Add Intensity To Your Muscle Building Workout

One of the biggest difficulties facing bodybuilders is how can they be sure that all muscle fibers have been recruited and exhausted during a given exercise and it is only by achieving this that muscle gains can be maximised.

The simple answer is, you have work beyond failure and experience a higher level of training intensity than before. This also ensures that workouts remain challenging and continue to engender progress over time thus reducing the likelihood of regression.

But how do you go about intensifying your training? Fortunately there is a tried and tested path to follow as outlined below:

1. Increase resistance - increasing the weight lifted in meaningful increments ensures the muscle is pushed beyond its previous point of failure thus maintaining the muscle building process. Aim to increase the weight when you reach six to eight reps and failure does not occur.

2. Change the exercise - to achieve maximal gains all muscle fibers in a body part must be trained. Changing the angle (e.g to incline bench press) or introducing a new exercise will stimulate growth.

3. Reduce rest intervals - giving the muscles less time to recover before exposing them to further work has the effect of increasing intensity.

4. Pre-exhaustion - when an exercise involves two or more muscles the weakest will prevent you from working the primary muscle to failure. The answer is to first isolate and tire the primary muscle before immediately moving to another exercise that works the set of muscles to failure.

5. Introduce supersets - this involves performing two exercises for the same muscle group without a rest interval. This means you have to utilize different muscle fibers which stimulate greater growth.

6. Use partial reps - at the point of failure you will not be able to complete the full range of movement for a given exercise. Completing a partial rep that uses only a segment of the lift will still work your muscles beyond the point of failure. This technique is especially useful to advanced bodybuilders as it allows them to increase intensity without adding extra routines that could cause overtraining.

7. Use isometric contractions - this involves holding the weight still at the point of failure to stimulate a static contraction in the muscle.

8. Employ forced reps - this involves completing one or more final reps after the point of failure has been reached. You will need the assistance of an experienced helper to attempt this.

Once you have added these techniques to your training regimen you'll know you've done your best to maximize muscle growth.

Richard Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this article.

How to Avoid Losing Muscle As You Age
U.S. News & World Report, DC - Sep 4, 2008
... which may protect them—but because obesity carries its own health risks, it's better to be leaner and build up muscle through exercise. ...

Best Syndication
8 Easy Tips to Pack on Muscle
Best Syndication, CA - Aug 28, 2008
Your body is not going to build muscle per will; you have to force it to grow by subjecting it to increased levels of stress that it is not accustomed to. ...

Chocolate Milk Helps Student-Athletes Rebound On and Off the Court
MarketWatch - Sep 4, 2008
Milk contains nine essential nutrients including calcium and vitamin D to maintain bone strength and high-quality protein that helps build muscle when ...

Design Aid To Build Capacity Of Recipients
Graphic Online, Ghana - 9 hours ago
The President, Mr JA Kufuor, has called on the donor community to design their aid packages to build the capacity of recipient countries so that they can ...

INTERVIEW-GTx says muscle drug holds promise
Forbes, NY - Sep 2, 2008
By Ransdell Pierson NEW YORK (Reuters) - The chief executive of GTx Inc told Reuters Tuesday the company's experimental Ostarine medicine to build muscle ...

Build Muscle Faster
Corsavoo.com, France - Aug 19, 2008
If you follow a proven training plan, do the proper exercises and stick to a healthy diet and lifestyle, you will noticeably lose weight and build muscle ...

China Daily
Feeding your body the Olympian way
China Daily, China - Sep 2, 2008
Needs and goals vary with sports-athletes may want to reduce body fat, improve energy levels, build muscle or keep immune systems healthy; all of this can ...

Bodybuilding Workouts - Muscle Building Workouts
Corsavoo.com, France - Aug 27, 2008
As a man, I typically look for exercises that will help me build muscle mass, rather than burn calories. It basically all comes down to your body type and ...
An Overview Of The Components of Physical Fitness Corsavoo.com
all 2 news articles

Kettlebell blaster
WHOI, IL - 2 hours ago
Researchers estimate we lose about a half pound of muscle every year. The best way to fight that loss, or to build stronger muscles, is through strength ...

Volvo Ocean Race: Telefonica crews in training for the challenge
BYM News (press release), Spain - Sep 2, 2008
The crews must make the most of the stops to gain back a few of the kilos lost on the way, and must also build muscle mass and catch up on sleep. ...

Wind Chimes and more...

Windchimes for great gifts!

Dorian Yates Secret: What Lean People Are Doing To Get That Way