Muscle Exercises
Here are a few guidelines for increasing
muscle-size and strength.
What's a Good Workout for Muscle-Building?
Weight
training exercises are about twice as effective as aerobic-training
for building bigger muscles and lean tissue. In order to build muscles
- rather than firm up existing muscles - only weight training (also called
resistance or strength
training) is likely to add a significant amount of extra muscle.
How to Build Muscle?
In order to make your muscles
bigger and stronger, you need to work them against some form of resistance,
either from weights or gravity.
The greater the resistance (within healthy limits) the harder the muscles
need to work and the bigger they grow. This is why lifting freeweights
or dumbells, or using a gym machine like a leg-press, is so beneficial
for muscle-building. These weights offer significant resistance and makes
your muscles work a lot harder. See Isometrics
Aerobic Training Offers Insufficient Resistance
During a typical aerobic
workout, your active muscles may perform hundreds of movement-repetitions,
but these repetitions do not usually offer enough resistance or load.
As a result, your muscles need to work less hard than when lifting weights,
and - while they may get firmer - they don't get much bigger. Only strength-training
develops big muscles.
How to Develop Bigger Muscles
An effective muscle-building
workout can include either (1) weight-training (during which the muscles
work against the resistance offered by the weight being lifted), or (2)
specific strength-training exercises (during which the muscles work against
the resistance offered by your own body weight).
See also: Benefits of
Strength-Training
Weight Training to Build Bigger Muscles
Do about 20 minutes of resistance training
(such as lifting barbells, dumbells or other freeweights, or using gym
weight-machines) twice a week. A simple routine might include 6-8 different
exercises using the major muscle groups of the legs, trunk, arms, chest
and shoulders.
Exercises to Build Bigger Muscles
Calisthenics that involve lifting your own
body weight are another way to develop muscle. Do 20 minutes, twice a
week of exercises like: press-ups, pull-ups,
squat-thrusts, chin-ups or any other exercise that forces your muscles
to support your body against gravity.
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Exercise
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