Amazon.com Review

You might think that the subtitle, “The World’s Most Authoritative Guide to Building Your Body,” is hyperbole, but The Book of Muscle from Men’s Health delivers as promised. Australian strength coach and former powerlifting champion Ian King and Men’s Health fitness director Lou Schuler cover everything you want to know about your muscles and what makes them grow, complete with dietary recommendations, exercises for every muscle group, and exercise routines. Each muscle group is illustrated and discussed, with 149 pages of clearly described, well-photographed exercises using a variety of equipment. A section on workout routines helps you put together your own program, from beginner to advanced. Schuler’s guy-talk style makes the book enjoyable to read, even on days when you have no intention of going to the gym. The artistic drawings of muscle groups, full-color photographs of beginning and ending positions of every exercise, and stunning clo (more…)

Muscle fitness can mean two different things including a person has more powerful muscles so they have the ability to lift heavier object, or it can mean that they will work for a longer period of time before becoming tired- have more strength and stamina to outlast others. This higher level of fitness can be achieved through a combination of strength and weight training, and a blend of cardiovascular and flexibility training.

Before beginning a fitness regime you will need a plan. You need to have a general idea as to what look you are trying to achieve. Once you have that in mind or on paper you will need to begin the early phase of laying out a foundation which can involve months of gradually increasing the intensity of your workouts.

You may experience months without seeing very drastic results especially if you look in the mirror more than once a day. It is common for us to think that we still look the same but slowly daily improvements were happening all along and it is just difficult to see when you look at your body every day. Eventually you will look in the mirror and realize that you have achieved your goal, now it has become a matter of keeping the weight off and the muscles strong and firm.

When you are considering muscle fitness you see that it is the aspect of general fitness and concentrates on developing the strength and size of out skeletal muscles. This will involve some weight or resistance training. Most of us associate muscle building weight lifting with body builders rather than those simply trying to be healthier. In fact there are both health and cosmic reasons that we all should strength train.

When you train and have proper muscle fitness you will be able to lift heavier objects easier and will also be able to have more stamina and work for long periods of time without becoming tired. Keeping muscle fitness and tone also helps you to avoid injuries to your body’s joints. This is because your muscles have become more flexible and have the ability to deal with the stress you place upon and around your joints.

You should have professional assistance when you are beginning a weight training program so that they can help you design a workout that includes total muscle balance. You should choose a similar number of exercises and sets to complete for the opposite muscle groups.

If you don’t balance the exercises you are susceptible to injury and you posture can be altered if there are significant amounts of training that are completed one and not the opposite one. This can lead to muscular weakness and also postural deficiencies. You need to have an overall body workout to achieve the maximum results when strength and weight training.

Muscle fitness is much more than just lifting weights to get bigger muscles. It involves developing muscles that are strong and healthy. Muscle fitness involves educating yourself on the proper methods for strengthening your muscles as well as developing strong muscles. This will help prevent injuries to your muscles and help your lose weight. The more muscle you have, the more fat you burn while exercising and while resting. You will also appear to be more toned. Muscle fitness is important for both men and women.

You should consume large amounts of protein for proper muscle fitness. Your body will need it to replace the vitamins and minerals you are using up while lifting weights. You should also consume a great deal of water throughout the day to remain hydrated. Some people choose to consume protein shakes and other supplements for muscle fitness. Some of these products may be beneficial but you should consult with a trainer or a doctor before taking any of them. Just because they claim to have all natural ingredients doesn’t necessarily mean they are safe. You should never use them as a replacement for proper nutrition.

Muscle fitness requires you to take care of your muscles. It is not good to lift weights daily. You should have a day of rest in between where you do other types of exercise for at least 30 minutes. It is a myth that you will get bigger muscles if you work them every day. Your muscles need a day to rest. It is during this resting period that your muscles will gain strength and grow in size. The amount of weight isn’t what is important, rather it is the number of repetitions you do. Instead of focusing on lifting more, focus on adding more reps to your workout each week.

Muscle fitness is very important and a great way to get into shape. Make sure you lift weights properly. You can hurt your back and your muscles if you don’t. Never lift more than you can handle. It is a good idea to have a spotter available in case you need one during your weight lifting activities. If possible, consider working with a personal trainer. Muscle fitness involves taking care of your muscles before, during, and after your workout sessions. You will need to do warm up exercises prior to lifting and then cool down exercises at the end of your workout. Skipping either one of them can result in muscle tears and injuries.

Muscle fitness is about more than just being tough and looking strong. It is about your overall level of fitness and feeling good about yourself. Muscle fitness is only effective if you take care of other aspects including your diet and cardio activities. Common mistakes of muscle fitness include working out too often so your muscles don’t have time to rest or grow. Lifting more than you can will do more damage than good. Don’t expect immediate results from muscle fitness. It takes changes to your lifestyle, eating habits, and regular workouts to reap the benefits of muscle fitness.

Muscle fitness is the dream of any youth today – be it a male or a female. There is no shortage of gymnasiums to work out. There are also innumerable supplements in the market. These supplements guarantee the best of the muscle layouts for your body. Here’s a list of the things you must do while traveling on the highway to muscle fitness.

First, consult your physician before adopting any exercise schedule or taking any of the muscle fitness supplements. Do check out with your personal physician whether you can go for that exercise regimen. Your doctor will, in all probability, do an overall checkup of your physique. Take to the exercises or the medications only if you get the nod from your physician. Sincerely follow the guidelines set by your instructor.

Once you get the nod from the expert, contact a muscle fitness instructor in your neighborhood. You must always do the exercises under the watchful eyes of the instructor. This is a precaution against any pitfalls.

Next, choose a state-of-the art gymnasium. Doubly ensure that the gym has up-to-date first aid facilities. The very knowledge that there is an expert doctor nearby whom you can turn to in times of exigencies is quite a comforting assurance. Mind you, accidents can happen anytime.

Then, you will also have to take care of your diet so that you keep on supplementing your body with the required vitamins and other minerals. But, it is always better to opt for the natural means rather than going for the artificial ones. Beware! Overeating may give you only the opposite results. Once you start having the bulge, it would be rather problematic for you to trim that fat on your waist.

On the other hand, in most of the cases the fatty substances keep on gathering rather than reducing. Or if you start starving after the exercise regimen, you would not gain anything insofar as muscle fitness is concerned. This is because the body is unable to regain the lost strength from the meal. Would you be able to run a car without fuel? Surely not! Similar is the case with our body!

Along with the diet, another important point to keep in mind is that your body dehydrates while exercising. So, take to fluids in a big way. If you deprive your already taxed body of water or other nourishing fluid you will get tired easily. Getting fagged out after any muscle fitness roster will be a hopeless program. After all, you are exercising to not just get the dream body but to also gain strength.

Above all, the muscle fitness routine is not at all about starving. Muscle fitness is more about a hygienic lifestyle. What is required is a controlled but Army-type of regimen. Therefore, all you have to give is total concentration and posses a strong will power.

Moreover, remove the misconception that if you exercise too much you will have more muscle power. Neither over-exercise nor lift excessive weights. There is a limit to everything. Most importantly, our bodies will tolerate strains only up to a limit. Do the exercises leisurely. Exert too much pressure on the physique and you will not get strong for sure!

At the end of the day, the muscle fitness regimen must not be at loggerheads with your sweet sleep. In other words, it is of absolute necessity that you get a good night’s sleep. In fact, our body recuperates from the day’s wear and tear only during that time when we have a sound sleep. Another less known aspect is that our physique grows during the time we dream.

If you are suffer from insomnia, practise yogic exercises in the morning. They help to tone up the body. Certain breathing exercises also help to get rid of the toxic elements from inside our body. These yogic exercises are good for gaining concentration and balance of mind as well. Hence seek the instructions on the time-tested yogic exercises. Or you can also take the help of a person who is an expert on yoga. The yogic exercise called savasana helps a person relax his physique.

These days we hear an awful lot about cardio fitness and it seems muscle fitness has taken a bit of a back seat. Now there’s no question that cardio is very important but muscle is as important as cardio for a variety of reasons.

Muscle groups becomes stronger the more they are worked. There is a bit of a misconception out there because people believe that if they concentrate on muscle fitness and working those muscles then suddenly they will become buff almost overnight. Many do not realize it takes time and dedication to become buff.

The body has several different muscle groups and each develop at different paces so your muscle fitness program needs to take that into consideration. For example don’t expect to do a couple of barbells and have Arnolds body. Sorry that’s just not going to happen.

Muscle fitness doesn’t have to be costly either. A simple set of dumbbells and a bench and you’ll be asking those bigger guys to sit down and shut up. It doesn’t require you to invest in one of those expensive machines advertised on television although they sure would like you to believe that you do.

Muscle fitness is also a great way to protect yourself. And it’s a good idea to include each muscle group in your workout so that all groups get the attention they should deserve.

Each muscle group deserves full attention when it comes to muscle fitness. You can make sure that you rotate your muscle groups through your muscle fitness program and that way you can begin to develop each group slowly.

After only a short period of time your muscle fitness will pay off and you’ll be flexing those well toned muscles. Now don’t make the mistake that so many do in thinking that because you work you muscle out you are going to develop big bulky muscle groups – which is okay by the way if you are a guy. Your short little muscle workouts won’t cause such development.

If you want to develop body builder like muscles your muscle fitness program is going to have to get a whole lot more serious. It’s going to include not only some heavy duty workouts but it’s also going to include some heavy duty menu changes. After all bulky muscles don’t just appear without some serious hard work.

What good muscle fitness can do for you is give you additional strength and tone you so that you look younger and firmer. The ability to move or lift heavier objects without struggling can be a really great feature but many become involved in muscle fitness because middle age is sneaking up on them and they want to take care of the flab.

There’s no cheaper and easier way to develop muscle fitness than with free weights. They just give you so many options and they are so darn affordable. They also don’t take up the space like the larger gym units do.

Now that all said when it comes to muscle fitness what makes sense is what works for you. You might prefer a huge home multi gym or you might find the workout with the free weights much more rewarding. What is important is the fact that you do it. That you get involved in your own health and take care of those muscles as well as your cardio system.

While people have always had a concept of beauty, that concept has changed throughout the years. Obese women were once the epitome of sexy because extra weight was a sign of health and hinted at their abilities to bear many children. Tanning booths may be popular now, but paleness was once the most desirable skin tone, as it meant the individual had the luxury of remaining inside, unneeded in the fields.

Until the end of the 19th century, muscles were not really a focal point of attraction; consequently, men and women did not pay much attention to weight training. However, audiences slowly began to appreciate the physique of men during strength demonstrations and wrestling matches, giving birth to the art of body building.

The goal of body building has always been to achieve some physical ideal. In the early years, the Grecian ideal reigned supreme; men crafted their bodies according to the proportions of ancient Roman and Greek statues. Modern bodybuilders aim for muscle development far beyond that of Adonis. The largest, most distinct muscles are the most aesthetically pleasing, and bodybuilders do everything in their power to accentuate their cuts, from tanning and lighting to applying oils and lotions. However, while both the definition of beauty and the ultimate goal of body building have changed, the process of achieving results has remained consistent: nutrition, training and rest.

The Three Steps

Nutrition is integral to any fitness regime, but especially to body building. Without a specialized diet, bodybuilders are unable to grow and repair muscle; they require more calories and more protein. Bodybuilders consumer certain carbohydrates to fuel their bodies, and ingest large amounts of protein to build muscle. Body building athletes should aim at getting almost 30 percent of their calories from protein; while carbohydrates stimulate muscle synthesis, without protein, the body lacks the materials with which to synthesize.

While nutrition provides the building blocks, weight training provides the imagination. Strength training with free weights or elastic resistance results in rapid muscle growth. However, what many people fail to realize is that muscle growth results due to the damage caused by weight training.

When lifting, bodybuilders tear their muscles; these microtraumas are felt as general soreness, called delayed onset muscle soreness. When the body repairs these tears, it goes above and beyond the call of duty, furthering the development of the muscles. Body building, in essence, is a violent sport, and brings a literal connotation to the idea of no pain, no gain.

Rest is the often ignored component of body building. Without rest, muscle growth cannot occur, since muscle development happens during the repairing process, the body must have downtime in order to focus on this work. Without rest, muscles cannot recover; a bodybuilder must plan both gym time for muscle stimulation, and rest for muscle growth. Sleep is a huge factor. Eight hours of sleep per night is essential, and daytime naps help to further increase the body’s potential for muscle growth.

Hard gainers have it rough in the sport of bodybuilding. We find it terribly difficult to pack on the pounds like our mesomorphic friends. But building muscle, even for the hard gainer, is easy if you know how.

Think of your bodybuilding lifestyle as a barstool: It’s got three legs. If one leg is missing or is longer or shorter than the other two, you’ve got problems. The same goes for muscle-building.

The three components of your regimen are your weight training routines, your meal plans (including proper supplementation), and your relaxation and recovery programs.

Shortchange any one of these three parts and you’re in for little to zero gains. You may even lose weight if you’re not careful.

In brief, I’ll lay out the conceptual framework for the three prongs.

Exercise

You need to train infrequently, at most 3 times per week, with each body part getting no more than 2 workouts per week. This is how I do it: Legs and arms on day A, torso on day B. Each day is separated by at least one day and you alternate day A and day B. Something like this: Monday — day A, Wednesday — day B, Friday — day A, then the following week you do Monday — day B, Wednesday — day A, Friday — day B.

Continue alternating like this for up to 8 weeks. Let your body be your guide.

This may sound like an easy exercise plan. It’s not!

It’s designed to work hand-in-hand with your Rest and Recovery portion of the program. You see, most hard gainers follow conventional advice as espoused by professional bodybuilders, who are genetically gifted, may be taking steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, and whose sole job is to bodybuild.

Most of us aren’t like professional bodybuilders in any way, shape, or form.

Reducing the workout frequency will give you the rest and recovery time necessary to explode your muscle growth. However, you must lift using High Intensity Training (HIT) techniques. Go heavy, do 6-10 reps for the upper body and 10-15 reps for your legs, with as much weight as possible (the last two reps should be killers). Use cheating, forced reps, and negatives to add even more intensity. Use super sets and pre-exhaust techniques to further up the ante.

Nutrition

You have to consume more calories than you expend. Follow a high protein, moderate to low carb diet. Don’t worry about fat. Eat plenty of eggs (4-8 a day, I’m not kidding), dairy, and beef. Chicken and fish are also great sources of protein.

In fact, if you just concentrate on getting 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, using the food sources above, you’ll be on the right track.

Supplement with high-quality protein powders, growth-hormone-inducing amino acids like arginine and ornithine, and dessicated liver tablets. Also ensure you’re laying a sound nutritional foundation by ingesting a mega-pak or two per day of a vitamin/mineral supplement (you can buy them in 30-packs at GNC).

Eat frequently, up to eight times per day: Three “squares” with snacks in between. On workout days, take in 20-30 grams of protein before and after your weight training.

Rest and Relaxation

Get 8-10 hours of sleep every night and use a set schedule for going to sleep and waking up. Nothing is more important than this for this prong of your training program.

If you can do it, take naps after your workouts. You grow when you sleep. A 30-minute nap is better than nothing. On your off-days, try to do something that’s relaxing, like reading, surfing the internet, or fishing. Something that sets your mind at ease. Many hard gainers who have success have found that meditation is helpful. Yoga works, too. It’s NOT easy, but in a very strange way, it’s grueling and relaxing at the same time.

There you have it. Three equal but different prongs for building muscle and gaining weight. Best of luck to you!

Don’t forget to check out Muscle-Build.com and Hard Gainer’s Manifesto for more helpful tips and training techniques for building muscle, gaining weight, and packing on the mass.