Posts Tagged ‘muscle’
Body Building Basics
Saturday, February 26th, 2011
Building lean muscle, best workout plan?
Im already in the process of burning fat, ive gone from a BMI of 28.6 to 24.2. Now that ive gotten that far, i want to build lean muscle, not the stacked and ripped muscle body builders get, just sculpted and shaply arms, chest, abs and legs/butt.
I know the basics, low weight-more reps=leaner muscle and better endurance, but what is the right amount of reps? obviously doing 50 reps of something is low weight but thats obviously too much, so whats the happy medium?
and does an hour of cardio (yoga followed with running/elliptical) and lifting for 3 sets seem like a good enough workout plan? this is my current plan.
Hi Brandon, my hubby is a gym instructor, so He is always talking about work whether i want to hear about it or not : )
However doing light weights and lots od reps + an hour of cardio is not going to build you much muscle. This is because you are using a lot of energy and calories raining in this way. To build muscle you need plenty of calories and a good workout plan.
You need to stick to a handful of the big exercises which include the dead lift, the squat, bench press, dips, chin ups, bent over rows etc.
Forget the exercises like leg curls, leg extensions, triceps exercises, and any machine work. Exercises like these will not build much muscle.
The big exercises hit lots of muscles in one go. For example the dead lift will it your legs, your back, your chest, your shoulders, forearms, and your neck.
Your body has to work really hard to do the big exercises, and it will grow to cope with them, so stick to just the big exercises.
Day 1.
Squats
bench press
standing press
Day 2.
dead lift
pull ups
bent over row
Always do a warm up set with a light weight and then 3 sets with a weight where you can just about complete 8-12 reps on each exercise. Once you can hit 12 reps for an exercise, add a couple of pounds and start again. Keep repeating this and the weight will keep going up and so will your muscle.
It is important not to train too much because these exercises take a lot out of you, so always have 2-3 days of rest between each session. Your body will only grow if you give it enough rest and plenty of healthy calories. Too many people train too often, and it is this that prevents muscle from growing.
Hope this helps, take it easy.
The Basics of Bodybuilding Exercises
