Research has demonstrated time and time again the critical importance of water consumption in athletes, bodybuilders and even the average human-being. For bodybuilders, the rule of thumb is that in a state of just 2% dehydration, you’ll experience a drop of 10% in anaerobic strength.
That translates to a waste of 15, 20 or even 25 pounds on your bench press, simply by not getting your daily amount of water. Not to mention, water has an incredibly large effect on the entire body.
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The only six-pack you’ll see will be the one in your cooler if you don’t also strip the body fat around your midsection. We’d love to give you a magical strategy to strip body fat that doesn’t involve straight cardio, but if you’re pinching an inch or more, there really is no shortcut.
However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t shortcuts, when it comes to cardio itself.
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Overtraining is a huge part of why most novice lifters don’t see results. When you work your muscles too often for them to heal, the result is zero growth and perhaps even muscle loss in some extreme cases. Training the same body part everyday will absolutely lead to overtraining.
A body part worked properly – as in worked to complete muscular failure, with as many muscle fibers as physiologically possible recruited – will take 5 – 10 days to completely heal and grow. You also have to take into account that lifting in general puts a large strain on your central nervous system to recover.
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When you’re lifting a body part, it just isn’t necessary to do 20 or even 30 sets per body part, as many so-called experts would have you believe. This only wastes time and can even lead to overtraining.
In fact, research has shown that it’s possible to completely fatigue a muscle in only one set, granted that the set taxes the muscle completely. You need to engage as many muscle fibers as possible and take them to the point of ischemic rigor.
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The number of sets and reps you do in a workout is referred to as the “volume”. If you’re training with too low of a volume, your body won’t need to adapt, but then again, if it’s too high, you risk overtraining and actually losing muscle mass.
The following is a breakdown of recommended sets and reps, depending on what you’re after. It’s also a good idea to switch up your workouts every few months or so, to incorporate muscle confusion into your muscle building strategies, so switching between them is a great idea to keep your workouts fresh.
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Your calves are one muscle group that responds best to high volume and frequency when it comes to reps and sets. If you’ve been hitting your calves once a week, a good idea would be to bump it up to twice a week, doing both high and low reps, in each workout. Finish both workouts with 10 – 20 minutes of jumping rope.
A common training mistake when lifting calves is bouncing at the bottom of a calf raise, instead, take two seconds to lower your heels and then pause in the fully stretched position for at least two seconds.
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In the past two decades proteins have become much safer and convenient. Their also quite a bit tastier too. High protein foods and supplements have infiltrated the internet, store shelves and daily regimens of many athletes, all for good reason.
Tons of research shows that eating protein helps build muscle and in some cases, burns fat too. As the scientific story unfolds, its becoming increasingly clear that different proteins have different benefits, so try to work in as many different types as you can. To help you get aquainted, the varieties of protein are mapped out for you below:
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Staying on track and being consistent are two major facts in achieving your goals when it comes to building mass.
* Keeping A Training Log – Only by utilizing a bodybuilding diary can you objectively and accurately assess your progress, isolate trouble spots and devise actual solutions to your problems.
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Most people that lift are looking to add as much size as possible, while staying as lean as possible. With the following tips and suggestions, both should be accomplished faster then ever before. Make sure to take everything and give it a chance. There are many different strategies when it comes to building mass, but the following are some of the best.
#1: Ab Training: Focus on quality, not quantity
You often hear about fit guys performing 1,000 crunches in a session, but you don’t hear professional bodybuilders say that. Why? One thousand crunches is a cardio workout. It’ll burn a lot of calories (fairly inefficiently), but it won’t leave behind a ripped sixer.
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Let’s face it, we all love to see results. Whether it be adding on a few pounds of muscle, dropping a few pounds of fat or busting through and hitting a few new personal bests. The following tips are here to help you keep on adding the most muscle weight as possible.
Make sure to check them all out and maybe even throw a few of the strategies together. Enjoy!
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