Muscle Building Techniques: A Super-Hero Inspired Body Building Routines

by Bernice Eker

Give your muscle building workout some twist and let these superhero-inspired routines take you to enjoyable sessions. Here are muscle building techniques to shun boring exercises away and welcome a hero training in sculpting the body.

You may not have the extra strong faculty to fly, hurdle, jump and leap skyscraping buildings, but you will certainly look and feel as if you can with these muscle building techniques and routines. Now, to the gym!

1. Superman Back Extension - From the name itself, you can easily discern how this type of exercise is employed. But for the benefit of those wondering how this muscle building workout is executed, you simply have to lie facedown at a back-extension position with both feet secured and anchored. The lower hips are supported with a leaning and inclined platform to keep you from falling face down. Next, grab a pair of dumbbells keeping the abs and the midsection tight for optimal outcome as you raise both arms until the body comes to a straight line position making you look like superman flying. Hold to the position for few seconds and finally, lower yourself down. This will help you achieve a well trained and defined core, works the lower back and other targeted muscles. Do 10 reps with this type of superman-enthused routine.

2. Spiderman Pull up - This type of muscle building routine is stirred by the superhero, Spiderman. All you have to do is grab a pull up bar with a handle grip. Raise your arms at a distance a bit apart from the shoulder width. Pull up with the use of your right hand with the right leg and knee bent concurrently. This workout routine gives a perfect picture of Spiderman climbing a wall - but this time one knee is lifted towards the bar. Once done and your chin reaches the top of the bar, you can repeat the same procedure with your left hand and knee in motion. This kind of body building routine helps strengthens the torso, arms and legs.

3. Thor's Hammer - This is considered as an excellent complete workout in building muscles specifically the biceps. This is done in a standing position with a barbell and your palm facing up. Start the routine by curling the weight up the shoulder and lifting the bar overhead. Next, you need to rotate your palm from a face up position to face forward as you try to push the weights as high as you can reach. It is important to note, that in a routine like this, twisting the wrists plays a major role in shaping and sculpting the forearms and the biceps all at the same time. Once done, you can switch arms and repeat the routine for a maximum of 10 reps on each side.

4. Hulk Super Leap - This position does not need any kinds of equipment. All you do is stand on a mat with the hips and knees bent in a halfway squat position and both hands arch on the side. Swing both hands overhead as you blow up upwardly. Upon the blast, immediately go back and land to your original half squat position.

These are some of the muscle building techniques one can perform in making your seemingly ordinary workout an extra-ordinary and hero-like body building training.

Original Source: http://goarticles.com/article/Muscle-Building-Techniques-A-Super-Hero-Inspired-Body-Building-Routines/1487146/

The Basics of Building Lean Muscle

by Chris Kolb

Lean muscle mass is essential when it comes to getting a healthy, fit body. It makes you look leaner, stronger, and, up to a point, more attractive. It can even help you burn fat and lose weight!

But how do you build this lean muscle tissue everyone is looking for? Simple: Building muscle is the act of using resistance training to stimulate muscle growth.

But is it really that simple? If you exercise, will you start packing on muscle? I hate to be the barer of bad news, but no, it is not that simple. There are three things that come into play when it comes to building muscle: exercise, nutrition, and rest. Each of these three are equally important, and if you slack on any one of them your results will drastically decrease.

Exercise.

Resistance training, or anaerobic exercise, involves using some form of resistance. The most common form is with weights, but you can also use your body weight or elastics for resistance training. Resistance training is essential for you to gain muscle.

For the average weight-trainer, you should only work out each muscle group once a week, or else you will over-train your body and completely stop your progress.

The most effective way to break your workout up is to break it into 3 to 5 different sessions. where you work out 2-3 muscle groups a session. You benefit from this for two reasons: It cuts down your exercise time, and allows you to focus on each individual muscle group; both allow for greater muscle gain.

Here is an example workout for one week:

Day 1: Biceps, Triceps

Day 2: Chest, Back

Day 3: Rest

Day 4: Shoulders, Abs

Day 5: Legs, Butt

Day 6: Rest

Day 7: Rest

Nutrition.

There is one key nutrient your body needs to gain lean muscle: Protein. Protein is used to build and repair damaged muscle, and that is exactly what you do when you train with weights. Without enough protein, your body is not able to completely rebuild muscle - Your body will stop gaining muscle (and start losing it).

Rest.

Although most people over-look this fact, rest is equally as important as exercise and nutrition; and if you want proof just head down to your local gym. You will see a lot of people with very little muscle mass - These are the people who go to the gym day after day and overwork their muscles.

Without rest in your routine, you will head straight into over-training and will never see muscle gain. Your muscles need rest! Each muscle group you work out needs 5 to 7 days of rest to repair and build itself before it will be ready for you to work it out again.

Original Source:http://goarticles.com/article/The-Basics-of-Building-Lean-Muscle/679307

Sleep is essential. How many hours do you sleep per night?

The teenage guy’s guide to gaining muscle

The toned torsos, six-packs and rippling biceps of sports stars and celebrities can’t do much for the body image of the average teenage boy, but if you’re a guy in your teens, you have body-building advantages they would love to have.

During your teenage years, you’re in a phase of your life when your body wants to grow. You’re churning out hormones that are specially designed to help you get bigger. And, right now, you may be able to take in a huge amount of food and use it to build a strong body.

However, it's easy to make mistakes in your quest for muscle. Here's how to avoid those pitfalls:

• Get leaner, stronger and fitter with cross-training
• Do these five things now

Following these steps will help you give your muscles the exercise and the fuel they need for getting bigger.

1. Get a checkup

If you’re new to exercise or you have any health issues, especially heart problems or conditions that affect your muscles or joints, get a once-over by your GP before you start a muscle-building programme.

2. Skip the shortcuts

As you’re starting on your path to bigger muscles, focus on the basics.

Don’t even think about taking anabolic steroids. They are a Class C drug, and are illegal to own unless with a medical prescription. They make the body over-produce testosterone, so increasing muscle size and strength. Not only are they illegal, they can give you mood swings, moobs and small testicles and, according to the NHS, could make you infertile.

During puberty, your body naturally pumps out testosterone. This hormone encourages your muscles to grow.

Personal trainer and ex-professional footballer, Ian McCaldon says: "When building muscle, there are no shortcuts. Just long, hard consistent hours in the gym. It's like learning a language. You don't just build a vocabulary in one week; it takes months and years to really build and understand the language.

"Building muscle is the same; it takes time for that muscle to build and, along the way, you'll start to understand your body and your character."

3. Build a solid programme

When you're starting out, avoid just trying out bits and pieces from different weight-lifting programmes you see in magazines.

Ian says: "Working to a well thought out programme is vital.  You need to know you're working all the right muscle groups proportionately.

"It’s no good having a big upper body and skinny legs - looking like a carrot!"

At first take it steadily. Build a basic core programme that includes bench presses (for your chest), squats (legs), deadlifts (legs and back) and shoulder presses (shoulders and upper arms).

Sports nutrionist Gavin Allinson says: "You can do resistance training from an early age. You can practice the movement patterns, like bench press, squat and deadlift.

"There’s a lot of supervision if it’s done correctly," he says, "so parents shouldn’t be over concerned about injury."

4. Eating well

You need calories for growth and performance!

Gavin says: "The main thing is to have a good diet. Teenage boys are still growing so they have to make sure they eat enough."

Edinburgh-based Ian, who is also a youth fitness coach agrees. "Eating right is the cornerstone when trying to build muscle. It's like a car: if you don't fuel it then it won't work!

"Muscles are the same. If you don't fuel them properly then they don't perform and grow."

His advice is to eat the right sort of food. It’s no good eating loads and loads of pasta and expecting it to give you endless supply of energy. The same goes for protein. The body will only process food and use it when it's needed.

If you load up with too much carbohydrate (like pasta) the body will store what is not used as fat. If you load up on protein (like meat or protein shakes) then the body will just get rid of it (pee it out!) or store it as fat.

There is a fine balance between what the body will use in relation to how you work out.  

Experts say have breakfast every day and eat a healthy diet, with protein from lean meat, chicken, eggs and fish and plenty of carbohydrates from foods like wholegrain cereals and wholemeal bread, fruit, vegetables, milk and low fat dairy products.

As you are exercising and building muscle you can have more calories, but don’t eat junk food. Make it the right type of calories from real, healthy foods.

5. Feed your muscles when they’re hungry

Another muscle-building hormone your body produces is insulin. Roberta Anding from the US Dietetic Association says: "It makes your muscles soak up sugar, proteins, and other components that make them bigger and stronger."

Insulin is extra-effective right after a workout. So within 30 minutes after a workout, eat a blend of carbs and protein. Some options:

•     Turkey sandwich
•     Peanut butter and jam sandwich
•     Nuts and seeds
•     Smoothie with yoghurt and fruit

Skip these five mistakes

Here are five things NOT to do when you're working on building strong muscles:

1. Don’t hurt yourself trying to look cool

You know those guys who always moan and strain in the gym until they’re red in the face? Don’t be one of them.

Ian says: "I see this all the time in the gym. Scrawny teenagers all pumped up on testosterone and a fuelled ego trying to look the hero to impress their friends or the girl on the cross trainer.

"Heavy weights + poor technique = injury and bad posture in teenagers. Not a good look boys."

The advice is, stay within your limits.

2. Don’t try to figure it out on your own

If you are just starting out, don’t assume you know how to do everything.

When you don’t get the technique right, for example, leaning back and jerking up the dumbbells while doing biceps curls, you’re not focusing the load on your target muscles.

Instead, you’re bringing in other muscles into play and making them do the work.

Find a qualified trainer with good credentials at your gym, or talk to coaches at your school who know what they’re doing in the weight room.

Ask for lessons on how to properly do all the common lifts.

Ian says: "Learn from the experts how to exercise with the correct posture and technique. You'll look good and look as if you know what you are doing."

3. Don’t overdo protein

Teenage guys read about high protein diets in the muscle magazines and go over the top.  If you train a lot you do need protein but not half a cow and protein shakes as well.

Ian, who used to play football for Livingston FC and Oxford United, says: "The body will only use a certain amount of protein depending on how hard you've trained the muscles. Protein is needed for muscle repair after a seriously hard workout but don't overdo it by necking gallons of protein shakes."

"I'm a great believer that unless you're a professional athlete and training 4-5 hours a day, then your protein should come from a natural source like red meat, chicken or fish." 

"I see it all the time in the gym: guys throwing back protein shakes and they can't see their toes for their big, fat bellies!" 

4. Don't skimp on rest and sleep

The experts we spoke to say don’t train every day. Your body needs to time to rest and recuperate. Your muscles will benefit from having a break.

Most kids like to stay up late but sleep is essential so you are energised and ready for your next training session.

"This is important because this is the time when the body is relaxed and has time repair itself," says Ian, who would also recommend yoga relaxation too.

5. Don’t rush it

"If you are eating right, doing the right training and accelerating muscle growth, you are making progress," says Oxford-based Gavin Allinson. "When the time is right, depending on your age and development, you will put on muscle."

Trainer Ian McCaldon is more philosophical. "If working out and building muscle makes you feel good and energised, then let that energy be the catalyst for your dreams and goals. After all, gold medals and world records were not achieved by sitting on the sofa watching others fulfil their dreams!

"Building muscle is for life, not just for looking cool on the beach!"

Reference: http://www.webmd.boots.com/fitness-exercise/guide/the-teenage-guys-guide-to-gaining-muscle

5 Muscle Building Mistakes (And How to Make Gains)

1) You Always Train in the Same Rep Range

The claim that muscle growth is maximized in a moderate rep range (6-12 reps per set) continues to be a source of debate in the fitness field. Although this theory is backed by some research, evidence on the topic remains far from conclusive. But for arguments sake let’s say that moderate reps are in fact best for gaining size. Does that mean that you should train exclusively in this narrow rep range? The answer is an unqualified, “No!”

Training in a lower rep range (1-5 per set) maximizes strength increases, thereby facilitating your ability to use heavier weights during moderate rep training. In this way, you create greater tension in the muscles, spurring better growth. High reps (15-20 per set), on the other hand, help to increase your lactate threshold. By delaying the buildup of lactic acid, you stave off fatigue when training in the “hypertrophy range,” (the muscle building range) thus increasing time under tension—another important aspect of the growth process. Bottom line is that optimum muscle development is best achieved by using the full spectrum of rep ranges.

Your fix: Periodize your program so that it is built around a moderate repetition protocol, but you make sure to include training in both the lower and higher rep ranges. Although a number of different periodization models work, I recommend a modified linear approach beginning with a strength phase (lower reps), followed by a fairly short metabolic phase (high reps) and then culminating with a hypertrophy phase (the typical 6 to 12 range). When properly implemented, this produces a “supercompensation effect” so that you maximize muscular gains and see a peak at the end of the training cycle.

2) You Use the Same Exercises Every Day

Most people have a limited number of favorite exercises that are staples in their routine. That’s human nature. While it’s okay to have your old stand-bys, they shouldn’t be performed at the exclusion of other movements. Changing up your exercise selection has a couple of important benefits from a mass-building standpoint. For one, it helps to prevent the so-called “repeated-bout effect” whereby muscles become accustomed to the continual use of the same movements, making them increasingly resistant to trauma. Staving off such accommodation allows for greater structural perturbations to muscle fibers. That might sound like a bunch of confusing science to some of you, but what it all means is that changing exercises can facilitate increased growth.

What’s more, muscle fibers don’t necessarily span the entire length of a fiber and are often innervated by different nerve branches. Thus, exercise variety alters recruitment patterns in the musculature, ensuring optimal stimulation of all fibers. Think of it this way: Some people like blonds, other prefers brunettes, and you have those that love redheads. Your muscles are greedy and like them all. So in order to keep them happy, you must give them what they want. That’s why exercise variety provides your muscles with the variety it literally needs for optimal growth. Even slight variations in the exercises you employ will work the muscles somewhat differently, enhancing results.

Your fix: Employ a diverse selection of exercises over the course of your training cycle. This can be accomplished by switching around modalities, training angles, planes of movement, and even your hand and foot spacing. (For instance, on dumbbell curls, think about holding the handle with your pinky against one end of the bell, and on the next set perform with your thumb against the bell. That slight shift will work your biceps in different ways.) The possibilities are almost endless if you think outside the box. There is no hard rule as to how frequently exercises should be changed, but a general guideline is to do so at least on a monthly basis.

3) You Over- or Under-Isolate Your Muscles

When it comes to exercise selection, there are two basic camps. On one end of the spectrum are those who preach that the only way to get big is by performing the “big lifts” such as squats, presses, and rows. On the other end of the spectrum are those who claim that key to muscle-building is “isolating” muscles with flys, curls, extensions, and the like. Who’s right?

Both camps!

Realize that this isn’t an either-or debate; the two types of movements are in fact complementary. Multi-joint exercises involve large amounts of muscle and therefore are highly efficient for packing on mass. Alternatively, single-joint exercises allow for greater targeting of individual muscles (or even portions of muscles), enhancing overall growth and symmetry. Integrating a mix of both types of movements into your routine can have a synergistic effect that improves both muscle size and symmetry.

Your fix: Structure your routine so that it is comprised of a combination of multi- and single-joint exercises. As a general rule, every workout should contain at least one or two “big lifts” and a single-joint move. Oh, and realize that for all practical purposes you can’t “isolate” muscles. The body is designed so that multiple muscles will always be active during exercise performance. Thus, you can only target a given muscle so that it is more active in a given movement.

4) You Always Follow the Straight and Narrow (Sets)

Typical resistance training routines involve performing “straight” sets where you do a set, rest, perform another set of the same exercise, rest, and then continue in this fashion throughout each exercise in your workout. There’s nothing “wrong” with the basic approach; straight sets can and perhaps even should form the foundation of your routine. But it’s also good to mix things up a bit with some specialized techniques. Supersets (performing one exercise followed immediate by another exercise without rest), drop sets (performing a set to muscular failure with a given load and then immediately reducing the load and continuing to train until subsequent failure) and heavy negatives (performing eccentric actions—the lowering of a weight—at a weight greater than concentric 1-repetition maximum) can be excellent additions to a mass-building routine. They help to induce greater metabolic stress and structural perturbations that can take your muscle growth to new heights. These strategies are particularly effective for advanced lifters who need to “shock” their body to spur greater growth.

Your fix: Selectively add specialized techniques such as supersets, drop sets, and heavy negatives into your routine. A word of caution: these techniques should be considered advanced training strategies. Their fatiguing nature increases the risk for overtraining, and it is therefore wise to limit their use to no more than a few microcycles over the course of a periodized program.

5) You Do Too Much Cardio

A goal of many lifters is to increase muscle development while simultaneously reducing body fat levels. In an attempt to accelerate fat loss, cardio is frequently ramped up while performing intense resistance training. Adding some aerobic training a muscle-building routine isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Overdoing it, however, certainly is. You see, the signaling pathways for resistance training and aerobic training are contradictory. Some researchers have coined the term “AMPK-PKB switch” whereby aerobic training promotes catabolic processes (AMPK is involved in pathways associated with protein breakdown, which for your sake can be considered “muscle wasting”) and resistance training promotes anabolic processes (PKB is involved in pathways associated with protein synthesis, or for you, “muscle gaining”). While the concept of a “switch” is a bit overly simplistic (most of the evidence points to anabolism and catabolism taking place along a continuum), there is little doubt that concurrent training has the potential to interfere with anabolism and thereby undermine your ability to build muscle. What’s more, adding extensive cardio to an already demanding resistance-training program can hasten the onset of overtraining, which brings muscle growth to crashing halt.

Your fix: If your goal is to maximize muscle, keep cardio at moderate levels. How much is too much? It ultimately depends on the individual, as some can tolerate more than others. A general guideline is to limit steady state cardio to no more than about 3 or 4 weekly bouts lasting 30 to 40 minutes. Alternatively, 2 to 3 high-intensity interval training workouts a week should be fine for most lifters. Just make sure that you stay in tune with your body and be aware of any signs of overtraining. You also should be aware that unless you’re a newbie to lifting with a fair amount of weight to lose, it becomes increasingly difficult trying to simultaneously gain lean mass while losing body fat. Once you’ve been training for a number of years, it’s best to focus on one goal or the other.

Reference: http://www.bornfitness.com/muscle-building-mistakes/

Top 10 Training Tips for Bigger Biceps

#1. For stronger biceps, train your legs-The best way to develop more strength in your arms is to train them together with a large muscle groups

#2. The brachioradialis muscle is not recruited at slow speeds during a biceps curl, but it is recruited at fast speed

#3. Take time and do your forearm work. It will go a long way in keeping your elbows healthy and it will help with growth in your biceps

#4. Grip the inside of the dumbbell w/ the pinky touching the plate to assist w/ supination & a harder bicep contraction.

#5. Don’t be afraid to switch it up but not for switching’s sake. Change grip widths, modalities, speed of contraction, etc. only to target certain aspects of the bicep you want to change or to increase training focus based on a mechanical issue.

#6. Remember, the function of the bicep is to flex the elbow AND supinate the wrist. Add this to ALL your DB Curls to get best of both worlds.

#7. Fat Bar and Fat Grip training increases both elbow flexor recruitment and contraction intensity. If your bicep growth stagnates, try this for a boost.

#8. Try an Incline Modified Kettlebell Curl. Using a modified kettlebell is a good way to challenge the strength curve to make you stronger; you can get faster adaptations without suffering a strength plateau from doing the same thing for months on end. A modified kettlebell will spin so that it doesn’t stress the wrist or hit the forearm.

#9. Preacher Curls, Preacher Curls and more Preacher Curls. I see so many peeps working their guts out for bigger biceps and their shoulders dominate and swing to get out of control. The preacher bench keeps everyone honest and keeps the biceps isolated.

#10. Bicep Training Coaching Cue: Standing BB Curls – Curl to your MID CHEST, not to your shoulders or chin. Keep the pressure on the biceps and don’t transfer the pressure to the deltoids.

Original document:  http://www.iconperformanceonline.com/?p=3651