Most people do not know how build muscle. Despite the millions of us who use the gym, this is a very common problem. Most of us don't know what type of exercises are effective.
If you are ready to learn the facts you are in the correct place.
Have a look at your workout plan. I mean the one you are doing right now. What's wrong with it? Are your workouts focused enough on your goal or are you spending too long on exercises you don't really need? For most people it's the latter.
If you are chasing a quicker return for your efforts in the gym leave behind your existing routine and try our advice for a month or two.
Returning to the basic proven principles of training is sometimes the best way to see progress. We're going to go old school on you here. Compound movements still rule when it comes to size and strength.
Despite the massive scientific advancements we have made in sports and fitness over the last few decades the best exercise for building a bigger chest is still a bench press. The best exercise for building overly wide lats is still a pull up.
Make the big lifts the base of your workout routine. There is nothing wrong with having a few isolation exercises thrown in around them to round out your session but make no mistake about it, you are there to do your compound lifts. To put it simply, if you consistently improve your squat your legs will get bigger. Your body needs to adapt, it has no choice, you will get bigger and stronger.
The next question on most people's lips is usually to find out how much weight they need to use. A good system to use here is the eight-to-twelve rule. Your hypertrophy zone is eight to twelve reps, so start with a weight you can only lift eight times. Keep working with that wight until you are able to perform twelve reps with it. Once you can do that you are ready to increase the resistance and go back to eight reps.
Despite being a very easy to follow concept you will notice fabulous results from that. It will stop you from hitting a plateau as you will be forced to increase the weight once you can lift it for twelve repetitions with good technique.
You probably know people in your life already who spend hour after hour trying to build a better body but the truth is you do not need to. It doesn't need to take over your entire life. Cut out the smaller movements and focus more on the ones which matter more.
Don't forget to rest, too. There is nothing wrong with having days off from training in fact we encourage you to do so because this is when your body grows. Your muscles need time to repair and recover, which happens both when you rest and when you sleep.
Like we said at the start of this write up, most people don't know how to build muscle. Thankfully, now you are not among them. As a personal trainer my advice would be to take this guide and run with it. We see too many people who don't take action, you've wanted to build a more powerful physique for a while and now you have the knowledge to go do it.
If you are ready to learn the facts you are in the correct place.
Have a look at your workout plan. I mean the one you are doing right now. What's wrong with it? Are your workouts focused enough on your goal or are you spending too long on exercises you don't really need? For most people it's the latter.
If you are chasing a quicker return for your efforts in the gym leave behind your existing routine and try our advice for a month or two.
Returning to the basic proven principles of training is sometimes the best way to see progress. We're going to go old school on you here. Compound movements still rule when it comes to size and strength.
Despite the massive scientific advancements we have made in sports and fitness over the last few decades the best exercise for building a bigger chest is still a bench press. The best exercise for building overly wide lats is still a pull up.
Make the big lifts the base of your workout routine. There is nothing wrong with having a few isolation exercises thrown in around them to round out your session but make no mistake about it, you are there to do your compound lifts. To put it simply, if you consistently improve your squat your legs will get bigger. Your body needs to adapt, it has no choice, you will get bigger and stronger.
The next question on most people's lips is usually to find out how much weight they need to use. A good system to use here is the eight-to-twelve rule. Your hypertrophy zone is eight to twelve reps, so start with a weight you can only lift eight times. Keep working with that wight until you are able to perform twelve reps with it. Once you can do that you are ready to increase the resistance and go back to eight reps.
Despite being a very easy to follow concept you will notice fabulous results from that. It will stop you from hitting a plateau as you will be forced to increase the weight once you can lift it for twelve repetitions with good technique.
You probably know people in your life already who spend hour after hour trying to build a better body but the truth is you do not need to. It doesn't need to take over your entire life. Cut out the smaller movements and focus more on the ones which matter more.
Don't forget to rest, too. There is nothing wrong with having days off from training in fact we encourage you to do so because this is when your body grows. Your muscles need time to repair and recover, which happens both when you rest and when you sleep.
Like we said at the start of this write up, most people don't know how to build muscle. Thankfully, now you are not among them. As a personal trainer my advice would be to take this guide and run with it. We see too many people who don't take action, you've wanted to build a more powerful physique for a while and now you have the knowledge to go do it.
About the Author:
Writer: Russ Howe PTI is a popular fitness coach. See how to build muscle with our free video guide giving the 5 principles to a more powerful body and the best shoulder building exercises.