Frequently asked Bodybuilding Questions
Will I Get Big Bulky Muscles If I Strength Train
It is possible to get big bulky muscles when you strength train, and when girls and boys are 12 to 14 years old they have similar strength levels. When males hit puberty they start to produce testosterone which are 10 to 30 times higher than that found in females. This makes it far easier for men to bulk up than women. Some women do possess high levels of testosterone, though this is not the norm. Nowadays sex is only part of the equation. Genetics and illegal drugs make up the other part of the equation. A lot of the bulked up males and females you see will be using illegal drugs such as steroids to get their size. This is not only illegal but has many health implications. So in short females will not really bulk up when doing weights unless they have rare genetics that make this possible. Men will bulk up more than women but again this will come down to genetics as well.
Is It Easier For Some People To Build Muscle And Get Stronger.
Yes, some people are genetically blessed in this department and will develop muscle and strength much faster than some other people. It may seem unfair but that is life. I always try and encourage clients to work with their genetics and look at what gains they have personally made as opposed to what other people are achieving.
How Long Before I See Results
It has been proven that men and women can more than double their strength in just two months. Even people over 80 years old. When people start training they will often see immediate changes in balance, coordination and strength. It is argued that some of the improvements you see will be as a result of improving your technique, and not just a result of strength gains. During the first few weeks of weight training, the central nervous system gets woken up as a result of the demand to lift weights. Physical changes in the muscle will start to be apparent after 6 weeks. This term is called hypertrophy and is when the muscle increases in size. So the great news is that you will get huge benefits at the start of a weights program as opposed to someone who has lifted weights for years. The long term weight lifter will see fewer gains in the same time frame because the body becomes very good at adapting to the demand of lifting weights.
How Do I Get Muscle Definition
Genetics is the key player here. So being able to choose your parents would be a huge advantage. However to help getting 'cut' or 'ripped' you can focus on your diet to lose fat and strength train.
Do My Muscles Turn To Fat if I Stop Weight Training
No, this is a myth. Fat looks very different under the microscope compared to muscle and simply put, they are two different things. If you stop weight training then the muscle will shrink, and if you keep eating a high calorie diet then you will put on weight and increase your body fat content.
Do I Have To Spend Hours Weight Training To Get Results
Nowadays the method behind weight training is not quantity training but intelligent training. You will get results from doing just 20 minutes of weight training twice a week. You will obviously get more results if you focus on a focused weight training regime that allows you to train up to 6 times per week, and micro manage your diet. However most people have little spare time in their day and simply want to tone up as opposed to getting massive. For serious weight lifters diet is very very important and is something that they micro manage every day of the week. Again a lot of people do not want to live their lives based around weights, and so 20 minutes per day twice a week will still get results.
Should A Woman Train Differently To A Man
Women can do the same regime as men, however due to the strength differences between most men and women, women will need to start with come easier exercises like press ups on the knees. Every individual will work differently and their is no difference between a mans muscle fiber and a womans. women may just have less muscle fiber and lower testosterone levels.
How Much Weight Should I Lift
This is generally the wrong question to ask because if you are starting out with weights then you do not want to be lifting the heaviest weight you can. Instead you need to look at how many reps you can perform with a certain weight and then determine what your strength goals are. For a 1RM (1 rep max) will not be advisable for a person new to weights, however a accomplished weight lifter may use this approach for strength training. Visit thee 'How many reps' page for a more detailed look into this subject. But in short if you are looking at Hypertrophy which is a gain in muscle size, then perform 12-15 reps whereby the 15th rep you hit muscle failure. If you are looking at strength training which focuses on recruiting muscle fibers to work better and lift more (but won't increase muscle size), then perform 6-10 reps. You should hit muscular fatigue on the last rep. Some people who are serious weight lifters will do just one repetition of the heaviest weight they can lift during some sessions.
How Many Workouts Per Week
When starting a new weights regime a person needs to weight train twice per week, with at least one day rest between workouts. After 3 to 6 months of weight training you will need to do 3 to 4 sessions per week to get the same progressive gains that you got when you started. Once you hit the strength gains you want and are happy with the way you look, the working out twice per week will be enough to maintain these gains.
Time between Workouts
You will need to rest at least one day between strength sessions, however if you are using a split routine you can rest a muscle group on one day whilst working another on that rest day. It is a careful balance between working out as much as you can, and resting the body enough so that it can recover and repair itself.
Number of Exercises
If you are working out the entire body in a session, then it is a good idea to pick 8 to 10 exercises that will target the whole body. This will ensure that your body remains balanced. If you just focus on arms for example and neglect other areas, this can cause an inbalanced body and negatively effect a persons posture.
Rest Between Sets
If you are looking to get a workout done in 30 minutes, you can change from doing an upper body exercise to a lower body exercise. This way the upper body rests whilst the lower body works. Then you can go straight in to an upper body exercise again. Generally 30 seconds to 2 minute is recommended between exercises. This is quite a detailed subject and really depends on what you are training for. If you are doing circuit training and looking to work muscular endurance, then you may not want to rest at all. On the other hand if you are doing 1 rep max on just legs, then you will rest for up to 5 minutes. I generally advise 60 seconds to my general clients and up to 90 seconds for my body building clients.
Exercise Order
As a general rule of thumb it is best to work the larger muscle groups first, and then the smaller ones. This is because many small muscle groups help us achieve the movements within our large muscle groups. If we tire the small muscle groups first, they will not then be able to help us as much to perform the larger exercises. This is why many people will leave core exercises to the end of a session. We use our core for most exercises to keep correct posture during the exercise. And so it make sense that we only fatigue the abs when we no longer need them for other exercises. And this is especially true when lifting heavy weights as an injury will put a huge hurdle in your training goals, and possibly require rehab.
When to Increase Weight
When you are able to complete the required amount of repetitions, then it is time to increase the weight. Remember when weight lifting you want to hit muscle failure on the last rep. So if you are training for Hypertrophy (increased muscle size) and are training in the rep range between 8 and 12, when you can lift the weight more than 12 times increase the weight. With the new weight make sure you can lift this 8 times hitting muscle failure. Keep using this weight until you are able to perform 12 plus reps, then increase the weight again. This approach will keep the results coming.
Correct Lifting Technique
The beginning sessions which focus on lifting technique will not be done lifting heavy weights. Make sure you have perfect technique before attempting to lift heavy weights. This approach will give the muscles a chance to adapt to the new demands out on them. It is always a good idea to use a personal trainer in this early phase to make sure you are doing everything with good technique.
Speed of Repetitions
For the average gym goer the best gains will be achieved by moving the weights slowly through a full range of movement (about 4-7 seconds per repetition). If you are a sports specific athlete then you may want to lift the weights fast to mimic your chosen sport, and also if you are plateauing in your training then change the tempo. The theory behind a slow movement is to produce a slow consistent application of force, which creates more total muscle tension. More muscle fibers are produced. And the faster you go the more technique will suffer and possibly lead to injury.
Breathing Correctly
When you perform the hard part of the exercise then you should breathe out. It is important to not hold your breath which is common. So on a bench press you should breath out as you push the weight away from your body, and breath in when you return the weight back to the chest. If you hold your breath during exercise this can cause blood pressure to raise higher than it should be, which puts stress on the heart and vascular system.
Change Intensity for Strength Gains
Many people think that they need to consistently lift heavier weights to increase the intensity, but there are many other ways to increase intensity. If you vary the number of reps, which means either increasing or decreasing. This is really helpful when people hit a plateau in their training. Changing reps will stimulate the body in a different way to what it is used to, which in turn stimulates growth. Low reps of 6-12 or higher reps of 12-20 can help promote hypertrophy.
Another option is simply increase the number of sets performed of the particular exercise. This will fatigue the muscle more than it is used to.
Another option is high intensity training which include trisetting, pyramiding and super setting, super slow reps, forced reps or assisted reps. As you can see there are many ways to stimulate the body than just simply increasing the weight.
Another option is simply increase the number of sets performed of the particular exercise. This will fatigue the muscle more than it is used to.
Another option is high intensity training which include trisetting, pyramiding and super setting, super slow reps, forced reps or assisted reps. As you can see there are many ways to stimulate the body than just simply increasing the weight.
High Intensity Training
High intensity training is used for individuals who are advanced weight lifters and are experiencing a plateau in their results. High intensity training is very fierce and is only for the very motivated individual.
High intensity interval training works by recruiting muscle fibers that are not normally challenged because high intensity training will not allow the motor units have a chance to recover. Changing the amount of resistance, eliminating recovery when reaching muscular fatigue, performing more reps when fatigued and controlling the speed at which you perform an exercise all form the basis of high intensity training.
Pyramid training:
To get a different muscular response from weight training we can pyramid train. After each exercise is performed we either increase the weight which is 'up pyramiding', or we decrease the weight after each set which is called 'down pyramiding'. For example a person will lift a weight that they can lift 12 times and hit muscular fatigue, immediately after this exercise the weight is lowered by say 10%, and 12 reps are performed again. It should not be long before you are unable to perform one repetition.
Forced Reps:
Forced reps are when a training partner is needed. A person will for example lift a weight for 12 reps where they will hit muscle failure. The training partner will then help you to lift an additional couple of reps with the same weight forcing your body to get used to performing more reps whilst experiencing fatigue.
Negative Training:
There are many approached to negative training with the most simple requiring a training partner. A training partner will help you lift a weight that you could not normally lift. Once the weight is lifted the partner will release the weight and let you bring it down to the ground during the eccentric phase. If done correctly you should feel muscle soreness the following day.
Super setting:
Super set training refers to working opposite muscle groups (agonist and antagonist muscles), in succession. E.g bicep and tricep muscles or chest and back. This approach allows for a muscle to recover whilst the other muscle is being worked. Another type of super setting is compound training which involves two sets of consecutive exercises back to back and normally changing the type of exercise used to stimulate the muscle. So for example a person will perform a dumbell chest press for 12 reps and will hit muscle failure by the last rep. The immediately after or after having a very short break, they will perform a seated chest press on machine for 12 reps. This type of training works very well for hypertrophy training when using 6 to 10 reps
High intensity interval training works by recruiting muscle fibers that are not normally challenged because high intensity training will not allow the motor units have a chance to recover. Changing the amount of resistance, eliminating recovery when reaching muscular fatigue, performing more reps when fatigued and controlling the speed at which you perform an exercise all form the basis of high intensity training.
Pyramid training:
To get a different muscular response from weight training we can pyramid train. After each exercise is performed we either increase the weight which is 'up pyramiding', or we decrease the weight after each set which is called 'down pyramiding'. For example a person will lift a weight that they can lift 12 times and hit muscular fatigue, immediately after this exercise the weight is lowered by say 10%, and 12 reps are performed again. It should not be long before you are unable to perform one repetition.
Forced Reps:
Forced reps are when a training partner is needed. A person will for example lift a weight for 12 reps where they will hit muscle failure. The training partner will then help you to lift an additional couple of reps with the same weight forcing your body to get used to performing more reps whilst experiencing fatigue.
Negative Training:
There are many approached to negative training with the most simple requiring a training partner. A training partner will help you lift a weight that you could not normally lift. Once the weight is lifted the partner will release the weight and let you bring it down to the ground during the eccentric phase. If done correctly you should feel muscle soreness the following day.
Super setting:
Super set training refers to working opposite muscle groups (agonist and antagonist muscles), in succession. E.g bicep and tricep muscles or chest and back. This approach allows for a muscle to recover whilst the other muscle is being worked. Another type of super setting is compound training which involves two sets of consecutive exercises back to back and normally changing the type of exercise used to stimulate the muscle. So for example a person will perform a dumbell chest press for 12 reps and will hit muscle failure by the last rep. The immediately after or after having a very short break, they will perform a seated chest press on machine for 12 reps. This type of training works very well for hypertrophy training when using 6 to 10 reps
