Etebooks offers strategic ideas for building muscles #muscle building exercises

 Etebooks Offers Your Weight in Muscle

You probably have heard that muscle weighs more than fat.  Many people notice a small weight gain when they begin lifting weights consistently.  As a general rule, if you lift weights 2 to 3 times a week, you can gain 1 pound of muscle per month for about 6 months.  After that, the rate of increase slows down as you start to reach your genetic potential.  For the same reason, you will make a lot of progress on weight progression at the beginning, but the longer you lift; your progression will lessen because you are reaching your genetic potential.   

Dont be alarmed at the extra pounds of weight from weight training because it is well worth the effort.  For every 3 pounds of muscle you build, research shows you increase your resting metabolic rate by about 7 percent.  For example, if your body burns 1,200 calories per day (not counting exercise or any other movement), you would burn an extra 84 calories per day with those 3 extra pounds of muscle.  

Many women have a difficult time outgrowing 2-3 pound dumbbell weights, because they are afraid that if they increase the weight they will bulk up.  If you are happy with the strength and appearance of your muscles, you can do a maintenance program with 5 pound weights.  However, if you want more strength, you could progress to 8 or 10 pound weights and still not bulk up.  Using heavier weights can increase muscle size, but its highly unlikely that youll get bulky. Women dont naturally have enough of the hormone, testosterone, required to build huge muscles, and even if you could bulk up, youd have to use significantly heavier weights.  

Another option to tone muscle is to increase your repetitions instead of increasing weight.  A high-repetition/light-weight program will develop muscle tone and increase strength and endurance without significantly increasing muscle size. 

I like to tell my clients to not just go through the motion when lifting weights.  I use the word squeeze a lot to describe the contraction of the muscle you should be focusing on.  Think about the muscle you are working and squeeze or contract it as you are lifting.  You will get a lot more benefit for your efforts if you squeeze the muscle on the lift rather than just raising and lowering the weight without focusing on the muscle. 

Your Weight in Muscle

https://amzn.to/2XzHTHX

Etebooks Offers Why You Should NOT Try to Isolate Muscle Groups When Weight Training

Working as a fitness professional, there is one type of question I get all the time that shows that many people are missing the big picture regarding the benefits of strength training. This popular question usually goes something like this:

“What exercise can I do to isolate my _______ (insert your muscle of choice  abs, quads, biceps, triceps, etc)?”

It doesn’t matter which muscle someone is asking about, they always seem to be asking how to ‘isolate’ it. My first response to this question is always  Why in the world would you want to isolate it?

The first thing I try to teach my clients is that the body does not work well in muscle isolation. Rather, it works better in movements along a kinetic chain; that is, large portions of the body assist other portions of the body in completing a complex movement. In fact, there really is no such thing as true muscle isolation. There is almost always a nearby muscle group that will assist in some way with whatever movement you are doing. However, this article compares attempting to ‘isolate’ body parts via single-joint exercises to the much more effective strategy of performing multi-joint complex movements.

When you attempt to ‘isolate’ muscles by performing single-joint exercises, you are actually creating a body that is non-functional and will be more prone to injury. Essentially, you are creating a body that is a compilation of body parts, instead of a powerful, functional unit that works together.

Now if you really want to end up hobbling around in a body bandaged up with joint problems, tendonitis, and excess body fat, then by all means, continue trying to ‘isolate’ body parts. On the other hand, if you would rather have a lean, muscular, injury-free, functional body that works as a complete powerful unit to perform complex movements (in athletics or even everyday tasks), then you need to shift your focus away from muscle isolation. Believe me, focusing on how well your body functions will give you the side effect of a body that looks even better than it would have if you focused on muscle isolation. For example, take a look at the physiques of any NFL running backs, wide receivers, or even world class sprinters. Trust me when I say that these guys pretty much NEVER train for muscle isolation (their strength coaches wouldnt be crazy enough to let them), yet they are absolutely ripped to shreds! Just look at guys like Maurice Green or Terrell Owens and tell me who wouldnt want a physique like those guys.

Another benefit to moving away from the ‘muscle isolation’ mindset to a more ‘complex movement’ mindset is that you will find it much easier to lose body fat. The reason is that by focusing more on multi-joint complex movements as opposed to single-joint muscle isolation, you not only burn a lot more calories during each workout, but you also increase your metabolic rate, and stimulate production of more fat burning and muscle building hormones like growth hormone and testosterone.

Let’s look at an example. The machine leg extension is a single joint exercise that works mainly the quadriceps, can potentially cause knee joint instability in the long run, and doesnt even burn that many calories. On the other hand, exercises like squats, lunges, step-ups, and deadlifts are all multi-joint complex movements that work hundreds of muscles in the body (including the quadriceps) as a functional unit, create more stable and strong joints in the long run (when done properly), and also burn massive quantities of calories compared to the single-joint exercises

Why You Should NOT Try to Isolate Muscle Groups When Weight Training

https://amzn.to/2XzHTHX

Etebooks Offers Why My Muscles Won’t Grow? Cortisol Stress Hormone Destroy Muscle Tissues

There are many reasons why your muscles wont grow or why your muscle growth is retarded. One main culprit for your muscle tissue to in a catabolic and not in an anabolic state is the stress hormone called cortisol. This stress hormone, cortisol, is produced by your body when you are under stressful situations. 

Yes, any type of stress, whether they are mental stress, physical stress or just emotional stress will trigger off an increased in the production of cortisol hormones. A high level of cortisol is always a bane for bodybuilders and that in itself, is creating more stress.

When you exercise or especially weightlifting body building exercises, you are placing a tremendous stress on your body. This in turn will cause the cortisol hormone in your body to rise to unacceptable level which may destroy your muscle tissues, bone density and causes weight gain especially abdominal fat. Ohhh…that abdominal fat that would not go away.

This hormone hates your muscles and wants you to grow fat. It takes away protein from the muscles. However to be fair to this hormone, the cortisol hormone has its positive functions. 

Cortisol is produced by the adrenal cortex and is commonly known as a stress hormone because the level of cortisol in your body rises sharply when you are under stress. This hormone plays an important role in your bodys metabolic function, it facilitates cardiovascular function, carbohydrate metabolism and controls inflammation. After all, it is a steroid hormone.

As more cortisol is being produced, your muscle tissue breaks down further since the amino acids from your muscle protein is being converted into glucose for energy. This hormone also blocks new muscle tissues from growing because it interferes in protein synthesis in your muscles.

How to lower cortisol level?

 Get enough sleep  Let your body recuperate from the days stress and let the body rebuild its wears and tears. A lack of sleep will put your body under further stress and thus increasing cortisol levels.

 Avoid stress  Take up yoga, read a book, take a break from whatever you are doing. Learn meditation and breathing techniques to reduce everyday stress. Take a week or so break from your exercise routine after 6-8 weeks of regular training. As your body learns how to relax, the level of cortisol hormone will fall correspondingly.

 Do not over train  Over training is a common issue amongst athletes of all types. This is especially so in bodybuilding and weight lifting. You are already damaging your muscles when you lift weights, dont let cortisol hormones rob your muscles of the much needed proteins and preventing muscle repair and growth.

Once your body and mind is free from stress, your cortisol production will be at a healthy level and you will once again see your muscles growing, provided that you are doing other things that are conducive to getting your muscles to grow.

Why My Muscles Won’t Grow? Cortisol Stress Hormone Destroy Muscle Tissues

https://amzn.to/2XzHTHX

What To Eat To Gain Weight And Build Muscle

Are you underweight and don’t know what to eat to gain weight? Millions of dollars are spent each year on magazines, books, and weight gain supplements. Gaining weight does not happen overnight and requires a commitment from you, but does not have to be hard if you work out and eat the proper foods in large enough amounts.

Numerous people are continually searching for the fastest ways to gain weight and don’t know what to eat. If you truly want to learn what to eat to gain weight and maintain it, a diet rich in calories and protein combined with a regular weight-training regimen will help you accomplish your goals.

If you are looking for the best weight gain supplement for you, take into account your diet and exercise routine before making a decision. Weight gain supplements can be very beneficial when used in conjunction with the proper diet and weight training routine.

The major part of your calorie and protein consumption should come from the foods you eat. Substituting a weight gain supplement for a meal is never a good idea. Your body needs the natural nutrients found in lean meats, poultry, fish, vegetables, and carbohydrates. Weight gain supplements can be used effectively as a weight gain aid when they are used to supplement your diet, not replace part of it.

A diet consisting of large amounts of protein, fats, carbs, and high in calories is essential to any weight gaining effort aided by weight gain supplements. Training with weights is necessary if you want to build new muscle tissue, and a weight gain supplement can be used after a workout, in between meals, or as a snack but should never replace a meal.

Protein is a major component of any diet designed to add body weight. Lean red meats, fish, poultry, and eggs are excellent sources of protein. Several small meals per day containing large amounts of protein are crucial to your weight gaining effort. The question of what to eat to gain weight is not as complicated as some believe.

Along with plenty of protein, fats and carbohydrates are a big part of any weight gaining diet. By avoiding sweets and empty calories, you will give your body the fuel it needs to add body mass and build new muscle tissue through the nutritious foods you eat at regular intervals during the day.

If you are finding it difficult to stick to a weight gain diet, try eating five or six smaller meals per day instead of three large ones. Keep in mind that a piece of chicken and a baked potato is always better than a shake, bar, or pill.

If you should decide to use a weight gain supplement, make certain you consume adequate amounts of food each day in addition to the supplement. Weight gain supplements can give you added protein and calories and may be especially helpful if used immediately following weight training. Always be certain your diet contains all the required elements and use weight gain supplements wisely.

Learning what to eat to gain weight is a relatively simple task. Increase your calorie intake and make certain you are eating healthy, protein rich foods. This combined with weight training and plenty of rest should allow your body to bulk up effectively and help you maintain your new body shape.

What To Eat To Gain Weight And Build Muscle

https://amzn.to/2XzHTHX

The Top 10 Muscle Building Facts You Need to Know!

1. Building muscle has a lot to do with genetics.

If your parents are naturally thin or have a small body frame then most likely you will have the same traits. This doesnt mean you have no chance of building a strong muscular body. It just means you are going to have to work hard.

2. Your metabolism has an effect on your size.

If you have difficulty gaining weight whether its fat or muscle, then you most likely have a fast metabolism. Your body is burning calories faster than you can consume them.

3. There is no universal weight training program that is going to get massive results for every individual person.

The best way to find a program that works for you is to find someone who had the same type of body as you before and start walking their walk. There are certainly standard exercises that will build muscle but there is more to building muscle than weight lifting.

4. More training doesnt mean more muscle.

This is one of the most difficult concepts for many to grasp. The purpose of weight training is to stimulate muscle growth thats all. Once that has been done, your muscles need to repair and new muscle needs to be built which only happens when you are resting.

5. Isolation exercises arent going to get you big fast.

The best exercises to put on the most amount of overall size are multi-muscle exercises. These are exercises that require more than one muscle or muscle group to get the job done. These lifts put the most amount of stress on your body. This is the stress that will shock your nervous system into releasing the greatest amount of muscle building hormones.

6. Free weights build muscle quicker.

Free weights are preferred over machines because they make your body work harder. They require greater concentration and allow the stimulation of supporting muscles. Machines are good for beginners to help with form and basic control, but limit the effectiveness of the exercise.

7. No Pain, No Gain.

Lifting the same weights over and over isnt going to get you big. In fact it will do the exact opposite.

To build muscle you need to go heavy. This stimulates Type IIB muscle fibers which cause the most amount of muscle gain. Lifting heavy is when your body fails after 4-8 reps.

8. Long training sessions are a NO-GO

The idea is to stimulate muscle, not hit it from every angle possible. This is only a concern for developed body builders looking to tone muscle. Long training sessions cause catabolic hormone levels to rise dramatically. Catabolic hormones are responsible for breaking down muscle tissue resulting in MUSCLE LOSS. Your weight training sessions should go for no longer than 60-75 minutes maximum.

9. You dont need aerobic activity to lose fat.

The time spent running or swimming is muscle building and recovery time lost. Building muscle is the fastest way to lose fat. Aerobic activities will help you lose fat but not so if you are on a high calorie mass diet for building muscle.

10. 3 square meals a day isnt going to help you build muscle.

Eating is an important part of muscle building. You need to eat more often and eat more protein. You should be eating roughly every 2.5 hours which is about 6 meals per day. Spreading your meals throughout the day will improve muscle assimilation, and make sure that your body always has the calories it needs for muscle building and repair.

The Top 10 Muscle Building Facts You Need to Know!

https://amzn.to/2XzHTHX

Etebooks Offers Muscle Gain Visualization Tips

We now move into an area that is far too neglected by mainstream health and fitness professionals, the mind.  Most books or courses concentrate on the physical side of weight gain and completely neglect the mental side of things. 

Visualization can play an important part in gaining weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  Gaining weight can be difficult for many people who dont use their minds to help in the process. 

Visualization is a powerful technique that can help you make lasting lifestyle changes. Just by “day dreaming”, you can significantly improve your chances in achieving your goals. 

Visualization is a great weight gain tool and its as simple as visualizing your body as you want your body to look like. This mental image of yourself is then transferred to your subconscious mind, which in turn starts to work on your body, shaping it in accordance with your mental image. 

This means that if you program your subconscious with a mental image of yourself as a more muscular person, through persistence your mind will accept this and aid your body to conform to this mental image.

Once your mind is programmed with the proper mental images, it will start to work in assisting you to gain weight. I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to believe in your visualization goals. You have to let go of your past failures and refuse to entertain any negative images that come into your mind. 

If you can visualize your body at its perfect proportions, the subconscious mind will work to make it become a reality. It will then begin to positively reinforce your body into aiding the metabolism and eating habits. 

Programming your mind into believing that you can gain weight, and to visualize yourself with your perfect proportions is of the greatest importance. 

Try to think of a different image of yourself, then let your subconscious do the work for you. If you think of your body as being out of shape all the time, then the subconscious mind will find ways to make it so. 

The sub-conscious looks after all of all your vital functions, it is the cause of all your good and bad habits, and also regulates the muscles of the body (The muscles are controlled by the sub-conscious) and body-fat composition on the body.

Try to visualize your body as lean and as muscular as you would like, and your mind will work on that image. The mind can be a great partner in gaining weight. 

Relaxation

Relaxation the best way to reach the sub-conscious and will slow down the mind, turn off the exterior world so as to tune in to one’s inner self. The best times for these sessions are in the morning and late at night right, just before going to sleep. 

Perform two sessions, one in the afternoon (Primary) and the other before going to sleep (Secondary) but once a day is quite sufficient. Sessions usually last 20 minutes, which isn’t time consuming especially when taking in the benefits received. 

It has been stated that one of these sessions is equivalent to 2 hours of deep sleep and upon waking you will feel revitalized and full of energy. Believe me instead of worrying about time constraints; you will be looking forward to the next session. 

When you begin your relaxation sessions, make sure you won’t be disturbed – lock the door, take the phone off the hook and loosen all clothing. Now find a comfortable position, whether it is lying down or sitting in a comfortable chair. 

Sitting may be preferable as you may fall asleep if you become too comfortable. You want to be conscious and not asleep in order to tap into your sub-conscious mind. 

Try to exhale all the air from your lungs completely and then breathing in through the nose.  Take ten seconds to fill the lungs with air (not to capacity, but comfortable) hold for ten seconds and then exhale slowly through the nose for another ten seconds.  

Each one of these breathing cycles should last for 30 seconds, complete five cycles and after each cycle you will be feeling more and more relaxed.  

Having reaching this calm relaxed state, start your visualizations.  Put together images that power your emotions. Make them alive and colourful. Make the scenes as real as possible and imagine yourself as muscular and toned as possible. 

Picture yourself ten weeks from now on the beach, walking briskly and confidently to your favourite spot, your breathing is normal and relaxed. You smile to yourself; you could keep walking like this for miles without feeling fatigued. 

You lay your towel out and begin to take your clothes off revealing a muscular, toned, well conditioned body. You have just bought a brand new swimming suit which just weeks before would have been lying in your closet waiting to be used. 

Glancing around you notice the beach is busy, you catch the eye of someone of the opposite sex, they smile at you and you smile back. You walk confidently to the water and swim a couple of hundred yards with no problem or fatigue. 

Or try this:

Visualize your family and friends complimenting you about how good your body looks. Try to view the scene as it is happening this instant – in the present, not in the future. 

Using these visualizations you can construct in your mind any scene that desire. See yourself exercising, socializing, in the company of friends. Try and hear people complimenting you about your new muscular body, and watch their admiring glances. Make the mental image as real as possible. 

 Remember set a goal for your ideal weight

 You must want to gain weight

 Visualize yourself at your ideal weight

 Use positive images at every opportunity 

Practice these sessions on a daily basis and over a period of ten weeks youll be on your way to become more fulfilled, happier and muscular.

Muscle Gain Visualization Tips

https://amzn.to/2XzHTHX

Etebooks Offers Know Your Muscle Building Exercises – The Back

Every bodybuilder and weight trainer will have his or her favorite exercises for each body part. That’s how it should be – as you progress through the various stages of learning you’ll understand what works best for you. It is useful, however, to take stock of your progress every so often and carry out an analysis of where you are and what changes, if any, are needed to move onwards and upwards.

Part of this analysis should include an assessment of the core exercises that make up your bodybuilding training program. In this article we’ll look at the back exercises that have proven their worth to serious bodybuilders for many years. Where appropriate a series of exercises suitable for achieving pre-exhaustion will be presented. All exercises should be performed to failure with one set of six to eight reps.

1. Lat machine pulldowns – this exercise has been chosen because it allows you to isolate the lats and rest the biceps for the compound exercise to follow.

– Take a shoulder width grip.

– Pull arms towards the thighs keeping the arms straight.

– Pause.

– Return the bar slowly to the starting position.

2. Pulldowns – you can move straight on to this exercise if you are sufficiently experienced. Using the same machine, take an under hand grip because this will make better use of biceps strength thus maximizing the effects of the workout.

– Take a shoulder width grip.

– Pull bar to the chest area.

– Pause.

– Return the bar slowly to the starting position.

Know Your Muscle Building Exercises – The Back

https://amzn.to/2XzHTHX