Bodybuilding.com - Bodybuilding Basic Principles!

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If you lift the same weight for the same reps on the same exercise as you did the previous week, why should your body increase its muscle mass? Obviously, it shouldn't...

By: François Doyon

To build big muscles you have to train, eat and rest. I will explain here these basic principles to get bigger and stronger.

Training

The optimal characteristics of muscle building programs include the use of both concentric and eccentric muscle actions and the performance of both single and multiple-joint exercises. I also recommended that the bodybuiding program sequence exercises to optimize the quality of the exercise intensity :

Abs

To gain muscle mass you must apply the Overload Principle. If you don't give your body a reason to grow, then it won't. Building muscle takes a lot of energy, so if the muscle isn't needed, it doesn't get built. If you lift the same weight for the same reps on the same exercise as you did the previous week, why should your body increase its muscle mass?

Obviously, it shouldn't and doesn't. So the key of muscle mass gain is to push yourself beyond where you've been before.

If you lift progressively heavier loads from week to week, you should make gains in muscle mass. The last rep of a set must be the last you can do. If you can do more than 8 reps (15 for legs) add more weight. The next time you will do one same exercise you must do one more rep.

Training For Muscle Growth:

2-3 exercises per body part
3-4 sets per exercise (excluding warm-up)
6-8 repetitions per set

bench presses

standing barbell presses

Nutrition

Follow a daily diet containing 36 kcal per kilogram of body weight, at least 2g of protein per kilogram, and 100 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamins, minerals, and trace elements.

To get enough proteins I recommend to get 3 good meal a day and a shake of whey protein between meals.

Drink lots of water! Your muscles are primary made of water. If you a lot of drink water (at least 1gallon/day) your muscles will look fuller and water will help your liver to convert fat into energy.

WATER INTAKE CALCULATOR

Rest And Training

A muscle must have time to grow before the next workout. So dont train a muscle group more than once a week. Here is an example of a good training split:

Day 1 chest/triceps
Day 2 back/biceps
Day 3 shoulders/traps/abs
Day 4 legs

But if you think you can do more here is an excellent mass building program that I recommend strongly: