Training

You will find a lot of "rules" for planning your training program on the internet and elsewhere. The problem, however, is that many of these are not real rules. They are just myths and misconceptions. Here are the top 5:

1 - A good training program is a balanced program

This may sound reasonable at first glance, but it's actually not true. A good training program is not about balance. It's about addressing individual needs and achieving your personal goals. So your training should be unbalanced to some degree so that you can devote more of your training to the areas you need to develop the most.

Scientific research shows that there is a dose-dependent response when it comes to gains in muscle mass and strength. So it's a mistake to use a balanced training program that devotes roughly the same amount of exercises, total sets and reps and training days to both your weaker, less developed muscle groups and your stronger, more developed muscle groups.

If your goal is to be somewhat skilled and capable at everything, rather than excelling at one or two things, then balance might be best for you. However, it's not best for everyone.

2 - Prioritize training for the core

Many trainers prioritize core training regardless of their goals. A 2015 meta-analysis (a study of studies) looked at the link between core muscle strength, physical fitness, athletic performance and the effects of core training on these parameters in trained individuals. The results were as follows:

• Core muscle strength plays only a minor role in trained individuals in terms of physical fitness and athletic performance."
• Core muscle strength appears to be an effective means of increasing core muscle strength and was associated with only limited improvements in markers of physical fitness and athletic performance compared to no training or regular training."

Of course, this doesn't mean that the core isn't an important part of the body that needs to be trained. But it does mean that the performance benefits of targeted core training are often misunderstood or overestimated. It also means that there is no need to view core training as a universal aspect of program planning that requires special attention.

3 - Master the basics

When people talk about sticking to the basics, they have a list of specific exercises that they believe are fundamental. Let's take a closer look at this.

The word "foundational" refers to an underlying basis or principle - something that is fundamental. When this definition is applied to the design of a training program, it becomes clear that there are no fundamental exercises that must be used.

There are only fundamental training principles such as overload, specificity, individuality, etc. that must be practiced. And it is these principles that dictate the exercises that should be incorporated into a training program and how they should be applied in a comprehensive training program. In other words, exercises are simply methods that allow us to apply principles.

Many will label a training program as either "good" or "bad" based on whether or not it includes a certain group of exercises that they call the basics. This is a classic case of putting methods before principles. However, when it comes to good program design, we don't start with the methods, we start with the principles. So a good training program is not determined by the exercises it includes, but by how training principles are used.

Some trainers will even go a step further and say that a successful program is all about mastering the basics, which in other words means that good training involves mastering certain exercises. This is also incorrect.

Unless you are trying to become a powerlifter or Olympic weightlifter, there is no single exercise that you are required to train. When it comes to performing exercises like deadlifts, you only need to use them in a way that is safe and helps you increase your body-wide strength or muscle growth. You need to have a basic competence in the exercises you perform, but it is not necessary to learn or train powerlifting specific skills that are required to become a deadlift master.

As far as exercises are concerned, there is no such thing as basic exercises. There are only traditional and non-traditional exercises. What we have are basic human actions such as pushing, pulling, rotation, locomotion and plane changes, for which there are many conventional and unconventional exercise applications you can choose from to train these universal human actions.

For example, the basic human action of squatting falls under the heading of plane change. In other words, squats are one of many other ways of performing the action of changing plane.

The reason it's important to consider basic human actions separately from conventional exercises is that when we think of an exercise like squats, we usually think of how we move when we have a barbell on our back (or in front of our body). And if we think that this type of squat represents a basic human action that everyone should be able to perform, then we are looking to square the circle. And not everyone is built in such a way that squats performed in this way are ideal for them.

However, if we recognize that the conventional style of performing squats is merely a way to train the fundamental human action of changing plane, then we are not elevating squats or any other specific exercise to a pedestal. We know that there are numerous other ways to train plane changes that may better suit an individual based on bone structure, body proportions and injury history.

This is why it's ridiculous for trainers to say, "You just don't know how to teach someone these exercises." As if everyone can be trained regardless of their individual bone structure, individual body proportions and injury history. This is the perfect example of coaches trying to fit exercisers to exercises instead of exercises to exercisers.

Ultimately it boils down to this: are you using the exercise or is the exercise using you? Considering the natural variations between different people's bodies, just because some exercisers can do conventional squats or deadlifts, it doesn't make sense to tell people that everyone should be able to perform these exercises in the same way. Sure, you can force people to try it, but a much smarter approach is to select exercises based on a trainee's needs.

4 - It's all about pushing yourself on the heavy basic exercises

Unless you're a powerlifter, it doesn't really matter how much weight you can move. Exercisers who aren't weightlifters don't strive to move specific amounts of weight - they strive to progress.

Doing this doesn't mean moving a specific amount of weight that would impress the powerlifting community. It just means getting stronger than before without sacrificing your health or your physical capacity to participate in other activities or sports you like.

When it comes to building muscle mass (hypertrophy), progress is not judged by how much weight you can move - it's about the way you perform the exercises and the changes you make to your body as a result. These are the effects that are visible outside the gym.

There is a big difference between using numbers as a metric for progress and aiming for certain weights on certain exercises. Of course, you can't increase weight or reps without using numbers as a measure of progress to try to perform slightly better each week than the previous week. You see progress when you can either increase the weight while using the same number of repetitions or when you can perform more repetitions with the same weight.

Since the human body adapts to new demands, you will only get so far with the principle of progressive overload. This is the reason that everyone will eventually reach a plateau in a training program where it is no longer possible to continue to achieve progressive overload using the same exercises. This is where variety comes into play and you change the exercises used.

This is very different from chasing specific weights in certain exercises, which brings us back to the problem of trying to force yourself into a mold and perform certain exercises.

There was a study done in 2009 with professional football players that looked at the relationship between maximal strength in squats (up to a 70 degree knee angle, which is deeper than squats with thighs parallel to the ground) and 5, 10 and 40 yard sprints. This study found that athletes with a 1RM squat/body mass ratio above 2.1 were significantly faster at 10 and 40 yard sprints than athletes with a 1RM squat/body mass ratio below 1.9.

Some will probably now want to use this study as evidence that all athletes should not only train squats, but should also strive for maximal weights in this exercise to reach at least the standard of double bodyweight in squats.

However, the results of another study comparing unilateral (single leg) versus bilateral (both legs) squat training for strength, sprinting and agility in rugby players showed that Bulgarian split squats were as effective as classic squats in improving lower body strength, 40 meter speed and changes in direction.

Another study found that single leg training and leg training performed with both legs increased strength and reduced fatigue, with no differences between the results of single leg and leg training performed with both legs.

Interestingly, this study also found that single-leg training did not reduce fatigue during repeated maximal contractions with both legs, and training performed with both legs did not reduce fatigue during single-leg repeated maximal contractions.

In other words, these results show not only that improvements in strength are similar with bilateral and unilateral squat training, but also that unilateral training does not reduce bilateral fatigue and vice versa.

Sure, squats are a great way to increase strength, but they're not the only way to do it. You don't even need a study to know this. When we apply training principles, you realize that no specific exercise has magical powers. You realize the reality that all resistance training exercises are simply a way to apply force through joints and generate progressive overload.

5 - Exercise progression represents training success

Many trainers use exercise progression and regression models like the example sequence below, which comes from the NSCA'S Foundations Of Fitness Programming Manual that I worked on:

Exercise: Squats

• Regression 1 - Wall Sit(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-wV4Venusw)
• Regression 2 - Goblet Squats
• Standard - Classic Squats
• Progression 1 - Front squats
• Progression 2 - Squats with the bar above the head

Exercise: Press (external load)

• Regression 1 - Chest press on the machine
• Regression 2 - Barbell bench press
• Standard - dumbbell bench press
• Progression 1 - one-arm dumbbell bench press
• Progression 2 - one-arm cable press(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKp6gYXk_pU)

Progression and regression schemes like these can be helpful when used as a systematic way to build familiarity with a given exercise before performing more complex variations of that exercise. It makes sense to learn an easier exercise before a more difficult one.

However, problems arise when these types of exercise progression and regression models are used as a general program goal. Why? Because some people are not physically built to perform certain exercises like overhead barbell squats. Making a program a goal is the same as trying to fit individuals to specific exercises instead of fitting exercises to individuals.

Furthermore, if you think that you need to continually add complexity to a given exercise in order to progress in your training, what are you going to do when you are able to perform every conceivable variation at the top end of the progression model? And if you are able to perform an exercise that is at a higher level in the progression model, does this mean that you can no longer benefit from using a variation that is at a lower level?

No, this is absurd. Any exercise, regardless of how simple it is, can be used progressively by increasing the weight, the number of repetitions, the number of sets, the time under tension, or whatever. So you can make the simplest variation very heavy by using a heavier weight and doing more repetitions.

Certainly these models can be helpful in teaching people how to perform certain exercises, but a person who can perform any exercise, no matter how advanced, can still benefit from a simpler variation. You will continue to benefit as long as the weight is appropriate for your current level of strength.

Even the fittest athletes can use and benefit from level 1 exercises, which is why these exercises should not be considered beginner exercises. All these progression models mean is that if someone is able to correctly perform an exercise higher up the scale, that person will be able to demonstrate good technique on a wider range of exercises. For this reason, such a person can use a wider range of exercises as part of their training sessions.

References

1. Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2016 Nov;46(11):1689-1697.
2. Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sports Sci. 2016 Jul 19:1-10 [Epub ahead of print]
3. Prieske O, et al.The Role of Trunk Muscle Strength for Physical Fitness and Athletic Performance in Trained Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2016 Mar;46(3):401-19.
4. Juan Carlos "JC" Santana. Functional Training. Human Kinetics Publishing. 2016. pg.13-2
5. McBride JM, Blow D, Kirby TJ, Haines TL, Dayne AM, Triplett NT. Relationship between maximal squat strength and five, ten, and forty yard sprint times. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Sep;23(6):1633-6.
6. Speirs, Derrick et al. Unilateral vs. Bilateral Squat Training for Strength, Sprints, and Agility in Academy Rugby Players. J. Strength Cond Res. Feb 2016. vol. 30, issue 2. p386-92
7. Rube, N, and Secher, NH. Effect of training on central factors in fatigue follows two- and one-leg static exercise in man. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 141(1): 87-95, 1991
8. Ramsey Nijem, Single-Leg and Double-Leg Training Implications for Basketball. Taken from the NSCA website
9. Clayton, N, Drake, J, Larkin, S, Linkul, R, Martino, M, Nutting, M, and Tumminello, N. Foundations of Fitness Programming. National Strength and Conditioning Association, 2015.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/the-5-most-common-programming-myths

By Nick Tumminello

Do you want great abs? Are you desperate for a defined six-pack? Here are specific workout plans and nutritional guidelines.

After 18 years in the fitness business, "How do I get great abs?" is still by far the most common question I get asked every month. This is no doubt because abs are the one muscle group that people are most frustrated with. Even though their questions are often phrased differently and each person's situation seems to be different, my answer to the question "How do I get great abs?" is always the same... and I'll give it to you here....

"1,000 situps and crunches a day and I still don't have visible abs!"

A question I got recently caught my attention because a young exerciser told me that he was doing 1,000 crunches and situps a day and still couldn't see his abs. He wrote me the following:

"I've been working out for a year now and just can't seem to get my lower abs even remotely in shape. I am starting to see my upper abs a little, which is great, but despite doing 900 reps of different variations of crunches and 100 sit-ups four days a week on top of my regular workout, I still have a life preserver around my midsection. What else can I do?"

What did I tell him? Well, I gave him the same answer I've given to thousands of people over the years and which is the only true "secret" to great abs....

You need to train for increased strength, build endurance and develop the abs, but to see definition around your abs you need - and this applies equally to every other muscle group - to achieve a low body fat percentage.

This may seem counter intuitive, but if you can't see your abs, then this is not a muscle development issue. You are simply carrying around too much body fat that is hiding your abs. The lower abs are also the area where most people - especially men - store body fat first.

There's a scientific reason why fat around your lower abs is the last to disappear: Belly fat - a big problem

For most people, body fat is not evenly distributed across the body. Each of us inherits a genetically determined and hormonally influenced pattern of body fat distribution - in much the same way that we inherit our eye and hair color. In other words, fat seems to "stick" to certain areas more than others.

There is a scientific reason for this. Your fat cells are not just simple storage tanks for excess fuel (energy). They are actually endocrine glands that send and receive signals to the rest of the body. You could say that your fat cells talk to your body and your body talks to your fat cells. This communication takes place via hormones and receptor systems.

In order for body fat loss to occur, you must first get the fat cell to release stored fat into the bloodstream. Then the released fatty acids must be transported to the working muscles where they can be burned for energy.

In order for fat to be released, the hormone adrenaline (epinephrine) must be released and send a signal to your fat cells. Your fat cells receive this hormonal signal via adrenaline receptors known as adrenoceptors.

Fat cells have beta 1 (B1) and alpha 2 (A2) receptors. Beta 1 receptors are the good guys. They activate the enzyme hormone-sensitive lipase, which breaks down fat and allows it to be released into the bloodstream for burning. Alpha 2 receptors are the bad guys. They block fat-releasing enzymes in the fat cell and promote fat storage.

How fat storage patterns affect you and prevent your abs from showing?

What's the reason for all this physiology? Well, as it turns out, the lower abdominal area in humans has a higher concentration of alpha 2 receptors, which gives us a possible explanation for why the lower abdominal area is often the first place we store fat and the last place we lose fat. (Coincidentally, the fat around the hips and thighs also has a higher concentration of alpha 2 receptors in women). This situation is dictated by your genetics and the hormonal and enzymatic pathways described above.

Think of belly fat as the deep end of a swimming pool. No matter how much you protest, there is no way to drain the deep end until you drain the shallow end. However, don't let this discourage you. The fat in the lower abdominal area will disappear - it is simply the last fat that will disappear. The area where fat is stored first and the area where it is broken down last.

This helps to explain why abdominal exercises have little effect on body fat loss. It is a big mistake to think that hundreds or thousands of repetitions of different abdominal exercises will help you lose fat in the lower abdominal area - at least not beyond the fact that these exercises burn calories and contribute to the calorie deficit. What the fat is shedding - all over the body - is a calorie deficit and this comes from a reduction in food intake, an increase in activity or a combination of both.

What I suggested to this young man was to cut back on his ab workouts, use the time he had previously spent doing excessive ab workouts for more intense, calorie-burning cardio and training with weights, get his diet in line and reduce his calories slightly if necessary.

As it turned out, his diet was a mess and as nutrition experts like to say, you can't make up for a lousy diet with exercise.

It's a monumental mistake to think that 1,000 reps of ab workouts a day will make your abs pop if your diet is a disaster and this leads to fat storage. I'm not saying that ab exercises are unimportant. But all the ab exercises in the world won't help as long as you continue to have body fat covering your abs. You can't target one area to lose fat with ab exercises. And you can't see your abs under a thick layer of body fat.

My award-winning abs program

Personally, I only do about 15 minutes of ab workouts twice a week, using between two and four exercises with 10 to 25 repetitions per exercise. Forget thousands of repetitions of sit-ups - that's a waste of time. The reason my abs look the way they do is not because of endless reps, but because I'm getting my body fat percentage into the single digits with a highly specialized fat-burning nutrition program.

Here's an ab program I've been using recently for bodybuilding purposes. I only do this program twice a week and change the exercises every month so my body can't adapt to them. I prefer slightly higher repetition ranges than for other muscle groups, but as you can see, this is far from a thousand reps a day.

Training session A1

• A1 hanging leg raises
• 3 sets, 15-20 repetitions

In superset with:

• A2 knee raises (hanging leg raises with bent knees)
• 3 sets, 15-20 repetitions
• (no rest between exercises A1 and A2, 60 seconds rest between supersets)

Training session B1

• B1 Swiss ball crunches with additional weight (or cable crunches)
• 3 sets, 15-20 repetitions

In superset with:

• B2 reverse crunches on the incline bench
• 3 sets, 15-20 repetitions
• (no rest between exercises B1 and B2, 60 seconds rest between supersets)

How to use cardio for maximum fat burning

Times have changed since the aerobics revolution in the seventies and eighties of the 20th century. For years, aerobic exercise was the darling of the fitness world. Then scientists began to recognize the benefits of training with weights - for everyone, not just bodybuilders.

Recently, the pendulum has swung the other way and we're starting to see fitness experts recommend that cardio training be minimized or even avoided altogether. This is the way things tend to go in the fitness world - swinging back and forth between trends, from one extreme to the other. Lots of cardio or no cardio at all.

I would recommend that you avoid trend hopping and instead pay close attention to what actually works. Listen to people who know their stuff and what they're talking about (like bodybuilders who are some of the leanest and most muscular people in the world). Doing nothing but cardio is a mistake, but completely forgoing cardio is just as wrong. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Maximum fat burning occurs when you combine cardio training with training with weights.

Those who are genetically blessed with an above average metabolic rate will find that a slight reduction in calorie intake and cardio training a few days a week will be enough to achieve what they desire. Most people who struggle with fat loss (sometimes referred to as people with endomorphic body types) simply don't burn enough calories to get the results they want. The answer for these people is more activity to burn more calories.

To support health and weight management, I would recommend 3 short cardio workouts of about 20 to 30 minutes duration per week. For maximum fat loss, however, I would recommend 30 to 45 minutes of moderate intensity cardio 4 to 7 days a week based on your results. You can combine different types of cardio training or use the type you like best. Training on the cycle ergometer, stairclimber, elliptical, aerobics classes and other continuous activities are all good fat burners (and your cardio doesn't have to be indoors on a cardio machine).

If time efficiency is an issue for you, then you can do 2 to 3 of these cardio workouts as high-intensity interval training and you'll get even better results with these shorter workouts. Just 20 to 25 minutes per training session can lead to great results if your intensity is high enough.

Remember that visible abs are all about a low body fat percentage. A low body fat percentage is all about burning calories and generating a calorie deficit. You achieve this calorie deficit by increasing the number of calories you burn or by reducing the number of calories you consume in the form of food. Increasing the intensity is a way to burn more calories in a shorter period of time.

7 nutrition secrets for great abs

And that brings us to nutrition. Many people say that abs are made in the kitchen and there's a lot of truth to that. You can do thousands of reps of ab workouts a week - if your diet isn't right, you can still forget about getting a great six pack.

1. Eat about 15 to 20% below your maintenance calorie level. If you're using a more aggressive calorie deficit in the 25 to 30% range, don't keep calories too low for too long - increase your calories to or 10 to 15% above maintenance calories 1 to 2 days per week.
2. Spread your daily calorie intake over 5 to 6 smaller meals instead of eating 2 to 3 large meals. Pay close attention to portion sizes. If you eat too much of anything - even healthy foods - you can kiss your abs goodbye.
3. Eat complete, high-quality, low-fat protein (egg whites, lean meat, fish, protein powder, etc.) at every meal
4. Choose natural, complex carbohydrates such as vegetables, oatmeal, yams, potatoes, beans, brown rice and whole grains. Start with about 50% of your calories in the form of natural carbohydrates and gradually reduce your calorie intake (especially in the evening) if you are not losing fat.
5. Avoid refined, simple carbohydrates that contain white flour and sugar.
6. Keep your total fat intake and saturated fat intake low. Aim for 20% of your calories in the form of fat (and no more than 30%). A few healthy fats such as linseed oil, fish oil, nuts, seeds, etc. are better than no fats. Essential fatty acids actually support the fat burning process.
7. Drink plenty of water - a good 3 liters a day is a good amount to aim for if you are physically active.

1000+ reps of abdominal training per day is an amazing feat of endurance, but it's not the way to achieve a visible six pack! If you were to perform 1000 reps of ab workouts per day, you would have excellent abdominal muscle development and superior muscle endurance, but if your abs are covered in fat, you won't be able to see them even if you perform 10,000 reps per day.

You condition and strengthen your abs with specific ab exercises...But the secret to visible abs is to reduce your body fat percentage!

I once saw a photo of a man who broke a Guinness Book record for sit-ups. Paradoxically, this man had no visible abdominal muscle definition at all. He wasn't overweight or obese, but he had a thin layer of fat on his stomach that was enough to hide his abs. I've never seen a better real-world example of this that demonstrates the basic principle of this article:

You can achieve great abs by reducing your body fat using a calorie deficit through diet and metabolism-boosting, calorie-burning exercise.

I've spent my entire career, which includes more than 18 years of training and 28 bodybuilding competitions, studying the science and practical art of body fat reduction. I speak from experience and I live what I talk about.

Source: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/the-great-abs-mistake-crunches-situps-still-no-abs.html

Do you build up too much fat during the mass-building phase? Or are you not gaining weight or muscle mass? Maximize your muscle gain with hard and intelligent training and the right diet.

Your muscle building phase is failing. You've spent weeks planning your workouts and calorie intake, asking questions on forums, but you run into one of the following problems:

1. You're building too much fat. You don't seem to be putting on much muscle during your bulking phase, but you're putting on too much fat.
2. You don't gain any weight at all. No matter what you do - the scales don't move. You still look in the mirror like you did at the beginning of the muscle-building phase.

What's going wrong? This is a good question with two simple answers: either you're not training hard and smart enough or you're not eating enough.

Reason #1 - You're not training hard and smart enough

The first reason your muscle building phase is failing is that you're not training hard and smart enough. Most people who go to the gym regularly train hard, but they don't train smart. They spend endless hours on the treadmill and sweat a lot while lifting weights. But while this is great for overall health, these workouts often lack the structure and focus necessary to build muscle and strength.

Building muscle requires adherence to certain key principles and the use of certain key practices so that you can see consistent gains. If these parameters are not adhered to, then your efforts in the gym will be wasted time. Your workouts will only result in the expenditure of energy and improvements to your body conditioning, while your extra calories will be used to build unwanted fat.

Let's look at some of the reasons why your training is suboptimal.

Poor exercise selection

Use the most effective exercises possible. Instead of trying to find an easier way to exercise, ask yourself if there is a more challenging exercise choice. Exercises are like tools. To build muscle in the most efficient way possible, you need to use the most effective tools in your toolbox. If you spend most of your training time focusing on low-quality exercises, your gains will slow down.

The following list includes the best muscle building exercises. Do you use exercises like these or do you use lighter alternatives?

• Squats and front squats
• Deadlifts and deadlifts with straight legs
• Bench press and variations
• Barbell and dumbbell rows
• Overhead presses and variations
• Dips
• Pull-ups

When considering the use of certain exercises, remember the following rules. Remember that these rules are generalizations and not fixed commandments that must always be followed.

1. Perform the most demanding exercises at the beginning of your training session when you still feel fresh and rested.
2. Multi-joint exercises are generally a better choice than isolation exercises.
3. When choosing machine, cable or isolation exercises, favor exercises that allow for the greatest future progression of training weight.
4. Don't underestimate the effectiveness of dips and pull-ups.

Certain exercises do not allow for much progression or improvement. Think about this. How long will it take you to reach your maximum weight on side raises? Not very long unless you start faking it. How long will it take you to reach your maximum weight for push presses (standing barbell shoulder presses with momentum from the legs)? Probably years. So it should be obvious that push presses are a better exercise choice than side raises.

Are you continuously trying to increase your training weights?

Do you have a progression plan when it comes to training weight progression? Do you know what a progression is? If not, then there is a realistic chance that your muscle building phase will fail miserably.

Progression is the increase in training weight for an exercise over time. Progression is what makes you muscular and progression is also what makes you strong. It's the magic and the main reason so many approaches from Dogg Crapp to Wendler's 531 work. Without progression or consistent strength gains over the first few years of your training, you won't see much in the way of muscle gains.

This is not to say that you have to become a powerlifter. Of course you don't have to, but you do have to push yourself to do more every week. If you don't push yourself, your body will quickly adapt to your current training habits and your muscle gains will slow down or stop.

There are certainly other ways to make a training session harder without increasing the weights, but without increasing the weights used, these training tools will only have a limited effect. For example, if you have chosen to use supersets to intensify your muscle building efforts, then your body will most likely respond...at least for a few weeks. After this period, you will need to return to a weight progression so that the supersets continue to challenge your body.

The same applies to increases in training volume. Although 1 or 2 additional sets may force your body to respond to this, you will need to refocus on a progression of weights once your body has adapted to this increase in volume.

The bottom line is that there are many unique methods from rest-pause to increases in training volume that can help achieve muscle growth, but at a certain point all of these methods require weight progression to remain effective. You simply can't bench press 65 kilos year in, year out and use shock training tactics and expect to build substantial amounts of muscle mass as a result.

There are no weak bodybuilders. Even if bodybuilders don't train specifically for strength gains, strength gains are the primary, essential tool that drives gains in muscle mass.

Don't understand what such a progression might look like? Here's a simple progression rule for multi-joint exercises that any beginner can follow:

Push yourself to perform as many reps as you can on each set using good form. Stop the set when you feel you can no longer complete the next repetition. If you can do 10 repetitions in this set, increase the weight for this exercise in the next training session.

Should you use this approach and only this approach? Of course not. However, you need to push yourself. At some point after your first year of hard and focused training, you should get close to the weights listed below. If this is not the case, then it's time to get serious about progression. I've seen time and time again hard-training people reach these weights after just 12 months of training:

• Bench press: 100 kilos
• Squats: 150 kilos
• Deadlift: 175 kilos

Stop looking for excuses

Are you looking for excuses? Minor injuries, aches and strains are part of training. Listen to your body and train around these injuries. Stop looking for any excuse to skip training. Be persistent and train even when you don't feel perfect. Want to know why? Here's the reason:

Because how you feel has nothing to do with how you perform.

Am I sure about this? Yes, 100%. I've been training for 25 years and I know the following to be true:

1. I often have my best training sessions on days when I feel tired and unmotivated.
2. 25% of my workouts are sub-optimal - no matter what approach I use or how great I feel.

The first point tells us this: Go train - no matter how you feel (apart from when you're really sick). The second point is also very important. How many times have you seen an exerciser do a de-load because they had a bad training session? I suspect more than once.

Don't schedule a de-load every time you've had a bad training session. That's a terrible habit. You will always have bad days - and in most cases for no apparent reason. Experienced exercisers will tell you that they always have great workouts the day after a bad session and vice versa. So just keep going.

Now that you're using better exercises, striving for progression and going to the gym consistently, let's look at the second possible reason your muscle building phase is failing.

Reason #2 - You're not eating enough

Maybe you're on the other side of the fence: You're training hard, but you can't seem to build muscle or strength. What could be the reason for this? My guess is that you're not eating enough. But, but, but...I eat enough! No, no, no, you're not. If you are training hard and your weight is still stagnating, then you need more food. If you weighed 68 kilos 6 months ago and still weigh 68 kilos today, then something is wrong.

The calorie calculator told me that I...

You often see that even experienced exercisers base their calorie needs on the output of a calorie calculator. The problem with this is that such a calculator encourages many of us to eat too little. Although a calorie calculator can provide a good starting point, it often tends to underestimate calorie needs for young, healthy men with a fast metabolism.

A skinny 18 year old man who weighs 68 kilos and is struggling to gain weight might get 2600 kcal as his daily calorie requirement from a calorie calculator. However, there is a good chance that this person might not be able to gain weight as long as he does not eat more than 3500 kcal per day.

The point is that you need to eat more if the weight on the scales doesn't change. It is quite possible for an exerciser to gain 15 pounds of muscle during their first year of training. While this buildup is not linear, these numbers suggest that a beginner should build about a pound of muscle per month during their first year of training.

I don't want to get fat

There is this nonsensical belief that building mass requires you to get fat. The reason many exercisers fail in their mass-building phase is because they don't train hard enough. If you train hard, you won't become a sumo wrestler if you eat a little more than normal. On the other hand, eating too little can substantially limit your progress. It's up to you...keep eating like a lean model and look like a lean model or eat a little more than normal and see better gains.

During my first 2 years of hard training I ate about 4000 to 5000 kcal per day and still stayed quite lean. My body fat percentage never exceeded 16 to 18%. Of course, I was only 18 years old at the time and had a fast metabolism, but I think you get my point...eat enough to make gains.

If 90% of your calories come from healthy, clean foods, then it's going to be hard to build substantial amounts of fat. In addition to this, you will never build significant amounts of muscle mass if you consider a six-pack that is no longer visible to be fat.

How should I build up?

How should you build up? There are many possible methods. Here are some popular options:

• 3 large meals a day + 2 liters of milk per day (GOMAD (Gallon of milk per day).
• Add 1000 kcal to what you normally eat per day (John Christy style of eating)
• Eat 300 kcal more than you consume (clean mass building)
• Eat 500 kcal more than you consume (more aggressive mass building)
• Intermittent Fasting or Warrior Diet with appropriate calorie intake
• Paleo diet with adequate calorie intake

Final thoughts

Working out hard can make up for a few poor dietary choices as long as your calorie intake is adequate. Whatever you do, you should work your butt off in the gym and get strong on the most impactful exercises. On the other hand, a perfect diet will never make up for bad workouts. If you're still doing squats at 100 kilos after 5 years of training, then there's a reason you haven't built up much muscle mass.

The point you should take to heart is this:

Train and eat smart. If you eat a lot but don't train hard, you will build fat. Extra calories without progressively more demanding workouts are simply extra calories. If you train smart but don't eat enough, you will make it harder for yourself to build muscle.

For those who train really hard in the gym, I recommend a more aggressive nutritional approach. You can always cut back on your diet if you need to.

Source: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/bulk-failure-muscle-building-plan