I have something a little different today. This article comes from Zach Evan Esh the Underground Strength Coach. If you have never read anything from Zach your missing out. Zach is one of the most passionate trainers I have ever known.
When it comes to building strength and muscle anyway, anyhow Zach is the man. This article gave me some great motivation for my workout today and I bet it will for you too. Enjoy!!
Before the internet, the world of strength and serious bodybuilding was in it's very own little world.
A small culture of people who shocked the rest of the world for doing what they did:
- Lifting HEAVY and straining the body
- Eating like Gladiators
- Transforming their body / Growing Muscles that stretched shirts
- The ability to perform feats of strength
Well, after this weekend's USC Cert, we had a few guys in attendance who were in their 20s and they had never seen the movie,'Pumping Iron' with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I spoke of Franco Columbo deadlifting a small car and how the bodybuilders from back in the 70s were more of a hyrbid power-bodybuilder because they lifted so heavy.
They also were BIG proponents of bodyweight exercises performed in high volume and / or with LOTS of added weight.
Arnold would perform back workouts by performing mixed grip pull ups until he could NO longer hold onto the bar!
Other times it would 5 sets each of chin ups, behind the neck chin ups and close grip chin ups.
When is the last time you saw anyone cranking out 15 sets of pull ups?
There is a man by the name of Marvin Eder, who was known for his astonishing strength NOT just in exercises such as dips and chins, but his strength in the powerlifts and the military press.
He weighed under 200 lbs yet would perform parallel bar dips with 2 men, each hanging from his legs.
His workouts motivate me to consider 100 dips a warm up, NOT a workout.
Marvin could also squat 500 plus pounds for 10 deep reps and had a bench press over 500 lbs as well.
This reminds me: I am NOT strong enough and have lots of work to do ahead of me.
What about you, are you strong enough yet?
Are you satisfied with your strength in the below movements?
- Squat
- Deadlift
- Strict Press
- Dips
- Chin Ups
I'm gonna be hitting a playground workout shortly, and at the gym later tonight I'll be squatting and deadlifting.
Morning will equal tons of push ups, pull ups and dips. Evening has Squats and Deads.
I'm pretty fired up, motivated to be stronger.
I'll be training Rutgers Wrestling Team today as well.
I am excited to see the damage they're going to be dishing out as they get stronger and stronger training at The Underground Strength Gym, and, we'll be blasting their conditioning levels to a whole new level.
Once again....
All this talk of Marvin Eder and the men of amazing strength reminds me:
I am NOT strong enough and have LOTS of work to do ahead of me.
While watching the summer Olympics the last few days you would be hard pressed not to notice the great physiques possessed by many of the athletes. But by far and away the most muscular bodies always belong to the gymnasts and the sprinters. These guys certainly know how to build muscle more effectively than most average gym rats.
For years now I have been extolling the virtues of moving your body through space when you train, as opposed to simply moving your limbs around a fixed object. When you move your body through space, as the Olympic gymnasts do, you stimulate a much higher level of neuromuscular activation. In simple terms this means that you call more muscle fibers into play on any one exercise. And the more muscle fibers you activate, the more you will grow.
So if you want to develop an incredible physique, take a lesson from the Olympic gymnasts on how to build muscle, and start moving your body through space as much as possible while you train. Following is a list of exercises to start you on the path to getting huge.
1.Instead of triceps pushdowns do parallel bar dips.
Have you noticed how many dips and how much work the Olympians do on the parallel bars? And have you noticed the size of their triceps? Need I say more?
2.Instead of barbell curls do close grip chin ups. Ditto what I said about the dips. Not only do you get incredible biceps development from close grip chins but you also get the added bonus of massive lat and forearm development.
3.Instead of bench presses do chain or strap suspended pushups. While the bench press can be an effective mass building exercise it can also be one of the worst for your shoulders. If you want to be safer and build a chest and pair of shoulders like you see on the Olympic gymnasts I would highly recommend some type of chain or strap suspended pushup. This movement will call far more muscle fibers into play and challenge the smaller stabilizers muscles as well. Not only that but you will get an outstanding ab workout from this movement as well; something that can’t be said for the bench press.
4.Instead of flyes with dumbbells do them with your bodyweight. These were a favorite chest builder of the first Mr. Olympia, Larry Scott. He preferred doing them with gymnastics rings but you can also do them on the TRX Straps. Either option is great and will pack size on your chest.
5.Instead of leg presses, leg extensions or leg curls do double and single leg squats. When you sit in a fixed machine and move weight with your limbs as opposed to moving your body the level of neuromuscular activation is quite low; no matter how much weight you use. And it is very unnatural. A leg press allows you to build strength in your lower body without additional gains in lower back and core strength. This is not normal and creates an imbalance that will lead to future problems. When you do squats you incorporate nearly every muscle from head to toe and will not only build tree trunk sized legs but will stimulate growth throughout your entire body.
6.Instead of crunches and sit ups do all of the exercises listed above. Isolation abdominal exercises like crunches and sit ups are not real life type movements. In real life your abdominals contract isometrically to protect your spine; they do not contract the way they do in a crunch or sit up. Not only that, but by continually flexing your spine for hundreds of reps per week, you will surely be setting yourself up for long term back problems.
If you follow a steady diet of chins, dips, suspended pushups and squats you will build an incredible set of abs. When you watch the Olympic gymnasts you immediately notice their rock solid abs popping right through their spandex and they never do crunches or sit ups. You simply can’t hide abs like that. That kind of six pack is built with full body movements like the ones listed above.But if you still want to do a little extra ab work you can add in exercises like planks and ab wheel rollouts; just skip the sit ups and crunches.
Now you know how to build muscle, Olympic style. Stick with these time tested exercises and all of the others listed in Muscle Gaining Secrets course for the next eight weeks and be prepared add some massive slabs of beef to your physique.
I remember the first publication I read specifically talking about the balance required in a workout. It was Alwyn Cosgrove’s The Professional Fitness Coach Program Design Bible.
He specifically talked about you must balance your pressing movements with your pulling movements. Extension movements should balance flexion movements. Rotation with the reverse movement, and so on… It was the first time it was ever explained so simply.
And yes, it can be simple for you and your programs.
If there isn’t a balance of the volume and load (sets x reps x weight) on all movements, then imbalances occur. And that is when injuries happen.
Simply, look for the balance.
Muscle Building Upper Body Workout example 1:
Bench Press, 4×8, 200 lbs = 32×200 = 6400 lbs lifted with a pushing movement.
Bent Over Rows, 3×10, 150lbs = 30×150 = 4500 lbs lifted with a pulling movement.
OT BALANCED!
The bent over rows should be adjusted for volume or weight.
All you would have to do is, change the sets to 4×10 and increase the weight to 160lbs and it will balance.
Bent Over Rows, 4×10, 160lbs = 40×160 = 6400 lbs lifted with a pulling movement.
NOW IT IS BALANCED!
Or you could do a different technique. You could balance the pressing movement with MULTIPLE pulling movements within the same workout.
Building Upper Body Muscle Example 2
Bench Press (pushing exercise)
Bent Over Rows (pulling exercise 1)
Face Pulls (pulling exercise 2)
Band Retractions (pulling exercise 3)
The goal is to maintain the integrity of the joint, balance the musculature to ensure optimal strength.
Here is the workout I performed with some key tips.
Swiss Bar Bench Press
Key coaching points to remember. Stay tight, chest up and drive the feet down. Try hard not to let the elbows flare outwards. Take a breath at the top and create tension. Hold that tension for the rep. Reset after each rep.
Cage Rope Climbing
This movement is extremely hard on the grip, biceps and back. The rope used in the video is 1.5″ nylon rope and it is anchored to the top bar of the power cage. In the video I also perform a hand over hand kettlebell lift. This movement is easy to setup. Just put the rope over the top of the power cage and anchor to the kettlebell.
One of the supposed rules of fast muscle gain is that in order for a muscle to grow it has to be exposed to a certain load (e.g. under tension) for 40–70 seconds at a given time. This simply means that every set you do should last somewhere between 40 and 70 seconds.
If you have never heard this nonsense before, I will give you a second to pick yourself up off the floor and stop laughing. To disprove this theory, I will point to the immeasurable number of lifters who have grown to enormous proportions without ever adhering to this rule.
Taking 40–70 seconds to do a set of 6–8 reps is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of. Lifting at this slow speed severely limits the amount of weight you can use and thus decreases the effectiveness of the set.
The only thing that long time-under-tension sets do is increase lactic acid production. This results in the burn feeling and may be what people are confusing with effective training. You can get a great burn by going for a swim or a long bike ride or by doing 1,000 crunches, but everyone knows this isn’t going to do a single thing to help you build muscle.
Fast twitch muscle fibers are the ones that have the greatest potential for building muscle and are only stimulated when the load is heavy, the reps are fairly low and the set lasts about twenty seconds or so.
So sets of five or six reps with 80% or more of your one rep max (1RM) are far more productive at eliciting fast muscle gain than sets of 10-20 reps with 50-60% of your 1RM done at slower speeds. That’s not to say that you should never do slightly higher reps or use less than 80% of your 1RM but that that type of training should never be the main focus of your program.
I hate to admit this, but back when time under tension was first discussed and brought to popularity, I did extensive experiments with this so called muscle building concept in my own private training center. Yes, I got suckered. After reading everything I could about time under tension, I immediately modified every one of my clients’ training programs. We experimented with longer time under tension sets of 40-70 seconds for over a year.
The results? Nearly every single client, to a man, got smaller and weaker. Those that didn’t remained the same size and strength or made marginal muscle gains, at best, that were far inferior to anything we had previously done. I admit it was a huge mistake, but trying things, making mistakes and adapting is the best way to learn.
The good news is that I have already done the experiments and made the mistakes for you. Learn from my misfortunes, avoid these deadly mistakes and you will be on the road to fast muscle gain in no time.
For a more effective approach to gain muscle, click HERE now.
Jason Ferruggia is a world famous fitness expert who is renowned for his ability to help people gain muscle as fast as humanly possible. He is the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness Magazine where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. For more check out How to Build Muscle Fast tips
I have a real kick your butt video for you today from Jim Smith of Accelerated Muscular Development (AMD). What we have for you is a Power Combo that will pack on muscle fast. It is a 2 exercise combo guaranteed to kick butt and pack on muscle.
Pull-Ups and Ab rollouts. Ab rollouts? A very good and tough ab and core strength exercise. Pull-ups I hope you know that pullups are one of the best upper body strength and muscle building exercises you should be doing.
Give this combo a try. Don't get thrown by Jim's use of chains if you aren't strong enough to add weight to your pull-ups yet. Work on building up to adding weight for your pull-ups. Remember gradual progression is the key to building muscle and strength.
Now get to work! Talk to you soon.
Jim Smith, CSCS is a highly sought after lecturer, author and renowned strength coach. Jim is an expert for Men’s Fitness and a member of the Elite Fitness Q/A staff. He speaks regularly at clinics, conferences and seminars about the Diesel Method. His distinctive and comprehensive training approach has helped athletes and fitness enthusiasts of all skill levels attain their goals and "Achieve Beyond Potential". Jim is an active student of strength athletics and is always seeking new ways to innovate and provide a unique perspective for gaining muscle, rehabbing injuries, improving performance and building better athletics.
Gaining 10 pounds of muscle is not the easiest task in the world but it’s definitely not the hardest task either. Adding a deadline of 4-weeks make the task more challenging but absolutely realistic.
The key is to apply diligence and discipline to your the muscle building diet plan and raise your intensity when you pound the weights. If you’re goal is to pack on some brawn, I’ve designed a very simple muscle building diet to ensure you’re tipping the scale ten pounds heavier in a month’s time.
Let’s get started.
Bulking Up The Brawn!
Your muscles grow on calories – 20-22 per pound of body weight to be exact. A 180-pound man will have the challenge of consuming 3960 calories per day.
Unfortunately, not all calories are created equal, which means 3960 calories of chicken wings, bagels and sausages will have a huge difference on how you look naked versus 3960 calories of lean beef, oatmeal and egg whites.
Protein Portions Gone Wild
You’ll notice in the sample muscle building diet plan that you’re consuming 2 grams of protein per pound of body weigh (360 grams for the 180-pound bodybuilder), which is probably double your normal protein intake.
Why are you consuming so much protein?
The main reason is to recover and regenerate the muscle tissue you break down while training and to ensure you don’t lose any muscle during your intense workouts.
This amount of protein will switch on the “muscle-growing” switch inside your body and ensure you plenty of amino acids to support your growth to new levels.
Don’t Take Away My Carbs!
If you want to gain ten pounds of muscle in 4-weeks, your protein intake needs to be matched by your carbohydrate intake. Carbs will keep your muscle full and large and ensure you have enough energy to meet your weight training programs demands. So the 180-pound bodybuilder will strive for 360 grams of carbs each day. As you can imagine, this is a much easier task then consuming 360 grams of protein.
Get Full On Fat
Fat is not as critical during a muscle building diet plan but a certain amount is required to support testosterone levels. Shop for only healthy fats like mixed nuts, coconut oil, olive oil and avocado. Not only do these foots boost testosterone production but they protein your joints and balance your hormones.
Double Up On Breakfast
The challenge of a muscle building diet plan requires serious diligence and discipline to schedule your meals into your schedule, often times you must form new habits.
I like the double breakfast strategy because your body can handle more calories in the morning and it mentally reinforces your goals for the rest of the day. Your first breakfast is designed to get into your blood stream quickly to prevent muscle breakdown and your second breakfast is designed to supply a slower-releasing form of energy for your morning.
Back Off On Off Days
Since you’re energy demands are not as high, you’ll consume a lower amount of carbs to maximize the muscle-to-fat ratio and ensure you gain muscle, not fat. Also, we’ll drop our calories to 19 per pound of body weight, maintain our protein intake, increase the fat intake and decrease the carb intake the most.
Gain 10-Pounds Of Muscle In 4-Weeks – Workout Day
* Breakfast 1 *
2 slices of whole wheat bread with 2 tbsp of raspberry jam
1 scoop of Iso-Smooth Protein Powder
* Breakfast 2 *
3 eggs + 3 egg whites plus veggies (omelet)
2 cups of oatmeal (cooked)
* Mid-Morning Snack *
2 scoops of Iso-Smooth Protein Powder
2 slices of whole wheat bread
1 tbsp of natural peanut butter
1 tbsp of strawberry jam
* Lunch *
1 large whole wheat bagel
1 tbsp of mustard
6 oz of your favourite deli meat (chicken or turkey is best)
2 cups of mixed greens salad
1/2 avocado (mixed into salad)
1 tbsp. of balsamic vinegar and 1 tbsp. olive oil
* Pre Workout Meal *
1 scoop of Iso-Smooth Protein Powder
5 chocolate/caramel rice cakes
* Post Workout Meal *
2 scoops of Iso-Smooth Protein Powder
1 large banana
* Dinner *
8 oz of fish or sirloin steak
1 large baked potato
1 full head of steamed broccoli
2 cups of mixed greens
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and 1 tbsp of olive oil
* Pre Bed Time Snack *
1 cup of cottage cheese
1 cup of mixed berries
1 cup of mixed nuts on top
Gain 10-Pounds Of Muscle In 4-Weeks – Off Day
* Breakfast 1 *
2 slices of whole wheat bread with 2 tbsp of raspberry jam
1 scoop of Protein Powder
* Breakfast 2 *
3 eggs + 3 egg whites plus veggies (omelet)
1 cup of oatmeal (cooked)
1 tbsp of natural almond butter (blend into oatmeal)
* Mid-Morning Snack *
2 scoops of Protein Powder
1 cup of oatmeal (blend into protein shake)
* Lunch *
1 large whole wheat bagel
1 tbsp of mustard
1 can of albacore tuna (in water)
1 tbsp of mayo
2 slices of mozzarella cheese (melted in tuna and bread)
* Mid Afternoon Snack *
2 scoops of Iso-Smooth Protein Powder
1 tbsp of natural peanut butter
* Dinner *
8 oz of fish or sirloin steak
1 cup of brown rice
2 full head of steamed broccoli
2 cups of mixed greens
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and 1 tbsp of olive oil
* Pre Bed Time Snack *
1 cup of cottage cheese
1 cup of mixed berries
1 cup of mixed nuts on top
END OF MEAL PLAN
As you’ll notice, this meal plan does not include any fancy foods or any outrageous budget to afford. The foods are easy to purchase and simple to prepare. I followed a similar muscle building diet plan like the ones above to gain 41-pounds of muscle in six months.
I’m sure you’ll pack on at least 10-pounds of muscle in the next 4-weeks with this muscle building diet plan. Feel free to ask questions and tomorrow I’ll share some muscle building supplements to compliment this plan.
I have been telling you about Maximize Your Muscle by Vince Del Monte recently. Hopefully you went and checked it out. If so you know Vince is offering a $1 trial for 30 days. Great deal. bad news the $1 trial offer ends tonight.
Here is a little of what you get with Maximize Your Muscle: (By the way – this is all shipped to your front door!)
**The 2-CD "Blow Beyond Your Genetic Potential" CD in which reveals the origin of the program, the science plus Vince's inner views on living large.
**The 20-page Phase 1 MYM Print Newsletter and workout log
**The 2-hour Phase 1 Workout DVD (intense footage shot LIVE at the gym!)
**The Phase 1 LIVE 90-minute coaching call where you can ask Vince your personal questions about the program (call will be scheduled after Phase 1 ships)
**Access to the Maximize Your Muscle Members Only Discussion Forums where you can interact and get support with other like-minded members doing the same exact program as you -- This is BIG TIME.
And it all gets shipped to your door for a BUCK ($1). You've got to get in tonight though because Vince is shipping Phase 1 to the 1256 members already signed up on Friday. He wants everyone to start everyone together since this is a curriculum based program.
Plus, the $1 Trial disappears Thursday night.
Get the best techniques for adding muscle to your body without getting fat:
This is a letter I got from Vince Del Monte. If you downloaded his free report that I told you about a few days ago you may have got this too. read it and take it to heart. Because believe me when I tell you Vince does. Does Vince make some money doing what he does from you buying his product? Yes! (but not as much as you might think).
Here is the thing Vince does genually care. He is very committed to helping any and everyone he can. Maximize Your Muscle has been a labor of love and an intense study of getting past your genetics and building the body you have dreamed of.
And That is what Vince really cares about. Helping you get to your muscle building goals. So here is what Vince had to say.
This is a letter that is not like any you have received or I have ever written...
I believe that YOU are a unlimited being and have unlimitedpotential for unlimited possibilities. Just like champions in life, from any endeavor, you have a physical body and a mind to activate vivid images of how you want your body - and your life - to look.
There is something absolutely incredible about you.
Not only can you walk, talk, think and breath but you can buildsomething great with the potential you have. What are you going to build with the rest of 2010? You could build a business, a house, a relationship, a career, atrip or the greatest physique you have ever revealed. Do you have the COURAGE to start today?
I'm tired of "thinking about it" Lets give it a shot! CLICK HERE>>> Stop sitting on the side lines. Get in the game. Refuse to let others get what they want while you stand by and watch. The world has way too many people living in rocking-chairs andnot enough people JUMPING IN with both feet and going for it.
As you build your dream body and life, your family members,friends and work colleagues will be inspired by your passion andenthusiasm to want more in life than the norm. It's people like you who have the chance to make the world abetter place. Did anyone ever tell you that you have a real greatness insideof you? Has it ever dawned on you that this greatness deserves to berecognized by you? What are you waiting for? The year 2020? Can I count on you, to ACT TODAY? YES! I'm going to START TODAY.
Take home message: You have untapped and uncommon potential and you owe it toyourself to challenge that potential. What is a goal that is important to you in 2010? Building thebody you desire and deserve? Today is the time to put yourpotential towards that goal. Anyone you know who has aworld-class body has made the decision you're making now. It pains me to think that people live lives that are not areflection of their true potential.
It makes me sad. What ashame. What a waste. Refuse to live life defeated. Whether you struggle from pastfailures, bad habits or negative thinking - it's never too lateto turn a corner and start doing what others consider impossible. I urge you to take this golden opportunity to try MYM for a low-risk $1.00 30-day trial and see for yourself the dramaticincreases in muscularity and leanness.Maximize Your Muscle <<<<<<< Join Us Today Make Today "The Day"! In 2-days 831 new members have joined Maximize Your Muscle with apositive belief system to create greatness within themselves.
I am so, so excited to coach these unique individuals and help themrecreate themselves, reinforce good habits and beliefs and makesure they are on the right path. I am confident that each of them will achieve their goals and a few of my super elite transformations will earn a spot to befeatured in a future phase of Maximize Your Muscle, all expensespaid to the destination of the filming. Nothing like a little competition to bring the best out of anyone.
I hope you take this message seriously and JOIN US before midnight tomorrow so that you can challenge your potential and then blow beyond it. So what are you waiting for? Give me the word, by signingup and you can feel the life-changing results it will bring.That's a personal promise you can take to the bank. Let's make 2010 a special year for you! Youdeserve to give yourself the BEST. I Have Nothing To Lose And So Much To Gain!"
This article is going to show you 3 more methods that are usually untapped by most when trying to gain new muscle...
* High Frequency Lifting *
The reason it works: If you could train a muscle group 50 times a year or 150 times a year, which would get you better results? 150 - assuming you are recovered before the next stimulus on the muscle.
How to make it work: train each body part with up to 3-4 workouts per week. But you must manipulate the weights, exercises and rep ranges. You will not lift heavy weights 3 days in the week all on the same muscle group or else the joints and nervous system would be overtaxed.
Methods you can experiment with: An example is training a body part 3 times in a week, while incorporating a heady day, medium day and a light day; using all different exercises, sets and reps. Here's an example using chest:
On Monday you do a power day of 4 sets of 6-8 reps, 2 minutes with bench press. On Wednesday you have a hypertrophy day of 3 sets of 8-10 reps, 90 seconds rest with Incline Dumbbell Press. On Friday you do an endurance day of 2 sets of 25, with 30 seconds rest, for Decline Chest Flys.
* Flexion Training *
The reason it works: hit each muscle group from three different angles each workout.
How to make it work: For your first exercise you hit the bulk of the muscle fibers with a mid-range mass-builder exercise, which would be a multi- joint/compound movement. Shoulder Presses, Bench Press, Squatting and Deadlifting are all perfect examples.
Your second exercise would target the muscle from a stretched position – a very vulnerable angle that forces a lot of untapped fiber recruitment. An incline bicep curl is a great example.
Your third exercise you select a peak- contraction exercise, which challenges the muscle to contract against resistance. This further helps activate every single muscle fiber without over fatiguing or over killing specific movements of a muscle (a very common mistake). A tricep kickback is a great example of a peak contraction exercise.
Methods you can experiment with: When you split up your body- parts, I see very little reason to incorporate more than 3 exercises per body part. Each body part should have a mid-range movement, a stretch movement and a contraction movement to maximize all the muscle fibers and prevent overtraining. A killer bicep workout would only include standing barbell curls, incline bicep curls and concentration curls.
Positions Of Flexion is the most sensible way to organize your exercise choices instead of the shotgun way of just picking a multitude of exercises for a body part without any specific reason.
* Unilateral Lifting *
The reason it works: it’s harder for the body to recruit the growth muscle fibers during bilateral movements than during unilateral exercises. Beginners often hit a plateau because of an inefficient nervous system so they can’t recruit the high threshold growth fibers. People with longer limbs experience the same difficulty in recruiting their high threshold motor units.
How to make it work: incorporate 3-week training blocks of pure unilateral (one arm or one leg at a time) movements to better recruit the nervous system and ultimately improve the recruitment of the high threshold motor units when returning to bilateral movements.
Methods you can experiment with: Don’t drop all of your bilateral work and use this method sparingly, especially if you’re not a beginner or have shorter limbs. Here are unilateral exercises to target each side independently or alternatively: alternating lunge, 1 leg-curl, 1-leg deadlift, 1-leg squat, step ups, 1-leg hop, 1-leg press, 1-leg stiff leg deadlift, 1-leg back extension.
Better training and regular inclusion of unilateral training will optimize bilateral training and maximize the high threshold motor units for growth.
Important:
Go to Maximize Your Muscle right now to take advantage of Vince's $1 offer to get his incredible Maximize Your Muscle Program (including the workouts, the manual, the audio CDs, and the killer DVDs showing you all of the techniques to take your muscle gains to the next level.
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Training your butt off but not really getting anywhere? Put on “some” muscle, but can’t seem to add any more? Simply not progressing fast enough? If you can relate to any of those scenarios, then you’re going to love this 2 part article as we’re getting ready to unleash six BIG reasons why you’ve stopped building muscle.
Reason #1: Lack of Frequency
The old adage of training a muscle once per week to allow for recovery is DEAD. If you’re not training a muscle multiple times each week, you’re simply NOT going to make optimal gains, period.
But, let’s go back and dissect the “reasoning” of this whole philosophy.
If you train, and train hard, you’re likely to get sore. Conventional wisdom tells you that you should wait until you’re no longer sore to train again. Unfortunately, conventional wisdom is faulty here.
You see, if you don’t train your body to improve it’s recovery capacity by training when you’re sore, then you’re body has no reason to improve it’s recovery capacity.
Want to train a muscle 3 times per week and reap double or triple gains? Then you need to teach your body to recover faster by training more frequently.
Beyond that, let’s further bury the myth that training a muscle while sore hampers recovery.
•Nosaka K, Clarkson P.M. Muscle damage following repeated bouts of high force eccentric exercise. Med. Sci. Sports Exrc., 27(9):1263-1269,1995.
•Smith LL., Fuylmer MG., Holbert D., McCammon MR., Houmard JA., Frazer DD., Nsien E., Isreal RG. The impact of repeated bout of eccentric exercise on muscular strength, muscle soreness and creatine kinase. Br J Sp Med 28(4):267-271, 1994.
•T.C. Chen, Taipei Physical Education College, and S.S. Hsieh, FACSM,. The effects of a seven-day repeated eccentric training on recovery from muscle damage. Med. Sci. Sports Exrc. 31(5 Supp) pp. S71, 1999.
All 3 of these studies came to the same conclusion: training a sore muscle does NOT adversely affect recovery. In fact, when done properly, doing so can actually speed up the recovery process by shuttling nutrient rich blood to recuperating muscle tissue.
Here’s the deal: The more frequently you can stimulate a muscle to grow, the more it will grow. Sounds simple, and it is.
One small caveat, however: obviously when upping training frequency you can potentially run in to the problem of “overreaching” or burning yourself out. The important thing is to listen to your body and train as frequently as possible. If you’re motivated to train and feel “good”, then have at it.
Reason #2: You’re muscles don’t have enough “room” to grow
Huh? Not enough “room”? Allow us to explain.
All muscle is bound by connective tissue called fascia, which surrounds individual muscle fibers (endomysium), groups of fibers (perimysium), and entire muscles (epimysium). This fascia tissue is continuous with the tendon and functions to conduct the forces generated by the contractile proteins actin and myosin through the tendon, to the bone.
Here’s the problem: these “protective coverings” that surround all muscle tissue lack elasticity. Meaning, when a muscle grows and fills the “bag”, trying to shove more muscle into the same size bag becomes difficult.
Think of a hot water bottle that holds 16 ounces of water. Now fill it with 20 ounces of water. Go ahead; do it!
What do you mean you can’t?
You see, no matter how hard you try to fit 20 ounces into a 16 ounce hot water bottle, it aint gonna happen, not unless you somehow stretch the bottle so it can hold more water.
Well, it’s the same thing with fascia tissue; it can only hold in so much muscle, and when the lining gets full, the rate of growth is dramatically decreased.
Enter “regulatory feedback”.
Essentially, you very well may be stimulating your muscles to grow through proper diet and training, but if the surrounding fascia tissue is not expanding at the same rate, you can bet your bottom dollar that your brain will respond by putting the kabosh on growth.
Fortunately, there are several things you can do to “stretch” this fascia tissue and avoid this form of regulatory feedback — we’ll teach you those in another article this week.
Reason #3: Muscular Imbalances
While we’re on the topic of regulatory feedback, it’s fitting to address another major initiator of R.F. activity, and that’s muscular imbalances.
Simply put, your body wants things to be symmetrical and even, and when they aren’t, it will prevent further adaptations from taking place that will ultimately throw things even further out of whack.
For example, let’s say your training is full of pressing movements, which has caused your chest to experience significant growth. On the other hand, you don’t do a whole lot for your back…no rowing or heavy pulling movements, leaving your back rather weak and underdeveloped.
The body’s response: no more growth until you bring your back up to speed.
And this is true across the board, over virtually all muscle groups.
Have you ever seen someone with huge biceps and puny triceps? No, it simply doesn’t happen because your body doesn’t let it happen.
Why?
One is the issue of injury. Large pecs and an underdeveloped back put a huge strain and pull on the back and result in poor posture and ultimately injury, especially if things were to get really out of whack (which the body won’t allow).
The other is the issue of symmetry. It’s almost as if your body wants to prevent you from looking like a moron. Thank you, body. It won’t let your biceps grow too much beyond your triceps, even if you work your biceps every day.
Bottom line: you need to correct imbalances to prevent regulatory feedback from stopping you dead in your tracks. We’ll share some strategies for correcting imbalances in another article later in the week.
Wrap Up
In today’s article, we discussed several reasons why you may not be getting it as fast as you want it.
Bottom line, there ARE things holding you back from building muscle, and in order to achieve your goals you need to understand and learn how to correct each one. If you don’t, it’s going to be a long, frustrating road, and that’s the last thing we want to see you deal with.
As mentioned, in another article this week we’re going to provide practical and strategic solutions for all the “problems” mentioned in this 2 part article. Today we covered 3 biggies, and in Part II we’ve got 3 more coming your way.
