwards.

Raisins have what is known as high oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). This means that their anti-oxidants will enter the muscles and get rid of the build up of free radicals. If you can remove the free radicals from the muscles, the performance will improve. They are also a great source of fibre and potassium.

For people who want to gain weight you can imagine how good they are. 1 cup of raisins is worth 530 calories. If you have a weight problem then you need to be very strict how you use them as they are known as a calorie concentrated food. (Higher calorie density)

They have a lot of merits and are one of my favourites. I did not realise just how many calories they have and that can easily account for my increased weight. I am now using them as I would other supplements like creatine, in moderation.

For more information on Nutrition and Bodybuilding click here.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to train and build huge muscles| Concentric and Eccentric Training

 
What is the difference between concentric and eccentric training?
 
Many people who are new to training really have a problem with the various terms used in bodybuilding. I often wonder why we do not use simple terms like the “up” part of the repetition or the “down” part of the repetition. I guess if you use fancy terms it makes lifting pieces of iron a lot more appealing. Lol

The muscle contraction when a weight is lifted is described as Concentric training. The muscle fibres shorten to lift the load. A bicep curl is the best example. As you contract the muscle, the weight comes up, and that is the concentric movement.

The opposite is eccentric muscle action. That means that the muscle fibres lengthen to lower the weight. Eccentric muscle actions are common in strength training using free weights.

Most activities that we never think about use both muscle actions. If you pick up a bag of groceries it takes a concentric motion to lift the bag and then when you put it down it will take an eccentric action to lower it. It is important then to use both concentric and eccentric actions when we train if we want to gain strength in our training programs.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) makes it quite clear that muscle strength results from the activation of specific muscle fibres which are recruited in response to the demands of resistance-training. This means that our training programs should include both concentric and eccentric muscle actions.    

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Bodybuilding Muscles| How to train and build massive muscles| Fat Loss| The importance of Carbs

 
One of my viewers (a very qualified personal trainer) on YouTube sent me this really valuable information on the importance of carbs. He explains how important carbs are and the effect they have on protein synthesis for building muscle. Eating balanced food is really important for both weight loss and for building muscles. For example, carbs provide the energy that fuels muscle contractions, and glycogen is the source of energy most often used for exercise and not protein. Protein is in fact a very inefficient energy source.

The purpose of adequate carbohydrate intake is to prevent protein from being used as energy. If the body doesn't have enough carbohydrate, protein is broken down to make glucose for energy. This means that if the protein intake is greater than the carbs intake the person can actually tire easily and not utilise the protein at all.

The best way to get the most out of your protein (building strength and muscle development) is to always eat more carbs than protein. Bodybuilders who are stuck in a training plateau, do not realise that it may be their carb intake that is the real issue. Most people will automatically think that it is the actual training that is the problem. One of the things I have discovered is that carbs are more important than protein after exercise. I

 have been given great feed back from my clients. They all say that because of my advice to increase their carb intake after training, they have started to see some amazing results. They say they have experienced a massive difference in recovery, strength and stamina. I think too much is made of protein and not enough about the benefits of the wonderful and most essential carbs that are so necessary for our bodybuilding.

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to train and build big muscles| Upper body training.

 
The day I thought I was going to die. Lol

I have been asked many times what should a person do if they miss a training session. I will normally say forget it and move on. You can, however, catch up if it is not going to throw your schedule out. I wanted to train shoulders and back yesterday however I was just too busy. I had planned to do chest and arms today and so decided to just do the whole upper body at one go.

I was looking at a magazine and it just came to me to do so strip sets. A strip set is when you start with a weight and you keep removing weight till you are very light but just cannot do any more. I made sure I warmed up my chest and then started. I decided to do normal bench presses. I loaded up with what I thought I could handle and managed 3 reps. With no rest I then removed some weight and managed another 3 then more off and it went up to 5 reps. At the end I think my grand-daughter could lift the weight but I could only manage 10 reps and thought I was going to pass out.

I had a full 3 minute rest and then went on to do shoulder presses.
The exact same thing happened however I managed 4 reps when I started. I also managed to almost pass out on 12 reps at the end.

3 minutes rest and then on to back.

Here I did lat pull downs. Same thing again only this time I was able to do 9 reps for the first set.

Another 3 minutes rest and then on to triceps.

I did exactly the same again. Managed 8 reps for the 1st set.

3 more minutes rest and then Biceps.

Here I did not do strip sets. What I did was to load up to about 75% of what I can train with and did 20 reps. 30/40 seconds rest and then 18 reps and so on till I ended on 10 reps. I managed to do them but found I was actually throwing up the weight toward the end as the biceps felt like they wanted to explode. Although I cheated getting the weight up I brought the weight back down really slowly.
I found this to be a very refreshing way to train. I would not do it every time I train but as a change after a few weeks it can only do you a lot of good.

What I did find is that when the weight is a bit too heavy you tend to let your form go out the window. If you want to do this I think rather go a bit lighter with the first set and do like 6/10 reps. You must remember that with every set you are actually going to failure so the tendency to cheat is very strong.

There is a lot more of this type of information on my website www.buildingmuscles.co/

Bodybuilding Muscles| How to train and build Big Legs| Huge Calves

 
Calves - the bodybuilders nightmare. There are so many bodybuilders that have amazing upper bodies massive quads/ thighs and then calves that look like they have gone out to graze. LOL They are just not there. So many people ask how can they get massive calves? What is the best way to train and build big calves?

The first thing you need to realise is that the size of your calves is genetic. In my own case I come from parents that both had good looking calves. That means that my brothers have good looking calves too. You might not be born with good looking calves, but doesn't mean that you can never have them. My son was not blessed with big calves and so he decided to train and build them up. He has been very successful doing this.  He has put in a lot of effort to get them to respond and unfortunately they do require a lot of attention. More than any other muscle I think.

Why would they be any more difficult to build than any other muscle?

The calf is made up of two muscles 1) the gastrocnemius and 2) the soleus. The gastrocnemius is in two parts. They are called heads. The medial which is the inner head and the lateral which is the outer head. The percentage figures I understand do vary depending where you get your information from. I do not think the exact figures are that important and it is just to give us an idea of their make up and how we can get the most out of them. The gastrocnemius medial head has 51% Fast Twitch fibers and 49% Slow Twitch fibers. The lateral head of the gastrocnemius has 57% Fast Twitch fibers and 43% Slow Twitch fibers.
The soleus has 20% Fast Twitch fibers and 80% Slow Twitch fibers.
Slow Twitch fibers are great for aerobic training and for endurance type of training.
Fast Twitch fibers are more for power explosive action and will get tired a lot quicker.

If you think a bicep as more fast twitch fibres than slow twitch fibres so they build quicker and get tired quicker than the calves.

In order to get your calves to grow you will need to vary the training that you do for them.

For more information about how to actually train them go to www.buildingmuscle.co/