PAY
ATTENTION!
THERE’S
GOINIG TO BE A TEST.
AND
YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.
No, I’m not going to give you
a test. The test is going to come in a few weeks when, after working your butt
off and watching you’re nutrition, you haven’t gained any muscle. You look the
same and there’s no new muscle to increase your metabolism to help you shed
fat.
Then you start with the
excuses. It must be my genetics. I’m too old to build muscle, blah, blah,
blah….
I see it almost every day.
Men and women who are trying to shed fat or improve their physique doing the
wrong things at the wrong time and wondering why the results don’t seem to
match the effort.
Very often it’s because they
are lifting too heavy for their goals. If you want to be a power lifter or a
strength competitor lift heavy every day. If the goal is just move the most
weight possible that’s what you practice. But
if you are trying to re-composition you body you have to leave your ego at the
door.
I like lifting heavy (though
I’m a long way from being a power lifter). And I do it on a regular basis. You
need to. Just not all the time if you are trying to add muscle mass. Training
heavy just doesn’t do a lot if you are trying to change the way you look. Go
back and read http://www.alphaedgefitness.com/2016/02/why-we-use-different-setrep-ranges_3.html
Building muscle is about time
under tension. (TUT) It’s about volume (weight x reps x sets) and good form and
concentrating on the exact muscle you’re trying to coax into growth.You simply cannot feel the muscle contract and maintain
good form if you’re using too much weight. And you’re not going to be able do
enough volume for growth if are struggling with too much weight.
Your body is going to protect
itself and call upon whatever auxiliary muscles and joints necessary to do so.
As a simple example, if you’re doing benches for your chest and lifting too
heavy you triceps and anterior deltoids are going kick in to help. That takes
the mechanical stress of the pecs and spreads it around. As a result, your pecs
(the muscles you are trying to stress) aren’t going to get the mechanical
stress they need to grow.
Right weight, slow tempo,
mind-muscle connection, good form and enough volume to trigger muscle growth.
That’s how you add muscle.
You know what,I really found myself in that position sometimes. The thing is I feel I've done enough of hardcore workout but gained nothing. I did switch to muscle building supplements and I could feel some difference. But, thanks to your post now I know what is it I was doing wrong. Thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jorge. Glad the article helped.
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