Category — Mass

A few years ago I hit a rut in my workouts. I wasn’t seeing any considerable gains and I was stuck in the same routines. Then I called my brother, a personal trainer in New Jersey, and he suggested I try the pyramid technique for my large muscle groups (chest, arms, back). It totally transformed how I workout.

The pyramid technique allows you to get a maximum amount of reps through multiple sets and still allows you to finish off with a “failure set” so you get a major “pump” with each exercise.

For instance, let’s say you start off with dumbell flys for your chest. You’ll start off with a weight that allows you to do 12-15 reps comfortably. Then you slightly increase the weight and do 10-12 reps for your 2nd set. Then for your 3rd set you increase the weight a bit more and do 8-10 reps. For the 4th set you increase again and complete 6-8 reps. Then, for the 5th and final set you go back up to the 1st set weight and drop it down slightly and pump out 20-25 reps (or until failure).

That’s the technique in a nutshell. There are many variations and expert weight lifters can do 6 or 7 sets if they wish. Just make sure you finish off with a high rep set on a lighter weight than the 1st set.

When you’re focused on hitting the gym and pumping some serious iron that last thing you’re usually worried about it stretching your muscles. Well, you might want to think twice about that for your next workout.

The science of muscle building really revolves around the small tissue strands that make up your muscles called fascicle. When a muscle contracts, the fasciciles constrict. The more you workout the more the muscle fibers breakdown. Stretching helps to speed up the recovery process from this breakdown by realigning those fibers.

Simply put, stretching is good for you and your muscles! It will expediate recovery after a strenuous workout and decrease lactic acid.  In the end you’re going to reap the benefits by allowing yourself to workout longer and recover more quickly from soreness.

Tip: Make stretching a part of your workout (like a bicep curl or lateral pulldown). If you keep a log of your exercises make sure you include stretching before and after your regimen. If you usually do cardio after the exercises then stretch afterwards.

According to Men’s Fitness magazine (April 2008, page 18) it’s safe to train to failure as long as your training volume is low. That is, you’re not doing more than 12 sets per workout.

For those of you who are new to the world of muscle building, training to failure is when you get to the point where you cannot complete another repitition of a particular exercise without sacrificing good form.

If you’re doing more than 12 sets per workout you are risking serious damage or injury. So, although training to failure can get those muscles pumping you need to exercise caution and make sure you’re not putting yourself at risk for injury.

Hitting plateaus can be frustrating, especially when it seems like you’re not making anymore gains. For me, my shoulders have always been an area that has needed constant “shocking” and exercise variation. We’ve all done military presses and shoulder rows, but MensHealth.com has come up with a variation on the pushup that will help you breakthrough those stalemates and experience serious shoulder gains.

It’s called a jackknife pushup and it works by training your chest and shoulders while maintaining core stabilization throughout. It trains each shoulder individually which also helps to eliminate any imbalances you may have.

They also offer a modified version of the exercise so you can slowly work your way to mastering it.

Creatine has been used for years by athletes and bodybuilders alike in an attempt to gain muscle mass and strength. It’s one of the most time tested and widely approved supplements on the market today. Despite its success, there’s always been a certain negativety that has come with creatine. Mostly due to the fact that it promotes dehydration and muscle cramping.

However, a new type of creatine called Kre-Alkalyn is gaining more popularity. It’s a “buffered” type of creatine that does not convert into creatinine prior to reaching skeletal muscle tissue. What this means is that it doesn’t carry any of the side effects of traditional creatine due to having higher PH levels. This allows for better abosorbtion and therefore less creatine is needed to achieve the desired effect.

Bodybuilding.com provides answers to some FAQs regarding Kre-Alkalyn.

Ian Lee at AskMen.com outlines 10 simple rules for putting on muscle mass. He stresses the importance of using free weights as opposed to machines and experimenting with different exercises and combinations.

Some people want to make bodybuilding into rocket science when it’s really just plain science. The main factor in any weightlifting regimine is variation. If you can “keep things interesting” for your muscles so to speak then you’re going to see growth.

Always change your routines up to shock your muscles so they never get comfortable with any single exercise. That’s when you’ll experience the most growth.