Dreamt of having a body that is lean, fit and sexy? Want to start a muscle building program, yet not quite sure how to go about it? Then, look no further as here are basic strategies and techniques to get you started.
Don't Forget Your Warm-Ups
Start any workout with at least five to ten minutes of warm-up. The advantage of doing these can enhance blood flow to the working muscles and help them contract more readily thus minimizing injury. You can begin doing a light cardio using a treadmill or a bicycle machine. Yet, the act of walking or jogging can be quite effective also. Set the pace of these initial exercises based on how well you can tolerate them. In that way, it would help energize and prepare you for the routine ahead, instead of leaving you exhausted.
After doing cardio, you can now proceed to dynamic stretching. This promotes flexibility and decreases body stiffness after performing your muscle building routine. Dynamic stretching is implemented by extending the muscles to their highest and maximum range of motion. Movements should be smooth and precise, do not overextend to what is comfortable as it can cause injury. Examples of dynamic stretching exercises are ankle pops, glute walk, butt kicks, high knees, low lunge and back pedal.
Beginner Workout Routine
Initially, beginners need less time to train as compared with advanced bodybuilders. It is best to limit your muscle building sessions to at most two to three times per week. Start training with the basic compound exercises. This type of routine targets multiple muscle groups thus giving you a full body workout in a few minutes. With this, compound exercises build lean muscle mass and burns calories much faster as compared to isolation exercises. So if you have a limited time at the gym and wish to use it effectively, doing compound exercises is recommended. Deadlifts, squats, pull-up, shoulder press, bench press and dips are a few examples of basic compound exercises you can try on.
Isolation exercises, on the other hand, only target one type of muscle group. The concept of this form of exercise is to "isolate" one muscle group and move to another one until you have worked on the whole body. So if you want to do tweaking and enhancements to a specific region in your body, then these exercises should be utilized. But always remember that isolation exercises, such as your biceps curl and quadriceps extensions, take a lot of time and energy to do. So it's not really recommended if you haven't reached your primary goals yet.
Setting the Rep Range
Since you're still starting out, it is recommended to set your rep range somewhere between five to eight reps when lifting weights. This is an ideal combination of intensity and volume to gain quality muscle mass and promote fat loss. If you go beyond that, you are increasing chances of injury because initially, your stabilizer muscles are still relatively weak and still need time to adjust. These muscles, although not involved in the actual lifting of weights, helps you stay balanced when you do your routines. Thus, it's important not to overexert yourself. Later on, when you get used to lifting different weight loads, you can adjust your rep range that would better focus on building up strength and mass.
Diet Focus
Take time to look up on what are the best sources of protein and carbohydrates. These should be incorporated in your diet plan as they can help you build and repair lean muscle mass and provide you with energy needed to sustain you during your muscle building routine. Optimal and complete nutrition is essential to your training regime. Knowing what to eat and what to avoid will further speed up and enhance the muscle building process.
Don't Kill Yourself
Strength training causes a lot of tension on the muscle and thus you need ample time to allow the body to recover and rebuild itself. Especially for beginners, it is recommended to take at least a day off between each workout session. Doing this would not only allow the body to recuperate, but it can also prevent you from feeling overwhelmed and burned out with the numerous sessions done each week.
Keep It Simple
How you go about your training routine can either make or break the muscle building process. If you don't follow the one that's best for you, you'd have a hard time making progress and reaching your objectives. Just keep it simple, don't rush off immediately and start doing crazy workout routines that will tire you out easily. Keep these tips in mind and you're on your way to getting that ripped, powerful and muscular body that you've been dreaming of.
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