Fat loss takes effort. It requires time. You need to be prepared for that going in. It took you many years to pile on the fat; it is not going to come off overnight.

Though it is difficult there are certain steps that you can take to burn fat faster…..

1) The first factor is intensity

Intensity is the key to the fat burning game. Unfortunately, I have run across numerous people who seem to spend all of their waking hours in the gym but they are still fat.

Here is another secret for you. It is not how much time you spend in the gym that matters; it is what you do with your time when you are in the gym.

Approach everything you do in the gym with a high level of intensity. If you are on the treadmill, run don’t jog. If you are lifting weights cut down your wait time between sets. You will increase your body’s ability to burn fat when you exercise with high intensity.

2) Track all of your calories.

Counting calories has always been important. The sad part is that most people are not even aware of what calories are. If you want your body to burn calories faster then it is important to know exactly what they are.

Every food that you eat contains energy to varying degreses. Calories are ways of meauring that energy. Carbohydrates and proteins contain four calories per gram while fat packs a little heavier punch. Each fat gram contains 9 calories.

You need a certain amount of calories each day to maintain your body as it is today. If you give you body more calories than it needs you will gain weight; if you give it fewer calories than required to maintain its present state you will lose weight.

So, first and foremost, you need to figure out how many calories your body actually needs. You can calculate this requirement by using many different formulae. The “Harris-Benedict Formula” is a good one that will give you accurate results.

Once you’ve estimated your body’s daily caloric requirement, figuring out how to burn fat faster is quite easy. Simply reduce your body’s daily caloric maintenance level by 15% to 20%.

3) Eat often.

You will get best results if you eat 5 – 7 meals per day. You are probably eating 3 right now. Increase the number of meals and decrease the amount that you eat at each meal.

Whatever you do do not starve yourself. Your body will go into protection mood if you do and it will try to store as much of the food you eat as possible. This means more fat for you. This is the opposite of your intentions.

A good way to do this is to eat every three hours or so. Hopefully, this will help your body to shed excess fat.

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However, there’s more to a bodybuilder’s diet than mountains of canned tuna and protein powder. Timing your meals just right will provide you with a competitive edge that will allow you to build muscle faster and help burn those extra layers of fat covering up your hard work.

Here’s how…

Early Morning

When you wake up, you’re at the end of a 7-9 hour fast and your muscles are screaming for nutrition. Start off with a potent protein drink for fast absorption mixed with some complex carbs for fueling your day.

(For my “top secret recipe” of the world’s best mass building breakfast, check out my “top tip” at the end of this article!)

1-2 Hours Before Your Workout

You’re about to send your muscles into the “combat zone” so shouldn’t you provide them with the ammunition they need to “take the hill”?

Load up on some complex carbs that will provide the long lasting fuel you’ll need to power through your intense workout. Add a full dose of protein to provide a ready source of amino acids and give your muscles a head start on the growth process as you stress the muscle cells during your workout.

Immediately After Your Workout

You’ve used up the glycogen (stored carbohydrates) in your muscle cells as fuel for your workout and if you don’t replenish them fast, you’re bound to short circuit your growth.

Within 45 minutes to an hour after your workout you need to down a high-glycemic, high protein drink while your body is primed for fast absorption. Take in between 75 – 100 grams of sugar and about 25% of your day’s total protein requirement along with a healthy dose of monounsaturated fats to help stimulate testosterone production.

This is actually a key time to really pack on mass so don’t be afraid to get a little crazy here! In my “Optimum Anabolics” program, I actually include a potent post-workout regimen of around 200 grams of high glycemic carbs and 20-30 grams of health fats to kickstart a mass-building hormone release. It works!

Before Bed

You’re about to enter another long period of fasting at bedtime, but it’s also a prime time for your body to repair and build muscle. The problem is that your metabolism slows way down when you sleep so a large meal before turning in has the potential to trigger fat storage.

To provide the building blocks your body needs for growth while minimizing fat storage, eat a light meal consisting of slow-digesting protein and some easily digestible carbs. A bowl of cottage cheese with some fruit is ideal or mix a scoop of protein powder (one with casein in it is best) into some milk or water. Be sure to avoid high carbs and fat calories at this time.

* * * TOP DIET TIP * * *

Ok, it’s time for my promised “Top Secret” Pre-Workout Power Potion Recipe that will give you everything you need to turbo-charge your workouts while providing a ready source of amino acids to avoid muscle loss and begin the growth process.

Follow the directions on the next page and consume this mixture about 1-2 hours before your workout …

The “Muscle Nerd’s” Top Secret Pre-Workout Power Potion

Ingredient 1: 1.5 cups Skim Milk

Milk is probably one of the most overlooked supplements there is! It’s loaded with both fast-digesting (whey) and slow-digesting (casein) proteins for a steady supply of amino acids…and it’s been proven in research to be a powerful growth hormone releaser!

Ingredient 2: ½ Frozen “Slightly Green” Banana

Ripe bananas have more sugar content than bananas that are still slightly green and will result in more of a quick “sugar rush” instead of supplying long term energy to power through your workout. Grab a bunch of “slightly green” bananas at your local supermarket, peel them all, and place them in a plastic bag in your freezer to break up and add to your protein blender drinks as desired.

Ingredient 3: 2 Tbsp Natural Peanut Butter

“Natural” peanut butter ( NOT the commercial hydrogenated garbage!) is loaded with mono-unsaturated fats…perfect for helping you raise your body’s testosterone levels for increased muscle mass and rapid fat burning. Look for a product that ONLY lists ” Peanuts ” and ” Salt ” on the list of ingredients.

Ingredient 4: ½ Cup Raw Oat Bran or Uncooked Oatmeal

Raw oat bran, like oatmeal, is a complex carbohydrate that is ideal for supplying tons of sustained energy for your workouts… AND the rest of the day.

Its finer texture makes is a better option for blender drinks, but if you only have access to oatmeal, make sure you put the dry oatmeal alone in the blender first and give it a few seconds on “high” to break it up a bit more.

Ingredient 5: ½ Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein

In addition to the casein protein from the milk, whey protein will provide you with additional, ready-to-deliver amino acids that will provide your muscles with a “jump start” on the recovery process.

Vanilla flavored powder seems to go best with this drink but chocolate flavored is another great option!

Directions: Ok…this is pretty self-explanatory, but here goes…

Add the first 4 ingredients in the order listed and blend on “High” for about 15 seconds. While it’s still blending, open the top and add the protein powder . Blend for another 5 seconds…stop… drink…wipe the “smoothie mustache” off your face…and enjoy your workout!

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Is my diet optimized for building muscle?

It’s time to get out of the “3 meals per day” mentality. If you want to gain (or lose) weight you need to feed your body whole foods, six times per day. This means splitting your large meals up and eating about once every three hours. Not only is this good for your metabolism, but your body will use the foods instead of storing them as fat.

Your six meals per day should consist of mainly complex carbohydrates and protein. You should aim for at least thirty grams of protein per meal. High protein foods include lean meat, chicken, fish, egg whites, cheese and milk products. Complex carbohydrates are found in brown rice, brown bread and potatoes. Stay away from foods high in salt and sugar

Should I be using supplements, and when should I be taking them?

If you can afford supplements you should be using them. The basic three you should be considering are protein, carbs and creatine. Whey protein supplements are the fastest known way to deliver quality protein to your muscles. This makes shakes particularly effective after your workouts, when your body is craving protein for muscle re-growth.

There are three key times that supplements should be taken. First thing in the morning, after your workout and before bed. If your diet is up to scratch you shouldn’t need supplements at any other time. Don’t use supplements to replace meals. Supplements are supplements, not meal replacements.

Am I training hard and not smart?

The biggest mistake the new lifters make is thinking that the more they workout the bigger they’ll get. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Two basic rules you must remember when it comes to weight training. First, quality is better than quantity. Second, compound exercises are the kings of building muscle.

Compound exercises require at least two joint movements. Big compound exercises are the squat, bench press, wide grip pull up and seated row. These movements recruit many more muscles fibers to use to move the weight. This means more muscle groups are worked, the exercise is more challenging and the potential for growth is much greater.

Generally you should be doing three compound exercises for one isolation exercise. For example your back/biceps workout might consist of wide grip pull ups, seated row, bent over row and standing bicep curl. You might think this is not enough work for your biceps? Wrong. Your biceps are worked heavily in all over these exercises; the bicep curl just finishes them off.

The length of any training session should not exceed one hour. And you only need to train one muscle group once per week. This means a split routine should only need to be three days per week. In fact, most professional bodybuilders only train four times per week. Remember, it’s quality not quantity.

Do I get enough rest and recovery time?

When you workout you’re not building your muscles, you’re breaking them down. The reason why you looked “pumped up” when you’re in the gym is because your muscle tissue is swollen and damaged. Your muscles actually grow when you are resting. So in simple terms, no rest equals no muscle growth.

So take it easy when you’re not working out. Ease up on the cardio. And make sure you get plenty of sleep. Sleep is the body’s number one time for building muscle. This is also why it’s important to eat before bed, so your body has the fuel to repair muscle in your sleep.

Simple isn’t it?

So you can see that despite what you read in magazines or on the web about building muscle, it’s surprisingly simple. If you get the four aspects I have mentioned in this article right, you will build muscle.

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1) Train With Weights and Focus On Compound, Free Weight Movements.

If you want to make solid, noteworthy gains in muscle size and strength, you absolutely must train with free weights and focus on basic, compound exercises. A compound exercise is any lift that stimulates more than one muscle group at a time. Examples of these lifts are the squat, deadlift, bench press, chin up, barbell row, overhead press, dip and lunge. Compound movements allow you to handle the most weight and will stimulate the greatest amount of total muscle fibers.

2) Be Prepared To Train Hard.

One of the biggest factors that separates those who make modest gains from those who make serious gains is their level of training intensity. In order to stimulate your muscle fibers to their utmost potential, you must be willing to take every set you perform in the gym to the point of muscular failure.

Muscular Failure: The point at which no further repetitions can be completed using proper form.

Sub-maximal training intensity will leave you with sub-maximal results, plain and simple.

3) Track Your Progress In The Gym From Week To Week.

Our bodies build muscle because of an adaptive response to the environment. When you go to the gym, you break down your muscle fibers by training with weights. Your body senses this as a potential threat to its survival and will react accordingly by rebuilding the damaged fibers larger and stronger in order to protect against any possible future threat. Therefore, in order to make continual gains in muscle size and strength, you must always focus on progressing in the gym from week to week. This could mean performing 1 or 2 more reps for each exercise or adding more weight to the bar. Keep a detailed training log to track your progress as your strength increases over time.

4) Avoid Overtraining.

Overtraining is your number one enemy when it comes to building muscle size and strength. When most people begin a workout program, they are stuck with the misguided notion that more is better. They naturally assume that the more time they spend in the gym, the better results they will achieve. When it comes to building muscle, nothing could be farther from the truth! If you spend too much time in the gym, you will actually take yourself farther away from your goals rather than closer to them. Remember, your muscles do not grow in the gym; they grow out of the gym, while you are resting and eating. Recovery is absolutely vital to the muscle growth process. If you don’t provide your body with the proper recovery time in between workouts, your muscles will never have a chance to grow.

5) Eat More Frequently.

The main area where most people fail miserably on their muscle-building mission is on the all-too important task of proper nutrition. Training with weights is only half of the equation! You break down your muscle fibers in the gym, but if you don’t provide your body with the proper nutrients at the proper times, the muscle growth process will be next to impossible. You should be eating anywhere from 5-7 meals per day, spaced every 2-3 hours in order to keep your body in an anabolic, muscle-building state at all times. Each meal should consist of high quality protein and complex carbohydrates.

6) Increase Your Protein Intake.

Of the 3 major nutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fats) protein is without a doubt the most important for those who are looking to gain muscle size and strength. Protein is found in literally every single one of the 30 trillion cells that your body is made up of and its main role is to build and repair body tissues. Without sufficient protein intake, it will be physically impossible for your body to synthesize a significant amount of lean muscle mass. If your body were a house, think of protein as the bricks. A general guideline is to consume 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day from high quality sources such as fish, poultry, eggs, beef, milk, peanut butter and cottage cheese.

7) Increase Your Water Intake.

If you want a simple, easy and highly effective way to maximize your muscle gains, drinking more water is it. Water plays so many vital roles in the body and its importance cannot be overstated. In fact, your muscles alone are made up of 70% water! Not only will drinking more water cause your muscles to appear fuller and more vascular, but it will also increase your strength as well. Research has shown that merely a 3-4% drop in your body’s water levels can impact muscle contractions by 10-20%! Aim to consume 0.6 ounces for every pound of bodyweight each day for optimal gains.

Be Consistent!

Consistency is everything. Those who make the greatest gains in muscular size and strength are the ones who are able to implement the proper techniques on a highly consistent basis. Simply knowing is not enough, you must apply!

Building muscle is a result of the cumulative effect of small steps. Sure, performing 1 extra rep on your bench press will not make a huge difference to your overall results, and neither will consuming a single meal. However, over the long haul, all of those extra reps you perform and all of those small meals you consume will decide your overall success. If you work hard and complete all of your muscle-building tasks in a consistent fashion, all of those individual steps will equate to massive gains in overall size and strength.

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1) It negatively affects protein synthesis.

Protein synthesis is the process where amino acids are joined together to form complete proteins. Excessive alcohol consumption slows this process down by up to 20%, and since your muscles are made up of protein, you can see how this is a problem.

2) It lowers testosterone levels and increases estrogen.

Testosterone is the most important muscle-building hormone in your body. One of the limiting factors that determines how much muscle a person can gain is their level of free-flowing testosterone.

3) It causes dehydration.

The kidneys must filter very large amounts of water in order to break down the alcohol, and this can result in severe dehydration within the body. Water plays an absolutely crucial role in the muscle-building process, and being even slightly dehydrated is a recipe for disaster. The muscles alone are comprised of 70% water.

4) It depletes the body of vitamins and minerals.

Alcohol consumption causes vitamins A, C, the B’s, calcium, zinc and phosphorus to all be drained at rapid rates. Vitamins and minerals keep every little process in your body functioning properly, and many of these processes involve muscle growth and maintenance.

5) It increases fat storage.

With 7 empty calories per gram, alcohol can actually be quite fattening. Alcohol also disrupts the Kreb’s Cycle, which plays an important role in fat burning.

It’s important to have fun in life, but too much fun can lead to problems. If you’re serious about achieving significant muscle-building results, you definitely need to monitor your intake of alcohol and make sure that you are consuming it in moderation. A few drinks here and there shouldn’t be a problem, but if you find yourself drinking every weekend you can almost certainly kiss your muscle gains goodbye.

If you do decide to go out and party, make sure to drink plenty of water and to properly nourish yourself with vitamins/minerals and a protein rich meal.

I don’t recommend revolving your entire life around your muscle-building program, so don’t be afraid to go out and have a good time once in a while. Just make sure to keep your drinking nights infrequent (no more than once a month) and properly nourish yourself to lessen its effects. As long as you monitor what you’re doing you can achieve an impressive physique and have a social life at the same time.

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Summer is on the horizon, and the time has come to kick back and relax under the sun. It’s time for beach days, barbecues and pool parties, and for any serious weightlifter these activities also mean one thing: it’s time for the shirts to come off and to showcase that rock-solid physique they’ve been working on all year. No one wants to be walking around with a soft, smooth and flabby body, and for the next month or two, all of those serious lifters will be shifting into “get ripped” mode.

How do they usually go about this?

They lighten up the weights and perform higher reps.

This has always been a widely accepted method of “cutting down” and if you ask most trainers in the gym they’ll tell you that “heavy weights bulk up the muscle and lighter weights define the muscle”.

Do you want to know the reality behind the “light weight and high reps” method of obtaining a ripped and defined physique?

It is completely, totally and utterly DEAD WRONG.

It couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, there is no logical basis for this way of training whatsoever, and whoever dreamt up this downright ridiculous way of thinking has caused the vast majority of lifters to waste their time and impede their progress in the gym.

Let me clear this up once and for all: you CANNOT spot reduce. In other words, it is physically impossible to target fat loss from a specific area on your body. Performing bench presses with light resistance and high repetitions will not magically burn fat off of your chest or cause it to appear harder and more defined.

Every single time you wrap your hands around a barbell, dumbbell or cable, your goal is to stimulate as much muscle growth as you possibly can. There are no special, secret weightlifting exercises that will “define” your muscles or cause them to become more “ripped”.

Training with weights builds muscle mass, end of story.

So how exactly do you “define” a muscle?

The only way to “define” a muscle is by lowering your body fat level in order to make your muscles more visible. Body fat reduction can be achieved in two ways:

1) Modify your diet.

You should lower your overall caloric intake to around 15x your bodyweight and focus on consuming smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. This will keep your metabolism naturally raised at all times and will keep your body in a constant fat burning state. Limit your intake of saturated fats and simple sugars, and focus instead on consuming lean sources of protein and low glycemic carbohydrates. It is also very important to keep your water intake high at a level of around 0.6 ounces per pound of bodyweight.

2) Perform proper cardio workouts.

Let go of the traditional method of moderate intensity cardio in 30-45 minute durations. If you want to maximize your body’s fat burning capacity and also minimize the muscle loss that inevitably accompanies a fat burning cycle, focus on shorter cardio workouts performed at a high level of intensity. These types of workouts will shoot your resting metabolism through the roof and will allow you to burn maximum amounts of fat even when you are at rest. I recommend 3-5 high intensity cardio sessions per week, spaced at least 8 hours away from your weight workouts.

That’s all there is to it, folks. Take the notion of “light weight and higher reps” and throw it right out the window, down the street and around the corner. Following this misguided method will only cause you to lose muscle mass and strength, and will not assist you in burning fat or defining your physique.

All you need to do to mold those rock-solid muscles for the summer time is this:

1) Train with heavy weights and low repetitions to build maximum muscle mass.

2) Modify your diet and implement cardio workouts to eliminate body fat and create visibly harder and more defined muscles.

End of story.

I’ll see you at the beach!

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Author: Dane Fletcher

Here a few thoughts on muscle balance in a workout, focusing on abdomen and lower back muscles. Whenever training you must be very careful not to build one muscle much more than the other muscles surrounding or associated with the muscle group that you are training. If you do this, you create a greater risk of injuring the muscle you left weaker by not training it in sync, or equally with the others. A very crucial and pertinent example of counterbalancing when weight training concerns the abdomen and the lower back. A strong stomach equals a strong back.

You need to understand the basic concept that strong abs not only give you better posture, but strengthening the abdomen muscles can definitely prevent the occurrence of lower back injuries. Now, most instruction given for ab workouts start with cardio vascular training. This is because the rational to most abdomen workouts is that you end up with that famous “six pack”. If you don’t do the proper training to burn the layer of fat covering the abdomen, then the six pack of coarse… doesn’t show.

That being said, for the purposes of this intsruction we will not concentrate on showing off the six pack. This is going to concentrate more on strengthening the abdomen which in turn will be causing the back, primarily the lower back, to become much stronger. This ab routine is going to seem different than most training for abs, because with this routine, abs are going to be worked with weight. Normally sit ups, crunches,and leg raises are done in sets of 30, 40, 50 or more. Of coarse this builds stamina in the muscle and causes the muscle to become more defined, or cut. What we are going for with this workout are much less reps -what you can comfortably do as in the typical exercises but only accomplishing ten, to no more than fifteen reps.

Doing a traditional sit up to start with, go for six to eight sets with a weight, say a plate placed on the chest with your arms crossed over it, that allows you to do 10 to 15 reps per set. Rest two to three minutes between sets. Remember, like with the training of any muscle or muscle group, give yourself a day to completely recover before working that muscle group again. To get the lower end of the abdomen muscle, lay flat on your back, and again to achieve strength, balance a plate on the shins as you do 10 to 15 reps of leg raises.

You can place you hands under you butt for balance, although keeping them by your sides will add a level of difficulty to the exercise. To concentrate on the upper abdomens, support your upper body like you would for dips. With a weight at the feet, either ankle weights, or even a triceps extension bar with the feet hooked through, raise the knees as high as possible. Give an extra squeeze at the peak of the contraction, with all three of these exercises.

Before even starting the other exercises associated with power lifting it is recommended that you perform at least 6 or seven workouts of at least 3 to 5 sets each of mid, lower, and upper abdomen exercises with weight. This will assure a very strong abdomen that will help to prevent injury to the back, especially the lower back, when doing the exercises that will strengthen the back, legs and other required muscle groups in order to perform the deadlift and squat. When doing abdomen strength training be sure to do sit ups for the mid abdomen, leg raises for the lower abdomen, and suspended leg raises for the upper abs. Do all the sets with weight, performing only 10 to 15 reps per set to failure. Continue these exercises when training for the power lifting lifts; squat and dead lift.

About the Author:

Dane Fletcher is the world’s most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/bodybuilding-articles/how-bodybuilders-build-a-strong-back-by-building-strong-abs-first-746273.html

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We get bigger as we get stronger.  The more weight that we can lift the more our muscles need to adapt.  In other words the more we are able to lift the larger our muscles will become in order to be able to handle the weight.  So obviously it is important to be able to lift heavy if we want to get big.  Swinging around 15 pound dumbbells is not going to get the job done.

Now I know it doesn’t surprise you that we have different size muscle motor units throughout our body.  There is a progression for the activation of these motor units.  The smaller ones are activated before the larger ones.  This only makes sense.  If the load is not heavy there is no reason for the larger motor units to kick in.  They are not needed.  Ideally we want to work the larger motor units but there is a slight catch to when and how this happens.

Stop and think with me for a minute.  I am sure that you would agree that we have a better chance at creating size and strength if we are able to do more reps of a heavier weight.  So what is the best way to accomplish this during your workout?  Before I answer that let’s consider a few other things.

If you fatigue your muscle (lift to failure) what has occurred?  In doing so you have not only tired out your larger motor units but as you pushed yourself to failure you also wore out your smaller muscle units.  When you wear out your smaller muscle units it makes it difficult to engage your larger motor units in future sets and reps.  Why?  Because you must engage your smaller motor units before you engage your larger motor units.  If they are worn out they sort of set up a roadblock preventing you from recruiting your larger muscle units.

How does this work in real life.  Let’s say for instance you perform an opening set of 10 reps.  On your tenth rep you couldn’t get the weight back up and had to get help from your spotter.  In other words you hit failure in your first set.  How will you perform in your second set?  The answer is that you won’t get as far as you did in your first set.  You will be lucky to get 6 – 8 reps unless you are waiting quite awhile between sets.  By the time you hit your third or fourth set you may be down to 4 reps.  By your fourth set it is a struggle just to lift the darn weight.  Maybe you walk away from your workout thinking you did a great job but did you perform a workout out will increase your muscle size and muscle strength?  Well the answer would be that you benefited from the workout but not as much as you would have if you had managed your workout better.

If you want to see big gains in strength and size then you need to scale your first set back.  Never train to failure in your first set.  You goal is to perform as many reps as you can with heavy weight.  If you tire too quickly you make this impossible.

Don’t misunderstand me.  You are not to go easy in your workout.  You are going to go balls to the wall before all is said and done just get yourself through those first sets without lifting to failure.  And make sure to lift explosively.  The slower you the quicker you fatigue.  Slow lifting is not for building strength it is for building endurance.  If you want to get big and strong then lift explosively.  As you start to slow down you reps then you should think about ending your set if it is one of your first few sets.  This way you will be able to lift heavier weights for more reps.

I hope this wasn’t too confusing.  If it was you can read more about the concept here in Chad Waterbury’s book, Huge in a Hurry.    Chad discusses this concept in great depth in his book.  Give it a look.

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Muscle mass is the most valuable asset of a bodybuilder. While symmetry and definition are very important qualities as well, without muscle mass such qualities would have no meaning. In a bodybuilding show, for instance, assuming that all competitors have similar degrees of definition and symmetry, it is always the bigger bodybuilder the one that will take the show.

That bodybuilder is the same one that people will remember with awe and respect. It is like Arnold Schwarzenegger once said; muscle mass is like the clay in a sculpture that is to be sculpted and defined once there is a significant amount of clay in it. So now that we have discussed the value of having muscle mass, lets discuss how a natural bodybuilder would go about attaining significant amounts of it.

Basically there is a formula associated with gaining mass. The formula is the following:

S=D x (T+N+R)
• S is the success that you will achieve in your program
• D is the determination that you have to achieve success
• T is the training that you use
• N is your nutritional program
• R stands for rest & recovery.

Each component in the formula above can only have two values. A value of 1 is given to a component if it is followed completely. A value of 0 is given to any component that is not followed or followed halfway.

Therefore, if every single component is followed, you get a maximum value of 3. In this case the bodybuilder will get the fastest results possible from their program. If the bodybuilder stops following one of the components inside of the parenthesis then you get a lesser value, which means that you will not get optimal results.

However note that if you don’t have any determination you get a value of 0 which means that your whole program will fail and you won’t get any results. The reason for this is because determination is by far the most important factor in determining the amount of success you will achieve in your bodybuilding program. Why? Because if you are not determined enough to make the sacrifices necessary to gain muscle, then any obstacle that you encounter in the way will be used as an excuse to stop following your program.

However, if you are determined to reach your goals, you will make whatever arrangements are necessary in order to ensure that your training, nutrition and restful sleep remain unaffected.

Now that we have talked about the Formula for Success and the reason why Determination is the key factor in making such formula work, lets briefly cover the Training component. Due to lack of space, Nutrition and Recovery will be covered in future articles.

Training

In order for weight training to be effective the following rules need to be followed:

a)Each session should be short; 60 minutes maximum. The maximum amount of time a weight training session should last is 60 minutes. After 60 minutes the levels of muscle building and fat burning hormones (like growth hormone and testosterone) begin to drop. Also, the glycogen in your system, which is the fuel that your muscles use to contract, has been depleted. What this means is that training for any more than 60 minutes will actually be a waste of your time since you will no longer have the hormones or the fuel necessary to produce muscle growth. Continue to train past 60 minutes and you will get impaired recovery which leads to overtraining, a condition where your body does not recover from its weight training sessions and leads to loss of strength and muscle mass.

b)The rest between sets should be kept to a minimum; 60-90 seconds or shorter. Keeping your rest time in between sets and exercises to a minimum not only allows you to perform a prodigious amount of work within the 60 minute training window but it also helps improve your cardiovascular system and most importantly maximizes the output of growth hormone, the powerful fat burning, muscle building hormone that we mentioned earlier. Also, some studies suggest that this range may promote a muscle voluminizing effect in which water goes inside the muscle cells (not outside) and makes the muscles look more firm and bigger. Do not confuse this with water retention outside of the muscle cells, which is what makes us look puffy and fat.

c)The sets of each exercise should be for the most part between 6-15 repetitions each. There are many reasons for this. First and foremost, it has been shown that it is within this range that growth hormone output is maximized. As we already know, this is a good thing since this hormone does exactly what we are looking for (it increases muscle and decreases body fat). Also, performing so many repetitions provides you with a great pump (blood rushing into the muscle) which is a good thing since along with the blood are nutrients that nourish the muscle cells and help them recover and rebuild bigger much faster. Finally, performing this amount of repetitions reduces the possibility of injury dramatically since you will need to use a weight that you can control in order to perform the prescribed amount of reps.

d)Training must be progressive. Progression means performing one more repetition than the last time the exercise was performed or a little bit more weight if you are able to do more than the recommended amount of repetitions for a particular exercise. It is important to understand that we will not be able to increase weight or increase the number of repetitions in every single session. However, it is important to know that the overall goal of the bodybuilder is to ensure progression over a period of time because this will ensure the continuous addition of muscle mass.

e)Training must be composed of free weight basic exercises. Only free weights provide the fast results that you are looking for. The body is designed to be in a three dimensional universe. Therefore, whenever you use a machine and you limit your body to a two dimensional universe you limit the amount of muscle fibers that are going to do work and therefore you get less results. I am not saying that all machines are bad. Some machines definitely have a place in our weight-training program. However, our program should be mostly based on barbell exercises, dumbbell exercises and exercises where the body moves through space such as the dip, the pull-up, the squat and the deadlift.

f)Training must be cycled. For the bodybuilder this principle is of paramount importance. In fact, the lack of cycling in a bodybuilder’s program is the reason, in my opinion, why so many natural bodybuilders fail to make any gains after the first 6 months of their training career. The key to ensure continuous gains in muscle mass is to alternate periods of different training protocols in a logical manner that assures maximum gains. While I could write a whole article on this subject alone, for the time being know that alternating every 3 to 4 weeks between phases of higher volume type of work using a 10-15 repetition range with weeks of lower volume but higher intensity (6-10 repetitions) will do amazing things in terms of muscle mass and strength! Try it out and you will not be disappointed.

As you can see from the items above, gaining mass is not rocket science. It is basically just a matter of having the right program combined with the determination necessary to achieve results. Only applied knowledge is power, so now that I have given you the knowledge on how to optimize your training for maximum results, go ahead and implement it for maximum gains! Until next time, take care and train hard!

If your interested in more information about my complete Body Body Building & Fat Loss Program check out Lose Fat and Gain Muscle.

Author Bio

Hugo Rivera CFT, SPN, BSCE. is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, multi certified personal trainer, industry consultant and fitness expert who not only knows training and nutrition theory, but also applies it on a daily basis as evidenced by the fact that he’s always in shape and by his awards and high placings at numerous national level bodybuilding competitions. He is also an internationally known best selling fitness author with a very successful franchise of books called “The Body Sculpting Bibles” which collectively have sold over a million copies. Hugo is also author of the very popular “Body Re-Engineering” e-book, which teaches you how to gain lean muscle mass and get lean without drugs, or fancy expensive supplements, using the secrets he devised after many years of weight problems as a child. For more information on Hugo’s Muscle Building / Fat Loss Program please click on the link below:
Lose Fat and Gain Muscle.

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If you’re looking to develop an impressive, muscular physique, well-developed shoulders are an absolute must. Thick, round “cannon ball delts” will make your upper body appear wide and powerful and will help immensely in creating the v-tapered look that all bodybuilders strive for.

Many serious lifters will argue that underneath clothes, muscular shoulders make the greatest contribution toward the overall appearance of the upper body.

The shoulder is a 3-headed muscle that performs the function of lifting and rotating the arm. It consists of the anterior region (the front), the medial region (the middle) and the posterior region (the rear).

These heads can be stimulated in the gym using two different movements: an overhead press and a raise.

The overhead press is the meat and potatoes of effective shoulder training. There isn’t a single lift out there that can match the incredible shoulder-stimulating effect of a basic overhead pressing movement. Both a barbell and a dumbbell can be used for this exercise, but dumbbells are the best overall choice.

Dumbbells allow you to move through a more natural range of motion and also don’t allow one arm to cheat for the other. They also place a greater amount of total stress on the shoulder region in comparison to the barbell, which shifts some of the stress to the upper chest.

I would recommend using the seated overhead dumbbell press as your core shoulder movement. Grab a pair of dumbbells and sit on a bench with a vertical back support. Press the dumbbells overhead until your elbows are just short of locking out, and then lower them back to shoulder level.

The next exercise to look into is a basic side lateral raise, which can also be performed with a pair of dumbbells. Side laterals are an isolation exercise and will shift the majority of the stress to the medial head of the shoulder. This will build greater shoulder width and will contribute to that wide upper body look.

Stand with your knees slightly bent and hold a pair of dumbbells with your palms facing inward. With a slight bend in your arms, raise the dumbbells up to shoulder level and then lower them back to the starting position.
When it comes to training your shoulders for maximum size and strength, a basic overhead press and a side lateral raise is all you need. It’s very important to realize that the shoulders are stimulated on virtually every single upper body exercise that you perform and therefore they do not require a lot of direct work.

Most people perform far too much work on their shoulders and actually hinder their gains as a result. Because of this I typically do not recommend that you perform isolation exercises for the anterior and posterior heads.

The anterior heads are heavily stressed during all chest pressing movements while the posterior heads are hit equally hard on all rowing movements for the back. A couple of extra sets won’t hurt, but you should try to minimize the volume as much as you can.
The key to massive shoulders is quality, not quantity.

Here are a couple of sample shoulder routines that you can use…

Shoulder Routine #1
Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press – 2 sets of 5-7 reps
Standing Dumbbell Side Laterals – 1-2 sets of 10-12 reps

If you insist on performing isolation exercises for the front and rear heads, you can use this routine:

Shoulder Routine #2

Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press – 2 sets of 5-7 reps
Standing Dumbbell Side Laterals – 1-2 sets of 10-12 reps
Standing Front Dumbbell Raise – 1 set of 10-12 reps
Seated Rear Lateral Dumbbell Raise – 1 set of 10-12 reps
There you have it.

All sets should be taken to concentric muscular failure where no additional reps can be completed using proper form. Keep a detailed record of each workout and strive for continual improvement from week to week by either increasing the resistance or the number of reps performed.

If you want to learn the specific training methods for hitting all of your other muscle groups, go ahead and visit Muscle Gain Truth. You can gain instant access to a complete online muscle-building video lesson series that outlines the proper techniques for maximizing your muscle gains in your chest, back, arms, legs and abs, with a special lesson dedicated to each.

Once an awkward, pencil-necked “social reject”, Sean Nalewanyj is now a renowned natural bodybuilding and fat loss expert, best-selling fitness author, and creator of the wildly popular online muscle building program, “The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System“. Learn how to build muscle and gain weight in just 24 minutes a day by visiting: Muscle Gain Truth.
Sean is also the owner and operator of the web’s premier muscle building and fat loss support community, currently accepting new members at Fitness Inner Circle.

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