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Bodybuilding
Program Basics
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Basic Bodybuilding
The
Dangerous Secret of Extreme Muscle Growth by
David McCormick
You've decided to join a gym, but you're not sure the
best way to work out, and don't want to pay for a personal
trainer who may not really know what he's talking about?
Already an experienced weight lifter, but aren't getting
the results you want? Read on for the best tips for
working out if you have a full gym facility, and the
secret to extreme muscle growth.
Before and After
You should always warm up before lifting any weights.
This means a light jog or other low-impact activity
that will raise your heart rate and raise your core
temperature by a few degrees. This should last at least
5 minutes, preferably 10 or more. After this, you should
do joint rotations. This is not a stretch, it is preparing
the joint for work by encouraging blood flow. Then,
do the resistance training. At the end, stretch all
of the joints you have worked that day. Studies have
shown that stretching before weight training actually
reduces the muscle's capacity, and does not prevent
injury as was previously thought. Stretching after the
work out will protect the joint and prevent cramping.
After working out you will also need an increased intake
of protein because that is what muscles are made of.
Length of Time
The resistance training part of your workout should
not last longer than one hour. After a warm up, your
body is in an anabolic state, meaning that it is ready
to "build up" or repair any damage you do
to it by running hard or doing other hard work. However,
after 45 minutes or so (again, this varies by individual),
your body goes into a catabolic state, meaning that
your body is ready to "break down" or eliminate
anything that may threaten your survival. Entering a
catabolic state is good for breaking down body fat and
eliminating lactic acid from your muscles, but other
tissues are equally damaged by being in a catabolic
state. You should be mostly concerned about your kidneys
and your muscle fibers that will be compromised if you
continue to push yourself. I repeat: working out for
more than one hour will hurt your muscles, not help
them.
The Isotonic Workout
Isotonics is a fancy word for what traditional bodybuilders
do: contract the muscle in order to move a load. In
other words, lifting and lowering weights.
As for the weight training itself, free weights are
excellent because they make your body balance while
lifting them. However, many people prefer nautilus machines
for exactly the same reason: they feel safer not having
to balance the weight. I will not give you weights,
sets and reps to do, because there are a myriad of sources
of routines written by all sorts of experts. I recommend
you experiment with various programs, because although
all muscles fundamentally work the same, everyone has
different levels of hormones, different metabolism,
and different levels of comfort. Pick up the latest
fitness magazine of your choice for current work outs.
The key to remember when following a routine is this:
If you are told to do 10 reps for 3 sets, this means
that you should select a weight that allows you to do
only 10 in a row, but not 11. You will feel tired at
around 6, maybe shake a little at 8, and just pump out
the 10th rep with no energy left to do even one more.
If you can do 11, then you shouldn't stop just because
your routine says 10. Do the 11th and 12th if you can,
knowing that you should be using slightly more weight
the next time. At the end of each set, rest for about
2 minutes (unless your workout specifies something else)
and then do your next set.
The Eccentric Contraction
Most people who write workout routines emphasize that
you lower the weight slower than you raised it. This
is partly for safety. But there is a big secret! But
before getting to that, let's back-up a little. Concentric
motion is flexing the muscle to SHORTEN it under load,
and Eccentric motion is flexing the muscle while LENGTHENING
it under load. As your arm moves up in a bicep curl,
that is concentric, as your arm moves down, eccentric.
Here is the secret: Your muscle can create more power
in eccentric motions than in concentric ones. So always
lower weights very slowly, to keep the maximum tension
while lowering weights!
But we can take that discovery one step further for
ultimate results. Skip the concentric motion because
it's holding you back! If you're only working out with
weights that you can lift concentrically, you're not
using the maximum power possible in your muscles.
Warning: the majority of muscle injuries happen during
the eccentric phase of motion, and by trying this exercise,
you are exposing yourself to risk of injury. So be careful.
You absolutely need a spotter for this, because you
will need help to raise the weight. Load a bar with
a bit more than you can lift. (If you can do 3 curls
with 100 lbs, load the bar with 120 lbs.) With the help
of your spotter, raise the bar to the top position of
a bicep curl. Both of you will likely have to work a
bit at this. Then, as slowly as you can, lower the weight
to the normal starting position of the curl, with your
bicep at full extension. This should take about 3-5
seconds. If your muscle goes slack or you drop the weight,
you've put on too much weight. But if you've got the
right amount, you should feel a burn like never before.
After recovering for 2 minutes, you may want to do a
second rep/set... aim for 3 if you can, but if your
muscle is still burning and feels weak after two minutes,
go on to a different muscle group.
And that's it. One rep per set, 1-3 sets. One controlled
eccentric rep will stimulate your muscle to grow more
than 3 sets of 10 reps because you're using the maximum
overload possible.
Why? Muscle overload is key to adaptation. When you're
using the absolute peak muscular output, it doesn't
have to last long. And since the peak is only possible
during eccentric contractions, only do eccentric contractions.
I feel obliged to repeat the warning: always use a
spotter, and only use weights that you can manage. If
you are working out for the first time, get used to
good form by doing traditional isotonics, and learn
how much you can usually lift to determine your baseline.
Also, some exercises are more dangerous to do eccentrically
because the bar will fall on you if you go slack: bench-press,
squats, military press, etc. For those exercises, use
a "Smith Machine" where the bar travels on
vertical tracks, and you can set safety measures to
keep the bar from falling below a certain height.
Hydration
Always remember while doing resistance training that
water is your best friend. Drinking water will keep
you from dehydrating, will keep your energy high, will
encourage your body to cycle water and fluids throughout
your body, and keep your joints healthy while exercising.
The main cause of muscle cramps is insufficient hydration.
For more information on the importance of Water, read
the article all about it on my site.
Caution
For the beginner: start easy. Start at your core and
move outwards. Work big muscles before small muscles.
Fat burning happens most in the largest muscles (legs
and back), so encouraging them to grow will give you
the fastest fat-loss results. After your first workout,
you will be sore. It would be best to avoid going to
your full overload potential the first week, to allow
your joints time to adjust to your new activity. However,
soon you will see growth, and best of all, you'll see
the fat start to melt.
The second-best resistance training (after eccentric
contractions) does not even require weights, so you
can do it at home without a gym membership. Read my
article on the Weightless Workout on my site.
About the Author
David "Mr. Weightless" McCormick is the founder
of Weightless Products, where you can learn to sculpt
your body to look like a superhero. In his series of
articles, he covers everything every man needs to know
to lose weight fast and keep burning fat. There are
no banners, no pop-up ads, no need to sign up, all articles
are available in full for FREE. Wait Less for Weight
Loss, visit the best weight loss program for men today!
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