Learning how to build muscle is a rocky road which most people find difficult to navigate. While science has shown us great advancements in training like high intensity interval training it isn't all good news - there has been countless nonsense over the years, and the majority of people get lost.
This may come as a little shock, but the foundations of building lean tissue are primarily the same as they were thirty or forty years ago. Things have got more advanced in certain areas, but the overall principles still stand tall.
They include:
1. Focusing on compound lifts is imperative.
These are your biggest exercises and they include moves such as the barbell squat, deadlift and bench press.
The body is forced to grow at an advanced rate with these particular exercise because it needs to recruit far more muscle fibers to get you through the exercises.
2. Learn how many reps to perform.
Several key studies have revealed that the eight to twelve repetition range is optimal for building muscular size and strength.
You'll be stronger on some exercises, naturally, but you can begin using your rep range as a guide to tell you if you are going too light or too heavy.
3. Consistency is the enemy.
If there was one thing that held people back in the gym more than anything else, it's consistency.
The number one way to keep building new gains is to hit your body with a resistance which it cannot handle comfortably. Yet, for some bizarre reason, many men do the same program for years and stick largely to the same weights on their biggest exercises. Variety and progression are the keys to success.
4. Sleep is hugely important to increasing muscle size.
Sleep is vastly under-rated by most gym users. You must remember that the body undergoes it's major rebuilding phase during the hours of a deep sleep.
The majority of this recovery phase takes place while you sleep, so be sure to register at least 8 hours whenever possible. If you have consistently neglected your sleeping patterns over a prolonged period, you should expect to see very little return for your sweat in the gym.
Disallowing sleep is comparable to building a wall one day and then returning the next day to knock it all down and build it again. Overall, you may have a nice new wall but it is not any bigger than it was yesterday.
These time tested, established techniques set the foundations for how to build muscle as far as relevant scientific research goes. While it's easy to over complicate things and turn any gym program into a science lesson, the basics of techniques such as hypertrophy, high intensity interval training and fat loss are primarily the same as they were a decade ago.
This may come as a little shock, but the foundations of building lean tissue are primarily the same as they were thirty or forty years ago. Things have got more advanced in certain areas, but the overall principles still stand tall.
They include:
1. Focusing on compound lifts is imperative.
These are your biggest exercises and they include moves such as the barbell squat, deadlift and bench press.
The body is forced to grow at an advanced rate with these particular exercise because it needs to recruit far more muscle fibers to get you through the exercises.
2. Learn how many reps to perform.
Several key studies have revealed that the eight to twelve repetition range is optimal for building muscular size and strength.
You'll be stronger on some exercises, naturally, but you can begin using your rep range as a guide to tell you if you are going too light or too heavy.
3. Consistency is the enemy.
If there was one thing that held people back in the gym more than anything else, it's consistency.
The number one way to keep building new gains is to hit your body with a resistance which it cannot handle comfortably. Yet, for some bizarre reason, many men do the same program for years and stick largely to the same weights on their biggest exercises. Variety and progression are the keys to success.
4. Sleep is hugely important to increasing muscle size.
Sleep is vastly under-rated by most gym users. You must remember that the body undergoes it's major rebuilding phase during the hours of a deep sleep.
The majority of this recovery phase takes place while you sleep, so be sure to register at least 8 hours whenever possible. If you have consistently neglected your sleeping patterns over a prolonged period, you should expect to see very little return for your sweat in the gym.
Disallowing sleep is comparable to building a wall one day and then returning the next day to knock it all down and build it again. Overall, you may have a nice new wall but it is not any bigger than it was yesterday.
These time tested, established techniques set the foundations for how to build muscle as far as relevant scientific research goes. While it's easy to over complicate things and turn any gym program into a science lesson, the basics of techniques such as hypertrophy, high intensity interval training and fat loss are primarily the same as they were a decade ago.
About the Author:
Writer bio: Discover more proven rules teaching you how to build muscle and how to perform high intensity interval training properly for immediate gains on the exclusive training website from top online strength coach Russ Howe PTI.
