Strength Training Routine Preparation

Strength Training Routine Preparation

Don't feel like you are getting as much as you should be out of you strength training routine, or not seeing the results you should be? This could be the direct results of not preparing for your daily workout properly. Many people under estimate the importance of getting themselves prepared to train, and therefore do not go into each and every workout with the proper mindset and intensity. If you don't hit and every session with all you have, you will undercut yourself and sell your results short. With a few simple tweaks to you pre-workout routine, this will be a problem of the past and your results will skyrocket.

1. Take five to ten minutes to just relax. The world we live in is hectic and requires us to constantly be moving and thinking. Put a few minutes aside to remove yourself from the busy world and relax your body and muscles. Try to forget about all the stress and tension that commonly filles our lives.

2. Eat and Supplement! Without giving your body fuel it will struggle to make it through your intense strength training routine. You need to consume and excess of calories in order to gain muscle mass, so take a moment to get a healthy snack full of protein and carbs in your body. If you take supplements like protein, creatine, vitamins, etc, before your workout, now is the time to take them.

3. Use a few minutes to mentally envision the strength training routine you are about to perform. Picture yourself doing reps with perfect form, using full intensity to blast powerfully through each set. Imagine yourself using full effort and force on each and every rep, and pushing through the fatigue to get more reps on your last set than you did during your previous session. Studies have been done that have shown that visualization can greatly enhance the results of practice and training.

4. Warm up and stretch! There are no excuses for skipping this stage, it takes a mere five to ten minutes and can be the difference between a good workout and a bad one. Also, this a crucial element in preventing injury, which can slow your training and consequently your results. Stretch the muscles you plan to use and loosen them up with a variety of movements that involve that muscle group. Your muscles should be warmed up and ready to perform at their max before you ever touch your first weight.

Now it is time to execute. You are all warmed up, and ready to go, now think back to the visualization of the perfect workout you did early and perform it. Remember, perfect for and maximum effort will be key in you seeing the results you wish to receive. For the next half hour to hour you should be in the zone, pushing as hard as you can through your strength training routine. Follow these simple tips and we guarantee that you will get way more out of your strenght training routine than you did before, and it will show in the reuslts you begin to see in there mirror.

Increase Muscle Definition Quickly

Increase Muscle Definition

Everyone is looking to increase muscle definition, but not many people fully understand all of the processes needed in order to fully maximize their muscular definition. First off, there are two main factors that will make a difference in the amount of muscle definition you can see on your body. The first factor is the size of your muscles. If you do not have large enough muscles, they will not push through your skin allowing the appearance of being "ripped". The second factor is body fat percentage. If you are carrying to much extra fat the excess layers will cover up your muscles, even if they are large enough already.

So what is the best way to tackle these two obstacles you ask? Well first off, if you do happen to be carrying some extra weight, get rid of it! This is done through careful dieting and a well planned cardio routine. The best way to lose weight in your diet is to eat smaller meals more frequently. We recommend 5 to 6 meals a day, and in the end of the day you should remain about 250-500 calories under your daily caloric usage. The second part to shredding the fat is through cardiovascular workouts. You should do these for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour at least every other day. If you do these two things, and eat a healthy diet, not just a low calorie diet full of junk, you will notice the fat falling off at an incredible rate. Don't be fooled however, dieting is never easy and it will test your will power to stick to it and reach your fat loss goals and better muscle definition.

When you have your body fat percentage down to a level of 10% or less, its time to start packing on the muscle. Ironically the best way to do this is through high intensity weight training and eating A LOT. You need to eat an excess of calories or you will never gain a single pound of muscles. Don't get discouraged if you start to gain fat again as you build muscle, this is natural and is part of the cycle it will take to obtain great muscle definition. When you have gained the amount of muscle you desire, simply go through another phase of dieting for fat loss. You can do this as many times as you would like in order to achieve the results you desire. As far as your workout routine goes, you need to be lifting heavy weights for small amounts of repetitions. Shoot for the 6 to 10 reps range, so that you fatigue to failure somewhere in that range. As your strength increases you will need to add weight in order to stay within that range of repetitions, because your muscles will be growing at a rapid rate.

Follow these steps, and cycle them until you have achieved the level of muscle definition you desire.

Bulking and Cutting: Part 1

Bulking!

For those of you who don't know, bulking and cutting is a staple in any muscle building and strength training routine which aims to add muscle or strength. It can come in various shapes and sizes, but basically it is agreed upon that if you wish you to gain any strength or muscular size without cheating (steroids), then you need to do atleast some sort of bulking. In this two part series of posts, we will brief go over the basics of what is means to bulk (part 1) and to cut (part 2).

Most easily defined, bulking and cutting is a two step process where one attempts to put on size and muscle initially, and then later lose the fat they gained, with the end goal of showcasing their newly gained muscle minus the extra fat they gained while bulking. The theory behind the bulking process is based upon the fact that it is absolutely necessary for somebody who is looking to add muscle and strength to eat enough food to maintain a caloric surplus. A caloric surplus is defined as eating more calories that ones body needs to maintain its current weight level. That is, theoretically, if you ate a caloric defecit you would lose weight, if you ate just the right number your weight would remain the same, and if you ate a caloric surplus you would gain weight. Studies have shown that you must have a caloric surplus in order to gain muscle and strength. Just think about it and it makes perfect sense, if your body doesn't have the extra calories and nutrients it needs, how would it ever grow or get stronger?

So the bulking phase basically consists of you eating A LOT, along with working your ass off in the weight room consistently. There is more to it than that though, you cannot just pig out on ice cream, candy, and soda pop. Although this is a better time to consume those things than during cutting, you will find that it will be highly more beneficial to your results if you are consuming quality foods and nutrients. It is recommended that you consume 500-1000 more calories than your daily need, and we suggest that you shoot for 1000 over, just to be safe. Your daily caloric need can be calculated on a number of websites, or with simple formulas. Basically never let yourself get hungry, and eat quality sized meals often. Shoot for 5-6 goods sized portions each day, and do not be afraid to snack inbetween. There are many options for people who think they do not have enough time to consume 5-6 meals every day, such as quality shakes and bars made to be quick and easy to eat.

You can bulk for however long you would like, but make sure not to go too short, or you will not see the results when you cut. Don't be afraid to put on some fat, that naturally comes with the bulking phase. Most people will agree that it is physically impossible to gain 100% muscle without putting on any fat along with it, which explains why some people never see gains in the weight room. They are not eating enough, due to fears of putting on fat, and therefore are selling short all of their potential gains. We would recommend continuing to bulk as long as you are still seeing strength/muscle gains and are not getting too fat or uncomfortable with fat levels. The longer you keep a successful bulk going, the better your results are going to be after your cutting phase.

If you think you are overweight or have too much fat to begin with, you may want to cut down your weight as your first phase, and then move into a bulking phase. We will cover cutting in our next article. Conversly if you are thin, bulking is definitely where you want to begin. Just remember, although you will put on some weight, some of it even unwanted fat, this is a good thing so long as you are getting stronger, and the results will show after you cut!