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Weight Train for Maximum Muscle Gain
Anthony Ellis
Exercise machines are a lot like the training
side wheels on your first bike. While you're learning, they
serve an invaluable purpose. They provide support, and
prevent injury. But once you've learned the right posture
and balance, the same wheels can be a drag.
Unlike training wheels, however, it's tough to know when
you've outgrown an exercise machine. And that can really
hamper your progress down the line!
Free Weights vs. Machines vs. Bodyweight Exercises
---------------------------
Weight training involves the use of equipment that enables
variable resistance. This resistance can come in the form of
'free weights' like barbells and dumbbells, machines that
use cables or pulleys to help you lift the weight and
bodyweight exercises like pull-ups or dips.
For maximum muscle gain, the focus of your workouts should
consist of free weight exercises. Not machines or bodyweight
exercises.
To get an effective, muscle-blasting workout, you must
stimulate the most muscle fibers as possible, and machines
do not do this. The main reason for this is a lack of
stabilizer and synergist muscle development. Stabilizer and
synergist muscles are supporting muscles that assist the
main muscle in performing a complex lift.
The more stabilizers and synergists worked, the more muscle
fibers stimulated. Multi-jointed free weight exercises like
the bench press, require many stabilizer and synergistic
muscle assistance to complete the lift.
On the other hand doing a bench press using a machine will
need almost no stabilizer assistance. Since machines are
locked into a specific range of motion and help to support
the weight along that path, they fail to stimulate the
muscles that surround the area you are working
(stabilizers). This is a mistake. If your stabilizer muscles
are weak, then the major muscle group will never grow!
Free weight exercises like the dumbbell press or squat, for
example, put a very large amount of stress on supporting
muscle groups. That's why you will get fatigued faster and
not be able to lift as much weight as you did on the
machine. But you will gain more muscle, become stronger very
quickly and have a true gauge of your strength.
If you use machines in your program, they should be used to
work isolated areas and only after all multi-jointed
exercises have been completed. Beginners should begin with a
limited combination of machine exercises, bodyweight
exercises and mult-jointed free weight exercises. Before
increasing the weight levels, they should work on becoming
familiar with the proper form and execution of each. Soon,
bodyweight exercises will become insufficient to stimulate
growth and they will need to focus on more free weight
exercises.
Multi-Jointed Exercises
---------------------------
The exercises that work the large muscle groups are called
compound (or multi-joint) movements that involve the
simultaneous stimulation of many muscle groups. These
compound exercises should be the foundation of any weight
training program because they stimulate the most amount of
muscle in the least amount of time.
Basic Movements
---------------------------
Bench Presses (works the chest, shoulders, triceps)
Overhead Presses (shoulders, triceps)
Pull-ups/Barbell Rows (back, bicep)
Squats (legs, lower back)
Deadlifts (legs, back, shoulders)
Bar Dips (shoulders, chest, arms)
Dave, I cannot overemphasize the importance of these
exercises. Do not start an advanced weight-training program
without them! They will overload your entire skeletal and
muscular system like no machine could ever do, giving you
and effective workout in a very short period of time. If you
can only do a few exercises, then do these. They have been
proven (and not just by me) to encourage muscle and strength
gain unlike any other exercises.
Training with Heavy Weights
---------------------------
To build mass, you must weight train with heavy weights. By
heavy, I mean a weight that is challenging for you -- not
me, or anyone else. To consider a weight heavy, you should
only be able to do a maximum of 8-12 reps before your
muscles temporarily fail. A weight is considered 'light' if
you can do more than 15 reps before muscle fatigue sets in.
Heavy weights stimulate more muscle fibers than lighter
weights. It's that simple. More muscle stimulation means
more muscle growth.
Don't Over-train
---------------------------
Heavy weight training puts a huge strain on your body, so
adequate rest and recuperation after your workouts is
essential. If you are prone to train too often, several
things happen:
* You don't give your muscles enough time to recuperate
between workouts. If your muscles have not repaired
themselves, you will not be at maximum strength for your
next workout. Rest is essential. Other than eating, this
should be your main focus.
* You are setting yourself up for burnout or an injury.
I know you are motivated and excited about working out, but
don't be careless. You must pace yourself, you want to be
able to keep this up for a long time, not burnout before you
reach your goals. I only weight train 3 times per week,
that's all. Anymore than that and I would not give my body
enough time to repair and build new muscle.
Contrary to popular belief, you do not grow while working
out. You only grow when you are resting.
Below is an example mass workout:
---------------------------
Wednesday (legs, abs)
4 heavy sets for 4-8 reps each.
Heavy Squats, leg extension superset
Seated Calve Raises, 4 strips sets
Crunches (4 sets of 20)
(Thursday: Rest)
Friday (chest, shoulder, triceps, abs)
Flat bench press, incline dumbbell flyes superset
Shoulder press, side raises superset
Triceps pushdowns
Reverse incline leg raises (3 sets of 20)
(Saturday: Rest)
Sunday (back, biceps, abs)
Wide grip pull-ups, latbar pulldown superset
EZ bar bicep curl, incline dumbbell curls superset
Crunches (4 sets of 20)
That's it. Nothing fancy, but effective.
My Gaining Mass! Program contains the complete diet and
training program I used to gain 32lbs of mass. It contains
24 weeks of free weight workouts that will force your body
to grow beyond what you may think possible.
Just take a look at some current results weight training
results:
'Started your program a couple of weeks ago and I am truly
SHOCKED!! I went into the gym to work out and thought I'd
check my weight like I'm suppose to and WOW I had gained
almost nine pounds. I went from 154 to 163.5 lbs!!'
Gary S., Colorado
'I have been following the diet very strictly and have been
working out three times every week just like I'm supposed
to. I'm looking at my stats right now. I've gained 13 lbs in
6 weeks, 3' on my shoulders, and 1-1/4' on my biceps (those
are the ones I'm most proud of)!'
Clayton S., Oklahoma
These are a very small sample of the hundreds
of UNSOLICITED testimonials that I receive regularly from
users of my unique weight gain program.
Of course results vary, and will usually depend on your
consistency and commitment to the program, but if you are
serious about building more muscle, or if you haven't been
able to gain weight no matter what you try, then you will
definitely want to consider using my proven muscle building
program.
The Gaining Mass! Program contains the complete diet and
training program I used to gain 32lbs of mass. It contains
24 weeks of mass diets that tell you exactly what to eat and
when to eat it.
Former "skinny guy" Anthony Ellis is the author of Gaining Mass!
The most widely used weight gain program in the world.
This unique program designed to help people gain weight and build
muscle, is currently being used in over 90 countries and boasts
the largest private weight gain forum on the Internet, with well
over 13,000 members
Click here to view over 200 user testimonials:
http://www.fastmusclegain.com/testimonials.html
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