Thursday, April 17, 2008 

Make Muscle Now - But, Here Are 4 Mistakes You Must Avoid

Maybe youre the proverbial hard gainer and have been working out for years to make muscle. On the other hand, you may have just started trying to build a massive physique. Either way, youre trying to achieve the same thing; you want to make muscle grow to the point youre sporting massively ripped quads, huge arms, and shoulders thatll fill an open barn door. Youve seen pictures. You know it can be done. Hell, maybe youve even seen guys in your gym that are hoisting the tonnage youd like to.

Its no secret. Your muscles respond to overload using ancient, primeval forces that literally force them to grow. Its an adaptive response that your body uses to ensure survival. If its confronted with something it cant handle, it responds by increasing muscle size and strength in an attempt to overcome adversity. The key to making muscle is to make your body face the challenges that will initiate these internal changes. The most effective way to accomplish this is to incorporate some form of resistance training.

You cant just go about it willy nilly, however. Sure, at the beginning, almost anything you do will be almost guaranteed to produce some results. Early on, you can get away with almost anything and still make impressive gains. Why start that way though? There are certainly some mistakes you need to avoid, lest you keep yourself from making the muscle you should be. If you want to maximize your results, and your muscle mass, here are some things to avoid.

1 Overtraining. This is probably the most common training error for those attempting to build muscle. Its understandable, really. People get excited and want to pack on as much rock hard mass as possible. Unfortunately, more isnt better when it comes to weight training. Like anything else, balance is essential. Youve got to balance your desire to make muscle with your bodys ability to recover. The recovery period is when you actually make your muscles grow. If you train too hard, youll not give your body the time it needs to recover and get stronger.

2 Not enough sleep You dont gain mass when youre training. No, your muscles actually grow when youre sleeping. Thats when recovery takes place and you start making progress. Insufficient sleep will definitely stymie your efforts to make muscle. Try to get at least 7 hours a night if possible. If youre older, you may need even more.

3 Concentrating too much on too few body parts. When it comes to making muscle, youve got to spread the wealth. Ever had a friend who was built like a kite? A huge upper body with beanpole legs is a common look among those who train this way. Yeah, they may have a great set of guns, but if their back and legs have been neglected, it can take months or years to bring everything back so they have symmetrical muscle development. Dont overemphasize certain body parts at the expense of others. Youll regret it later, if you ever figure it out. If you dont figure it out, youll be the butt of many jokes behind your back.

4 Poor nutrition Its like this. You cant eat like crap and expect to maximize your muscular gains. Not only is poor nutrition bad for your overall health, you can expect to languish in obscurity if your subject your body to the abuse the wrong diet. You dont need to actually go on a diet, and you dont need to overload on expensive supplements either, although you may benefit from a few well selected supplements. You need enough protein to feed those muscles youre trying to build. If youre training hard for muscular gains, youll need more than if you are running a marathon or sitting on your fat behind. You also need plenty of carbs to fuel those brutal workouts. Make sure youre using good, complex carbs for energy, not processed sugars and flour products. Dont cut the fat altogether, either. You need it for things such as proper brain function. In addition, you can trick the body into storing fat by eliminating too much fat from your diet.

Avoiding these four mistakes, combined with the correct training program will make muscle like you never dreamed possible. Letting even one of these creep in however, can halt your progress in its tracks.

If you want to have those huge, ripped muscles in less than 24 minutes a day, you should see this program for exactly how to do it. Labored for years without the muscle building success you deserve? Many have suffered the same fate. There's no reason you should. See the Make Muscle guide for more info.

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