December 30, 2009
Spending hours in the gym to build muscle up and not making progress? Good news! There is a very good chance that you are struggling to build muscle up for one very important reason. Once acknowledged and dealth with properly this knowledge can boost your progress a great deal. For most begiiner bodybuilders and some intermediate trainers this is a little known secret that will help them immensly.
So what is this unique secret? A new amazing routine or something?
No not at all. It has been ignored by many a weightrainer even though it has been known about for a long time.
What is cortisol?
Cortisol is a hormone released by the body steadily throughout the day and is produced in response to stress such as weight lifting. Cortisol levels decrease gradually throughout the day from their highest point in the morning.
what precisely is its role?
Well it increases short term memory, helps rid the liver of toxins and helps regulate blood sugar levels. However it can raise blood pressure and decrease bone density if your cortisol levels get too high, however this would be unusual. However critically it does diminish muscle because it aids in the body using muscle for energy rather than fat. This is why your workouts should not be more than one hour in duration. After this they will be doing more harm than good!
Here are a few guidelines to ensure that you are not wasting your time trying to build muscle up:
1) limit your cardio workouts, too much cardio causes the body to release cortisol which as explained is not what we need.
2) Cortisol levels also increase due to caffeine intake so try to keep this to a minimum.
3) Ensure your sessions are kept below one hour. Stay foccussed, consider wearing headphones if this helps.
4) Try to relax as stress causes the body to release more cortisol.
5) Eat small regular meals because infrequent meals make the body think it is starving and will thus try and use uneccesary muscle for energy before using fat reserves by releasing more cortisol.
6) Sleep. This is when your muscle building hormones peak and your cortisol levels are highest so shot for 8 hours sleep.
With those no nonsense muscle building tips in mind you should be able to give your workouts a great boost now you know how to gain weight fast more efficiently.
December 8, 2009
Depending on where you look there is a lot of great information out there on how to build muscle up. However what follows are a number of tips that can really aid you in terms of stacking on muscle mass. Here they are:
Try drinking green tea. This can inhibit the enzyme that inhibits nor-epinephrine which mean that you should experience increased levels of this muscle building metabolic hormone which can also help in fat loss too. It is also rammed full of anti-oxidants that can greatly aid in post workout recovery and also for your general health.
Consume healthy fats. These are essential for correct functioning of many parts of the human body like the brain, heart, production of energy and the regulation of hormones too. Great sources of this are: oily fish, natural peanut butter, avocado, and oily dressings.
Take on board casein protein. This type of protein takes longer to digest and breakdown so therefore supplies an ongoing release of protein. This is great news if you consume it just before sleeping because your body can then make use of it in order to build muscle up whilst you sleep.
Ingest between 20 and 30 grams of whey protein as soon as you can on waking. Upon rising take a protein shake. This will put a stop to the catabolic state of your body that you may have been in during your sleep and give you a good start on hitting your protein target for the day.
Try using dropsets for those bodyparts that you have difficulty making grow. This is a severely intense technique that can trigger muscle growth even in very hard to grow muscles. Firstly, complete your set as you would normally and when you have pushed out your final rep lower the weight by around 20 percent and perform more reps, then decrease the weight once again and do more reps. Continue repeating this process as many times as you can bear but the next day you are likely to experience significant muscle soreness and a tremendous burn at the time.
Ingest lots of water. Do not underestimate the benefits of reaming well hydrated during the day. water is critical for many reactions in the body especially muscle building ones.
Stay educated and keep learning. there are a wide variety of ways to make your muscles grow. experiment and find out what helps you build muscle up the best and stick with those.
So, by applying some of the above weight gain tips you should be able to build up muscle even faster than before. If you wanto to look lean and ripped we highly recommend the following burn the fat build the muscle ebook. Finally, good luck.
November 20, 2008
Most people don’t realize that you can build muscle without using any fancy gym equipment — in fact, simple bodyweight exercises like pushups can be effectively used to build muscle up.
It’s easy to underestimate how effective pushups can be at building your chest, shoulders, back, and arms. On the surface, pushups are plain and almost boring: up down, up down, up down — that’s it. And that’s true to an extent. But most people outside of the fitness circles are only familiar with the standard pushups that they were taught in their high school gym classes.
There is a wide variety of pushups that you can perform to isolate different muscle groups, but we’re going to focus on five variations in this article. These might not be the best five for all people, but they will make you aware of the variety available in simple bodyweight exercises.
Wide pushups: traditionally, pushups are performed with your hands being placed at shoulder width. Wide push ups, sometimes called “wide-stance pushups”, require you to extend your hands beyond the width of your shoulders. Wide-stance pushups work your chest muscles more heavily than military-style pushups, so if chest definition is what you are looking for — wide pushups are one exercise that will help you meet your goals.
Diamond pushups: Diamond pushups, also referred to as “heart to heart” pushups, require you to place your index fingers and thumbs together in the shape of a diamond during your push up workout. While diamond push ups tend to work your triceps more than your chest muscles, the benefits of modifying your hand placement during pushups, even if only a tiny bit, are undeniable.
Fly pushups: adding another layer to wide pushups, fly pushups require you to begin the pushup with your hands a normal width apart at the top position. When lowering your body to the ground, you should slide your right hand out roughly 12 inches, and then slide it back to normal width on the up rep. On the next repetition, you would perform this motion with your left hand. Hint: place your hand on a towel, piece of cardboard, or similar item to assist with the slide, or “hop” your hands in and out.
Incline pushups: Incline pushups are the exact opposite of decline pushups — instead of placing your feet higher than your head, your head should be higher than your feet for this exercise. Any sturdy surface that will allow you to perform the pushups unencumbered can be used. Incline pushups work your lower pectoral muscles.
Stacked pushups: with stacked pushups, one arm is spread wide to the side as in wide pushups, and the other is tucked in tight like military pushups. After 5 repetitions, the hand positions are switched.
Here is a more detailed listing of styles you can consider to achieve muscle weight gain: fly, wide, military, diamond, yogi, fist, decline, incline, deep, stacked, inchworm, and prison cell pushups.
Tips to increase the effectiveness of your pushup workouts: remember to add some weight once the pushups begin to get easy. You don’t want to push out 50 easy reps. Rather, struggle with 20 or 30. Also be sure to add variety by varying your hand position for each of the above types of pushups.
Push ups are a great way to strengthen your upper body and exercise, build muscle at the same time. If you keep it interesting by mixing up your hand positions and trying a few different styles of pushups you can increase the effectiveness of your at-home exercising and relieve the boredom!
October 30, 2008
While kettleballs have been used for over 100 years in places like Russia, their use was not widespread until recent years. In America, kettleball training is virtually exploding, thanks to some very unique results that you can achieve with kettleballs. For anyone looking for muscle weight gain, kettleballs make a compelling entry in your workout routine.
Kettleballs look like miniature bowling balls with thick, large handles. They come in diverse weights from around 2 kilos to 35 kilos, but the heavier weights aren’t used often, as kettleball training focuses more on conditioning, explosive strength, and movement, rather than sheer strength.
The incredible aspect of kettleball training is their versatility. In one quick workout you can accomplish a number of goals. Some of the numerous benefits you’ll gain from kettleball training include:
And I’ve saved the best for last: kettleball training can boost your metabolism for almost a full day after your workout is complete, making kettleballs ideal candidates to help you build muscle up and shed fat.
Kettleballs do have drawbacks, however, but they can be overcome. The one cited most frequently is that kettleballs only work for upper body and core conditioning, and not your lower body. To supplement you’ll need to pair your kettleball routine with a good lower body session, or maybe even a quick interval training routine.
Keep in mind that ketteballs will work most effectively in interval-based workouts, so traditional body building workouts aren’t the best fit. However, if your goal is to build muscle up and you stay abreast of advances in exercise science, you’re probably already aware that traditional body building exercises aren’t the most appropriate option.
With the many advantages that kettleballs offer, they should be added to your workout session, provided that it already emphasizes recent discoveries in fitness science and is a good fit for your body type and goals.
