Muscles develop by making them work. Muscles can only work when the body is in motion. They work extra when we are in full motion. Thus, to develop the muscles to the maximum, we must make them work to the best of our abilities. Hence, the bodybuilding principle of “No Pain, No Gain.”

You can’t grow your muscles by doing nothing. You have to move around a lot. The only thing that will grow in points of inertia, if you remain stationary, is your weight. If you want muscle growth and power, you must work your body methodically. Muscle training is called a workout.

Muscles can be toned (or conditioned) by regular activities like brisk walking, jogging, and doing other slightly heavy works. But toning muscles will not grow them in size and beauty. You have to do more —lots more — to have stunning muscles. You have to workout. By the very term “workout,” you can have a good idea of what it takes to grow muscles.

Bodybuilding procedures using weights and other heavy-duty activities are the best-known muscle growers so far. You have to devote your life into this if you want extra visible muscles on you. You also have to do away with vices like smoking, drinking liquor, eating junk foods, etc.

Muscles grow in size only when they are moving. Try to be still in front of a mirror and you’d see no sign of any bulking muscle taking shape. Now, clench your fist hard, and muscle evidence will show at least on your forearm. This simple principle illustrates the potential of muscles being developed through repeated and graduated motions. As muscles are subjected to repeated exertions that gradually increase intensity, they grow and toughen.

The more intense the muscle activity, the better and faster the muscle is developed. Hence, a systematic muscle development program incorporating increased muscle stimulation builds more muscles effectively. If your exercise features no such system of increasing efforts and challenges to your muscle strength, your muscles can only grow so much. Some exercises do form muscles, but only to a certain extent. The muscles built only become regulating muscles that enable you to perform normal tasks effectively. But they cannot exceed in performing beyond such tasks.

On the contrary, a fully developed muscle does not only allow you to do normal tasks; it is calibrated to reach its full potentials — far beyond what regulating muscles can do. Bodybuilding helps you develop your muscles to the extreme.muscle building products

In this article, we shall discuss whether you have the genetic make up to gain and build muscles quickly. Don’t despair if you don’t because this is only one of the several factors that determine how long will it take for you to build muscle mass.

It is certainly helpful to know your body type when you want to build muscles. By knowing your own body type, you can then plan your nutritional and exercise program to suit your specific body type to encourage muscle growth.

We shall discuss the 3 common body types and their characteristics here.

• Endomorph: You have naturally big frame body and usually have a round face, wide hips, big bones and slow metabolism. You are the type that gain weight and body fat easily. However, you also have potential for gaining muscle mass quickly. Only problem is that your muscles may be hiding under your body fat making you look big bulky and clumsy. Your six pack abs is hidden under your tummy fat is not going to show.

So you will have to build muscles and then burn off the fats to reveal your muscle definition. That means you will take slightly longer time than the next body type to show off your muscle gain and mass because you need time to cut away body fats as well.

• Mesomorph: You are blessed with a naturally muscular body and have wide shoulders, small waist, athletic body frame structure, low body fat with a somewhat high metabolism. With your natural predisposition, you can pack on muscles real fast and are the type that can take up bodybuilding as a career if you want to. You excel naturally in sports and will always have that sexy and handsome body that is to everyone’s envy.

You are the type that will not take a long time to see your muscle gaining size, mass and definition. In fact, if you train, eat and rest correctly, you will visibly see your muscles growing week after week right before your eyes until you hit a body building plateau.

• Ectomorph: You are the skinny type with small muscles, very very high metabolism, narrow shoulders, hips and waist. You find it hard to put on weight and muscles no matter how much you eat. You will need much more greater effort than others to build muscle mass on your skinny frame. People call you the hard gainer.

You will take a longer time and need extra effort to gain muscle mass. Although it can be done, it is a constant battle for you because you are fighting what nature has given you.

Most people fall in between the three types. For example, a person can be a mixture of Mesomorph and Endomorph or Mesomorph and Ectomorphs.

Now that you have identified your body type, you can then write down your goals, objectives and the methodology you wish to take to gain muscle mass. By having a specific body building program to follow, it allows you to take concrete actions each day to achieve your muscle gain goals. How long will it take to build muscles and gain muscle mass certainly depends on the body type you have but it will also depend on numerous other factors..body building techniques

Swimming is considered as one of the best exercises to lose weight and also to build and tone muscles. Not surprisingly so because when you swim, all your major muscles are called into action. It also has an aerobic effect, so heart and lungs get a good workout too.

However, a research published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine shows that in the absence of a controlled diet, swimming has little or no effect on weight loss.

Professor Grant Gwinup conducted an experiment with the following results.

* Test subjects following a walking program lost 17 pounds of weight during the three-month study.

* Those following the cycling program lost 19 pounds of weight.

* However, subjects following the swimming program actually gained 5 pounds.

Astonishing isn’t it? I was surprised too when I first read the report.

Professor Gwinup then assumes that swimming in cold water stimulates the appetite to increase caloric consumption.

Professor Louise Burke, Head of Nutrition at the Australian Institute of Sport, pointed out that competitive swimmers typically have body fat levels that are higher than those of runners or cyclists who expend a similar amount of energy when they train.

Many people feel hungry after swimming and may simply replace all the calories they’ve burned with a large meal after their swim.

“Some research suggests that this is due to the cool temperatures in which swimmers train. By contrast, runners and cyclists usually experience an increase in body temperature during training, which may serve to suppress appetite – at least in the short term” said Professor Burke.

Professor Burke further said that competitive swimmers are less active outside their training sessions. They are so tired from the hours spent training that they sleep, sit or otherwise avoid any real physical activity outside their sessions.

Now on building muscles, because most of the work your body does when swimming involves positive muscle actions, like pushing up a bench press, there is no negative action like lowering the weights during a bench press at all. We know that the negative move during weight training is important to build muscles and burn fat.

Doing any exercise is better than not exercising at all. So go ahead and swim so that you can have various forms of exercises to beat the boredom of doing the same things all the time. Just make sure that you don’t eat more or become more sedentary after your swim.body building tips

One of the main side effects of muscle relaxant medication is the great potential of drug addiction. These drugs are habit-forming. Among the number of potential or actual side effects of muscle relaxant drugs, substance abuse is, by far, the most dangerous and the hardest one to detect. Since muscle relaxants are used only “as needed”, it can be difficult for someone to judge whether a person has developed a dependence on the muscle relaxants.

Another in the list of side effects of muscle relaxant medications is the potential of having poor interaction with other drugs. There are several drugs, particularly the ones used as an aid in psychotherapy, that generate unwanted effects in the body. The central nervous system is a highly sensitive structure, with complicated neural pathways and chemical transmitters. Both psychoactive drugs and some muscle relaxants target certain areas of this system by cutting off certain neurotransmitters or temporarily “shutting down” some receptors in the brain. Either way, the use of different drugs that have counter-indications may produce unpleasant to potentially lethal side effects. Other possible dangerous side effects of muscle relaxant use, especially if taken while drinking alcohol, include the loss of body coordination and blurred vision. There are several relaxants in the market that have components that have been proven to react poorly with alcohol. Numbness and drowsiness may be harmful to patients who need to drive or operate machinery.

Other side effects of muscle relaxant use include drowsiness. Some patients have also reported minor headaches after taking a muscle relaxant. A sudden sensation of fatigue, occasionally accompanied by bouts of mild numbness, have also been recorded as possible negative reactions.

While all of the above side effects can be avoided, there are occasions when some of the minor side effects will be unavoidable. This is caused by the individual’s biochemistry reacting poorly with the compounds in the relaxant, resulting in some discomfort. In this case, the only real way to prevent the unwanted effects would be to switch to a different muscle relaxant, as the chemicals in the drug and in the body simply do not interact well and continued use may yield even worse effects.muscle building diet plan

Since I didn’t know anything about muscle building supplements, I asked my trainer to give me more information about the pros and cons of using those types of products. I wanted to take some time to review the information before running out to the store to spend my money on muscle building supplements that might not even be right for me. My trainer gave me a few pamphlets and sent me on my way.

Basically, I learned that there’s a huge difference between steroids and all-natural muscle building supplements. I definitely don’t want to get into steroids because of all the dangerous side effects that people can experience, even after just short-term use. Instead, I’m more interested in the natural products, such as whey and protein powders that contain Glutamine. These are safe and effective, plus I’ll never have to worry about any unwanted side effects.

After doing my research, I decided to go ahead and add muscle building supplements to my daily routine to help me get the most out of my workouts. I went to a local health and fitness store to buy the brands that my trainer recommended, but left empty-handed. It’s not that the store didn’t have what I wanted; it’s just that the products were far more expensive than I thought they would be! I figured it would be better to look for an online supplier that can offer discounts prices on top muscle building supplements than pay extra for the exact same stuff.

It didn’t take long for me to find what I needed on the Internet. There are hundreds of websites that sell muscle building supplements online, and that’s good news for consumers because it means the stores have to offer competitive prices if they want to stay in business. As a result, I was able to buy the products I wanted for less than half the retail price — and I got free shipping thrown into the bargain as well.

Now that my muscle building supplements are on the way, I can finally schedule that first workout with my trainer. I’m looking forward to getting in shape because I want to look good and boost my self-confidence, two things that I’m definitely willing to sacrifice a few hours in the gym to achieve!.body building techniques

Some recommend high fat, low carb, others say moderate carbs, moderate fat, high carbs, low fat, etc. But the one thing that each and every one of these “weight gain” / “muscle building” diets say is it must be HIGH in protein.

Well, I’m here to tell you the TRUTH. It is NOT necessary at all to eat a diet high in protein to gain muscle weight.

Just about everything you read says to eat 1-2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight.

Some even go as high as suggesting you have to not only eat high, but massive amounts of protein to build muscle and gain weight.

This MYTH is due to 3 reasons:

1) Everyone thinks that muscle tissue is made up mostly of protein

2) Everyone thinks that either high amounts of fat or high amounts of carbohydrates will cause you to get fat

3) Everyone thinks that protein has a “thermogenic” (inner-body temperature raising) effect, which helps burn fat

All three of these beliefs are completely wrong! (In this article I am going to give you a very brief explanation, but in later articles I will go into more detail).

First, muscle tissue is NOT made up of mostly of protein. Muscle tissue is 70% WATER.

The other 30% is made of GLUCOSE, and AMINO ACIDS. Your muscles need just as much glucose (which is what carbohydrates are converted into), if not MORE than protein to gain muscle size.

Those that have medically studied the physiology of the human body know that amino acids are what make up protein.

However, the body uses whatever amount of amino acids it needs at that particular moment. The rest it stores for later use.

It is NOT true that you need to be eating a “steady stream” of protein to gain muscle weight………your body keeps a little “pool” of stored amino acids.

Protein is by far the most difficult macronutrient to break down and digest.

The higher the amount of protein you eat the more stress you are placing on your digestive system.

Oh, by the way, what do you think happens to any excess protein??? It turns it into FAT!

Have you ever noticed how you feel when you eat a huge burger or steak?

Even after several hours have passed, it still feels like you’ve got that entire piece of meat just sitting and rotting in your stomach.

How much benefit in gaining muscle weight do you think that’s going to give you?

Have you ever drank those disgusting protein shakes or eaten those chalk-tasting protein bars? You get gas, you feel bloated, and you might even get the “runs” (diarrhea).

That’s a major sign that your body is NOT properly digesting all of that protein!!!

There are several real-life examples of athletes that don’t consume massive amounts of protein to gain muscle weight, yet have tremendous physiques, are in excellent health, are powerful, fast, and agile.

To just name some of them:

Andreas Cahling – Swedish champion bodybuilder and Olympic gold medalist in the ski jump

Keith Holmes – World champion middleweight boxer

Bill Manetti – Powerlifting champion

Stan Price – World weight lifting record holder; bench press

Art Still – Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs MVP defensive ends, Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame

Chris Campbell – Olympic wrestling champion

Peter Hussing – European super heavyweight boxing champion

You can eat all the protein in the world and not gain one pound of muscle weight if you aren’t eating enough calories!!!!!

Remember, it doesn’t matter what we’ve been fed by the magazines and companies trying to sell us their latest protein concoction. It all comes down to the calories!

In my next article I’ll cover the 2nd and 3rd misconception everyone has about protein.muscle building diet plan

If your parents are naturally thin or have a small body frame then most likely you will have the same traits. This doesn’t mean you have no chance of building a strong muscular body. It just means you are going to have to work hard.

2. Your metabolism has an effect on your size.

If you have difficulty gaining weight whether it’s fat or muscle, then you most likely have a fast metabolism. Your body is burning calories faster than you can consume them.

3. There is no universal weight training program that is going to get massive results for every individual person.

The best way to find a program that works for you is to find someone who had the same type of body as you before and start walking their walk. There are certainly standard exercises that will build muscle but there is more to building muscle than weight lifting.

4. More training doesn’t mean more muscle.

This is one of the most difficult concepts for many to grasp. The purpose of weight training is to stimulate muscle growth… that’s all. Once that has been done, your muscles need to repair and new muscle needs to be built which only happens when you are resting.

5. Isolation exercises aren’t going to get you big fast.

The best exercises to put on the most amount of overall size are multi-muscle exercises. These are exercises that require more than one muscle or muscle group to get the job done. These lifts put the most amount of stress on your body. This is the stress that will shock your nervous system into releasing the greatest amount of muscle building hormones.

6. Free weights build muscle quicker.

Free weights are preferred over machines because they make your body work harder. They require greater concentration and allow the stimulation of supporting muscles. Machines are good for beginners to help with form and basic control, but limit the effectiveness of the exercise.

7. No Pain, No Gain.

Lifting the same weights over and over isn’t going to get you big. In fact it will do the exact opposite.

To build muscle you need to go heavy. This stimulates Type IIB muscle fibers which cause the most amount of muscle gain. Lifting heavy is when your body fails after 4-8 reps.

8. Long training sessions are a NO-GO

The idea is to stimulate muscle, not hit it from every angle possible. This is only a concern for developed body builders looking to tone muscle. Long training sessions cause catabolic hormone levels to rise dramatically. Catabolic hormones are responsible for breaking down muscle tissue resulting in MUSCLE LOSS. Your weight training sessions should go for no longer than 60-75 minutes maximum.

9. You don’t need aerobic activity to lose fat.

The time spent running or swimming is muscle building and recovery time lost. Building muscle is the fastest way to lose fat. Aerobic activities will help you lose fat but not so if you are on a high calorie mass diet for building muscle.

10. 3 square meals a day isn’t going to help you build muscle.

Eating is an important part of muscle building. You need to eat more often and eat more protein. You should be eating roughly every 2.5 hours which is about 6 meals per day. Spreading your meals throughout the day will improve muscle assimilation, and make sure that your body always has the calories it needs for muscle building and repairmuscle building guide

•Advantages of weightlifting machines

a) Excellent for beginners because it is not so intimidating and the range of motion is fixed, so a bodybuilding novice need not wonder whether he is lifting correctly to target a muscle group.

b) Easy to use as machines usually have instructions on them.

c) Safer – It won’t drop on you in a middle of a lift.

d) Isolate your muscles so that you can rest your injured body part and yet able to workout other muscle part.

•Disadvantages of Weightlifting Machines

a) Increase injury risks since the range of motion is fixed and repeated workout will place tremendous stress on the same joints, tendons and muscles because you are lifting on a fixed pathway.

b) Because of its isolation of muscles, your workout hit only the targeted muscles with little involvement of supporting or synergistic thus your muscle gains will be slower and less balanced.

c) Since weight lifting machines have fixed configuration, your workout does not factor in your body frame and structure. Whether you have a big or small built, narrow or wide shoulders, you will be using the same pathway range of motion and width of grip. This will raise your chances of being injured as well as poorer muscle development.

•Advantages of free weights

a) More stabilizing muscles synergistic muscles are involved. So you are actually exercising more muscles and therefore will develop more muscle growth and strength.

b) Improve your balance and muscle coordination since you need to balance the weights during your lift and this call on many muscles to do so. So your muscle coordination and sense of balance will naturally improve.

c) Convenient and inexpensive since you need not join a gym and free weights are much less expensive than machines.

•Disadvantages of free weights

a) Increase injury risks if lifting with wrong form and technique.

b) Time consuming because you need to bring the weights from one area to another or physically taking time to adjust, add or decrease weights.

So which is better for building bigger and well balanced muscles? Yup, free weight takes the cake over weight lifting machines for building muscles faster and bigger. However, since both weightlifting machines and free weights have its own advantages and disadvantages, you can then weigh the pros and cons to use machines or free weights for your workouts or even a combination of both to suit your personal requirements.weight loss muscle gain

Yes, this is one fats and muscles myth that will never go away. Get this straight. Fat will never turn into muscle and muscle will never turn into fat.

The reason is simple. Your body fats and muscles are made up of completely different cell structure and they are so different that they cannot be converted to each other. Your muscle is very much alive and work very hard whereas fat just sits there doing nothing and just plain looking ugly. How can they be the same or can be converted to each other?

How did this fitness myth come about then? Well, let me offer some suggestions.

When a fat person train with weights, he will build muscles and then for his muscle definition to show, he will have to lose fat. He will do cardio exercises and eat healthily to achieve a healthy fat loss. When that is accomplished, he will revealed a lean muscular body because he has already
packed on some muscle mass and have lost a substantial amount of body fat from his lose fats and build muscles program.

So when people see his new found lean muscular body and noticed that his body fat is now gone, some will comment that his fats has turned into muscles. Isn’t that a nonsensical comment? Not just nonsensical, it is downright
hilarious.

Now, just say that this same guy has lost his motivation to train for whatever reasons and because he no longer wants to maintain his lean muscular body, he naturally will lay off exercises and start to eat unhealthily. Gradually, he will put on body fat because of his unhealthy diet and the fact that he no longer exercise to burn calories. Then as he put on more fat, the fat begins to cover up his muscles and his muscles are no longer noticeable.

Ahhhh….these same people who do not know the biology of muscle and fat will proclaim that his muscles has turned into body fat. Well, these chaps must be magicians or how else can muscle turn into fat or fat turn into muscle?

Why am I exposing this fat and muscle myth? Because it is funny? Well perhaps that too. But the main reason is that this fat and muscle myth has put alot of people away from exercising to build muscles and continue to indulge in unhealthy eating habits by proclaiming that there is no point building muscles because once they stop, they will get fat. Again, this is rubbish because most of them are fat to begin with anyway. It is just a lazy excuse not to exercise and eat healthily.

So if you have friends who tout this fat and muscle myth to you, send them this article. You may be doing them a great favor when they realised the truth and head for the gym to build some muscles and lose some body fat.

Then what about you? Are now convinced that muscle will never turn into fat and fat into muscle? If not, write to me and tell me why.weight loss muscle gain