2009NationalMasters.com

I would really appreciate a workout that is tough and builds mass and strength.

Most people believe that in order to build noticeable muscle size, they have to devote many hours in the gym, 5 or 6 days a week for many years. This is untrue, yes, hard work is required, but to devote that much time is unnecessary.

Substantial muscle growth can be achieved with 40-minute sessions 3 days a week, sometimes much less if done correctly. Muscles will only grow in size when they have fully recovered from the gym workout, then, and only then will muscle growth happen. If your goal is to achieve maximum muscle growth in the shortest possible time then there needs to be more rest days than actual workout days.

Cardio is an important ingredient of weight loss training, but Tom emphasizes on this chapter after completing almost 80% of the book. Cardio enables fat loss while maintaining muscle mass. It helps you burn the fat and regulates your metabolism as well.  Cardio is a straight-forward method, in order to burn those extra calories you need ton an elevating heart beat.

There are a number of ways that you can accomplish the muscle benefits of cardio, and Tom will help you by showing the pros and cons of each.  You will also learn what your needs for cardio may be and how you can get the best results from your workout.  This book will give you the best ways to use your diet and exercise routine together to get the best outcome.

Tom calls <a href=”http://scrampy.burnthefat.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=article”>Weight Training</a> the ‘final piece of the fat loss puzzle’ in this book.  The weight training that you will learn is meant to build the muscle and help maintain what you have built.  When there is an increase in the mass of muscle, there will also be an increase in the rate of your metabolism as well.

When you have an increase in your muscle mass, you will also be increasing your metabolism and gaining the positive benefits of that as well.

Tom’s program has much other additional stuff for download; these are quick and interesting as well. The program is so well equipped that you will not feel the need for a bonus. It includes Foods & Fat, Grading Your Food Choices, and Measuring Your Body Fat.  The newsletter is simply outstanding. The information available here are beneficial and not just bluffs.

There is a great deal of information available with this program.  When you look at all you will get, you will wonder how there is room for any more.  But you will receive newsletter bonuses that will give you even more information on your weight loss and muscle building program.  It is important to gain as much information as you can when you are working on your body. 

The program will keep you updated on all of the latest information in the world of bodybuilding and weight loss.  This is something that will be yours for the rest of your life.  The book is simple to read through and is an organized approach to your program.  It will serve everyone from someone with a more advanced level of fitness to someone who is just starting out. 

The book is designed to be a way to build muscle and burn fat for someone who is not as interested in muscle building as they are fat burning.  You will learn the benefits of building muscle as a way to burn fat on a permanent basis.

CHRIS WEST
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/burn-the-fat-build-the-muscle-lose-weight-build-muscle-665262.html

The best way to burn more fat is to build more muscle. Muscle uses extra calories to stay strong, so, the more muscle you have, the more calories your burn and the more fat you lose. Contrary to popular belief, building muscle isn’t just about putting in your hours at the gym, or even which exercises you do–how you do the exercises matters just as much. Incorporate these simple tips into your workout to boost your muscle mass.

Tighten Those Muscles

Tightening your muscles while exercising can build extra muscle fast without extra work. Try this during your next workout:

• Tighten your core muscles by drawing your stomach in. Pretend your belly button is getting closer and closer to your spine. Hold your stomach there while you exercise. You are sure to notice the extra burn, and the extra definition.
• Just like your core muscles, you should clench your glute muscles, as well. Not only will this build extra muscle, but it will also lift and firm the butt area.

Check Your Posture

Most people don’t think about posture when they think of building muscle and losing fat, but they should. Good posture makes your back and core muscles contract, building the muscles.

To achieve better posture, think of a string pulling your head upwards, straightening your neck, lifting your rib cage, and straightening your shoulders. To keep your good balance, imagine yourself trying to hold something between your shoulder blades while you exercise.

Finally, if you plan on using an exercise program, be aware that some are more detailed than others. For instance, this No Nonsense Muscle Building review is about one of the most comprehensive products on the market. Other exercise plans, however, may just tell you to go through the motions without telling you what truly makes a difference in your workout!

The next time you exercise, be conscious of your muscles, and you will end up leaner and trimmer than ever before.

Aaron Patterson
http://www.articlesbase.com/weight-loss-articles/burn-more-fat-by-building-more-muscle-513644.html

Everybody’s got them. Sometimes you notice them, sometimes you don’t. But there is nothing strange about having one side smaller or less developed than the other! It can happen for a variety of reasons, including genetics, reduced circulation or innervation (which is basically the amount of nerves going to the muscle) to the smaller muscle, previous injuries, or even small anatomical differences.

If you’ve got a significant size or strength difference between sides, this information is for you. The following techniques will help you to even out those lagging bodyparts once and for all!

These techniques can be incorporated into your regular workouts very easily, allowing you to quickly bring up those smaller, less-developed bodyparts. Several of the techniques work by increasing training volume, some work by increasing resistance, while others work by targeting the specific physiological causes of the difference (circulation and innervation).

1. “One and Two and One” Reps

This is a dumbell technique that increases the training volume for the smaller muscle. For this technique, you’ll use the same dumbells in both hands.

Start with one rep with the one arm of the smaller part. For example, if you’re doing curls, do one dumbell curl with your left arm. Now do a single rep with BOTH arms (right and left) at the same time. Immediately do another rep with the smaller arm again.

Your smaller bodypart will end up getting 50% more work than the larger side.

2. “One and Two and One” Sets

This approach is very similar to the rep technique explained above. This time, however, you will do one set of an exercise for just that single side, rest, then do a set that works both sides. Then you’ll go back and do a set with just the smaller side again. This will also increase the “smaller-side” workload by about 50%.

This approach also utilizes dumbells rather than barbells in order to allow for single-limb movements.

This “staggered set” approach is more effective for leg exercises than the “staggered rep” technique explained above simply because it’s tough to find an exercise that you can do the “rep” technique effectively with. For legs, you will follow the exact same routine, doing a single-leg set, then a double-leg set, then a single leg set.

3. Uneven Weights

To do this technique, hold a dumbell that is somewhat heavier in the hand of your weaker side. This can be a 5 to 10 pound or more difference, depending on the exercise. Do your set as you normally would but stop completely when your weak side can’t continue.

This technique increases the resistance on the weaker side, helping to bring it up to the level of the stronger side. Stopping the exercise when the weak side is fatigued ensures that the strong side does not get stimulated as much. This allows the weaker side to more easily catch up.

4. Use Dumbells For All Your Exercises

Dumbells force each side of the body to take full responsibility for their part in the movement. When using machines or barbells, the strong side can have a tendency to take over the movement and assist the weak side, limiting its development.

Simply switching to completely dumbell-based training for a period of time can help bring up the lagging part quickly without even having to use these special techniques.

5. Targeted Negatives

Finish each bodypart workout with a single set of negative training for the weak side limb. For example, if your left bicep is weaker, when you’ve finished your regular bicep workout, do one set of negative-only training for the left bicep.

One of my favorite ways to do negative training for biceps is using the Preacher Bench. The bench allows you to stabilize your upper arm more effectively than if you are standing.

Sit in the bench and hold a heavy dumbell in one hand (the weight should just a little higher than your 1 rep max). Now use your other arm to help with the “up” phase of the movement.

Once you’re at the top, start to lower the weight down. Fight gravity all the way down – don’t just try and slow the weight down…actively try and lift it up while gravity is forcing it down. This is the most effective way to execute negative training.

Have your free hand ready to slow the dumbell to keep it from slamming your arm down if you lose strength.

This technique will help to build strength in the target muscle, helping to address the innervation issues that may be causing the lagging development.

6. Targeted High-Rep Training

Start each bodypart workout with one light, high-rep set for the weak side muscle. For example, for a smaller or weaker right tricep, start each tricep workout with one set of high-rep single-arm pushdowns. High-rep in this case means 50+ reps.

This very high rep set will help to increase circulation to the target muscle, improving its ability to gain mass. This increase in circulation means more available blood, which means more nutrients get to the muscle, which means more muscle growth!

If you’ve got a lesser-developed muscle on one side of your body, give these training techniques a try. They can help you rapidly even out differences between your two sides.

Nick Nilsson
http://www.articlesbase.com/muscle-building-articles/when-one-side-of-a-muscle-group-is-smaller-than-the-other-how-to-train-to-fix-it-588849.html

If you are looking for a good bodybuilding routine for building mass, then I have a good one for you. There are so many routines out there, especially with the internet, that it is very easy to get confused about what works, who to listen to, how many sets, how many reps, how to to rest, the list goes on and on. However, notice that the title of this article is a simple bodybuilding routine for building mass. That is because if you have read any of my articles before, then you know how much I like to simplify things.

With that said, I have presented here a time-tested and time-honored bodybuilding routine for building mass that will guarantee results for anybody with the guts to work hard enough at it and finish it. It follows the old fashioned 5×5 system. If you have heard of it before but have never tried it, then now is the time.

This system has worked wonders for hundreds and probably thousands of weight trainers and bodybuilders alike in both building muscle and gaining strength. No matter how long and how fast bodybuilding will evolve, the 5×5 system will ALWAYS be a proven way to stack on gains like nothing else.

Here’s how it works: pick an exercise, and because compound exercises work the best, we will pick squats. Start off by doing 5 reps with relatively light weight to warm up. Next, add some more weight, and do another 5 reps. Now that you are warmed up, jump to your working weight that you can do for 5 reps and do 3 sets with this weight. Since you are looking to gain more mass, then keep your rest periods between 1 and 2 minutes; if you were looking to build more strength, then 3 minute rests would be more fitting.

Now, next time you do squats, add 5 more pounds to both your warm-up sets and your 3 working sets and do it again. The key is to keep adding five pounds each workout until you can’t complete 5 reps for one of your sets. What you would do is stay at that same weight until you can complete the 3 sets of 5 reps in good, clean form.

Remember to always keep your reps no higher then 5, even if you can do more. Staying with the 5×5 system is one of the best proven methods for building size and strength as fast as possible.

Now that you know how to perform the exercise in the 5×5 system, here is the whole bodybuilding routine for building mass that you can follow:

Monday/Wednesday/Friday

1) Barbell Squats

2) Bench Press

3) Barbell Rows or T-Bar Rows

4) Overhead Barbell Shoulder Press

5) Stiff-legged Deadlifts

6) Barbell Curls

Start off doing all of the following exercises three days a week, and as soon as you feel the weight getting heavier and harder to manage, you can switch to two days a week with two to three days in-between workouts for more recovery time. These are the granddaddy of muscle mass building exercises, and just because the routine looks simple doesn’t mean it will be easy, but most importantly, it will produce RESULTS.

Stay on this program for 2 to 3 months and as long as you are continuously adding weight and getting progressively stronger, your muscle mass will follow. Arthur Jones once stated long ago, “When you can curl 200 pounds for ten reps in perfect form, your upper arms will be as large as they need to be for any purpose associated with any sport just short of wrestling bears.”

Keep this concept in mind when you are on your journey to building muscle mass, for the stronger you are, the more potential you have for building muscle mass, and the 5×5 system is one of the best of its kind for building size and strength.

Derek Manuel
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/a-simple-bodybuilding-routine-for-building-mass-469346.html

(this is for a project by the way) a 22 year old male, 5’11”, 165 lbs wants to gain 15-20 lbs of muscle. what would be a good workout plan?
thanks!

Remember this: the diet is just as or more important than the workout.
Here’s a simple workout:
Do 5 Exercises for each Body part, 3 sets of each. 6-8 Reps…Done Slowly
Monday, Chest
T, Back
W Legs
T Shoulder
F Arms
Increase the weight each week.

Eat and Drink protein. Go for MINIMUM 1 gram protein per pound of body weight.
Glutamine to help ease muscle recovery
You may want to add in Creatine..research it first.

You have finally decided to begin shaping your body and are wondering how long does it take to build muscle? Well of course there is no straight forward answer to this, as it depends on various factors. This article will look at some of those factors.
First you should know that genetics play a big role to the pace at which you are gonna build muscles. It is important to know what your body type is, so you can make a proper diet and workout strategy. There are three types of body structure:
- Endomorph: People with this type of structure are naturally big and have slow metabolism. They can gain muscle mass quickly, but also gain fat if not doing any exercises. If you are an endomorph you must first build muscles and then burn some fat in order to reveal them. This will naturally take longer.
- Mesomorph: This body type is the best for building muscle mass, because mesomorph people have naturally muscled athletic body with low body fat. It is easy to build muscles with this type of body and you should see results in just a few weeks.
- Ectomorph: People with this type of structure are skinny with fast metabolism. They need more time and effort to gain some weight and build muscle mass.
Most people fall in between the three types. For example, a person can be a mixture of mesomorph and ectomorph. It doesn’t really matter what type of body you have, because as long as you workout on a regular basis and don’t give up, you will have great results.
The next thing to take into consideration is what you eat. In order to build muscles you will need to feed them right. The building material for muscles are proteins and amino acids, so do some research and make a proper diet. Oh and keep in mind: NEVER take steroids! It might look like an easy solution, but in the long run you will regret it.
The most important factor when determining how long does it take to build muscle, is your workout strategy. You should carefully build your workout plan, depending on your needs. I am not going into detail about various exercises and routines, there are plenty resources on this. Just a few tips. Every month or so completely change your routine, you can do this more often. The thing is that muscles adapt and at some point they will just stop growing. So when you feel like this is the case, its time for a change.
Well, I hope I answered some of your questions about how long does it take to build muscle.

Martin
http://www.articlesbase.com/muscle-building-articles/the-truth-about-how-long-does-it-take-to-build-muscle-646112.html

If you want to build great muscle mass but have a skinny body you face an uphill battle due to the double edged sword of your genetically high metabolism which keeps you skinny by consuming energy fast enough there is nothing left to go to fat cells but is also responsible for not leaving anything left to feed skinny guys muscles either!

Here are 4 tips you need to consider when planning to turn your body from skinny to muscular.

1. Make a plan

Planning is important for many things in life for a number of reasons. It helps you organize, it keeps you motivated and it creates the time and space you need to get what you want done. When you want to build muscles to look and feel better and stronger this is the same because it can be frustrating at times and will take time and energy to do in the long run. Make sure you plan out when you need to go to the gym, what you need to eat, what your weight goal might be and even what you will do each day to increase your muscle mass.

2. Change your diet to eat more

This is a biggie for skinny guys who want bigger muscles. As has been mentioned your metabolism fights your muscle growth because your body never has enough energy and nutrients for muscle repair. To combat this you must learn to eat much more calories than you are used to so that you body cannot burn through them so fast there is nothing left. Try eating non filling high calorie and protein foods such as pasta, rice, avocado, tuna and salmon in olive oil and others that allow you to each a lot without being full but pack in much needed calories.

3. Shorter more intense workouts

While you may start out being able to lift much do not lower the weight to lift more as this defeats the purpose of placing stress on your muscles that is the driving force behind muscle growth and development of strength. Shorter more muscularly exhausting weight lifting sessions are your best friend for skinny guy’s muscles and their eventual growth.

4. Rest more exercise less

This may sound crazy to start with … surly time and effort equals results right? WRONG! The body needs rest time to repair and increase muscle mass so hitting the gym every day actually gives the body problems with diverting energy to what you want; Bigger ripped muscles. Instead if you stress your muscles enough and take a bit more time in-between workout days you will double your results by doing the right thing by your body.

This only touches on the key aspects of skinny bodybuilding, so if you want a more complete guide written by a guy who was just like you before he discovered the secrets of skinny guy muscle building click below for more information.

http://Skinny-Muscles.1001-solutions.info

James Mclain
http://www.articlesbase.com/bodybuilding-articles/4-skinny-guys-muscle-building-tips-748426.html

I’m 15, I’ve been benching for 2 months, I max 305, and rep 255, if i regularly work out Mon, Wed, Fri, and then all of a sudden change during the week say making it tues, thurs, sat, does it affect my muscle mass?

That really wouldn’t affect your mass. You’re probably doing flat bench with a barbell. If you did flat bench with dumbbells for a while, that would affect your mass. Changing around your exercises is better than changing your workout schedule.

i recently moved to a new city for school and signed up for a local gym. This is my first time that i have a gym membership, previously i would occasionally bench press and curl at home.

I haven’t worked out in about a month, and ive had the membership since monday and ive been going there everyday for 2-3 hours. Not all of that time is working out, they have a sauna, xbox 360 and internet, etc, but most of it is.

Here are my questions:

I do plan on going as much as possible, but everyday will probably not be possible, but sometimes it would be, what are the downsides of going to the gym everyday for 2-3 hours for a week, especially the first week like im doing right now.

My goal is more muscle mass, I’m in good shape, but little slender. should i drink protein shakes? if so how and when, and what, if any, other supplements would be beneficial?

Theoretically, if i was to workout 2 hours 5-7 days a week, would i see noticeable results in 2 months time?

Thank you, and any other tips would be greatly appreciated

Don’t go everyday, even if you can…its bad for your muscles, they need time to rest, repair and grow especially if you want to bulk up!
Yes you can drink protein shakes, they do cost but you will get more muscle mass quicker.
Remember to do cardio before you workout on your muscles, its important to include it in your workout and it will help with building muscle mass.
Unfortunately i dont know if you take your protein shake before or after your workout but i see most people take it with them into the gym and use it as a drink whilst working out instead of water.
Also, use heavier weights to build muscle, if you use lower weights you will just get toned and slim…its better to do less reps with higher weights than more reps with lower weights!