Muscle Building Secrets 

Essential if you want to know how to build muscle quick!

The  Muscle Building Secrets are the fundamentals of weightlifting exercises. In order to gain muscle mass they can be broken down into three straight forward categories.

-The physical---the actual mechanical movement of the weights

--The mental---- the ability to mentally face, carry out and succeed in doing exercise.

--The Strategic--guide to improvement

     Form—Good form is the most neglected aspect in weightlifting. Often we see unconditioned people in the gym lugging around huge, heavy weights, swinging their whole body to do a bicep curl, barely engaging the muscle. For these people, leave the egos at home, please!

Proper form depends on a number of things:

Firstly, a good posture is essential for engage the muscle. This means that you should stand or sit with you shoulders back, chest cocked toward the sky, back straight and knees slightly bent. This position is held right throughout the exercise. If you feel that your shoulders, chest, back or knees are moving out of place it’s a tell tale sign that your lifting too heavy.

Secondly, breathing plays a big part in good form as it allows you to summon the most strength when lifting. A subconscious example of this, that we have all done at some time or another is when we go to open a jar that just wont open. In this instance, we subconsciously go through a number of complex processes, thought to elite sprinters and Olympic weightlifters to summon the most strenght.

We inhale deeply, create pressure in our bodies, exert all our force to open the lid and then exhale. This procedure is the same in weightlifting- inhale when lowering, exhale when lifting.

Finally, full range of motion is another key to good form. As the name implies, full range of motion means that a full extension and contraction of the muscle is achieved. This is especially important to those who engage in sport as the longevity of the muscles is vital when running/throwing.

For example, when an executing an overhead press with dumbbells, the dumbbells should be brought right down just below the top of the head and right back up to the top while still retaining tension in the shoulder muscles. Which leads us onto our final topic, Tension.

While full range of motion is emphasized it is also important not to lose tension in the muscles. This tension should be retained right through all the repetitions. Constant tension can be maintained by not locking out the joints on certain movements such as; the elbows on DB overhead presses, and the knees when doing squats/leg presses.

The mental

The mental side to weightlifting has a significant role to play, more so than in any other type of workout. 

Carrying out heavy compound lifts such as squats, deadlifts and beach presses (to name a few) can be very strenuous and it is vital to get your head in the right place prior to these lifts. 

This means telling yourself that your going to complete every rep of the set with perfect form. With mental strength your physical strength will follow!

The Strategic

The strategic is the elementary guide to continually progress and build muscle even when you encounter those notorious plateau that bodybuilders dread! There are three ways to do this;

                  --Timing

                 --Weight Increase

                 --Reps Increase

Timing

If you are comfortable with a weight (lets say 20lbs) on a certain exercise and feel that the next step up of 25lbs is too heavy try changing the timing. This will help stress the muscles more and as a result will lead to a step up in weight from added strength.Timing can be altered like so;

--Declining for the duration of 4 seconds—inclining for 1 second.

--pause at the top for 1 second and repeat the process for a given              number of reps.

Weight Increase

If your feeling too comfortable with a weight it’s time to increase it. While the added weight may effect your form slightly, just remember to not let it put you out too much.

Increased repetitions

If you have tried timing to progress to a heavier weight but have found it too difficult or effecting your form, try instead to complete two or three more repetitions than you normally would.