Building muscle is tricky. It should be remembered that the body must develop harmoniously. Learn about five strategies to achieve the desired result. Almost all athletes want a figure similar to Arnie or other bodybuilding stars. However, not many people succeed. In many ways, genetics is "to blame" here. However, everyone can make continuous progress using the 5 strategies described below.
Strategy # 1: Increase Duration of Muscle Exercise
The duration of the load on the muscles should mean the time during which the muscles are in a state of tension when performing a movement. It is not so important what the applied force is: concentric, isometric or eccentric, it is important that the muscles are tense.
It should be noted that for building muscle mass, not the time of tension itself is of particular importance, but a period of prolonged tension, accompanied by compression of the blood vessels. When the muscles contract, the vessels are compressed until they are completely blocked, which restricts the flow of blood to the tissues. An example is a watering hose. The longer this time, the longer the blood does not flow to the tissues. At the same time, the heart continues to pump blood and after the load is removed, the blood stream rushes to the muscle tissues. This effect is called pumping or, according to scientific terminology, hyperemic supercompensation. Due to the large flow of blood in the tissues, the pressure drops sharply.
For athletes, it is most important that the blood arriving after the release of the effort exerts the maximum possible pressure on the hard shell of the muscle - the fascia. It should be noted that the fascia is difficult to stretch, but due to the pressure created inside the tissues, it still stretches. For this reason, it is better to make quick movements, choosing such working weights that will allow you to complete the set within 45 seconds. For a shorter period of time, not enough blood may accumulate to have the desired effect on the fascia.
Strategy # 2: Doing a lot of work
The human body has fantastic adaptability. The body is doing everything possible to quickly adapt to external physical stress. This fact should also be attributed to high-volume training sessions.
Workout volume assumes total reps and sets. In other words, this is the amount of work that the muscles performed during the session. The higher the training volume, the more energy the body needs. The muscles use glycogen in the muscle tissue to generate energy. Assuming that the athlete performs pectoral movements for 12 reps to stretch the fascia. As a result, the muscles will use up more glycogen stores for 10 sets of 12 reps than for two sets with the same 12 reps. It is important to remember that glycogen is only used up by the working muscles.
When glycogen stores are depleted, the body begins to quickly restore them in order to be ready for such loads in the future. The process in which the content of glycogen in muscle tissues increases for a short time can be called supercompensation of glycogen. This allows the body to make a larger supply of this substance. With frequent use of this method, the volume of glycogen will increase, which can be used in the future.
Of course, after a couple of high-volume workouts, the result will not be noticeable, but in the long run it will not keep you waiting.
Strategy # 3: Optimizing rest breaks between sets
This, one of 5 strategies you'll learn today, also increases blood flow to muscle tissue. For example, an athlete performs a killer set and feels the muscles bulge. This should be followed by a rest pause so that the body has time to recover. To achieve the goals in the following approach, this method is very useful.
However, to maintain intramuscular pressure, the three-minute pause is very long. This time is enough for the blood to leave the muscles. For maximum stretching of the fascia, it is necessary that the muscles be filled with blood for the longest possible period of time.
Of course, this strategy has both advantages and disadvantages. When the next approach is taken very early, it will not be completed with full dedication. It is known that it takes a certain amount of time to remove work products from muscle tissue. At the same time, a long pause between sets will reduce intramuscular pressure. You need to learn to hear your own body and try to catch the moment when the muscles cease to be swollen from the blood flow. This will optimize your rest time. If you do not want to concentrate on sensations, then the pause between sets should be from 30 to 60 seconds. The lighter the exercise, the shorter the pause should be.
Strategy # 4: Stretching Blood-Filled Muscles
Athletes should remember that stretching is beneficial at all times. Unfortunately, many athletes underestimate this way of gaining muscle mass. Stretching can release the compression of the tissues by the fascia or keep them stretched for a longer period of time. This will stretch the fascia as well.
To increase the tensile pressure on the muscle shell, stretch exercises should be performed at a time when the tissues are maximally filled with blood. Simply put, this should be done within 30 seconds after completing the approach. In this case, they should be kept in this state (stretched) for at least one minute.
Strategy # 5: Isolating Loose Muscles
Using this strategy will increase muscle volume by concentrating the load on the target muscle. The essence of the strategy is to subject the muscles to non-standard loads, and then allow them to adapt to them. For the development of lagging muscles, you should make sure that the main load is applied to them. For example, when performing a bench press in a lying position, the muscles of the chest should work more. If most of the load falls on the triceps, then it is he who will develop more actively.
In this case, you should tire the muscles of the pectoral group with isolation exercises before doing the bench press. It should be remembered that this will have to reduce the working weight, which may not please every athlete. But when doing the bench press, it is the pectoral muscles that will do most of the work.
You can use the above 5 strategies to get the most out of your body.
Check out the training rules for muscle growth in this video:
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