How Many Reps
How Many Reps? How Much Weight? From the HubPages Questions and Answers. I saw this question. Since you workout "a lot", there's a pretty good chance you're not giving your body the time it needs to fully recover. Muscle is build outside the gym, not in it. Take two weeks off, let your body fully recover and then get back at it. You want to reset your system which is why I'm suggestion the two weeks off. Seems like too much time off? Don't worry, it doesn't mean you get to be a couch potato. In these two weeks, be active. Go out and ride your bike. Nothing grueling, just a nice ride. Take long walks. Yes, be a personals add! Take a Tai Chi class and get a massage or two. Go swimming, shoot hoop, go kayak or hike. Get the point? Be active, get moving, just not in the gym. Your body needs Check this out. Anytime you feel your training coming to a halt, a good week or two away from the gym but active it always a good thing.
Nutrition is key to muscle growth. Are you getting enough protein and complex low-glycemic carbohydrates in your diet? If not, it doesn't really matter how many reps you do, you'll never pack on any muscle. You need protein to repair and carbohydrates for energy. Not enough of either one spells disaster for muscle growth. Protein: Focus on getting at least 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass. In English, that means if you weigh 150 pounds with 15% bodyfat, you'll want to consume 130 to 195 grams of protein daily. Try and split that up into 5-6 feedings per day. Carbs: You want to focus on complex low-glycemic carbs that wont mess with your insulin levels too much. Beans, Brown Rice, Whole Wheat Pasta to mention a few. Apples, pears and Bananas are good fruits as they are packet with quality nutrients and Prime Boosts Official fiber. You should be Even-Steven with your protein to carb ratio, so 1 to 1.5 grams for the carbs as well.
Note: Quality carbs are not going to make you fat. Especially if you're training hard and not eating junk. Finally, make sure a quality multi-vitamin and mineral supplement is in the picture. Kick the machines to the curb and put 100% of your attention on free weights, specifically basic compound exercises. Compound exercises utilize multi-joint movements such as deadlifts, squats and pressing. Dips and Pull Ups are also quite effective for upper body development. Machines create Franken-bodies with limited mobility and Prime Boosts Official range of motion. Focus on big compound movements such as the ones mentioned above. That being said, also make sure you have a trainer show you proper lifting technique. Good form and function is critical to avoiding injury. Especially if you've been using a lot of machines. Compound exercises with free weights will find you using muscle you didn't know you had and in a very short time, you'll start to see some serious positive change. It is very important to learn correct movement patterns.
Permission to disregard "repetitions" granted! Your goal in each workout should be to finish stronger than last time. If you took two compound exercises. Let's say Deadlifts and Pull Ups. For the Deadlift, find a weight you can do 6 reps with but no more than 8. For the pull ups, you'll use your body weight. Set a timer for 15 to 20 minutes. Now do 5 Deadlifts. Take whatever time you need to recover from that and then knock out 5 Pull Ups. Rest a little more and back to the Deadlift for another set of 5. Then Pull Ups again. Record the number of reps. The important things here are to work through the whole 15 to 20 minutes and add at least 1 rep to the next workout. Also, never take a set to failure. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS leave 1 rep in the bank. This is how you avoid injury and comeback stronger.