Fundamentals of a Muscle Training Program

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There are three indispensable factors to gain muscle: nutrition, training and recovery. The basics of a muscle training program for gaining muscle is relatively simple to understand. The secret is to stimulate the body just enough to gain muscle without increasing recovery time or putting the body in a state of overtraining.

To simplify your task, I'll just introduce what worked for me and help me gain more muscle without gaining more fat. It is no secret that many men and even many women want muscular arms. The purpose of this post is not to make you huge or extremely muscular, but to give you the keys that will allow you to build muscle in the long run because that's how you will have the most results.

The problem is that the training frequency is very important for muscle mass gain and if you increase your recovery time you reduce the frequency of your workouts. On the other hand, you should also rest as much as possible. Training is the only way to finally have results.

Do three sessions a week

This allows you to train each muscle twice, while also allowing you enough rest between two stimulations so that you can rest and grow. The volume of these training sessions may also be reduced.

However, depending on the week and the number of bodybuilding sessions, you will train on different days of the week, by combining different muscle groups each week. You want to change, take your training in hand and add a few extra pounds of muscle. Intensity techniques such as series, negative repetitions and super-sets will, therefore, be decisive for your results.

If training does not challenge your muscles, you will not grow. The main mistake I made for many years is that I had a high frequency of workouts for my muscles thinking that it would promote muscle gain. Therefore, during the third, fourth and fifth weeks, you should strengthen your arms three times a week. You must only do this, and no other sport during this period.

There are many different training programs for mass gain, and here are some ways to employ them. For example, wave periodization, which consists of simply increasing weight and repetitions at each training session, seems to be superior to other forms of periodization. Each training is therefore composed of the same exercises, but each one has a part of the body which is more targeted.

The principle is quite simple, you do these movements each session. Do as many sets as you want. The first week should also be designed to train your biceps and triceps.

But the program is exactly the same, only nutrition changes. Several studies have shown that when people had exceeded their limits for several weeks, they developed their muscle mass significantly during the two less intensive weeks that followed. The extra food will therefore only be used for muscle reconstruction.

Nutrition


Your body will react to the level of stimuli that you impose on it. In the case of muscle gain, nutrition becomes even more important. Because even if your program is perfect, if you do not have a muscle-gaining diet, you're not going to get muscle the way you want.

After your workout, your muscles are ready to absorb a large number of macronutrients to rebuild themselves and become stronger. Snacks are more easily digested than a large, hearty meal and are great if you get full quickly because of a small stomach volume.

Supplement appropriately

A good supplementation is essential to gain mass. It was when I started eating properly that I started to get muscle fast. On the other hand, you may wonder, “How do I determine my calorie intake?” Well pre-packaged dinners for men like Nutrisystem should make it simple to start eating healthier as well as to lose weight.

 

This type of training requires a lot of calories but produces good results. Three traditional meals and three snacks are recommended per day. There is no secret...if you want to build muscle you will have to provide your body all the tools necessary for muscle construction and your body builds muscle through a high-calorie diet. Therefore, do not forget that to gain muscle you need to eat a lot of protein.

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Take Better Care Of You: Health Tips For Maintaining Inner Beauty

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It’s easy to forget to take care of yourself sometimes.  With more demands on our time and attention from work, children and family, the importance of keeping healthy can take a back seat.  It’s time to make a change to your health and maintain a better, longer lasting version of yourself.

We all know the rules.  Exercise often, eat a balanced diet, stay hydrated.  But there are other important factors we are missing.  When was the last time you saw your doctor, for example? How long have you been ignoring that ache in your neck? I’ve gathered together a short guide of changes you need to make now. Small changes for a better future.  So sit back, grab a cup of green tea and read on …

I won’t kick start this with hydration but will instead highlight the importance right now and get to it later.  Drink.  Drink 2 litres a day.  Every day.  Instead we’ll start by looking at fitness.

Your heart is the only thing between you and death.  If your heart fails, well that’s essentially the end of it all.  So keeping it healthy and and strong is vital.  Experts advise we take a minimum of 25 minutes of exercise per day. This can range from gentle walking to more high impact sports such as running.  Cardio fitness is the key to a nice strong heart but there are so many exciting ways to get the heart pumping.  Here are three to get you inspired

1: The Quick Morning Cardio Burn

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Photo Credit

If you don’t have time to make it to the gym, wake up and smash a 15 minute cardio wake up call.  Simple exercises like one minute reps of jumping jacks, squat thrusts, sit ups, high chests and running up and down the stairs, repeated 5 times each (Only pick three and mix them up everyday)   Or include a short weight lifting routine as I wrote about in this blog into your quick cardio.  It will give you a super snappy cardio buzz before breakfast.  You can jump in the shower and feel the extra energy boost.  Cardio exercise increases your metabolism all day so you can feel smug that you have set the town of your day and enjoy a guilt three latte at lunch.

 

2: The Enthusiastic Run

Running isn’t for everyone but, don’t knock it until you have given it a good go.  Running with interval sprints of thirty seconds for 30 minutes is a real fat burning cardio boost which will help trim you down whilst toning your muscles.  You need to ensure you have the correct trainers and kit to protect your limbs as this is a high impact sport.  The very best thing about falling in love with running is that it is completely free and you can do it absolutely anywhere.  Put your music in your ears and pound away the miles.  Mix running up with something like swimming to keep your body moving without constant high impact on your joints.

 

3: Think Different!

Horse riding may not look like it’s burning much in the way of calories but a one hour horse ride burns the same calories as a 30 minute run.  It is also extremely good at building up your core muscles and working your inner thigh.  Giving you a cardio and toning exercise all in one.  Make sure you stay safe by wearing all the correct kit and find a local riding school that gives lessons in a school or takes you out and about on brilliant hacks.  You won’t even notice your heart is getting a workout.  You might notice it the following day in your muscles though!

 

If you can include 20-30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise into your daily routine, you will be well on the way to improving the health of your heart.

 

Next on the list of things we usually put on the back burners are regular health checks with a doctor or our dentist.  As we grow older we need to keep an eye on things.  Prevention is most definitely better than cure, but with certain illnesses we can be blissfully unaware of any changes until it’s too late.

Our teeth suffer years of abuse without a good hygienist, so get online and use http://dentists.nhere.me to find a local dentist and go for regular check ups and cleans. This is especially important if you have children.  Kids watching their parents taking care of their teeth are twice as likely to take care of their own.  Make it fun.  Brush together and get your kids to enjoy visits to the dentist.  

Finding a good doctor is also important.  Women over 20 should be having regular smear tests and women over 35 should be having well women tests. Check your breasts often and at different points in your cycle so you get to notice any changes in the shape and feel of them.  If you notice anything out of place, make an appointment and get a second opinion.

 

Keeping a little back for yourself is one of the greatest gifts you can bestow upon your body.  Mindfulness.  Relaxation.  These two simple things are so often forgotten, but without them we can suffer unhealthy habits and even create mental health issues we could have avoided.  Meditation is particularly helpful at putting your monkey mind to task.  Our minds can create huge problems for relatively minor issues.  Learning to control that is the key to lasting inner peace.

Yoga is a fantastic release for stress and can be practiced either first thing in the morning to energize you, or with a little meditation last thing at night to prepare your body for sleep.  You don’t have to find a class to learn the basics with lots of handy tips on line like these, just find a comfortable, clutter free area and a quite 15 minutes then practice the slow, low impact movements whilst allowing your mind to run free of all the chatter.  

Inner peace is something that we need to help us solve problems and make better decisions.  Lying in bed with a million worries and anxieties will lead us to a pattern of no sleep and sluggish behavior.  Lack of sleep can have serious impact on our day to day lives.  Creating havoc with our skin and general health.  Find peace, relax and sleep!

 

Lastly, I mentioned it in the first half of this article, hydration and a healthy balanced diet.

You will not find one article in the world on health that doesn’t stress the importance of drinking pure water every day.  Amounts range, but setting yourself up for the challenge of 2 liters a day, will make remarkable changes in your life.  From your brain to your skin and your general energy levels, water will change the way you take on the world and help you form better decisions.  Cells need water to regenerate so, a little like plants, without regular water we will slowly wither away, health will deteriorate and eventually we’ll die!

 

Clean eating, removing processed and sugary foods from your diet, will give your digestive system a happy detox.  Homemade meals with fresh local ingredients or, better still, home grown ingredients will ensure heart, cell and brain health.  A balanced diet is proven to decrease your risk of many cancers and increase your life expectancy so get to it!

Take better care of yourself, look and feel more beautiful and enjoy life, longer.

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Benefits of Weightlifting And Why You Should Try It

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Weight lifting might seem like a masculine sport to some, but many ladies are starting to realize the enormous benefits it can have on their lives. Yes, it’s true that weight lifting builds strength and muscle, but it won’t make you look like ‘men’ ladies, no matter what you have heard in the past! Just take a look at some of the famous Instagram models out there. They post their workouts regularly and give tips, and you can bet that they use weights in their workouts. Some even consider themselves ‘bodybuilders’, yet they have the most feminine shape! Here’s why everybody should try weightlifting:

Build Strength And Muscle

Weight lifting is going to build strength and muscle. Not only is this great for your health, you’ll also develop a more shapely body. Your body will become more efficient at burning fat and calories, even if you eat a ‘bad’ meal. The great thing about women who want to build muscle is that they don’t build it in the same way as men. Men have more testosterone than women, which is why they grow big. Women can grow ‘big’, but only with years of deliberate training and eating. In some cases, even drugs. It’s very, very difficult to get to that level for women. When women use weights, they can build muscle and look ‘toned’.

 

Create The Body You’ve Always Wanted

Weightlifting allows you to build the body you’ve always wanted. You can’t spot train fat loss, but you bet you can spot train areas on your body weight train and build. That being said, training your whole body is crucial to avoid imbalances. The amount you train each part, is your choice. Some women choose to train their gluts up to 3 times a week in order to get them looking firm and peachy. Some prefer to dedicate one day a week to a body part. This is entirely your choice, but at the beginning, you’ll want to make sure you’ve given each muscle group a chance to recover before training it again. This is why most people start with a plan that focuses on one body part per day per week, to ensure that they have fully recovered. You can then change up your plan as you like. Building your shoulders will give you a more shapely upper body, and can even make your waist look smaller, for example. Building your gluts makes your waist look smaller too. Many women focus on these proportions to create an hourglass figure!

Treat Yourself To Cute Gym Clothes

Going to the gym means you get to treat yourself to cute gym clothes. Having nice gym clothes makes you feel good about yourself. It also allows you to show off your personality in the gym. There are all kinds of weird and wonderful leggings out there, from rainbow leggings to leggings covered in unicorns. The weight lifting shoes for men and women tend to look bang on trend too.  

 

Stay Mobile Later On In Life

You shouldn’t just exercise for how you look now. You should exercise to stay mobile later on in life. Do you want to be someone who needs people to look after them and assist them, or would prefer to stay independent? Weight lifting can help you with this. Plus, you’ll look younger as you age too! Those who exercise early on always look younger later on in life. Just looking at some of the fittest celebrities out there proves this.

 

Build Self Esteem And Confidence

Lifting weights helps people to build self esteem and confidence. When you see what you are capable of, you’ll love it! You’ll feel strong. Every time you master an exercise you’ll feel accomplished. You’ll have more confidence inside and outside of the gym. You really can’t beat the feeling.

Have More Goals To Work Towards

You can develop so many goals to work towards with weight lifting. For instance, you can aim to squat a few more pounds each week. You can aim to add a rep or two onto your set each week. Setting these short term goals, alongside your long term goals, is going to help you get fit and healthy for life.

 

Be Able To Perform Better In Day To Day Life

Not only will you experience everything else listed here, you’ll even be able to perform better in day to day life. Want to carry all of your groceries from the car in one trip? No problem! Somebody needs help carrying a box? You can do it! You’ll also have far more energy than you’ve ever had before. You’ll feel happier. What could be better than that?

 

Develop A Healthy Hobby

Do you have hobbies? What about hobbies that are truly good for you? Weight lifting is a healthy hobby that you can enjoy for life. We all need hobbies and things to do outside of work and home, and this is a great one to try out.

 

Everybody should try weightlifting, even if you don’t commit to anything straight away. Just try it for a few weeks, and pay attention to how you look and feel. Chances are, you’ll notice improvements really quickly and feel great about yourself. This is why so many people find it addictive. One thing to make sure of, though, is that you give yourself enough rest.

To begin with, you should have at least 2 days rest a week. When you’re more experienced, 1 day of rest can be OK. Your body needs rest to improve too. Overworking it will only cause problems in the long run. Also, bear in mind that as changes are made outside of the gym, you also need to make sure you’re eating to support your goals. This means making smart choices, and getting plenty of protein to help your body recover. A good mix of healthy protein, carbs, and fats is crucial. A small treat or two a week shouldn’t hurt too much either. Your routine should all be about balance and moderation.

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