Bodybuilding: Build Muscle Mass Workouts and Supplements

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How to Weight Train for Maximum Muscle Gain

By Anthony Ellis

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. This is not to say that you should not use machines or bodyweight exercises, but they should not be the focus of your training. 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.

The exercises that work the large muscle groups are called compound (or multi-joint) movements that involve the simultaneous stimuation 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.

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.

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.

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.

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The Power Health Products Metabolic Muscle Growth System!

By: Daniel Przyojski

The 'Power Health Products Metabolic Muscle Growth System,' referred to here as MMGS, is designed for the hard to gain muscle person. The MMGS, if followed to the letter, will add muscle size and weight to your body GUARANTEED! Lifting poundage's will also increase.

The MMGS of training and proper nutrition is designed to set your metabolism in a growth cycle. This can only happen when three basic needs are met, each being equally important.

First, the training system must be followed correctly and with proper lifting performance. Improper lifts only bring on injury. The combination of muscle bulk and power is the result of hard, intense work done correctly.

Next is proper nutrition. When the muscles are stressed and the metabolism kicks in, the body must be supplied with only nutritious foods, in quantities sufficient for growth. The nutrition program supplied is cycled to increase along with your needs.

Last, but definitely not least, is proper recuperation. This includes 7 1/2 to 8 hours sleep a night, a full 48 hours between workouts, and a low stress lifestyle.

What must be understood here is the lifting of weight in the gym tears the muscle down. The recuperation time between workouts is actually when the muscle grows and strengthens. When you train too often the muscle never has time to repair and grow, and you simply keep tearing it down.

Metabolic Stimulation Effect

The MMGS of training will increase size and strength at the same time, for its entire conception and value lies within the Metabolic Stimulation Effect.

The secret to developing massive muscular size as well as incredible lifting strength lies within your ability to take a severe workload for a continuous length of time. The reason most people cannot keep making improvements is due to their inability to work with heavy weights week in and week out.

With this lifting program, you will be able to keep lifting heavier weights for many months because you will receive plenty of rest between workouts. Your lifts will increase because your size will increase with proper recuperation.

A three-day per week routine is included toward the end of this article. Follow it for a period of 10 to 12 weeks. Do not change or modify.

After this cycle, you will move on up to the advanced level of training. Follow this cycle for a period of 10 to 12 weeks. When completed take a break from training for 14 days. This will allow your system to rest and recover from stress and keep your metabolism in progressive anabolic state. After this period of rest start over with the first cycle and proceed on through the program.

If a bodybuilder wants to make massive gains and really pack on the muscle and strength, proper nutrition is a must. Nutrition is at least 50% to 60% responsible for optimum muscle growth. That's why I included a nutrition program.

To help your metabolism work at its peak performance and keep in an anabolic state, Power Health Products has recommended two special formulas: A METABOLIC OPTIMIZER which will help your metabolism perform at its peak by feeding your system the key nutrients needed to keep in anabolic state vital for continued growth.

A METABOLIC OPTIMIZER should be taken with breakfast in the morning and 1/2 hour before each work out. Amino acids in a formulated timed release base are designed to help keep your nitrogen level positive throughout the day, thus helping to keep your metabolism in a positive anabolic state. Two or three tablets should be taken with each meal.

We hope you will follow the MMGS to the letter, and make fantastic gains as many have. Please write and tell me of the progress you have made. I'll be happy to hear from you.

Remember, your safety is a number one concern.
Never try to exceed your limits.
When lifts are heavy be sure to have a spotter.
Always prepare your mind as well as your body, and you'll have the best workouts of your career.

Bench Press: 2 sets of 10 for a warm-up, then do 5 sets of 8/6/5/4/2 reps, using increasingly heavier weight.
Military Press: use the same warm-up and working sets as in the bench press.
Bent over Row: use the same warm-up and working sets as in the bench press.
Barbell Curl: use the same warm-up and working sets as in the bench press.

Full Squat: 1 set of 10 or 20 for a warm-up. Then 8/6/4/3/2 reps. Reduce weight to 50-60% of maximum lift and do 3 sets of 12 reps.
Deadlift: 2 sets of 10 for warm-up. Increase weight and do 5 sets of 3 to 5 reps each set.

Bench Press: 5 sets of 10 reps with a weight of 50% to 60% of your maximum lift.
Full Squat: same sets and reps as above.
Deadlift: same sets and reps as above.
Bent over Row: same sets and reps as above.
Barbell Curl: same sets and reps as above.

Rest no more than 75 seconds between each set on Friday's workout. It is a light day used to recuperate the muscles by flushing out toxins and waste in your system with the pump. Fridays workout is very important to set up your metabolic system for growth. Do not miss this workout.

On stage 1 & 2 the diet should be divided into 4 meals a day. On stage 3 & 4 the diet should be divided into 6 meals a day.

NOTE: This is a general diet intended for a person in good health. Your physician is the best counsel for individual diet needs. Bread should be stone ground whole wheat bread.

Stage 1

Food	Calories
Orange Juice 1 cup 2 eggs 1/2 lb steak 4 cups milk 1/4 lb cottage cheese 3 slices sgwh bread 2 pats butter 1 serving fruit 1 potato 2 vegetables	110 150 650 660 100 165 200 75 105 100
Total	2315

Stage 2

Food	Calories
Orange Juice 1 cup 2 eggs 1/2 lb steak 4 cups milk 1/4 lb cottage cheese 4 slices sgww bread 1 pats butter 2 tbls. peanut butter 1 potato 2 vegetables Fruit dessert 10 cashew nuts 2 tbls. peanut butter	110 150 650 660 100 220 100 180 105 100 125 100 180
Total	2280

Stage 3

Food	Calories
3/4 lb steak 2 eggs 4 cups milk 1/4 lb cottage cheese 4 slices sgww bread 1 pats butter 1 glass orange juice 1 potato 2 vegetables Fruit dessert 10 cashew nuts	975 150 660 100 220 100 110 105 100 100 100
Total	2900

Stage 4

Food	Calories
3/4 lb steak 2 eggs 4 cups milk 1/4 lb cottage cheese 2 tbls peanut butter 4 slices sgww bread 1 pats butter 1 glass orange juice 1 potato 2 vegetables Fruit dessert 20 cashew nuts 2 slices cheese	975 150 660 100 180 220 100 110 105 100 100 100 230
Total	3230

Courtesy Bodybuilding.com

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Simple Steps To Get Huge and Shredded

Simple Steps To Get Huge and Shredded -- Learn how to diet and train to gain 15, even 20 pounds of rock-hard muscle mass with this step-by-step weight training program written by personal trainer and natural bodybuilder Shawn LeBrun.

Click here to get started...

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A Complete Body Workout With The Ultimate Mass Routine!

By: Jim Brewster

Are you looking to build some serious size, but can't find much time to train due to a hectic, busy lifestyle? Then look no further, I have the routine for you!

The Ultimate Mass Routine

Muscle mass comes from hard work on the basic exercises, heavy weight, lower reps, taking each set to at least failure. It also comes from proper recovery and proper nutrition/supplementation. This routine is ideal for natural bodybuilders and people with busy schedules, but anyone can use it with great results.

This is the one I currently use and I'm working two jobs and seeing good progress with it. This is partly due to my current supplement stack - which I will outline later in this article.

Most articles like this - those pushing a basics only mass routine - tend to also push a full body workout, done 2-3 times a week. Sorry, but I just don't see that approach as being productive. How can you do a tough full body routine, with exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench presses and expect to hit each one hard enough? As well, doing that 3 days a week - such as Mon-Wed-Fri leaves no real time for recovery.

You train on Monday and should just be getting pretty sore by Wednesday, if you've trained hard enough. Does it make sense to hit the gym at that point? No, it doesn't.

Split Routine:

My approach is to use a split routine, training only twice a week.

But, if you only train 2 times a week, isn't that too much time in between workouts for the same muscles? It can be, unless you design the routine the right way. You see, when I designed this, this was my dilemma: working two jobs for as much as 60 hours a week, many of those as 13 hour days, how could I effectively work out with really just 2 days available for training?

I solved this problem by making sure each workout has 1-2 exercises that stimulate the entire body: squats, deadlifts or power cleans. On back day, as you'll see, I use power cleans as a warm-up, and then go into heavy deadlifts. Both of these exercises build overall size and power.

I have to combine legs with chest and shoulders, so I do heavy squats and heavy power clean and presses. Again, I'm stimulating overall size and power with these two exercises. As well, these really stimulate testosterone release.

Combine this with direct back/arm work on back day and direct chest/delt/tricep work on chest day and problem solved. Of course, your situation may be different and may allow for a 3rd work out, I'd do legs on their own day in that case.

Recovery:

Before I detail the routine, let me touch on recovery, one of my favorite subjects. When people talk about how everyone is different and responds differently when it comes to bodybuilding, one of the things that refers to is recovery.

Recovery allows muscle growth to happen, but how fast you recover is based on individual differences, such as:
Age.
Whether or not you use steroids or are natural.
Your job (how demanding it is).
Your schedule (how demanding it is).
How long you've been training, to name a few.

Case In Point:

When I started back in 1980, I didn't know about steroids, I worked a physical job for 9-10 hours a day, 6 days a week and tried to train on a high volume routine 6 days a week. I didn't gain. Why? Because I was overtrained and underfed.

Had I cut back to a routine like the one I'll be detailing here, ate more (there were limited supplements back then, and no shaker cups or water bottles, but protein powder was available, I could have taken a thermos of protein powder to work) and maybe tried to get some naps in, I would have made gains.

The point here is that you have to allow enough recovery time to allow growth to happen and you have to think about how your individual circumstances affect your recovery ability and make intelligent adjustments to maximize recovery.

The Routine

OK, here's the routine:

Workout 1

Power Cleans - 1-2 sets to act as a warm-up
Deadlifts - 2 warm-up sets, 2-3 work sets, 6-8 reps
Bent Rows - 2 work sets, 6-8 reps
Reverse-Grip Bent Rows (biceps) - 1 set, 6-8 reps
Lat Pull-downs - 2 work sets, 6-8 reps
Abs

Workout 2

Squats - 2 -3 warm-up sets, 3-4 work sets, 6-10 reps
Bench Press to neck (upper chest) - 2 warm-up sets, 3 work sets, 6-8 reps
Power Clean and Press - 2-3 work sets, 5-8 reps
Close-Grip Bench Press (triceps), 1 set 8-10 reps
Abs

Performance Notes:

On warm-up sets, add weight with each set pyramid style, make your first working set your heaviest, then pyramid down in weight. Rest 1 to 1 1/2 minutes between sets. Take each set to positive failure, you can extend your sets past failure with techniques like rest pause - which works great on basic movements, and forced reps. Adding techniques like this enhances hormone release, especially growth hormone.

Keep on top of your form, don't use cheating to lift heavier, and keep your reps smooth and controlled. As to set totals, these work for me. More is not always better, work these hard enough and more shouldn't be an option.

I usually alternate incline presses with bench presses to emphasize upper chest work.

Workout 3:

If I had more time, I would add a third day and do legs on that day, those with time should do so. I would set it up like this:

Squats - 2-3 progressively heavier warm-up sets 4-5 working sets, 6-8 reps, go all the way down, don't pause and come all the way up. Do your reps in one continuous motion, like a piston. Your first working set should be your heaviest.
Leg curls - 1 warm-up set, 2-3 working set of 8-10 reps.
Standing calf raises - 3 working sets of 15-25 reps, full motion on each rep.
If you do this, adjust workout #2 by taking squats out and adding 2 sets of Incline Presses for chest, and 1-2 more sets of power cleans.

Supplements/Nutrition

Supplement Stack:

Here is the supplement stack I am using along with this routine:
Whey protein
Creatine ethyl ester
Nitric oxide
Tribulus
Glutamine
A pre-workout energy drink that also enhances the pump by adding NO and creatine
A multi

While you can get more "formula" type testosterone boosters, and you should if you can afford to, as a combination of products designed to do one thing will always work better than one single element designed to do one thing.

This stack, as is, is one of the best current stacks available for adding size, strength, enhancing the pump and promoting energy. I would suggest that you follow label directions as to the timing of the nitric oxide and creatine, you should always take a multi with food, anytime of the day is fine. I would suggest taking 3 tribulus capsules 3 times a day, with a protein shake or meal.

Protein Intake:

Keep your protein intake to 1-1 1/2 grams per lb of body weight, eating every few hours.
Your food sources should be low fat sources such as:

Chicken
Turkey
Tuna
Lean red meat
Low fat dairy
A good whey protein powder works great for in between meal protein feedings.

Carb Intake:

As for carbs, shoot for 2 grams per lb. of body weight. If you weigh over 200lbs., up it to 3 grams per lb of body weight.
Stay with complex carbs:
Oatmeal
Yams
Brown rice

Except after your workout - take 40-60 g of protein to 40-60 g simple carbs, like fruit.

Fat Intake:

Keep fat low, many people take fish oil or flax oil soft gels to help them get their "good fat" intake.

Conclusion

I also keep two logs, a training log which everyone should be doing (I list the date, my routine for that day, rep and set totals, time started, time completed, how I felt and how the workout went) and a supplement log which insures my timing is correct and that I take what I'm supposed to take.

Whether, like me, you have no time or whether you adopt this to include one more day; this routine will pack on some serious size. Give it a try!

Courtesy Bodybuilding.com

Bodybuilding: Build Muscle Mass!

How to Weight Train for Maximum Muscle Gain

By Anthony Ellis

The Power Health Products Metabolic Muscle Growth System!

By: Daniel Przyojski

Simple Steps To Get Huge and Shredded

A Complete Body Workout With The Ultimate Mass Routine!

By: Jim Brewster