Forgotten Muscle Building Principles

Alright, let's get back to basics. There is entirely too much nonsense out there when it comes to muscle gain, and unless you have an experienced personal trainer at your disposal, you may be wasting your valuable time trying to pack on some beef. Stop listening to binge eating, diet supplement taking, 10 hours a week in the gym, meatheads. Muscle gain is not as crude or intimidating as they make it seem. For those who are new to the game or for those who have lost their way, lets review just what is necessary to gain some muscle.

The guiding principles of training for muscle gain are:

1. Progressive Overload

The intensity of each workout needs to exceed that of the previous workout in order to stimulate new muscle growth. This requires a scientific approach to training where more than just the quantity of weight is measured. The time it takes to complete a set of exercises per muscle group, as well as rest times should also be recorded. Question, who is the stronger man? A man who can lift 200 pounds 5 times in 1 minute, or a man who can lift 150 pounds 10 times in 1 minute? Most gym rats would argue the 200 pound lifter is the stronger man. Gym rats like big weights. In actuality the 150 pound lifter is stronger, having lifting 500 more pounds in the same unit of time. That's a higher intensity of training. That's the stronger, and therefore bigger man.

2. Increased intensity requires a decrease in duration

Intensity is not about spending more hours in the gym every week. In fact, if you spend more than an hour to an hour and a half PER WEEK weightlifting you're wasting your time. When a workout increases in intensity, it typically takes less time to complete, not more. More weight lifted per unit of time puts great stress on one's body, and it doesn't need to carry on for very long in order to stimulate muscle growth. Focus on increasing total weight lifted per unit of time, and you'll find your gains.

3. Increased intensity, implying putting more stress on ones body, requires more rest time between workouts. If you started lifting 2 days per week and made gains each workout for one month, and then plateued, then you have experienced this principle at work. As you become stronger, your body will require more stress in order to stimulate growth, and if you successfully stimulate growth, your body will require more time to rebuild itself. This concept is almost impossible for gym rats to accept. They believe more is better. In actuality, as one advances, less is more. If you aren't making gains every workout, then you're working out too often, or incorrectly. You may find you only need to lift once every 2 weeks to be at your strongest each time.

4. Compound lifts allow for maximum overload. Don't waste time with isolation exercises. Small muscle groups are worked sufficiently with compound lifts like bench press, pullups, rows, dead lift, and squat. Compound lifts allow you to work your entire body as a unit, to overload smaller muscle groups as well as larger ones, and to keep training times down to a minimum.

5. Last but not least, diet. Eat well. Notice I didn't write protein in capital letters. Unless you're preparing for a bodybuilding competition, your body will add muscle with proper workouts in conjuction with a healthy diet. Fruits, Veggies, and Meats. Simple, straight forward. Avoid processed foods. Eat the right kinds of fat, and low fat meats. Reduce sugar intake. Don't binge, but eat satisfying meals 3 to 6 times a day. If you're hungry, eat. If you're full, stop. And add a bit of protein beyond your normal intake. If you're at 170 pounds with your current diet, it won't take you another 100 grams of protein a day to add five pounds of muscle. Add it where you can, and try to consume some at each meal. And here's a secret for those who love to eat, like me. Pick one day a week that is yours to eat anything and everything. Anything goes. Make yourself sick if you want to. This will keep your mind sane, and it shocks the body a bit, keeping your metabolism high so it doesn't slow with return to natural foods. That's right, eating icecream and snickers can actually be beneficial for you.

I hope this gives you some of the tools to make the consistent gains your looking for. Good Training.