ThePromise
02-22-2004, 07:27 PM
This article is for people that can't gain mass or have gained up to a point and can't increase their max weight anymore. There are many common mistakes taken when lifting that many people overlook. The most common is in reps & set with weight. Take the bench for example, if you start with 180lbs and do it 10 times, then move up to 190x10, 200x10, etc, there will be improvement BUT only to a point. It's like jogging, if you?re not used to it you will develop quickly and will feel a change, but once you have been doing it for a long time it will eventually not do anything and you'll be able to go for a long period of time with no affect on the body. The same goes with any lift, if you use the same sequence over and over, like 10 reps of weight, then your body adjusts to it and you won't have much improvement. However, if you change the workout, like drop the reps from 10 all the way to 3-4 and up the weight then your body will be surprised and will have to adjust. So if you need to up your max change the workout every 2 weeks or so... go from 10 reps to 4, or 12 to 6 or if you've done all that up it to 15 or 20 for a week then drop back down. If your body can't set a cycle then it is constantly trying to adapt, and therefore, constantly developing. The same goes for different types of exercises for certain muscle groups. Like if you are used to flat bench, switch to incline, or decline, or even dumbbell flys. But changing the type of exercise does the same as changing the reps vs. weight, it surprises the body and forces it to adapt. Additionally, DON?T DO THE EXERCISE IF YOU CAN?T DO IT CORRECTLY. If you are bounce the weight off your chest in bench, swinging your arm when curling, or bounce off your calves when squatting just to get the weight up then you are using too much weight. Be sure that you can control every movement you are attempting before you do it, otherwise you won't get the full benefit of the exercise and you have a much higher possibility of injuring yourself. By slightly slowing down your exercise and controlling all your movements you will get more grow and won?t be as likely to hurt yourself.
Another problem could very well be diet. The easiest way to increase mass if you are constantly lifting is to intake protein, if you don't take much, try having 1 gram of protein for every pound you weight (about). The best time to take large amounts of protein is within 2 hours both before and after a workout, because that is when the muscles are pulling everything from your body to repair the muscles. If you are already doing close to this or more, then protein isn't your problem. A very common problem is dehydration; cells can't reproduce and grow without water, just like grass can't grow without water. If you are lifting you should consume about 3-4 liters of water a day (about 2 full, large soda bottles of water). And no, water cannot be substituted for juice, coffee, milk, or anything like that... you have to take 3-4 on top of anything else (especially if you supplement, because supplements, like creatine, make your muscles absorb more water). Be sure not to be scarce on carbs and calories too; even though they aren?t as essential to the initial muscle growth, they provide the energy that is readily available to the muscle. The more energy, the more exercise you can do, the more you will get out of each workout.
One final thing is proper rest. If you are benching everyday, then your muscles won?t develop as much as if you benched 3 times a week. This is because of lack of recovery. If you think about it, every time you lift you are tearing your muscles, so if you are doing it every single day, then when are your muscle going to have time to rebuild? That is why high power athletes will go through ?peaking cycles? where they do very little to no workout for a week to two weeks. This allows their muscles to fully recover and restructure, making them stronger, and faster than ever. With lifting it isn?t necessary to take one to two week rests, but lifting certain muscle groups 2-4 times a week rather than everyday will let them recover and grow much faster.
There is a little more detail I could go into but that is a general outline, have any questions post and I'll see if I can answer them.
Another problem could very well be diet. The easiest way to increase mass if you are constantly lifting is to intake protein, if you don't take much, try having 1 gram of protein for every pound you weight (about). The best time to take large amounts of protein is within 2 hours both before and after a workout, because that is when the muscles are pulling everything from your body to repair the muscles. If you are already doing close to this or more, then protein isn't your problem. A very common problem is dehydration; cells can't reproduce and grow without water, just like grass can't grow without water. If you are lifting you should consume about 3-4 liters of water a day (about 2 full, large soda bottles of water). And no, water cannot be substituted for juice, coffee, milk, or anything like that... you have to take 3-4 on top of anything else (especially if you supplement, because supplements, like creatine, make your muscles absorb more water). Be sure not to be scarce on carbs and calories too; even though they aren?t as essential to the initial muscle growth, they provide the energy that is readily available to the muscle. The more energy, the more exercise you can do, the more you will get out of each workout.
One final thing is proper rest. If you are benching everyday, then your muscles won?t develop as much as if you benched 3 times a week. This is because of lack of recovery. If you think about it, every time you lift you are tearing your muscles, so if you are doing it every single day, then when are your muscle going to have time to rebuild? That is why high power athletes will go through ?peaking cycles? where they do very little to no workout for a week to two weeks. This allows their muscles to fully recover and restructure, making them stronger, and faster than ever. With lifting it isn?t necessary to take one to two week rests, but lifting certain muscle groups 2-4 times a week rather than everyday will let them recover and grow much faster.
There is a little more detail I could go into but that is a general outline, have any questions post and I'll see if I can answer them.