Building muscle is hard work. And the longer you do it, the harder it gets.
If you’ve been lifting weights for a while, you’ve probably noticed that it becomes harder and harder to gain muscle mass. You have to work harder to get the same results as in the beginning. In this article, 10 tips are given on how to make your workouts more effective in order to continue gaining muscle mass.
HOW MUCH RESISTANCE IS BEST FOR BUILDING MUSCLE?
Heavy lifting will not make you “bulky”. This is a common misconception. Lifting heavy weights will actually help you to build muscle faster. However, it is not always easy or affordable to join a gym or buy fitness equipment for your home. Here we explain how to build muscle using either heavy weights or light resistance and bodyweight.
WEIGHT TRAINING
To build an initial amount of muscle, focus on lifting the heaviest weight you can for 8-12 reps. There is not a single “good amount of weight.” It depends on your genetic or naturally-developed strength when you start your muscle-building journey.
SAYS WHO? A lot of research points to the fact that lifting a weight you can only do 8-12 times results in the most growth in muscle size. Depending on the activity and your level of fitness, this is the equivalent of 60-80% of the most weight you can lift in one go.
After you have overcome the beginning muscle growth obstacle, you have to keep lifting heavier weights if you want to improve. Check your progress every 3-6 weeks, and if you find that 8-12 repetitions has become easy, add more weight. If you don't do this, you will reach a point where you no longer see muscle growth.
RESISTANCE BAND AND BODYWEIGHT
While it is true that lifting heavy weights is one way to build muscle, there are other ways to achieve the same results. You can trigger muscle growth by doing more reps and sets with lighter weights.
You can build a stronger backside, a stronger core, and a larger chest by doing bodyweight exercises at home or anywhere else.
To increase the intensity of your workout when using bodyweight or resistance bands, you need to do more reps and sets. You may also need to workout more frequently during the week.
The advantages of bodyweight and resistance band training are that you may feel less sore and it can be safer.
HOW MANY REPS PER SET ARE RIGHT FOR YOU?
How many repetitions (reps) per set depends on the specific exercise and fitness goals. For example, it would be reasonable to do 30-60 jumping jacks for someone looking to improve their cardio; however, that would be far too many push-ups for most people.
The desired repetitions for building muscle should be in the range of 6-12. If 20 repetitions of an exercise can be done with good form, then add another set while still maintaining good technique.
DO I NEED TO REST BETWEEN SETS?
It depends on your goals!
If you're trying to bulk up one muscle by doing multiple repetitions of the same movement, you should rest for 60 seconds to 3 minutes between sets. You'll know you've rested enough when you feel ready to start the next set. The goal is to be able to go heavy each time by giving yourself time to rest in between sets.
Instead of resting in between sets, you can train the opposite muscle group. This is called supersetting and is a great way to save time.
If you already have a good base level of fitness, circuit training or supersets are a great way to add an aerobic component to your strength-building routine, while also helping to lose fat. Circuit training simply involves doing back-to-back exercises with no recovery period in between, which is great for boosting cardiovascular fitness. Supersets involve doing two or more exercises targeting different muscle groups one after the other with no rest in between, which is an effective way to build muscle while also getting some cardio in.
HOW MANY TIMES A WEEK SHOULD YOU STRENGTH TRAIN?
DOMS is a type of soreness that comes from exercise. It's important to start strength training slowly if you haven't done it in a while, so that you don't overdo it. DOMS can make it hard to work out more than once or lift heavy weights, which goes against what you're trying to achieve. Make sure you know the benefits of compensating for the exercise you're doing and the difference between too much exercise and just the right amount.
Soreness from strength training can occur one to two days after the initial session, and is often worse on the second day. Doing another strength training session two to three days later can help reduce this soreness. Taking a gentle walk is also enough to help get blood flowing and reduce lactate build-up.
If you have never strength trained before, you should aim for one weekly strength-training workout in your first week, and then do two to four more complimentary workouts. Anything that gets you sweaty counts, including bodyweight training, yoga, Pilates, running, biking, swimming, and dance classes.
Tip #1: The Burn Out Set
On your last set of any exercise, use a very light weight and do 25-30 reps to give your muscles a super pump. A Japanese study concluded that you can increase strength and muscle cell size by flushing in more blood and water with a high rep set done after your normal working sets.
Tip #2: Take Your Delts Out of Your Chest Work
There aren't that many guys with well-developed upper chests, but there are a lot with big front deltoids.
Did you ever consider that there might be a connection between the two?
The front delts are taking over their chest pressing work, especially on the incline press, which is not ideal since the goal is to cut them out as much as possible to involve the pecs more.
The angle of your bench is important for doing the exercise correctly.
Most people have it at around a 45 degree angle. This is referring to the back support on a weight bench- most have it at around a 45 degree angle, when it should be lower.
When you lower the angle of the incline bench, more of your chest is involved. However, most guys set the angle at 45 degrees or higher, which cuts out the front delts.
So, what’s the ideal angle?
30 degrees.
If it's 30 degrees, you'll only be working your pecs. You won't be as strong because you're not getting help from your shoulders, but all the stress will be on your upper chest, which is what you're looking to grow.
Increasing the incline on your workout machine will help you build muscle in your chest.
Tip #3: Perform Breakdown Sets
Breakdown training allows you to hit all different types of muscle fibers in a single set, as opposed to just one or two. This method was created by Dr. Fred Hatfield, who is also known as Dr. Squat.
Perform three-phase sets as follows:
- Do 4-6 reps with 85% of your one-rep max
- Change to a weight that is 20 percent lighter and perform 10-15 reps
- Change to a weight that is 50 percent lighter again and perform 25-30 reps
There is no rest between the sets. This method will allow you to stimulate muscle growth by hitting the full spectrum of fast and slow-twitch muscle fibers.
Tip #4: To Pack on Size, Stick to the Basics
Thesquat, deadlift, bench press, overhead shoulder press, and barbell curl are all basic compound moves that should be a part of your workout routine. These exercises have been proven to be effective in helping to build muscle mass. Do the first set of exercises for each body part when you have the most energy, and choose weights that will help you to maximize strength or size gains.
Tip #5: Use Negatives
Negative reps are not as effective as positive reps and can actually lead to more muscle soreness and tissue breakdown. You should only do negative reps once every few weeks per body part.
There are a couple of ways you can use negatives to boost your muscle gains. One way is to use heavier weights than you normally would and lower the weights slowly. This increases the time your muscles are under tension, which leads to more growth. Another way is to do more reps with a lighter weight. This also increases the time your muscles are under tension.
- Put 20 percent more weight on the bar than you normally would and have your partner assist you when lifting the weight while you focus on the negative, Aim to take 3-5 seconds to lower the weight.
- Do negatives at the end of your set. Once you reach positive rep failure, have your partner help you with a couple of extra forced reps while you lower the weight as slowly as possible. Remember that speed counts – do ultra-slow reps and you’ll ignite dormant muscle fibers.
Tip #6: Iso Tension
The idea of time under tension (3) refers to how long you should keep the muscle group being worked on under tension during a set. Studies have shown that 45-60 seconds is the ideal amount of time.
If you are able to complete a set of 8-10 reps in about half the time it would normally take, there is a way to increase the intensity and productivity of the set.
Iso tension is a term used to describe a type of muscle contraction in which the muscle tension remains constant throughout the entire range of motion.
To perform a set to failure, you would do the desired number of reps until you can't complete anymore. For example, if you can do 8 reps, you would do 8 reps and then hold the weight in the flex position for as long as you can. The intensity of the burn lets you know you're working the muscle correctly.
Tip #7: Lat Pull Ins
The lat pulldown is an exercise that is meant to help work the back muscles, but often people end up using it more as a bicep exercise. One of the main issues is that people do not stretch their lats enough before starting, which prevents them from getting a strong enough contraction.
To get the most out of your lat stretch, sit on the lat pulldown machine sideways, with only one knee anchored. Do single-arm lat pulldowns, and as you pull down, rotate your lats back and down for the best contraction.
When you use the proper form for pulldowns, you will engage your lats more. This will help you build bigger, wider lats.
Tip #8: Bench to the Neck
The barbell bench press is a popular chest exercise for many people, but the way they do it may not be the best for increasing chest muscle. The traditional form has you bringing the bar down to the mid or low sternum, which is not ideal.
If you want to emphasize the anterior delts, you should bring the bar down in the traditional way. This drops the elbows down. However, if you want to fully recruit the muscle fibers of pec major, you should keep the elbows up. This allows the fibers to run at an angle from the humerus to the sternum.
The best way to position your elbow during the movement is by pressing it against your neck. This will allow your chest muscles to work properly.
Tip #9: Squat Depth
To ensure full leg development during squats, it is important to lower yourself as much as possible while still being able to safely handle the weight.
The solution involves four simple steps:
- Always squat inside a power rack.
- Adjust the side frame rails so that when you are down at the bottom of the squat, the bar just touches them.
- Perform a warm-up with just the bar where you are squatting all the way down until the bar touches the side rails.
- Only count the reps where the bar touches the rails – if you don’t go down far enough, do it again!
If you make this one adjustment to the way you squat, you will work your quads, glutes, and hamstrings more effectively with every rep. This will make your squats more efficient and your body more powerful as a whole.
Tip #10: Muscle Isolation
Your focus during a training session should be to maximize muscle breakdown in the shortest possible time frame and to focus on complete isolation of the trained muscle. Here are 4 tips to help you achieve that goal:
- Perform front squats and cable squats (with the cables at the lowest setting), to isolate the quads. Keeping the resistance on the front side of the body emphasizes the quads over the glutes.
- Perform full chest-to-bar pull-ups. Just bringing the chin up to the bar will not fully contract the lats.
- Avoid doing ultra-high reps for abs. The abs should be worked in the set and rep range as any other muscle. Doing too many reps will overstimulate the nerves, inhibiting protein synthesis.
- Practice diaphragmatic breathing during ab exercises. Holding your breath limits ab contractibility. It is essential to fully engage the diaphragm to abs to fully contract.
Wrap Up
If you want to build muscle, it's important to have a good plan and know what you're doing. With the right strategy, you can avoid losing muscle mass and continue to see serious gains. These tips, combined with taking effective muscle-building supplements, can help you achieve the massive, shredded physique you're after.
