Posts Tagged ‘Gain Muscle’
Muscular, Strong, Lean…Why NONE of These Words Describe YOU
Everyone’s definition of the perfect body is different. Some say the perfect body is Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club, some say Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime and others may choose an athlete such as Terrell Owens. Regardless of what YOUR idea of a “PERFECT” body is, one thing is certain…if you want that body, you need to know how to achieve it. I know that sounds simple, but walk into any gym and you will see a whole host of idiotic programs that people do. I covered this topic in a more generic fashion in my earlier post (Achieve the Body you Desire) where I focused on Diet, Exercise and Lifestyle, but here I am going to drill down to more specific goals.
The most common mistake which I see is people who do Bodybuilding routines though their goal is fat loss. Not only that, but they will do Bodybuilding routines with a set / rep scheme that is more indicative of a Strength routine. At the gym, I often see skinny guys trying to lift as much weight as they possibly can while doing a single joint exercise such as bicep curls or triceps kickbacks. My goal is Hypertrophy so, these same skinny morons will look over me and the weight that I am lifting and they will smile thinking, “Ha, I am stronger than that guy; look at that weight he is using!!!” While there is merit to lifting heavy weights in order to gain muscle, that only follows if you are ensuring progressive resistance, increasing the weight each workout and doing enough repetitions to induce sufficient stress to the muscle that it responds to the stress by repairing and growing in order to handle greater stress. So, what is the SECRET to getting the PERFECT body??? First you must define your goal (i.e. what is “perfect” to you) and then, you must map out a plan to achieve that goal. I am going to assume that the vast majority of people reading this have one of three goals: 1) Gain Muscle 2) Get Stronger 3) Lose Fat.
The variables that we are going to work with are reps, weight and rest. Read the rest of this entry »