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How To Build A Better Body - Part 2: Build More Muscle
MORE Muscle-Gain Please!!! Having muscle on ones frame DOES NOT make one a body builder. Bodybuilding is a discipline all of it's own. Don't confuse bodybuilding with those that are simply seeking to add some quality lean muscle to their frame. Just because someone wants to build more muscle, does not mean that they want to become a bodybuilder, nor does it mean they should train like a bodybuilder in order to add the extra muscle they seek. Adding extra muscle is more often than not a big part of the process in building a better body for most people. Building as much muscle as possible is often the goal of most bodybuilders. Don't confuse the two. Let's look at WHY you shouldn't train like a body builder. Why A Body Building Style Program Will Not Work For You! I can guarantee that not many of you want a 'big and bulky' bodybuilders body, especially any of you ladies. The majority of you, male and female, I would guess want a more lean and athletic looking physique! So what sense does it make for you to train like a bodybuilder? Lets look at a few reasons why a bodybuilding program WILL NOT work for the majority of the population! and why not just anyone can become bodybuilders! They are a select few!
2) Bodybuilding routines that are taken straight out of 'muscle magazines' are all the same. They are generic and don't work for the majority of the population. They also recommend really high VOLUME and low FREQUENCY. Does this 'weekly routine' sound familiar?
3) The tempos of the exercises are too SLOW. 'Time Under Tension' was the big thing the last few years. To take the bench press as an example again that would translate to slow eccentric (lowering) and slow to medium concentric (raising). Or 4-0-2-0 tempo or Mind-muscle connection and all that. Well it sounds good. Exposing the muscle to 'constant tension and therefore creating more damage to the muscle and therefore more growth right? WRONG! If you utilize this slow type of contraction you are essentially lightening the load you are potentially lifting. If you lift a submaximal weight you are not taxing all of the muscle fibers that are available. Yes you are frying the ones you do recruit but the submaximal weight will fail to recruit the 'high threshold' (type 2b) muscle fibers and these 'high threshold' muscle fibers are the ones that have most potential for growth and result in the largest strength increases.
There isn't much we can do about the first point I made above except maybe choose your parents better! We can, however manipulate it by getting the other 3 points just right and maximize our 'potential' gains! So How Should The 'Better Body' Seeker Train For Increased Muscle Gain??? Above I mentioned that bodybuilding programs have too much volume and not enough frequency in their programs. So what do we do? We decrease SESSION volume, not overall volume! I.e. we will perform the following:
Above I also said that slow tempo training is counterproductive and WRONG for most of us. Well this ones rather simple. Lift FAST and/or HEAVY! Lifting fast will recruit more 'fast twitch' muscle fibers why do you think they are called fast?! These fibers are more responsive and will grow a lot faster than the smaller, weaker and more endurance orientated slow twitch fibers. The other way to stimulate these fibers. is to lift HEAVY! Do you think Olympic sprinters lift slowly??? Of course they don't, they LIFT FAST and they also LIFT HEAVY! Lifting heavy will force the body to recruit as many fibers. as it can in order to get that big weight off your chest! It has to! And as a protective mechanism it will give some nice high quality STRONG muscle so you'll be able to get it off easier next time! This equates to limiting each set to 6-7 reps and lifting the weight fast! 3 sets of 10 equates to 30 reps yea? Well look at it this way: do 5 sets of 6 reps and you have the same amount of repetitions but a lot more work done because of the heavy weight!
Believe me yet? Same amount of total repetitions but 25% more work done. Nice eh? Now we have to address the whole stress response thing. We'll use the bench press again as an example. Now picture what you do after each set of bench presses? Stand around? Thought so! Couldn't you be doing something more productive? Performing 'opposites' or 'antagonists' back to back will not only save time but will also serve to raise the intensity AND density of the session. Raising the intensity of the session WILL still produce the stress response we talked about but it will also produce the muscle 'preservatives' testosterone and growth hormone in much greater quantities. The result? The cortisol still has to break down something but the majority of this will be fat now. Sounds good eh? In How
To Build A Better Body - Part 3 we will address how to train
for improved conditioning. By Ian Graham
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In
1)
There is a gene called 'myostatin' that all of us have and its
function is to STOP excess muscle growth. It's a protective mechanism
to limit muscle growth because it is so calorically expensive to
keep. In 99% of us it is functioning correctly. There is however
a small % of the population that this gene is malfunctioning and
will allow them to gain muscle almost indefinitely way past their
functional need for it! There are varying degrees of this and I
am not saying it is the deciding factor but it is one of them! I
am by no means saying bodybuilding is easy but I am saying they
are in a better position for packing on muscle than we are. 
4)
The nature of bodybuilding training is to isolate muscle groups
with dozens of sets of dozens of reps and hammer them into submission
every time they are trained. Yes it's painful, but it is LOW - MEDIUM
INTENSITY. The muscle group is trained with submaximal weight and
in a 'straight sets' manner. I.e. one set after the other for the
same body part. This may work for bodybuilders but for us mortals
it simply will not! Low-medium intensity exercise initiates a stress
response; any of you heard of 'cortisol'? It is another protective
mechanism that, when stressed, it will be released and break down
body tissue for energy. ANY tissue, it has no preference! i.e. it
will attack muscle and fat simultaneously! Low-medium intensity
exercise is a stress to our system and causes this cortisol release.
It is been said to be a side effect of when our ancestors were migrating
or crossing long distances and the body needed steady amounts of
energy released. The body didn't know if this exercise was going
to be for a long time so same as above it used the metabolically
expensive muscle tissue as energy so it could protect its precious
fat stores. Cortisol is the thorn in our side when it comes to fat
loss and muscle gain!
Tuesday:
HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)
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