Wellness Positive

  This article contains some crucial body building details and information on muscle development that you must know before you even begin a workout schedule or exercise program. Read this article with care.. if you don't follow the instructions here precisely you will limit or handicap your bodybuilding and muscle development efforts...

• Warming up
• How should I breathe when I do a weight exercise?
• Resting between sets
• How long should a training session last? (CRUCIAL!!)
• How much weight should I lift?
• How many times a week should I train? (CRUCIAL!!)
• Other Crucial Points

1) Warming Up:

  It is CRUCIAL to warm up before heavy weight training. I would suggest you run to the Gym at a moderate pace (if it's not too far away), or take a run around the block. Then circle your arms a bit, stretch, bend forwards and back, turn your torso, stretch again, and generally loosen and prepare your muscles and tendons. Then do about five to ten push-ups, crunches and knee bends.

  Now, before you begin each type of exercise that you are going to do, do at least one set of that exercise with a light weight (half or less of the maximum weight that you can lift) - do about15 to 20 repetitions with this weight. Doing this gives the muscles the final stretching and preparation they need for the intense stress that you are going to subject them to.

  Lastly, it is equally important to cool-down the body AFTER your weight training, by doing some light stretching, running, and a few light exercises.

2) How should I breathe when I do a weight exercise?

  Simply put - exhale when you exert. Or put another way, you should exhale when you move the weight AGAINST gravity.

3) How long should one rest between sets?

  Subjecting your muscles to the heavy stress of weight training tires the muscles and causes the production of toxins - mainly Lactic acid. The best way to deal with this is to take a small break between sets. Your break should last between 1 to 3 minutes - NO MORE.

4) How long should a training session last?

  Read this point carefully, as the WHOLE SECRET to successful weight training is here. Your training schedule must never, NEVER last longer than 60 minutes.

  When you train for longer than 60 minutes, your natural testosterone level begins to fall, and your body begins to produce Cortisol, a hormone that actually INHIBITS the building of muscle. So you MUST NOT work out longer than 60 minutes.

  Also, you must do NO OTHER medium to hard physical activity on the day that you do your weights. Not even a run in the park. If you play sports, play them on other days of the week - on the day you do your weights, you ONLY do your weights, nothing else, and ONLY for one hour.

  This rule is UNBREAKABLE if you want to build a great physique.

"Understand the way your body works, and work WITH it, and it WILL give you the results you want."

5) How much weight should I lift?

  How do you know how much weight to lift? It's actually quite simple. If you can do less than ten repetitions of the exercise continuously, then the weight is too heavy for you. If you can do more than ten repetitions continuously, then it is too light. Ten repetitions is ideal.

6) How many times a week should I train?

  You need to exercise a muscle group just once a week. This may seem less, but you will understand when you see the program chalked out in the 'weekly schedule' that your session is going to be so strenuous that your body WILL need the entire week to recover from the stress.

  I would suggest doing your heaviest training on the evening before your weekly holiday (if you study, or work) so that you can 'sleep in' the next day if necessary.

"Rest, and a proper diet are just as crucial as the intensity of your workout."

  As mentioned, more information on your training schedule is provided in the section 'Your weekly training schedule'.

7) Other Crucial Points:

• Diet: Eat a great deal of lean meat with some potatoes as a basis of your diet, with plenty of fruits and vegetables. The meat should be divided into six portions and eaten at six different times in the day, with at least one and a half hours between each time. This maximizes absorption of the protein. Other acceptable sources of protein are eggs, fish and poultry. You should take in at least between 150 and 200 grams of protein every day is you're working hard at your weight training.
• Water: Remember, your body is mostly water - it is actually one of the building materials your body needs! Drink PLENTY of water every day. You must never at any time be thirsty.
• Sleep: Sleep well. Your training will place an increasing stress on your body - your body needs rest to repair itself and build new muscle tissue. You need between 8 to 10 hours of sleep a day.