Advertising

Don't Murder Your Muscle Gains

| Print |

E-mail

Written by Ricardo Daryans

Monday, 19 May 2008

by RicardoDaryans

A guy in the gym finishes a hard, focused set of barbell squats and re-racks the weight. His legs are wobbly, his heart is racing and he feels light headed as he takes a big swig from his water bottle. He looks down at his watch and presses the start button to begin counting down backwards from 2 minutes.

Somebody told him that 2 minutes is the ideal rest time between sets in the gym, and he wants to get it exact. Every time the watch beeps, he'll be back in the squat rack to perform another set. He stands up tall and paces around trying to catch his breath in preparation for his next battle.

Time is up. His still feel weak and his heart is still beating a lot, he doesn't feel completely ok, but the watch beeped and that means his has to go back and perform another set, it does'nt matter how he feels.

So, he starts the next set. His legs are burning and he wishes that he could have had more time to prepare for this set. He starts the set, but just with a mediocre effort. He finishes the set. Again, he push the button. He does'nt know but, just as a lot of guys in another gyms, he is making a big mistake.

Working out in this way is really far from efficiency. His effort level is far less than his maximum potential. If he doesn't change the way he trains, he will sacrifice a great ammount of muscle growth.

Muscles respond to stress, and the only truly stressful reps that actually trigger your body's muscle building mechanisms are those at the end of each set when the body is on the brink of muscular failure.

It's quite simple: it's about lifting as much weight for the greatest number of reps that you possibly can. And repeat, and repeat, and repeat...

So, every time you are going to start a new set you have to do it when you are at your maximum. If you don't do it so, you sacrifice the amount of muscle you can build. In other words, give your body enough rest between sets in order to achieve the best results.

So, return to your exercise set when you feel you are again at 100% of your strenght capacity. When will it be? When your body tell you so, listen to it an you will know when it is time to the next set.

The set rest period theory is also highly flawed because it does not take into account the fact that certain exercises tax the body much more heavily than others and therefore require more rest between them.

About the Author:

Stop wasting your time, effort and money on B.S. "Miracle Programs" that don't deliver results! Learn the honest truth revealed by a genuine muscle-building expert and finally start receving the gains YOU deserve

web hosting company

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.