Muscle Building Tips

I'd like to talk about a few muscle building tips I picked up, before I get into my last couple of workout sessions in the blog.

Workout Tip #1

Working out more is not necessarily better. Everyone is different. Some weight lifting trainees do better with a more volume approach, while others may be better off with a lower volume workout routine. Personally, low volume works much better for me. My current workout plan is doggcrapp training, with workouts schedules only 3 times per week (M,W,F). These workouts last anywhere from 1hr to 1hr and 15 mins.. but they are brutally hard. If you find that working out 5 or 6 days a week isn't getting you anywhere, try a low volume workout and compare the difference in gains after 8 weeks.

Muscle Building Tip #2

Diet is 80% of the equation. Unless you are a genetic freak that can grow off pizza pops and pushing a lawnmower... one of the best muscle building tips I have learned is that the weight lifting diet you follow, and how much/often you eat, has to be your top priority. If you're progress has stalled or you not as big as you want to be.. you are simply not eating enough. Now bear in mind, as a bodybuilder you need to know what the best muscle building foods for you are... as there are many foods that are better for you than others.

Exercise Tip #3

Get enough rest. Again, everyone is unique. Some weight trainees may require 8 hours of sleep, other maybe 7 hours... and don't be surprised if you require 10 hours of sleep for proper building muscle recovery! You may tear it up in the gym, but you do not grow in the gym. You grow after you have rested and recuperated properly.

Fitness Training Tip #4

Check your ego at the door. It's 6:00p.m. and the gym is crowded. You have chest planned for today and you notice some big boys are in the gym. Ego kicks in and you are determined to find your 1 rep max. You slap 3 plates on the bar and ask a big boy for a spot... and barely eek one out.

Yay.

Happy now? What have you accomplished? Did you look at your log book and see what numbers you had to beat today? Probably not, because ego took over. If you want to get bigger, progress and intensity is key, not showing off. Eventually you will be one of those big boys walking around the gym if you keep your ego in check and stay focused on your muscle building priorities.

Bodybuilding Tip #5

Choose a workout program you like and stick with it. Don't jump between different workout routines every two weeks and expect to make decent muscle gains; how will you ever be able to track your progress? Look for weight lifting programs that meet your goals and are also relative to your training status. i.e. If you are new to weight lifting then you should start with a beginners weight lifting routine.

So those are my top muscle building tips. I'll probably add a few more in future posts.


Onto updating the workout portion of my journal:

Friday - Workout 1B

Week #5

Note: LL = Last Time, TT = This Time, RP = Rest Pause, SS= Straight Set, WM= Widow Maker

Biceps
Lat Bar Curls
LT N/A
TT 57.5lbs (on double pulley cable) x 11+6+5 = 22 RP
I love this exercise. Basically you attach a wide grip lat bar to a standing cable curl machine, and grip at shoulder width... very good burnage!

Forearms
Palms-up Wrist Curls
LT N/A
TT 80lbs x 16 SS
Added these back in as the pain is fairly minimal on my forearm injury.

Calves
Seated Calf Presses (DC style)
LT 210lbs x 10SS
TT 235lbs x 10 SS
15 lb increase and my reps stayed the same. I'd consider this good progress. I do DC calves with a 5 second negative and a 15 second stretch at the bottom, per repetition... brutal stuff, thanks to one of Dante's (DC's) muscle building tricks for calves.

Hamstrings
Seated Leg Curls
LT 115lbs x 11+7+7= 25 RP
TT 125lbs x 11+8+5 = 24 RP
10lbs increase, -1 rep. I'll take it!

Quads
Freemotion Squat Machine
LT 280lbs x 10 SS + 200 x 26 SS Widowmaker (WM)
TT 340lbs x 8 SS + .... boo
Good jump on the heavy squat set but the WM was no where to be found. Seriously, I had Elga the gym cop standing next to me, arms folded, and tapping her foot. There was no way she was letting me get in another set. My own fault though as by the time I got to the gym, I had 50 minutes to workout... just not enough time this round. Another one of the good muscle building tips I learned... give yourself plenty of time to get to the gym! Oh well, I'll need to nail that widow maker set hard next time!


NEXT WORKOUT...


Monday - Workout 2A

Week #6

Chest
Incline Barbell Press
LT 190lbs x 10+5+4 = 19RP
TT 205lbsx 10+4+3 = 17 RP
I really surprised myself here with a 15lb jump right out of the gate!


Shoulders
Standing Barbell Military Press
LT 125lbs x 8+4+4 = 16 RP
TT 135lbs x 8+3+3 = 14 RP
I can't see these lasting too much longer in this blast, although I'm fairly pleased with the weight increase. This seems to be one exercise that stalls out pretty quickly for me. I wll have to consider a replacement for it when the times comes.

Triceps
Smith Machine Close Grip Bench Press (CGBP)
LT 225lbs x 8+4+4 = 16 RP
TT 235lbs x 8+4+4 = 16 RP
Woohoo! 10 pound jump! These were tough after chest and shoulders.


Back Width
Hammer Strength MTS High Row
LT 170lbs x 12+8+6 = 26 RP
TT 190lbs x 11+5+5 = 21 RP
Finally able to add in a decent back width exercise. Since the forearm injury, I've been limited to which exercises I could do. Well today I learned a new muscle building tip. When I got to the gym, and as I was getting ready in the change room, I was rifling through my gym bag for my usual; log book, gloves, weight lifting belt, etc. I came across a tensor bandage that I had used for wrapping my knees a couple of years ago. So I tried wrapping my forearm to see if it would stabilize it... and it worked! I was able to do the HS rows with minimal pain. Afterward, however, once the wrap was off I could really feel it. But surprisingly, today (day after workout) it seems fine... go figure *shrug*.

Back Thickness
Life Fitness Machine - Underhand Row
LT N/A
TT 205 x 6 SS + 195 x 12 SS
As back thickness (BT) exercises go, this would be considered a "pussy" exercise. Why? Because generally as BT goes, you want to go big and heavy on exercises like rows, deadlifts, rack deads, etc. But with my forearm at this point, there's no way I can jump back into those. So I'll have to live with these for now.

So... all in all, some fairly decent workouts, considering. I'll be so damned glad when this fookin thing heals up *sigh*. But, injuries go with the weight lifting territory. Lesson learned, and added to muscle building tips, be careful when starting back after a break and do plenty of warmups.