Friday, February 6, 2009

Improve Muscle Gains With Your Training Program

By Melaine R. Watts

When you want to increase muscle size and strength with your training program, sticking with your routine for the long-run may be the biggest obstacle to your success. Most professional bodybuilders have a highly-optimized workout and training routine that demands a high level of self-discipline and motivation in order to achieve results. Overtraining certain muscle groups or doing too many reps and sets in one session can severely limit any beginning bodybuilder's success, so it's important to understand some key principles of training if you want to get the best results.

As mentioned by John Little in his book "Beginning Bodybuilding"- there is a prevailing misconception among first time bodybuilders that the more you train hard, the better. In reality though, Little explains that this can lead to underdeveloped muscle mass since your body make excessive corrections as you train too much. The body needs days or even weeks of relaxation for it to repair injured muscles and tissues. On one hand, you will have the muscle gains you wanted once this particular element of the training is optimized. Your bodybuilding's success is ensured with these important guidelines:

1. Set a realistic goal in your workout by training at least 3 days per week. Typical exercise routines need not be as strenuous according to bodybuilder John Little. An exercise has to be done three days in a week only. You can set your own schedule to avoid over-training yourself.

2. Focus on good form during each session. Avoid 'cheating' on different exercise routines because your muscles won't benefit from the movement or have a chance to reach full contraction. Decreasing your muscle movements in favor of more reps or sets actually limits your muscle gains, so make sure you complete each movement with good form and involve all muscle fibers.

3. Establish connection between your mind and body. Using the mind in moving the body is an important component in any training program because it helps you figure out when to train harder or scale back your fitness routine.

4. Avoid strenuous activities during rest days. Straining yourself too hard on rest days may reduce prospects of gaining muscle mass during workout and may affect recovery of damaged tissues and muscles. Although it may not be hard to maintain your momentum once your physical activity makes you stronger, you may be tempted to believe that you may exhaust yourself during rest days.

5. Go slowly. Concentration and focus will help you execute each movement of your routine successfully and maximize your muscle gains. Make sure you're lifting the weight and holding it for the same amount of time, before lowering it slowly and exhaling deeply. Again, exercising good form and posture will help you get the most out of each and every move in your routine.

It may take time, perseverance, and diligence to achieve muscle mass and boost the body's endurance but you can adopt these five simple guidelines to gain benefits. You may evaluate your training program and find out if it includes these principles before you start. - 15252

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