By Sean On August 7th, 2009
The more work you put into something, the better results you will achieve. This has always been a widely accepted truth that applies to most areas in life.
The harder you study, the better grades you will achieve. The more time you spend fine-tuning your athletic skills, the better athlete you will become. The longer you spend learning to play an instrument, the better musician you will become.
Therefore, it only makes sense that you get massive muscles by spending more time in the gym, correct?
Contrary to what you might think, the answer to this question is a gigantic, definite, absolute no! It is in this area of bodybuilding that conventional wisdom goes straight out the window, down the street and around the corner.
I know what you might be asking yourself…
“What? Spending less time in the gym will actually allow me to get massive muscles?”
The answer is yes! It really will allow you to get massive muscles, and when we examine the muscle-growth process from its most basic roots, it becomes quite clear why this is the case.
Every single process that occurs within the human body is centered around keeping you alive and healthy. Through thousands of years of evolution the human body has become quite a fine-tuned organism that can adapt well to the specific conditions that are placed upon it.
We become uncomfortable when we are hungry or thirsty, we acquire a suntan when high amounts of UV rays are present, we build calluses to protect our skin, etc.
So what happens when we break down muscle tissue in the gym?
If you answered something to the effect of “you get massive muscles “, then congratulations! You are absolutely correct.
By battling against resistance beyond the muscle’s present capacity we have posed a threat to the musculature. The body recognizes this as potentially harmful and as a natural adaptive response the muscles will hypertrophy (increase in size) to protect the body against this threat. As we consistently increase the workload from week to week the body will continue to adapt and grow – allowing us to get massive muscles.
Sound simple?
Ultimately it is, but the most important thing to realize in relation to all of this is that the muscles can only grow bigger and stronger if they are provided with sufficient recovery time. Without the proper recovery time, the muscle growth process simply cannot take place.
Your goal in the gym should be to train with the minimum amount of volume needed to yield an adaptive response that allows you to get massive muscles. Once you have pushed your muscles beyond their present capacity and have triggered your thousand-year-old evolutionary alarm system, you have done your job. Any further stress to the body will simply increase your recovery time.
Most people train way too often and with far more sets than they really need to in order to get massive muscles. High intensity weight training is much more stressful to the body than most people think. The majority of people structure their workout programs in a manner that actually hinders their gains and prevents them from making the progress that they deserve.
Here are 3 basic guidelines that you should follow if you want to get massive muscles:
1) Train no more than 3 days per week.
2) Do not let your workouts last for longer then 1 hour.
3) Perform 5-7 sets for large muscle groups (chest, back, thighs) and 2-4 sets for smaller muscle groups (shoulders, biceps, triceps, calves, abs).
Take all sets to the point of concentric muscular failure and focus on progressing in either weight or reps each week. If you truly train hard and are consistent, training more often or any longer than this will be counterproductive to your gains.
To learn how to combine all of these principles into an effective step-by-step routine that allows you to get massive muscles, visit www.MuscleGainTruth.com for details. You can gain instant access to my renowned “Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System” and sign up for my free 8-part natural bodybuilding email course.
Sean Nalewanyj
Posted in Muscle Building Tips | Comments (3)
February 1st, 2010 at 10:22 pm
My shoulders don’t seem to be responding to this as well as I hoped.
I directly train them 1 time per week and eat well with few supplements, but I’m not making good gains in strenght or size
Is there anything else I can do?
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:17 pm
I perform a 4 day body split, Monday chest and triceps, tuesdays legs, thursday back and bicep and friday shoulders and core.
If i was to change to 3 day split which part of my program would i change?
April 25th, 2010 at 7:49 am
i had one of the worst muscular devlopment though 6 feet tall,thnks to work out and some whey protein,i hv undergone respectable transformation,i was overtraining wid 6 days a week till i came to know bout sean,lee hayward,antohny ellis,ronnie coleman,n sum frends,now i follow a 4 day a week,chest tricep,back,rest day,shoulder n bicep,and thighs on friday,thnks all,