Training Methods and Nutrition for Muscle Mass Building
10 Tips For Breaking Plateaus and Building Strength and Muscle Mass
1. Train to failure (or close to it) for muscle building.
You want to "feel the burn" and produce lactic acid during your sets. This method helps boost growth hormone, testosterone, and nitric oxide. All of these work to improve muscle mass.
2. Vary your program with drop-sets, negative reps, explosive training, high reps training, and stability training.
Training should be performed with cycles that vary from 2-8 weeks in length. You want to constantly challenge your body to reach new levels of fitness. You want to stress different fiber types to achieve maximum muscle building potential. You must cycle your training to include training for strength, power, and endurance. This maximizes utilization of all types of muscle fibers, fast and slow twitch. This is called periodization training and is used by competitive athletes and bodybuilders.
3. Make sure you train each muscle in the full range of motion and use different joint angles.
You want to maximize fiber stimulation. You have to work through joint angle "sticking points" through full range of motion. You also want to stress a muscle from different joint angles. An example of this would be working out your biceps by working them out at different angles and muscle lengths. Build muscle length by doing preacher curls and muscle peak by performed outstretched cable arm curls.
4. Monitor your nutrition intake.
Sometimes you will hit plateaus if you have macronutritient (protein, carbohydrates, fat, water) or micronutrient (vitamins and mineral) deficiencies. Watch out for missing meals and not eating after workouts. This will hamper progress. Look at your pre- and post-workout nutrition. You may want to consider a high quality multivitamin, (such as a whey protein supplement (highly recommend), creatine, glutamine, and arginine.
5. Make sure to stretch.
Tight muscles will prevent you from working them in the full range of motion. With limited flexibility, you are more prone to injury. Spend less time recovering and more time training by stretching.
6. Training weak links (grip strength).
Many people could take their training to another level if they had stronger forearms/grip strength. I recommend adding forearm curls and extensions and
"Altus Wrist Forearm Developer, 1 Developer"
to improve grip strength. Using a fatter grip (try
Fat Gripz Fat Gripz
) with all of your exercises will help strengthen forearms. Stronger forearms will enable you to do more weight in many exercises (including; chin-ups, pull-ups, side rows, arm curls, shrugs, and more). You can perform grip strength training at the end of every workout as forearms recover very fast!
7. Avoid over-training and make time for rest.
Over-training wreaks havoc on your hormonal balance. The end result includes adrenal fatigue and hampered gains. Realize when you are physically and mentally drained and rest or hold back on the intensity of your workouts.
8. Workout journal and fitness assessments.
Map out your workouts and note any improvements and weaknesses. This will help you with designing future programs. Know if your program is effective by completing regular fitness assessments every 4-6 weeks.
9. Make sure to get at least 7-8 hours sleep.
A great amount of repair occurs when sleeping as growth hormone increases during deeper stages of sleep. Do not eat or drink beverages that interfere with sleep cycles (these include; alcohol and caffeinated beverages among others).
10. Train with someone that is above your level and experienced (even a quality trainer who is competent about biomechanics and can improve your techniques).
Inspiration always helps you push yourself to higher levels. A workout partner can also help you push yourself to the limit without injury. A good trainer will see the flaws in your technique and tweak your program appropriately.
