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How The Beginning HIT Bodybuilder Can Set The Stage For Rapid Results

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How The Beginning HIT Bodybuilder Can Set The Stage For Rapid Results Empty How The Beginning HIT Bodybuilder Can Set The Stage For Rapid Results

Post  Fitness Scientist Sun May 02, 2010 11:20 am

How the Beginning HIT Bodybuilder
Can Set the Stage for Rapid Results

By Joe Mullen
Fitness Scientist

Beginning bodybuilders and astronomers face the same problem: creating order out of chaos.

When I was a novice bodybuilder, things seemed a lot simpler. Bodybuilding advice was usual found in two or three monthly bodybuilding magazines. There were fewer champions, less opinions, fewer associations, and more Camaraderie.

Now everyone, regardless of their knowledge and experience, or lack of it, has a
• Secret method
• Point of view
• Muscle building product
• Mail-order course
• Clothing line.

Understandably, the sheer volume of the available, contradictory infor¬mation confuses beginning muscle builders. Yet designing a training program is simple, once common sense is applied to the dilemma.

The components of a properly designed beginner's program, in fact, the components apply to all programs require:

• Defining goals.
• Assessing your present state of health.
• Analyzing your genetics.
• Capitalizing on your genetics.
• Acquiring useful, non-contradictory information.
• Deciding on the minimum amount of sets, reps, exercises, and equipment needed to produce maximum results in minimum time.
• Keeping accurate records.

Defining Goals

A goal is a rational, preplanned result. Goals can be short¬ term, one to three months, or long term, one year or more.

Your goals must be realistic. Nothing is more self defeating than expecting too much, too soon. As long as you steadily progress, you eventually reach your goal. Patience is the most re¬quired virtue for weight training. Any progress toward your goal is progress. Do not expect gigantic leaps forward. Bodybuilding does not work that way.

The complexities of the human body are such, that any statements about "what to expect," are pure guesswork based on faith, hope, and a dream. Often, writers, or genetically gifted bodybuilders, who promote products, magazines, or books, set irrational expectations in motion.

You are unique. Your genetics and body chemistries vary from others, from slightly too dramatically different. Your activity levels are different, as are your lifestyles, stress levels, and nutrition.

Specific, realistic goals are achieved sooner in some cases, and later for others. Nevertheless, they are achievable! Remain confident and focused on your goal. Goal achievement requires discipline, motivation, patience, and perseverance. Reaching goals is summed up in three words, drive, strive, and arrive!

Assessing Your Present State of Health

Exercise can be dangerous. In fact, exercise can kill you. That is why we recommended everyone talk with his or her physician before undertaking an exercise program especially if it is to be of the high intensity nature.

These are dangerous words. What is "high intensity" for one could be little effort for another. For a person recovering from a heart attack the act of walking can be high intensity. Nevertheless, it can have little conditioning effect on someone in reasonable shape. All exercise should be gauged to one’s present physical level.

Do not guess about your health; have your present state of health checked before you undertake a serious fitness program.

Analyzing Your Genetics

Genetics, more than any other factor, establish your ability to reach personal goals. Genetics, in the body¬building sense refers to the following elements of the body:

• Bony framework. The length, width, and circumference of bones.
• Origin and insertion of muscles (the length).
• Cross sectional muscle diameter (the width).
• Neuromuscular innervations (governs the action potential of muscle contraction).
• Digestion.
• Assimilation (the biochemical use of muscle building nutrients).

Of these factors, you can be in command of only digestion and assimilation. However, you can take advantage of the others, all of which will relate to how you look in the mirror.

Take advantage of your genetics by bringing your body into muscular balance with corresponding strength balance between similar muscle groups. Traditionally, bodybuilders do not use this approach. Instead, they exercise the total body, emphasizing the genetically gifted areas, and semi-ignoring the less gifted body segments.

The net effect is imbalance, both visually and in the strength, shape, and proportion relationships of muscle groups, each to each other. This accounts for the many disproportionate, competitive physiques evident magazines.

Muscle imbalance can be the cause of physical distress, ranging from lower back problems to "round shoulders." Strength imbalances such as over-developed chest muscles and under-developed upper back muscles can create the round shouldered appearance. Like a great sculptor, always keep an eye on proportion and sculpt balance into your physique.

Capitalizing on Your Genetics

Capitalizing on your genetics means you must decide which body parts play a paramount role in your goals. Then specialize on those parts until you bring your physique into balance and proportion. If bodybuilding is your goal, then all body segments are considered, and balanced.

If you seek improvements in sports, design a program to concentrate on the muscles involved. Obviously, there is no reason to build big biceps to enhance soccer playing. Train specific to your goals. Most sports require total body fitness a few do not.
Acquiring Useful Knowledge

Acquiring useful knowledge is a difficult task for a beginner. There are many sources of information, and it will take a while to separate the good, the bad, and the ugly. One of the best places to find legitimate information is in a local medical library. Many hospitals have excellent medical information centers that are of great benefit. Most of the information is unbiased and transferable to the sport of bodybuilding.

The World Wide Web is another excellent, unbiased source of rational, useful information. Unfortunately, most of the information on bodybuilding sites is product oriented and opinions about exercise run the gamut from fact to fiction.

Maximum Results from Minimum Exercise

Logically, any exercise beyond the minimum required to stimulate results is wasted time and effort. Too much exercise can overtax the recuperative ability of the physique and, in effect, prevent rapid progress. Rapid results require a balance between exercise and rest. When in doubt, more rest rather than more exercise is what is what you need.

As few as six exercises in your workouts can produce maximum results. Select exercises that are multi-joint movements, these are also called "compound movements." They involve muscle contraction around more than one joint. As an example, close grip pull downs and parallel bar dips are multi-joint movements, they involve more than one muscle group to contract and move, and more than one is involved in the movement.

Barbell curls and triceps extensions are examples of single joint movements, contracting fewer total muscle groups than the multi joint movements do. Logically, the more muscles contracting, the higher level of intensity is, and the more rest needed between workouts.

For a beginner to stimulate mass body growth (upper body or lower body or both), basic exercises of the mufti joint type are best.

Here are six excellent, basic exercises, which construct a good routine:

1) Squats, leg presses or machine squats.
2) Bench presses.
3) Pull-down to front or chins (palms facing forward).
4) Military presses.
5) Curls (not a multi-joint exercise).
6) Parallel bar dips

While most of these can be achieved with barbells, I would advise using machines because of the safety potential
and because of the adjustable seat pads, back pads, etc., which allow your body to stay in a supported position, thereby reducing the risk of injury. In addition, the production of force in one direction produces a counterforce in the opposite direction.

Exercise performed on machines can allow the transference of the counterforce be supported by the pads rather than the body. Proper body support and positioning will enhance overall training, reduce potential injuries, and allow maximum poundage’s to be used safely and securely.

Speed of Movement

Speed of movement during exercise is one of the most misunderstood components of exercise. The most common mistake is to move too quickly. Men, in particular, equate potential progress with the amount of weight hoisted and tossed through the air.

The so called cheating method, which touted by some bodybuilders, is a waste of time. While some claim this method will allow the muscles to use more weight than usual, the effect is just the opposite. Attempting to curl more weight by bending slightly forward, and then backward, while swinging the weight throughout the motion will not make the upper arm muscles work harder. Using the lower back muscles to increase the momentum (speed of movement) while reducing the muscle contraction input into the arms, is counter-productive.

Muscles can either lift the weight or not. Throwing weight is a great ego trip, if that's your goal, but there is a difference between a strict curl using the arm muscles, and an underhand power clean using just about everything except the arm muscles.

Proper muscle contraction involvement requires strict adherence to style of performance. Proper style mandates a controlled speed of movement. The exercises listed in this article are most productive when performed with a three or four second lifting and a three or four -second lowering count. This speed of movement ensures proper style, reduces the amount of cheating, eliminates potential injuries, ensures excellent muscle contraction, and focuses on proper weight use.

Sets and Reps: The Numbers Game

How many sets and reps are required? Chances are nobody really knows. Results are achieved using varying sets and reps. Beginners should limit their sets to no more than two. Take one easy, light set to warm up your mind and body, and work to muscle failure on the second set.

There is no magic number of reps, which can guarantee results. Each of us is different, in that, a certain number of reps are enjoyable to do, and other amounts are not enjoyable. Our minds are attuned to certain numbers that "feel good" to perform. Because muscles perform better when warm, several reps are required to warm the muscle and enhance its performance, and help prevent injury.

Beyond the warm-up, it may not matter at which point you reach muscular failure. So, depending on your mind set, pick a number that you like. On average, it takes six reps to warm the muscle (depending on your age and injuries), and a few more to reach temporary muscle failure. Therefore, use eight to ten reps as a minimum rep guideline.

Next, you must select an amount of reps to consider as your maximum rep cutoff. A maximum rep cutoff is used to gauge progress, and as your signal to increase resistance for your next workout. If, for example, you are using eight reps as your minimum, then you can stay with a certain resistance until you perform several reps above the minimum.

If 10 reps are as high as you enjoy performing, that is fine. If you prefer to work up to 15 reps, so be it. After all, exercise is supposed to be enjoyable. The important thing is to do as many reps (in good style) as possible. Then, if you reach or exceed the maximum rep cutoff, you placed for yourself, which is the signal to increase the resistance slightly before your next workout.

When you do increase resistance, do it in very small increments. Small increments will allow you to match or exceed your previous attempt at each exercise. To measure your progress, multiply the amount of weight you are using by the amount of reps you performed. Each time you do this, the total arrived at should increase. Large increases in resistance will decrease your total effort dramatically and, in effect, is viewed as a wasted workout.

Keeping Accurate Records

Accurate record keeping is essential to bodybuilding progress. You should log the obvious things like sets and reps, but you should also jot down "start time" and "finish time." If you are decreasing the time factor, that is a good signal. If your workouts keep taking longer, that is a signal that you are wasting valuable time.

Bodybuilding can be an enjoyable and rewarding pastime. All you need to do is let common sense prevail. Remember, you are a unique individual; design your workouts accordingly.


Joe Mullen
Fitness Scientist
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Last edited by Fitness Scientist on Sun May 02, 2010 11:24 am; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : correct word spacing)

Fitness Scientist

Posts : 57
Join date : 2010-04-26
Age : 87
Location : Lake Mary, Florida

http://joemullenfitness.com . . . . . .www.bodbuildinghighintens

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