How To Build Muscle: Part 2
Hello muscle builders. Welcome to “How to build muscle part 2″. This is the second and arguably the most important phase of muscle building, because this is the “Hypertrophy” or “Growth phase”. The human body works on the S.A.I.D. principle, “Specific Adaptation to Implied Demand”. it means, that your body will get used to what you put it through. For instance, if you train a particular part of your body say only your arms, they will recruit more muscle fibers {see how to build muscle: part 1} than any other parts of your body. Aside from looking funny, you will have trained your arms to adapt to the demand you placed on them, and they will no longer respond to training, if you continue to do the same routine day in & out, that is why you MUST progress! So let’s begin phase 2.
If you have followed the instruction given in “How To Build Muscle: Part 1″ and are able to do 3 sets of at least 15 repetitions of 8 to 10 exercises, and able to hold a conversation while doing so, then you are prepared to move on, or progress.
In this phase you will increase the resistance or weight to about 80%- 85% of your maximum ability. This will force your muscles to adapt to the new demands. Perform 8 to no more than 12 repetitions with 30-90 seconds rest between sets. For best results, start off with 8 repetitions, doing 8 to 10 exercises. If you are truly performing at 80%-85% you shouldn’t be able to do 12 right away. When you are successfully able to perform 2 workouts back to back {all muscle groups} it is time to progress, DO NOT ADD MORE WEIGHT. Instead, add to more repetitions! Then repeat the previous step. When you get to 12 reps & successfully complete 2 back to back workouts {all muscle groups} add 2 to 5lbs and start from the beginning with 8 reps, and repeat the cycle.
Now let’s talk about a critical aspect of muscle growth. Stretching! Most of us overlook the importance of stretching, especially men! It seems like a waste of time for sure, however.. stretching aids in many aspects of muscle building & overall health. For our purposes stretching will help increase the cross sectional area of the muscle, allowing more muscle fiber to be recruited to the area, making the muscle bigger! So you see, as much of a hassle it seems to be, it is worth the extra 5 minutes to do it!
So there you have it! Phase 2 of muscle building. Keep in mind, this is part of a formula! You will still have to adhere to it, if you want to gain muscle mass, so be sure to check back soon to learn more about building muscle.
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