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20 Mass Gaining Tips for the Bodybuilder By: David Monyer If you are struggling to gain muscle mass or you just want to know how to stay on track with your bodybuilding program, here are 20 solid tips to help you. Apply these to your daily routine and watch your body grow. 1. Increase resistance regularly. Your muscles will grow in response to increased demand upon them. You must regularly increase your weight, reps, or intensity in order to increase your muscle mass. 2. Use Moderate Reps. Sets of 6 to 10 reps are best for bodybuilders. Sets of five or less reps tend to build more strength than muscle mass and sets greater than 10 reps tend to increase endurance in a muscle, rather than cause it to grow in size. (The exceptions to this rule are calves, abdominals, and forearms, which tend to respond best in rep ranges of 10 to 15). 3. Use Basic Exercises. Build your workouts around compound multi-joint movements such as squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, military presses, and bench presses (inclined, flat and decline). 4. Eat Protein Frequently. Each day you need to give your body 1 to 1.5 grams of quality protein for each pound of body weight. Divide this intake into five or six meals that are spaced no more than three hours apart. Try to get most of this protein from animal sources like beef, fish, dairy and high quality protein supplements. 5. Do Not Use Shortcuts. Avoid trying to speed up your progress by working out too much without sufficient rest, taking steroids, eating too many unnecessary calories and using weights that are too heavy. These methods will do more harm than good in the long run. 6. Evaluate Your Physique. Take a good look at yourself in a mirror and do an honest assessment of your weak points and strong points. Arrange your exercises to hit your lagging muscles first when you are strong, and hit your best bodyparts last. If your shoulders tend to be narrow, be sure to emphasize deltoid movements, especially lateral raises. If your hips tend to be wide, you may need to prioritize your lats to create the V- taper. 7. Get Enough Rest. You grow when you are resting, not when you are training. Be sure to give each muscle group at least four days rest between workouts in order to recuperate and grow. Be sure to get seven to eight hours of sleep each night for maximal muscle growth. 8. Create Intensity. Use more intense methods like forced reps, negative reps and drop sets on most of your exercises. This will all allow you to push your muscles past failure and trigger even more muscle growth. 9. Try New Equipment. You should base your bodybuilding program around compound free weight exercises as mentioned in Tip number 3, but don't be afraid to experiment with some of the machines that are available in your gym. Some machines can stress your muscles in new and different ways which can stimulate new muscle growth. 10. Make Periodic Changes. Every month or two alter the order in which you do your exercises, or alter the exercises you do for a particular body part, or alter the number of sets and reps. Your muscles will become accustomed to the same workouts if they are repeated over and over again. Periodic changes will keep your muscles from adapting and therefore continue to stimulate new muscular growth. 11. Know Your Limits. Understand what your realistic potential is in the sport of bodybuilding. If you are unlikely to compete at a champion level, be realistic about how much money you spend on supplements, how much time you spend in the gym, and how much effort you put into your training. There is no sense in going broke, alienating your family, and risking injury f there is realistically no real possibility of ever making it to the pro level. 12. Supplement Your Diet. As a bodybuilder, you need much more protein and other nutrients than your average person. Be sure to supplement your diet with protein powder, creatine, multivitamins, glutamine, etc. in order to meet the additional demands on your muscles. 13. Prevent Injuries. One of the biggest potential roadblocks to your muscle building success is a training injury. A serious muscle tear or tending injury will not only halt your progress in the short term, but in some cases can limit your long term success as a bodybuilder. Always warm up and stretch before getting to your heavy sets. Start with a relatively light weight and pyramid up from there to your heaviest set. Be sure to use a spotter or power rack on your heaviest sets. 14. Limit Your Volume. Try to limit yourself to 15 sets on large bodyparts like chest and back, and 12 sets on smaller bodyparts like biceps and triceps. 15. Train the Weakest Muscles First. Whenever possible, train your weakest body parts first, when you have more energy and strength. If certain muscle groups continually lag behind, increase the volume on those body parts, and possibly decreased the volume in your strongest body parts until your body reaches a better balance. 16. Train Your Entire Body. Do not neglect any body part. Be sure to train your forearms, legs, and lower back just as vigorously as you’re training chest and biceps. 17. Learn to Control Your Muscles. Practice flexing each muscle in your body. This will help to develop the mind-muscle connection that will enable you to apply more force in each repetition of your exercises. 18. Trust Your Instincts. After you have been training for about a year, you should have a good idea of which exercises and techniques work best for you. You should also have some idea about which time of day you feel the strongest. The more closely you monitor your body and the way you feel after a workout, the better you will be able to increase your intensity, and therefore increase your muscle mass. 19. Set Achievable Goals. You should always have a goal you are working towards. You should have some short-term goals such as adding 10 pounds to your bench press, adding a half-inch to your biceps, or losing and inch around your waist. Short-term goals should be achievable in a time frame of several weeks to a couple of months. In addition, you should have a few long-term goals such as gaining 10 pounds of muscle in one year, increasing your bench press to 300 pounds, or competing in your first bodybuilding contest. Goals are essential to keep you motivated and to give you a sense of accomplishment as you reach each one. 20. Keep A Positive Attitude. It has been said that your attitude determines your altitude. This is especially true when it comes to changing your body from an average one to a powerful and muscular one. Muscular gains do not come easy, but if you keep a positive mental outlook, continually look forward to your next work out and apply these 20 tips, you will see great improvements to your physique in a short period of time. Article Source: http://physicalfitnessarticles.net David Monyer has been an avid bodybuilder for over 20 years and has written numerous articles on all aspects of the sport. |
