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Build Muscle to Look and Feel Better!
Build Muscle to Look and Feel Better!
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The Latest in How to Build Muscle, Muscle Building and Weight Lifting |
New! New!This is How to Build Muscle Mass Phase 2My Intermediate Muscle Mass Building Plan is now available! To reap the full benefits of your efforts, you should start with Phase 1 and make the jump to Phase 2 when your body and if your mind says so.This is How to Build Muscle Mass Phase 2  |
New! Nov 18th
A headline like that gets peoples attention and implies "do this" and achieve the result now. WRONG! Serious lifters know this kind of hype is just that, hype. But they also know with the right muscle building plan, doubling your bench press is not only attainable but ultimately expected.
This routine will help you get to this very specific goal much quicker than following your present chest routine. It's designed by power lifters for the specific purpose of becoming stronger in the chest. I use it for a month at a time as a "shock treatment". Know right now that to do this routine AND train other muscle groups you will need to be training 6 times a week. You have been WARNED!
11/18/2008 Double Your Bench
Double Your Bench!
Phase 3 Lifters Only! This is a very advanced routine!
A headline like that gets peoples attention and implies "do this" and achieve the result now. WRONG! Serious lifters know this kind of hype is just that, hype. But they also know with the right muscle building plan, doubling your bench press is not only attainable but ultimately expected. This routine will help you get to this very specific goal much quicker than following your present chest routine. It's designed by power lifters for the specific purpose of becoming stronger in the chest. I use it for a month at a time as a "shock treatment". Know right now that to do this routine AND train other muscle groups you will need to be training 6 times a week. You have been WARNED!
11/18/2008 Double Your Bench
New! Nov 15th
How to Build Muscle for Bigger LegsIf you watch a lot of people in the gym you would think their legs are only used to hold the upper body high enough for people to see it. Close to half the bodies muscle mass is below the waist, yet training it is an after thought for most. This is partly due to the fact that leg training is very hard and the most common leg exercise, the squat , is very difficult if you have any back issues. This routine shows how to build muscle in your legs without squats.11/15/2008 How to Build Muscle for Bigger Legs |
New! Nov 13th
So how do middle aged folks get the “washboard” look? It starts with......
11/13/2008 The Secret to a Flat Stomach for the Middle Aged
The Secret to a Flat Stomach for the Middle Aged
There is nothing less appealing than having your belly hang over your belt. Hence there is nothing more appealing then having a flat stomach. Especially as you age. Fair or not, it is the physical characteristic that immediately indicates your life style and it’s no surprise that it’s #1 on every body’s hit list.So how do middle aged folks get the “washboard” look? It starts with......
11/13/2008 The Secret to a Flat Stomach for the Middle Aged
When To Work Your Biceps
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE DOING ANY OF THE FANTASTIC ARM TIPS BELOW |
New! Nov 7th
On this page you'll find other arms in general, biceps in particular, info. That is because like most people, I appreciate huge, cut arms. When I see tips like you'll find in this article, it excites me because I know what works (plus I am always looking for tips and reminders for my own arm training) and I enjoy sharing it.
Having said that, most of the arm specific stuff is geared to advanced lifters, people with massive arms already. I can not emphasize enough: essentially arms will only grow in proportion to everything else. Thus have mass in place everywhere before going isolation on arms.
5 WAYS TO BUILD BETTER BI'S
Arm yourself with these five tips in order to build biceps that have height, width and detailOn this page you'll find other arms in general, biceps in particular, info. That is because like most people, I appreciate huge, cut arms. When I see tips like you'll find in this article, it excites me because I know what works (plus I am always looking for tips and reminders for my own arm training) and I enjoy sharing it.Having said that, most of the arm specific stuff is geared to advanced lifters, people with massive arms already. I can not emphasize enough: essentially arms will only grow in proportion to everything else. Thus have mass in place everywhere before going isolation on arms.
New! Nov 6th
Take Advantage of the Season: Build MORE Lean Muscle MassThe human body is an amazing thing. It is “hard wired” for survival. One of the major contributing factors to our nation’s obesity problem is that our body’s evolution has not caught up to our present day life styles. The body has a natural instinct to store fat for the coming hard times.The problem is, unlike our ancestors who did have to worry about how to feed themselves during bad weather, food is available to us, in abundance, all the time. Since the body doesn’t know this it starts storing even more fat than normal as winter approaches. It knows that you have to consume more food in cold weather to generate additional body heat and it doesn’t assume that you will have it. But we do, especially at this time of year, what with Thanksgiving around the corner and the approaching holiday season, food is everywhere. Most peoples first thought is to “watch” what they eat and though cutting calories is a sensible plan....... 11/6/2008 Take Advantage of the Season: Build Even More Lean Muscle Mass |
New! Oct 27th
Phase 2 Lifters Only! This is an advanced workout!
One of my favorite exercises is incline bench using a Smith Machine. I prefer it to a spotter so I can use more weight.
Notice in the photo the angle of the incline,the grip width and foot placement. Most people go too upright, grip too narrow and have their feet too far back. Obviously this photo is ideal.
You can substitute this lift for flat bench during either Muscle Building Phase 1 or 2, but the other 5 tips are geared to phase 2 lifting. Check it out here and good luck!
6 FIXES: LAGGING UPPER PECS
Big Gunter Schlierkamp knows a thing or two about building a chest that's thick and rock solid. Here are his top six tips for building your upper pecsPhase 2 Lifters Only! This is an advanced workout!
One of my favorite exercises is incline bench using a Smith Machine. I prefer it to a spotter so I can use more weight. Notice in the photo the angle of the incline,the grip width and foot placement. Most people go too upright, grip too narrow and have their feet too far back. Obviously this photo is ideal.
You can substitute this lift for flat bench during either Muscle Building Phase 1 or 2, but the other 5 tips are geared to phase 2 lifting. Check it out here and good luck!
New! Oct 23rd
Muscle Building for Weight LossAt any given moment at every fitness facility in America you will find the ratio of cardio machine to weight equipment users to be enormously in favor of cardio equipment. If I asked every person doing cardio are you doing it for ‘cardiovascular improvement’ what percent would say yes? My very educated and experienced guess would be almost none. Virtually everyone’s MAIN reason is for weight loss , with the ‘healthy heart’ aspect a very distant second. These people couldn’t be more misguided in their efforts.Now before I explain, let me address those of you that are going to say ‘but I know someone who started walking/running and lost X lbs’ or something to that effect. Two points...... 10/23/2008 Muscle Building for Weight Loss |
How to Build Muscle by Weight Lifting - Phase 1There are two basic principals to muscle building. First, you must lift “heavy” and second, lift “big”. By heavy I mean muscle is not built simply by lifting weights, it’s built by the muscle being broken down by loads it can’t handle. The muscle responds by recovering a little stronger in anticipation of another beat down. A little stronger means a little bigger. That doesn’t happen because of the repetition, it happens because of a lack of it. If you engineer something to withstand X amount of weight and you never exceed that weight, what difference does it make how many times it has to hold that amount? But exceed the weight it was designed to hold and you'll have to build it back bigger and stronger. This is called Progressive Overload. By lifting big, I mean the big muscles. Unless you are a seasoned lifter, isolation moves are a waste of your time. Stick to compound moves. Read This. So here’s your muscle building routine: Do 5 pyramided sets of 6 reps of the following 5 exercises: Lat Pull Down Squat Bench Press Military Press Guidelines: 1: Keep a weight lifting log book. Read This. 2: Do not exceed 6-8 reps on the last 2 sets. If you could have done more reps, increase weight. Period. 3: Never use the same weight amount for 2 consecutive sets. 4: These are the only exercises you need to do. Waste no energy with any isolation work during this initial muscle building phase. 5: Absolutely NO CARDIO. Not because of the calorie burn. Same as rule 4. You want to add muscle right? 6: Generally speaking if you’re under 40 years of age work out every other day for 3 workouts, then take 2 days off and keep repeating. No exception. Over 40, work out every 3rd day without exception. 7: Use the BMR to Calculate Your Calorie Needs. Adjust depending on if you are overweight or a hardgainer. This is your target calorie intake per day, with 1 gram of protein for every pound you weigh (read this for a more precise calculation of protein needs). Protein supplementation is strongly recommended. 8: Sleep 7-8 hours per night, without fail. You want to party, watch late night TV or build muscle? We are only talking about a month here. At the end of 4 weeks of this routine, if you followed it and stuck to the guidelines, no matter how big and strong you were you will now be bigger and stronger. Guaranteed. This is as close to a program as I get. Even what’s laid out here might need to be modified depending on each individual and their specific goal. Read This for my thoughts on some of the variables. |
Are You A Phase 2 Weight Lifter?
Muscle building is a continuum. There is no “end” to it. No matter who you are, you can have more muscle than you do. You can be more fit than you are.It has nothing to do with AGE, sex or most importantly, your current physical state.
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To fully understand this look at the most extreme professional bodybuilders. In his day Arnold was huge. The average person would have looked at Arnold and said “how can anybody be any bigger and better?”
Arnold back then would be a midget compared to Ronnie Coleman today. There simply stated is no comparison. So, of course, people today look at Coleman and repeat “how can anybody be any bigger and better?” I can only imagine what pro’s will look like 25 years from now!
The point is that if the best built men in the world can still build more muscle, safe to say anyone can.
Are You A Phase 2 Weight Lifter?
The 5 Most Common Muscle Building MistakesThe first and probably the most common is doing too many reps. If doing a lot of reps was the way to build size wouldn’t carpenters have arms like Arnold did? Or wouldn’t marathon runners have huge legs? Only doing high rep (anything over 8) work outs will NEVER allow you to add size and mass. Secondly most people do not use enough weight. This is partially because of the high rep counts they do. The idea of “lifting big to get big” seems so obvious, yet few do it. Who is bigger and stronger, the person who lifts 500 lbs once or the person who lifts 100 lbs 5 times? They both move 500 lbs of weight, but the mass building effect of each is totally different. You will never add mass or get stronger if you don’t try lifting weight amounts that you presently can’t! How does anybody ever think their muscles will grow to handle loads that they never try to lift? It is the essence of muscle building! Thirdly, most people lack the workout routine necessary to build muscle. The workouts they do seem to have no rhyme or reason. Building muscle requires a plan. Your workouts should follow that plan. You can not show up at the gym and begin doing stuff and expect it to have a positive effect on your physique. Until you adopt a muscle building plan and stick to it any gain you get will be by sheer effort and luck. The fourth common error I see is you can not, efficiently build mass and lose weight/fat at the same time. One, the other, but most likely both, will fail. This means lifting for mass gains and doing a lot of cardio exercise simultaneously will undermine your efforts. And not why you think. It has nothing to do with calorie burn. Adding muscle to your body requires a MAXIMUM effort in the weight room. If you have the energy to do a bunch of cardio before or after your lifting, then you left mass building in the gym. You should be physically spent after a muscle building session. And most definitely don’t dilute a lifting session by doing cardio first. The last common mistake I see people make is related to the previous one. Some people try to make the case that cardio workouts done on non-lifting days is the answer to the above problem. I will say it’s better than doing it the same day, but the truth really is that you need to rest 100% on your non-lifting days because it is on these days that your muscles actually do their growing. Allowing your muscles to recover is the only way you are strong enough to go back in the gym and lift more than you did before. Which is what muscle building is all about, isn’t it? |
Add 2 Inches to Your Arms
I have written two of the most read and copied arm articles to hit the internet in a while (Google the titles and see):How to Get Big Arms
How to Build Muscle for Bigger Arms
so I feel I know a good arm workout when I see one. Check out this muscle building arm workout from 2006 Add 2 Inches to Your Arms from the Men's Health archive, complete with nine video demonstrations. It emphasizes the basics, which just happens to be what works. Good stuff!
Why I Build Muscle at the Age of 50 (actually 51)Lately its occurred to me that I’m in a groove, my schedule, diet, routine and rest are all in sync and its fun when everything is moving in the desired direction Naturally when its fun the inclination is to focus more and work harder, which has led me to be in the gym a lot. Enough so that some people at my gym have commented on how much time I’m spending lifting and how cool it is “at my age” to take fitness so seriously.This got me to thinking, about why I actually work out. I mean is it because I take fitness so seriously? I never really thought about the reasons why I do what I do, it is just who I am. But in thinking I have concluded that there are 4 reasons I build muscle at 50, and the 2 biggest reasons are nowhere near what you would think. In other words, they have nothing to do with my health or appearance....... 10/26/2008 Why I Build Muscle at the Age of 50 |
This site is solely for informational and educational purposes. It is not intended as medical advice.
Consult a physician before beginning any new exercise, nutrition or supplementation program....Disclaimer
Copyright 2007-2008 Steve R. Robbins. All rights reserved.
