You train a lot, but you’re a little disappointed because you haven’t built the shape and size of your muscles that you dream so much about. Your chest should be larger, your back should be thicker, you should have more defined shoulders and a sharper biceps tip. What do you need friends?
Strength training and muscle mass have a lot in common, but there are some specific things you can do to get the most out of your workouts. If your biceps or triceps aren’t growing fast enough, maybe it’s time to pay attention to your exercise program.
Try these eight tips for building muscle, shape and density:
№1 SUPER SIZE SERIES
Super series are a grouping of two or more exercises performed consecutively without a break in between. There are two ways to train with super series. One group exercises for the same muscle group, and the other – exercises for opposite muscle groups. For example, biceps with triceps or back and chest. Super series are great for increasing muscle size as they boost testosterone secretion, which is key to building muscle.
Super series help build muscle mass as they make your workout more intense. Your muscles need to adapt to more sets and smaller breaks in between. When you do super series, your muscles work and work harder, so they need to adapt. Often this adaptation results in an increase in muscle size.
You can do super sets in the basic exercises, but you should know that the basic movements are not so suitable for building relief muscles. They are good for building mass and strength, but if you are trying to build a bodybuilder’s body, do isolated exercises.
№2 ADDING ISOLATED EXERCISES WITH MANY REPETITIONS
Finishing your workout with isolated exercises such as biceps flexion, triceps extension, side lift, hip extension or hip flexion is the perfect way to improve blood flow to your muscles. This pumping will give you a better look while exercising, but will also help you get nutrients to your muscles faster.
Doing exercises with more repetitions will lead to depletion of glycogen in the muscles. This expenditure will encourage your body to store more glycogen next time. This will help you train more intensely. Eventually, you will retain more glycogen in your muscles, which will help you increase the size of your muscles.
№3 DRINK SUPPLEMENTS BEFORE TRAINING
The supplements you need to take before a workout change over the years. Some of the best are protein shakes that will help you build muscle mass. Most supplements in this category will give you endurance, strength and better pumping during your workout.
Another type of pre-workout supplement is creatine. The main action of creatine is to increase your energy during anaerobic exercise by helping you do more reps with a certain weight. Creatine will help you recover faster between sets and do longer and more intense workouts.
In recent years, taurine has been a common ingredient in energy drinks. Studies show that people with higher levels of taurine in the blood are stronger physically than those with lower levels. Other pre-workout supplements are beta-alanine, BCAAs, glutamine and others. In muscle cells, beta-alanine combines with the amino acid histidine to form carnosine. The presence of more carnosine in muscle cells increases strength and helps reduce fatigue.
Glutamine is one of the most important supplements for active athletes. It supports recovery, aids digestion, stimulates muscle growth and immune function. Glutamine maintains muscle mass and accelerates the recovery of tissues that have suffered micro-injuries after heavy training.
The ideal time to take branched-chain amino acids is before training (20 minutes) and immediately after training. BCAA’s not only cause protein synthesis, but also reduce its breakdown.
№4 REDUCE YOUR BREAKS
If you make your body do more work in a shorter period of time it will contribute to an increase in muscle mass. Your body will need to adapt to do more work in a shorter period of time. Like the super series, reducing the breaks between series will increase blood flow to the working muscles.
Reducing breaks between sets during a workout will increase blood circulation and speed up your metabolism. Faster metabolism means that even after the series is over, you will have an increased capacity to burn fat and calories. If you have less fat, you look bigger. The best rest between sets is 30-60 seconds.
№5 ADD DROP SERIES
Have you ever started to do a series with a certain weight with the attitude for 10 repetitions, and to do only 5-6? In this case, there is a decision to continue training already tired muscles. Reduce the weight and continue to do repetitions. If you want, you can even reduce the weight a second time and train to failure. This will “squeeze” the muscle to the max.
For example, if you are pushing a barbell from a chest leg, you can perform the drop series as follows: choose a weight with which to do 5-6 repetitions, reduce the weight – do 5-6 repetitions again, lose another 10 kilograms and train until failure . Drop series at the end of your workout or in the last set of an exercise.
№6 AVOID EXCESSIVE CARDIO
Generally speaking, endurance athletes and strength athletes are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Few people can combine both groups. If you are not convinced, compare the physics of long-distance marathoners with that of short-distance sprinters.
№7 INCREASE LIVE TIME
When it comes to hypertrophy, volume is important. Increasing repetitions as much as possible (training to failure) with a certain weight makes your body constantly use fuel and constantly attract new muscle fibers to help the already tired. Including more muscle fibers in each series can improve your muscles.
In addition, increasing the time under pressure will increase the fluid around your muscle cells, giving you a denser and better looking muscle.
To increase your time under pressure, do drop sets, reduce your rest time, increase the number of sets or reps, or do reps more slowly.
№8 FOCUS ON RECOVERY
Train hard when you are in the gym, but do not overtrain, eat right and get enough rest. If you can’t regain strength, energy, and intensity from workout to workout, you may need a better rest.
If your muscles do not rest enough, you cannot achieve the muscles you dream of. Build your body with enough food and sleep. Without enough rest, you just won’t get fat.
Learn more about the services
Most people have lagging muscle groups that need more attention in order to build a beautiful and symmetrical body, so you need a specially designed training program, which is:
- Created for your goals and capabilities
- According to your training level
- Tailored to your lifestyle
- Tailored to diseases if you have any
- Communication and monitoring of results within 30 days
You should know that there is no universal way of training that can give equally good results for different people. Everyone has different genetic predispositions that determine the development of his body. Therefore, you need an individual training program tailored to your lifestyle, your goals, your training experience and the free time you have. We can prepare a training program especially for you. For more information, write us a personal message in the contact form, e-mail [email protected] or click on the photo.