Wednesday, June 29, 2011

MUSCLE GAIN MISMANAGEMENT

As we grow old, we begin to complain more of pains in 0ur muscles and joints. They seem to stiffen up with age, and such commonplace activities as bending over for the morning paper can make them wince.

Such pain can grip so fiercely that they are sure it begins deep in their bones. But the real cause of stiffness and soreness lies not in the joints or bones, according to research at the Johns Hopkins Medical School, but in the muscles and connective tissues that move the joints.

The frictional resistance generated by the two rubbing surfaces of bones in the joints is negligible, even in joints damaged by arthritis.

Flexibility is the medical term used to describe the range of a joint’s motion from full movement in one direction to full movement in the other. The greater the range of movement, the more flexible the joint.

If you bend forward at the hips and touch your toes with your fingertips, you have good flexibility, or range of motion of the hip joints. But can you bend over easily with a minimal expenditure of energy and force? The exertion required to flex a joint is just as important as its range of possible motion.

Different factors limit the flexibility and ease of movement in different joints and muscles. In the elbow and knee, the bony structure itself sets a definite limit. In other joints, such as the ankle, hip, and back, the soft tissue—muscle and connective tissue—limit the motion range.

The problem of inflexible joints and muscles is similar to the difficulty of opening and closing a gate because of a rarely used and rusty hinge that has become balky.

Hence, if people do not regularly move their muscles and joints through their full ranges of motion, they lose some of their potential. That is why when these people will try to move a joint after a long period of inactivity, they feel pain, and that discourages further use

What happens next is that the muscles become shortened with prolonged disuse and produces spasms and cramps that can be irritating and extremely painful. The immobilization of muscles, as researchers have demonstrated with laboratory animals, brings about biochemical changes in the tissue.

However, other factors trigger sore muscles,as a result of mismanagement . Here are some of them:

1. Too much exercise

Have you always believed on the saying, “No pain, no gain?” If you do, then, it is not so surprising if you have already experienced sore muscles.

The problem with most people is that they exercise too much thinking that it is the fastest and the surest way to lose weight. Until they ache, they tend to ignore their muscles and connective tissue, even though they are what quite literally holds the body together.

2. Aging and inactivity

Connective tissue binds muscle to bone by tendons, binds bone to bone by ligaments, and covers and unites muscles with sheaths called fasciae. With age, the tendons, ligaments, and fasciae become less extensible. The tendons, with their densely packed fibers, are the most difficult to stretch. The easiest are the fasciae. But if they are not stretched to improve joint mobility, the fasciae shorten, placing undue pressure on the nerve pathways in the muscle fasciae. Many aches and pains are the result of nerve impulses traveling along these pressured pathways.

3. Immobility

Sore muscles or muscle pain can be excruciating, owing to the body’s reaction to a cramp or ache. In this reaction, called the splinting reflex, the body automatically immobilizes a sore muscle by making it contract. Thus, a sore muscle can set off a vicious cycle pain.

First, an unused muscle becomes sore from exercise or being held in an unusual position. The body then responds with the splinting reflex, shortening the connective tissue around the muscle. This cause more pain, and eventually the whole area is aching. One of the most common sites for this problem is the lower back.

4. Spasm theory

In the physiology laboratory at the University of Southern California, some people have set out to learn more about this cycle of pain.

Using some device, they measured electrical activity in the muscles. The researchers knew that normal, well-relaxed muscles produce no electrical activity, whereas, muscles that are not fully relaxed show considerable activity.

In one experiment, the researchers measured these electrical signals in the muscles of persons with athletic injuries, first with the muscle immobilized, and then, after the muscle had been stretched.

In almost every case, exercises that stretched or lengthened the muscle diminished electrical activity and relieved pain, either totally or partially.

These experiments led to the “spasm theory,” an explanation of the development and persistence of muscle pain in the absence of any obvious cause, such as traumatic injury.

According to this theory, a muscle that is overworked or used in a strange position becomes fatigued and as a result, sore muscles.

Hence, it is extremely important to know the limitations and capacity of the muscles in order to avoid sore muscles. This goes to show that there is no truth in the saying, “No pain, no gain.” What matters most is on how people stay fit by exercising regularly at a normal range than once rarely but on a rigid routine.

Monday, June 13, 2011

MUSCLE GAIN DIET

What you eat has a tremendous impact on muscle gain.Thus you need the right diet in addition to your training regime.Muscle gain diets are very different from other ordinary diets.They contain a range of recommended diets through nutritional plan with majority of the food intake from high quality proteins,natural or unrefined carb and healthy fats.
For muscle gain you need to elevate the testosterone level.This can be done through consumption of some selective diets.Some of the diets tips are;
1.Adequate consumption of essential fatty acids from source like fish,oils,avocadoes and peanuts.This naturally enhance your testosterone level and thus lead to increase in muscle size and mass.
2.Restricted soy consumption.Soy decreases production of testosterone,thus decrease the muscle gain.
3.Restricted alcoholic consumption.Alcohol impact negatively on testosterone level and consequently on muscle gain.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

HELPFUL MUSCLE GAIN TIPS

Muscle gain is one of the most popular means of getting fit these days. This is because gaining muscle or weight can be a good indicator of robust health as well as of the person’s positive outlook in life.

For those who want to continue gaining muscle to achieve their purpose of sustaining health and achieving a fit body through rigorous workouts, here are some muscle gain tips that can help you reach your goal.

1. Have a well balanced diet on your menu. Choosing the right foods is very essential for gaining muscle and weight because these are the sources of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that will enter the body. To be abele to gain weight safe and easy, people should load up on calories. They should increase their calorie intake so they will have much more to burn during physical activities. Wide range of healthy foods that can be included in the diet are vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, whole wheat grains, lean meats, seafood, poultry products as well as some dairy products. Keep in mind that food—no matter what they are—can add up to your weight. But not all can be healthy for you such as some processed foods that contain saturated fats and bad cholesterol.

2. Get into regular physical activities such as workouts and exercise. Gaining muscle and weight is not just about eating, it also about building the muscles to keep them healthy and firm. Muscle-strengthening and fat-burning routines are best for those who are just starting to weight gain because these exercises determine how slow or fast can you burn whatever you are eating. To be able to gain weight fast yet safe, always to workouts or other exercises religiously to ensure that your muscles will not sag once you have gained weight by increasing your food intake. If you are already ready for a higher notch, do some variations on your exercise or ask the gym instructor to create a program for you if you are enrolled in any fitness class.

3. Don’t force yourself. Although increase in food intake—especially in calorie-intake is recommended by experts—you cannot not always force yourself to bite more that you can chew. When it comes to increase in calorie-intake, people who are gaining weight are recommended to consume at least 300 to 500 calories daily. If you are not much of an eater, you can still load up on calories by adding some of its sources to your usual meals of the day. Opt for a diet that has grains and beans on it to preserve your energy for the rigorous workout.

4. If possible, keep the length of your exercise under an hour. This is probably one of the most effective muscle gain tips out there because it ensures that the body is getting the toning without too much stress. Experts agree that short yet intense and thorough workout routine will work best because you can concentrate on specific areas of the body.
When it comes to variations, choose those that promote fast muscle build up such as dead lifts, squats, bench presses, pull ups, barbell rows, as well as bar dips. If you keep your exercises and other routines shorter, you will not burn out easily.The tendency of this is that it encourages your body to come back for a series of short yet intense exercises because it does not feel too much pressure and fatigue.

Friday, January 29, 2010

MUSCLE GAIN BENEFITS FOR WOMEN

Women who are into fit slim and anorexic bodies won’t even consider looking at the sides of healthy exercise. Again, muscle gain is not only meant for those who wanted to have muscles but also for those who wanted to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Living is not just eating right and achieving the right sleep hours. You have to make your body work in order to get firmer and increase your body’s circulating status.

Nowadays, there are a lot of women who go into body building to achieve a body that is familiar among the masses. Besides, bodybuilding can contribute to a more positive energy. It gives out negative aspects of work,stress and changes it with a rejuvenating feeling.

Really, there are no bad effects if you tighten up those muscles every once in a while. Generally, people wanted to exert muscle growth in order to gain, lose and increase. What are the different reasons why women wanted to get into bodybuilding?
Two major reasons. These are:

1. To burn unnecessary fats
For women who weigh more than their expected size, bodybuilding is a way to decrease the fats inside their body. This will decrease their chances of getting diseases and disorders like liver problems and heart problems which is the end result of being fat or eating unhealthy. Some women who are successful in burning fats tend to produce muscles that are also prevalent in men. And because men has an increased level of testosterone, it is expected that they would have the greater bulk of muscles compared to women. Women, on the other hand, are toned easier.

2. For competition purposes(bodybuilding and sports)

For women who are into bodybuilding, one of the major reasons why they wanted to gain muscles is to join in bodybuilding competitions. By winning in competitions like these, women challenged and at the same time satisfied with themselves. For athletes, being skinny is not an option because it is only applicable to models that need to maintain flesh and bones just to stay in the business.

In order to understand your goals, you have to set them up. In case that you wanted to go into competitions, you have to lay down your plans that are suitable in achieving your goal. Your goal is to bulk up which means that you have to go into careful sculpturing of your body. Your diet must be at a limit and calories should be maximized in order to give your body additional energy for muscles to grow.

Bodybuilding has become popular to women because of the personal benefits that they expect to gain. Weight lifting has also become popular. In order to be fit in all aspects, one much first practice exercising parts so that it won’t strain the body. Soon, you will notice how your body can adapt to the exercises and you can also add up to the minimal exercise.

When you have reached the desired body, all you have to do is maintain it. It is also important that one introduces different exercises in order to let your body experience other exercises and let your body tone even more. With these benefits, there are more and more women getting hooked with muscle gain and some even promote the trend in order to continue muscle strengthening and growth.

The same explanation can be made for women that are into sports competition.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

MUSCLE GAIN IN A JIFFY



Apart from what others would say, there are only three important things that you have to know in order to gain muscle fast. But first, you have to have a lot of discipline sliding through your veins in order to start a program that will benefit your well-being. You should have proper nutrition and diet, an exercise or training program, and lots of rest. Easy, right? So, just pay attention and you’ll be all set to enjoy muscles in a jiffy.

1.Know your nutritional status
Body building is more on adhering to the proper diet. Training those abs and muscles would only be secondary. No kidding. Proper promotion of nutrition and diet can greatly help and not put your dreams of gaining the mass that you need in jeopardy. Unless you set the proper eating habit, your program will never work.
If you’re stuck with the conventional habit of eating, then change it. It is said that instead of eating meals in large amounts, you can do it by small frequent meals. You can eat 3 to 4 times a day but in small amounts.

Furthermore, you would want to keep head track on the things that you eat. You can do this for a week. Tracking will keep you update with what you are putting inside your system. You will soon figure out the calories, proteins, fats, etc. Eventually, you will know what to increase or decrease in your diet. After you have figured out what your diet should be, you have to enroll in a rigid training program that offers less time for more muscles.

2.Enroll in a muscle fitness program
A muscle fitness program will be helpful for you to increase the chances of getting those muscles more efficiently and effectively. Don’t settle with the things that you would want to do inside the gym because that would be insufficient. There are several programs that enable you to gain or loose weight.Once you have chosen the muscle fitness program, you have to discipline yourself on being consistent. You should follow the schedule that was given to you by your gym instructor. The usual work out schedule would only consist of 3 or 4 days every week. Not unless you are enrolled in an advanced program, you have no reason why you can’t do the exercise daily.
Always stick to the plan. Never let a day pass without working out. One more thing, you have to avoid exercises which will isolate you. You have to stick to the tried and tested, basic compounds of exercises and movements.

3.Rest
After a tiring day at the gym, it’s time to give your muscles some rest. They need it bad. Fact is, muscle growth happens after gym which is during rest periods. When you weight lifts, you muscles tend to extend and fibers are torn apart. The process of repair is the reason why your muscles become stronger and bigger.You can rest your muscles by simply sleeping. You should have at least 6 to 7 hours of sleep. This will do you more than extending hours inside the gym. After sleep, you’ll realize that you are more energized and alert and you’ll find your self satisfied with the results.

Do not stick to the thoughts that muscle gain is one heck of a hassle because it’s not. You should not result to complicating things in terms of gaining muscles. You should have all three in order to speed up the formation of your dream muscles.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

HOW TO DOUBLE YOUR MUSCLE GAIN



A body building workout program should be tailored to your body type in order to get positive results. You have to remember that your body is different from other people. You have different metabolism rate and you also have a different body structure that will require a different body building program. If your friend has a great body building program, don’t expect that the same program will work for you.

One mistake that most people make when it comes to body building is that they stick to a program that doesn’t work at all. Besides, if you see that your body building program is not working, why should you stick to it at all? Why should you keep on doing it? It's a complete waste of time and energy.

Try to give a work out program a week or two. This way, you will be able to see if there are any improvements or not. Do not use the same work out program for three months if you don’t see any positive results right after two weeks of using the program.

Here are some tips that will be able to maximize efficiency when you work out and also maximize your body building exercises.

First of all, you need to remember that half reps will not cut it. Do only full reps even if it is strenuous. However, you have to avoid over-training at the same time. Always remember that in body building, resting is very important. Try to rest for at least a day between workout sessions. This way, you will be able to give your muscles the rest it needs in order to grow.

You also need to keep in mind that when you go on a body building exercise, you are deliberately injuring your muscles. What you are actually doing is injuring your muscles in order for it to grow. When you injure your muscles through body building, you are letting the body adjust to your activities and let it grow stronger and bigger muscle tissues. This is what actually happens when you go body building.

If you are overweight or you are fat, then you have to remember that the best way to reduce fat is by adding cardiovascular exercises in your body building program. Cardiovascular exercises burn calories and fat as it is an aerobic exercise. Weight lifting is considered to be anaerobic exercises which mean that it burns sugar.

The correct execution of the exercises is also very important in promoting muscle growth. A lot of people make a mistake of doing each exercise too fast. Some just allows the weight to drop. This is a mistake. Going slow on each repetition is actually more beneficial as you are concentrating. For example, if you are doing standing barbell curls, don’t do it too fast. Instead, lift the barbell up until you fully contract your biceps and slowly lower it down to the starting position. The lowering motion actually is more effective than the curling motion or the lifting motion in promoting muscle growth.

With slow, smooth, and controlled motion, you will concentrate on the muscles more which means that it is more effective in promoting muscle growth.

These are just some of the many ways on how you can gain muscle at a fast rate. Always remember that with the proper diet, proper execution of the exercises, and the right amount of rest, you will be able to get the results you want fast.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

MUSCLE GAIN AS A FASHION



Muscle gain is considered as one of the dreams of every male all over the world? Why? It adds up to their masculinity and makes girls want them and gain more confidence. Admit it, if you’re still in high school and someone asks you about what you want your body to look like, you’ll choose the jock that has a pea for a brain but a body of a ramp model rather than a geek hiding underneath glasses who’s a walking encyclopedia. But really, gaining muscle isn’t all for those who can’t gain brain. It’s just that, some would compensate gaining muscles rather than knowledge.

Much said. Would it be nicer if you have hunk-like muscles and a very intelligent personality? You’re like a walking package. Women love muscles more than an intelligent mind, well, not entirely. But most of them do. On the other hand, gaining muscles is for those who are conscious about their body. With the trend of having nice abs and mass, it would be nice if people see gaining of additional mass as something healthy and not just to prove masculinity.

Let’s face it. Because of the appearance conscious society that we live in today, some men result to drastic measures in order to maintain their supple physique even with the absence of exercise. If you are that type who uses artificial products like steroids, then it’s time that you renew your ways because there is no way that you can get something out of nothing.

There is a natural way of having the muscles that you love to have. You just have to be more committed and disciplined in order to follow the ideal way. Here are some of the most important tips in order to shape yourself up.

1. Modify your diet.
It is not enough that you exert so much effort in bodybuilding. You also have to maintain the required dietary allowance that you need in order to be in top shape. Easting foods which are rich in fatty acids (omega-3) and fish are rich in protein and will help you grow. Some of the fish which are rich in omega-3 are lake trout, salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines and tuna.

Veggies or plant crops which are also rich in omega-3 such as walnuts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, soybeans, tofu and kale can also be included in the diet. Foods rich in omega-3 provide our muscles sensitive to insulin which help to fuel glycogen storage and hinder entry of amino acid into muscles.

2. Intake of sodium.
To encourage the growth of your muscles, you should increase healthy sodium intake in order to increase the fluid of your muscles. Sodium can enhance the absorption of amino acid and storage of carbohydrates in our bodies. Because of the effects it can do to the cellular fluid, you are to expect that sodium can add to gain weight which lessens muscles to strain and injure soft tissues.

3. Train.
If you really wish to have muscle gain, you have to work on some exercises which need resistance like dumbbells that are considered as free weights. They would train your muscles in the ancillary portion to build a mass that will be compounded on them. Dumbbells can be versatile and at the same time useful for building muscles because of the range of motion you can exert when you carry them.