Building Muscle – Muscle Gain | Everyday Muscle.com

As any bodybuilder or fitness enthusiast is aware of, you have to first get your mind in alignment with your goals.  There is a lot to be said regarding mindset, attitude, emotions, etc…when it comes to putting on muscle mass, losing fat, or just getting “in shape”.  Trust me, it is never as simple as…lift x weight, eat y calories, and collect the product (results).  The human body is designed to run on “modes”.

Survival is a mode.  Embellishment is a mode.  Recuperation is a mode.  Learning how to align your mind with your goals is paramount to the success you will have down the line.  Realizing that during an all-out anabolic mode, i.e. androgens in excess, calories in excess, and a healing response activated from resistance training, you can realistically see progress on a DAILY basis.  Conversely, during a survival mode, you can feel your muscle strength unleash, energy levels go up, you can feel that your body has shifted its resources from your gut (digestion) to your muscles.  You will notice less of a pump, but more of a “hard” look.  More athletic performance is realized as well.

You see, as human beings we have a very diverse metabolism, due to our very diverse eating habits.  Not only that, but the “mode” we are in is influenced by the type of food we eat, and when we eat it.  Nature would have us in survival mode long enough to ensure a kill on the hunt.  The ensuing “Gorge” which is the anabolic mode you enter will end as the amount of food you consume tailors off.  However, when your food is available for you readily, requiring no survival mode to attain it, you will certainly drift into a state of embellishment.  Your body has lost the need for excess calories because they simply aren’t necessary.  You will find your work performance may be affected, sex drive, etc…

This is why you should always train strenuously, and have a “fast day” once per week.  If you aren’t making progress, you’re standing still.  Find a way to get in your desired “mode” of operation.

Fast – when feeling lethargic and overfed

Feed- when being rewarded from an intense training session

Gorge – when training vigorously and consistently

Remember, the human body is designed to be rewarded with food after a kill, or a harvest.  A hard day of work should pay off with a couple big, fat anabolic meals.  Never give your body a reason to not progress.  Challenge it on all fronts.  Live out all modes.

-Eric

Exercise #1 – Close Grip Bench Press – “Gain 1 inch on your arms in 30 minutes”

www.naturalmusclescience.com

The methodology here is to maintain strict form, use a conistent smooth rep tempo.  The idea is to use a maximum pump strategy.  Utilizing full range of motion, smooth movement, and a lockout with contraction at the top allows the muscle to “soak up” as much blood as possible.  This causes a positive pressure within the muscle itself, stretching the muscle fascia and riving anabolic nutrients and hormones into the muscle belly.  Regardless of the targeted muscle group, always move from heavy, multiple-joint movements to isolated, single-joint movements.  This will cause the greatest anabolic response to the workout rollowed by the greatest isolated “pump”.

————————–

Dr. Rex is a natural bodybuilder and a local authority on training for muscle development.  Be sure to subscribe to his newsletter for superior muscle and bodybuilding information Here.

www.everydaymuscle.com.

Copyright 2010

I’ll be skinny forever, I thought as I looked at myself in the mirror, too ashamed at my slender arms and shallow chest.  It wasn’t for lack of trying, mind you – I had been quite familiar with lifting weights.  In fact, I had been lifting weights since I was 14 years old.  On top of that, I had been involved in athletic sports since I was a kid.  So what’s the problem?  Why can’t I gain weight?  Why can’t I put on muscle?  It was this issue that kept my self-esteem down, my motivation for pursuing my weak spot in women – athletic girls.

I’m no idiot, but sometimes when you feel desperate for a resolution to a problem, you begin to look for that “magic bullet”.  Let me clarify: The “magic bullet” is that cheat sheet to your riches, that journey-turned-goal, that easy way in, or out, whichever you prefer.  I could hardly imagine the complexity and depth of resources required to pursue and and be successful at gaining some serious muscle size.  Seriously, I lift weights, eat healthy, drink plenty of milk, etc…so what’s the deal?

Again looking at myself in the mirror, I realized I needed to become a much more educated individual.  I needed to set some realistic goals and pursue them in an organized way.  I decided to hit the books, and the ‘net.  The only problem was, everything on the internet seemed to want to sell me this supplement, or that piece of equipment.  I even found vast resources dedicated entirely to using steroids.  I had no intentions of using steroids, mind you, so I sort of “blocked out” this sort of niche on muscle building.  It was easy for me – I had plenty of friends in highschool who “juiced”.  They had some size, sure, but they also had no definition.  They held water weight and fat in their torso, had hideous stretch marks, etc…I knew I never wanted any of those side effects.

After doing a pretty substantial amount of researching for myself, I realized I needed to be honest with myself.  I was clearly an ectomorph, first of all.  I also was clearly a hard-gainer.  I had a furnace for a metabolism, and I was pretty well fed anyway.  I was in fact very strong (for my weight), and doing things like pull-ups, push-ups, etc were no sweat for me.  I was fast, too – quick on my feet.  My thighs were probably the strongest part of my body after having played football for years.  I am tall as well, at about 6’2″.  This is good, I thought – I am acknowledging my limitations and my strengths.  So what now?

Well one of the biggest things we tend to do as human beings is oversimplify things.  It is in our nature to want to categorize and classify broadly.  Call it laziness, call it efficiency, I don’t know it’s just silly from a goal-oriented point of view.  But one thing is for sure – the body is more complicated and complex than you can possibly imagine.  There are tens of thousands of chemical processes that occur simultaneously and in succession in every tissue of the body.  There are dozens of hormones in the body which have a direct or indirect effect on muscle growth, size, and strength.  To think there is some “magic pill” to take and attain your physique goals is an exercise in failure to plan accordingly.  Those processes are already in place to alter your physique as your body sees fit.  Your muscles need a REASON to grow.  If you can learn how to give your body a reason to change – and provide for it the tools needed for change – it simply will.  It will because it HAS to.  That is the nature of natural holistic muscle building.

————————–

Dr. Rex is a natural bodybuilder and a local authority on training for muscle development.  Be sure to subscribe to his newsletter for superior muscle and bodybuilding information Here.

www.everydaymuscle.com.

Copyright 2010