The Mass Builders

The Mass Builders

[Courtesy of www.Mind-MuscleSupplements.com




If you could only do one exercise for mass per body part, what would it be? The formula for mass is maximum overload in minimum time. Overload consists of taxing a muscle to the point of getting a pump without the burn. The burn you get from maxing out a muscle group is called muscle fatigue and for mass it isn't as beneficial as muscle overload.

Now that we know how to tax the muscle, we still need to know how much it takes to tax that muscle and what motions are most successful in taxing the muscle the right way. First, many people think that the more sets and reps that are done, the more growth that will occur. The problem is that if these reps are not done with maximum intensity, growth will be limited. The best combination of reps and sets for maximum overload is 4-6 reps and 1-3 sets. At this rep range, you can focus on delivering maximum intensity to the muscles for all the reps. It is best to pick a weight that is light enough to do 4 times, but heavy enough so that you can not do more than 6 reps for the 1-3 sets. Each set should be done to positive failure with total focus on maximum intensity for maximum overload. Positive Failure is where you cannot do another rep, but no negatives or help from a spotter. This helps with the intensity for the next set. Which brings me to my next point. If you have the time during the week, I recommend doing 1 muscle group per workout per day. This way you overload the whole muscle group and then give it a whole week to recover. Recovery is very important to building mass, it is better to get in the weight room, overload the muscles (most of the time in under an hour) and then grab a shake (within 15 minutes of completion of your workout). The whole mass building process is clean and compact and yields proven results. While throwing around big weight in the gym feels like it is building the muscles, recovering with 1-2 grams of protein per pound bodyweight throughout 6-8 meals with shakes and getting 8 hours sleep is where the real muscle repair and transformation occur.

It is very important to warm up before you even think about lifting with intensity. And I don't mean running for 10 minutes either. You could either do 5-10 light sets of a supplemental exercise OR do a warm up routine that has been proven to add pounds and reps to your core sets. Start with a comfortable weight that you can do 12 reps of your mass building exercise with, do those slow and deliberate. Next up the weight to do 10 reps with, again slow and controlled. Next do 8 reps with more weight and start to explode out of the bottom. These are the warm up sets, now time for weight acclimation sets. These let you feel the heavy weight and how you need to handle it. Do a heavier set with 3 reps, that's it , just enough to feel the stress. Then for the last set before show time, do a set of 1 with either the weight you will do 4-6 reps with or a little more to get you accustomed. This warm up routine will not get you tired ( if you do it properly), and will warm your muscles up enough to handle your real weight (maybe even more).

So you know how to warm up and you have your game plan ready ,but if you are only going to do one muscle group per day, what are the best exercises for each muscle group that will yield the highest overload and results? Get a Pen--

Legs - Ugghh...Leg day. While most people don't even bother to jump under a squat rack or load up a leg press, the few troopers that do put themselves through the hell of leg exercises can expect great results with the use of the FULL SQUAT as their #1 mass builder. That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that has ever researched this subject. The full squat has been proven to stimulate just about every major muscle group in the upper and lower body. I know because when I come out of my leg workout, I feel sore from head to toe. And who doesn't want massive legs with diamond-shaped calves. Now don't think that doing parallel or partial squats, like the old man with 500 pounds on the bar, is going to even compare to the full squat. Remember the lower you go, the more stimulation of the glutes, hamstrings and quads. Enough said, so go grab your weight belt.

Chest - So what do most people do instead of legs? You got it--chest. Next to biceps, this body part is done more in a week than legs are done in a lifetime...except for us. We know what is important and that is why we do chest the day after legs, after the hard stuff. And the best mass builder for the chest...bench press, of course. Bench is pretty straight forward, but there is a right way and a wrong way for extracting the most out of it. There are 4 parts of the body that should never leave contact with either the bench or the floor. Your head, your shoulders, your butt and your feet. All should be planted firmly, but this doesn't mean to arch your back to gain leverage and have your feet on the bench, contact your chest to push the weight up, not your back. Some people of taller, lankier body types like to do incline bench, and feel it works better for them. This may be true for different people, but for incline try to make the angle no more than 20 degrees...or else you will be using your shoulders, and I have a great exercise for that.

Back- No shoulders yet. The back is a very overlooked muscle group, and if fully developed, can yield a very impressive hourglass physique. The best mass builders for back is split between pull-ups and bent-over rows. I like pull-ups, because I can feel my lats pushing on my triceps after a good couple sets. I have learned not to use the wide angled grip. It is an unnatural movement and can put stress on the rotator cuff. Just grab the bar at the end of the straight part. Also, I don't use any weight when I do them, but I don't do them first either. I do bent-over row first. This is a great exercise for widening the back and getting noticed. You can go up in weight fairly quickly and there are many different ways to do them also. Mixing up you grip on a row machine or barbell can surprise your back muscles into serious growth. I prefer barbell rows.

Shoulders - Now if you are not sore from the incline press, grab a barbell and a comfortable 90 degree seat. It is time for military press. Do these in the front, not behind the neck. Behind the neck puts unnecessary stress on the shoulder joint, and you are going to need all the help you can get with these. I use a smith machine, or else get a spotter, because you can overload shoulders fairly quick and hit positive failure without expecting it. A variation of this front military press is Arnold press, where you start a set of dumbbells with you palms facing you and then rotate them out as you push the weight up. These are good for full shoulder development, but man do they hurt and also demand strict form and execution.

Calves - Even though not usually done on a separate day from legs, calves demand high intensity and hold true to the saying, You get out what you put in I like the seated calf raise. Don't be afraid to pile on the 45 lb. cookies. Make sure you squeeze at the top and stretch at the bottom. Calves respond well to overload and are a great complement to well shaped upper legs.

Biceps - The proven king of bicep exercises is the barbell curl. Nothing more, nothing less. Strap on some weight and start pumping, It is ok while doing these to lean into them to get an extra rep. This kind of cheating is beneficial because it maintains the stimulation on the muscle and increases leverage, arching your back on the bench is not beneficial and can cause injury. Barbell curl is the best exercise for overloading the bicep for those hard to find each muscles.

Triceps - For triceps, there are two good exercises. Close-grip bench and skull-crushers (a.k.a.- nose-breakers, don't laugh I've seen it happen). If you are going to do close-grip, grab a spotter. Never do an exercise with less weight than you should and you know you should do, because you don't have a spotter and failing with the weight could put you in a potential injury-prone position. Instead grab an EZ-curl bar and a flat bench. throw some weight on and lie down with your head over the end of the bench. lower the bar past your nose, your skull and your head, pretty much to the back of your head. This will cause your elbows to move back a little. This is ok, because with overload you want to use less isolative movements and more total body overloading movements. Letting the bar travel this far back will give you a good stretch and allow you to get a little momentum to force all that weight back up. Skull-Crushers offer a great pump for you tri's at the beginning of a workout.

Traps - Building thick traps start with the shrug, everyone know it. Pack some weight onto a barbell and touch your shoulders to your ears. Unless you have heavy enough dumbbells to get 4-6, stick with the barbell or machine. Make sure to let the bar sag at the bottom for a good stretch and then explode up. Also for traps, another good overall body exercise is deadlift. This rivals squat for total body stimulator of all time. It may not be the best, but use it in a trap routine or back routine for best results. Form on deadlift has to be learned, start off light and get down the basics and then rock and roll. PS...wear a belt.

Written by Jeff Harding

09-16-2006

Copyright 2006 Mind-Muscle Supplements

All content is proprietary and based on the authors personal knowledge


About the Author

An avid Health and Fitness enthusiast, Jeff Harding owns and operates www.Mind-MuscleSupplements.com; a online Health and Fitness Superstore that goes beyond an ordinary webstore by also offering an expanding Health and Fitness article database, full of tips, tutorials and expert advice. The supersite also has a message forum for health and fitness community conversation.