8 Work Out Tips To Build More Muscle & Supercharge Your Fitness
Nov 20th, 2010 | By Todd Bowman | Category: Motivation, Uncategorized
I’d like to talk a little bit about work out tips to help people along in their fitness and bodybuilding routines. Sometimes all it takes to get the momentum going for muscle building and peak performance is simply picking up one simple habit to increase your lean muscle mass.
I wish when I first started bodybuilding that I knew these essential work out tips. I would have seen muscular growth so much faster.
Work Out Tip #1: Warming Up
It’s critical when first arriving at the gym to do a light warm up movement. Not only is warming up great for your overall health but even better to make it a part of your overall workout plan. Many people like to stretch before starting their weight training.
This is not what they should do. When you first arrive it’s critical to get your blood and circulation moving in your entire body for 5 minutes. There are a number of ways to do this. My favorite way to get my heart pumping and get oxygen moving throughout my bloodstream is by walking on the treadmill on a high level incline for 5 minutes.
After that I do some quick yoga stretches that last for 3-4 minutes. I do a quick stretching routine that moves all my limbs, upper body, arms, shoulders legs, core etc.
Then when I do my first exercise I lift usually with no weight at all. One quick set of 30 just to get the muscles into the rhythm of lifting weights in that particular range of motion.
Now I understand that when lots of people start lifting weights (especially younger people) they don’t warm up at all. Trust me, they will learn the hard way.
I’ve been working out since 1996 with zero injuries. Trust me, it works.
Work Out Tip #2: Time In Between Sets
Many people do not understand how effective yet critical this component is. This is one of the most important work out tips you can learn today. If you do not time exactly the same amount of duration and intervals between sets, than there is no shortage of bad things that can happen.
Bring a watch. For one thing, if people are at the gym to socialize and talk, if they see that you’re not serious they will interrupt your lifting routine to talk, costing you dearly. It’s critical that you don’t let people rob you of your max gains. If you don’t train with a targeted number in your head for proper rest time, your strength will never reach its full potential.
This workout mistake alone can cause your ability to get bigger to really suffer as a result.
After 3 minutes your body is fully rested and your hormone levels have gone back to normal. Yet each person is different. I allow myself 90 seconds in between sets. You should still be out of breath but you should be able to breathe at a comfortable rate but your muscles should not be taxed. You’ll need to figure out what amount of time in between sets is right for you.
Too much time and it slows your momentum, progress and allows for people to interrupt your muscle gains.
Too little time and it doesn’t allow your muscles enough time to get much needed oxygen to the cells and muscle fibers and when you try to lift again you won’t be recovered enough. The balance point is up to you.
But the point is you must find what that balance point is and stick to it.
Work Out Tip #3: Track Everything
That which gets tracked, gets managed. If you do not know what your BMI is, your body fat percentage, your weight, your goals and how much you’re lifting currently, you’ll never gain muscle and lose weight. You’ll never have six pack abs. You’ll never have the body you desire.
I see people all the time wandering around the gym, not even knowing what their next exercise machine is. They spend half their time socializing. We have a name for these people, underachievers.
The people who make the biggest gains in their fitness routines are those that bring a log with them to the gym. They write down each exercise, the amount of weight lifted, the sets and reps for everything. These are the people crushing it in the gym.
Be one of those guys.
Work Out Tip #4: Don’t Count
This is a critical mistake I notice ALOT. I see bodybuilders in the gym, even weightlifters counting their reps. As if they need to reach that magic number. Now don’t get me wrong, having a number to shoot for is key. But don’t hold yourself to it. What do I mean?
Well you should always lift to complete muscle failure, that is total exhaustion. You shouldn’t be able to lift even one more time. If you can, you didn’t lift enough weight. Your goal is to get strong and big, therefore the resistance and tension needs to be sky high so you can gain muscle. I never said it was going to be easy.
Let’s say you want to do at least 10 reps. If you can perform 10 repetitions of bicep curls for example and on the 10th one you don’t need a spotter or it’s relatively easy, you’ve sold yourself short.
Don’t count. Keep lifting until complete exhaustion. Your body will tell you when to stop. What I do is I have my wife count for me and I do as many as I can until it burns so bad I can’t possibly do any more.
Your body may fail you but your mind should never fail you.
Then when you’re done have another person tell you how many you did. Then do two more sets and adjust the weights accordingly.
Work Out Tip #5: Drink Water
I see people all the time either not drinking enough water while working out or not drinking enough water during the day. The best time to drink water is about 20-30 minutes before meals. Never drink water with your food, it’s not good for your digestion.
Doing this diminishes the amount of hydrochloric acid in your stomach which limits your ability do digest food. Even if they have their eating and nutrition plan working by eating lots of protein, they’re not drinking enough water. The result is a lack of gains.
Add some lemon and a pinch of organic raw sea salt to your water when you take it to the gym. I also add MSM powder to it as well. This helps to detox and rebuild muscle tissue. Read the my diet page for more info. Whatever you do, don’t drink from the tap at the gym. You’re worth more than that.
Work Out Tip #6: Cardio
After your fitness workout it’s important to give your muscles a break but keep your heart rate up. If you do cardio keep it to no longer than 26 minutes. Also it’s best to perform your cardio workouts with varying degrees of intensity.
I like to simply walk on the treadmill with the incline up really high with ankle weights on (never run or jog with ankle weights) and 5 lb. dumbbells. Every 5 minutes I increase the speed and incline of the treadmill for only 1 minute, then I go back to simply walking.
You can also do any type of aerobic exercise you’d like. Simply get your heart rate steady and elevated for at least 15 minutes post workout. This is a work out tip I wish I had known when I first started bodybuilding back in 1996.
Work Out Tip #7: Change Up Your Workout Routines
For people wanting to continually make gains in the gym and completely change their bodies, you have to start changing your workout routines. Now each body will respond differently. It’s called muscle confusion.
As soon as your body is getting used to a certain workout routine, you change it and it has to react and adapt all over gain causing you to eliminate stagnation.
My body reacts nicely with a brand new workout every 4 weeks. Some workout programs do this every 3 weeks. You’ll just have to see how your body reacts and responds.
Work Out Tip #8: Wearing A Weight Belt
Many people don’t have proper form when lifting weights. When lifting heavy weights, it’s critical you keep the right form or else you run the risk of big time injury. You don’t want this. I’ve been fortunate to have never had an injury due to bodybuilding since 1996.
Concentrate more on your form and technique than the amount of weight you’re lifting. Focus on doing the best possible ______________ you can do. Try to win the award for the best form on each exercise.
There will be times when perhaps you’re lifting more than you should or something goes wrong and you screw up your form. This is where great workout equipment like the weight belt will help compensate and protect your back from serious injury. Now a weight belt will by no means correct bad form, but it will help stabilize your core and since you can’t forget you have it on (if it’s tight enough and on right), that alone will remind you to keep better form.
It’s sort of a mental reminder to keep better form.
So hopefully these work out tips will help you the next time you lift weights.
If you have any work out tips of your own, please share them below…
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