Building lean muscle mass does not have to be shrouded in mystery. Once you realize what you should be doing and why you should be doing it things will become much clearer. Many experts tell you what to do, but they never explain why, so you are left wondering if what you are doing is going to work. This is one of the reasons that many people give up, because they do not know the reasoning behind why they are doing the exercises.
There are basically two types of exercises, aerobic and anaerobic. The difference is more than just a few letters. Aerobic exercises are designed to get your heart pumping and lungs working for the purpose of getting more oxygen into your system. This is good for three main reasons:
Strengthen your heart. If you are going to be working out you are going to need a strong heart to pump all that blood around.
Works the lungs. When you work the lungs you are getting a lot more oxygen into your system. This will build up your endurance, and you are going to need that when you are lifting weights.
Recovery. People who do regular aerobic exercise have a better quality of sleep. Better sleep = better recovery.
Good examples of aerobic activity are jumping rope, cycling, running and just about anything that gets the heart and lungs working without using Resistance. The sauna does not count.
Anaerobic activity is basically resistance training. Your muscles do not care if the resistance is caused by brand new shiny weights or ones that have rusting away in your garage for the past year. Anaerobic activity is designed to be done in short intense bursts.
This is why you need to do both types of exercises, they serve different needs. Before you start lifting do five minutes of aerobic activity to warm up the muscles, never work out cold. When lifting weights, lift a weight you can only lift 8 - 12 times. This is your optimal muscle growth range. Lift slowly with proper form, when you lift fast you are actually cheating your self because momentum is doing a lot of the work for you. This why you can't lift as much when you go slow, a count of 5 up, 5 down will be perfect.
Lastly when you workout, work the entire body. This will serve two purposes:
You will not neglect muscles. Most people tend to concentrate to much on biceps and chest.
When you work the entire body your body is producing more testosterone, which is essential for muscle growth.
Keep your workouts short, remember short intense bursts, no marathon sessions. A workout session should last no more than 45 minutes....30 minutes is better. Do not try to get every single exercise in the world in, each workout session should only have 6 - 8 exercises total.
If you follow this advice I promise you will achieve some incredible gains that will even amaze yourself. With the proper motivation you can build an impressive physique.
Douglas Young is an online researcher on the subject of building muscle learn how to build lean muscle mass. visit http://www.theweightgain.com for more free articles, tips and advice.
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