There are some that believe that if they start lifting weights, they'll get huge. I don't know how many women that I've heard say they don't want to be big and muscular. It doesn't quite work that way. The main purpose of doing anaerobic workouts, or resistance training is to build lean body mass.
It's a simple fact that the more lean body mass or muscle that you have, the higher your metabolism. Of course, the higher your metabolism, the more calories that you burn while at rest. The less lean body mass that you have, the slower your metabolism and the less number of calories that you burn while at rest.
For those with a decent amount of lean body mass, a slight change in their diet and exercise habits will reap big rewards. Well, as is our regular, let's get started with the scoop.
First of all, we need to clear up a couple of things. When it comes to muscle, we must understand something about what it requires for energy. We're going to step off of the exercise kick for a second because this is a very important issue to the person that's trying to build lean body mass. One must understand that your muscle's main and preferred source of energy is carbohydrates. Specifically, glycogen, the muscles stored form of sugar.
This is why it's important to have a balanced diet and not to rely solely on proteins for your energy sources. Proteins are good for building muscle, but carbohydrates are great for powering those muscles. So, let's not neglect to consume some good complex carbs or fiber.
There are many, many different resistance training workouts to choose from. High rep, low weight. Low weight, high rep. Total failure. Push pull. Supersets. It's all pretty crazy, isn't it? You may ask yourself, what should I do? How many days should I work out? I don't have much time.
Well, the truth is that any type of resistance training in any form will help you build lean body mass. That's why the fitness magazines are filled with so many different workout plans. That's why you get so much advice from everyone. It is also why those who are giving you all of this advice appear to be in great physical condition. Again, this is because any resistance training is going to help you build lean body mass and make some progress.
Now, that being said, one must understand that proper form and rest is crucial to the success of your resistance training regimen. Improper form and lack of proper rest can lead to injuries, thus, stopping your fitness program in its tracks. In regards to proper exercise and rest, we will discuss a couple of workout plans that will get you started. We'll discuss the first workout plan now and the next workout plan next issue.
Well, the truth is that any type of resistance training in any form will help you build lean body mass.
The first workout will be a three day workout. I understand that everyone can't workout five days a week. Well, a decent three day a week workout will do just fine. As far as how many sets and reps, we will be doing three sets of 10 repetitions.
The first set is always a warm-up set with just enough weight to warm the muscles up. You should be able to do this set fairly easy.
The second two sets should be done with heavier weight. Enough weight so that you would only be able to do, at the most, one more repetition. For the first day you can do chest and triceps. Conduct around two exercises per body-part. A suggestion would be to do the major exercises for all of these exercises. Exercises such as tri-cep extensions, also known as skull crushers or nose breakers and tri-cep kick backs or pulldowns if you have a gym will do. As far as chest goes, of course, bench press or dumb bell presses (flat and incline) will do.
The second day will be back and biceps. Again, conducting the main exercises for this will be good enough. For back, latissimus pull-downs (lat pull-downs) and single arm dumbbell rows or barbell rows will suffice. Further, for biceps, do barbell and dumbbell curls. They will be enough to build some lean body mass.
Finally, we can go to the third day. For day number three, we will be exercising our legs, shoulders and abdominals. For shoulders, let's start with barbell or dumbbell military presses and lateral raises. To build those powerful legs, squats or leg presses and leg extensions. Last, but definitely not least, for abdominals you can do crunches. Instead of doing three sets of 10 repetitions, do 3 sets of 30 reps. When conducting crunches, lie on your back and make a fist. Grab your fist with the other hand and place it under your chin. This will keep you from straining your neck while conducting your doing crunches. Make sure that you squeeze your abdominals as tight as possible. This should help you when you're "starting from the beginning."
The next couple of issues we'll discuss a couple of different resistance training workouts. Hopefully, this helps you out. Hopefully, this will help you start to build that crucial lean body mass.
Well, that's the scoop from Semper Fitness. Until next time, stay pumped, stay motivated, and OO-RAH!
