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Gain 10 lbs
Of Muscle
Jason Maxwell, CPT
www.JMaxFitness.com
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Method #1:
Its Easier to Build Muscle When You Have a Lower Body
Fat Percentage
Ideally, through trial and error with myself and my clients, weve found that the
fastest muscular gains occur when your body fat percentage is between 8% and
14%. The reason behind this is because when you are leaner, your body is able to
handle the food you eat better, and is more likely to store it as muscle as opposed
to fat. The hormones in your body dictate this, and hormones work better when
you are leaner (8%-14%). This doesnt mean that you cant build muscle if you are
20% body fat though. You still can, but it just isnt optimal for the fastest
muscular gains.
In order to get down to 8%-14% bodyfat, you can take an approach that will lose
fat and build muscle. In this approach, I recommend pairing an upper body lift
with a lower body lift in a superset fashion. For example, try this:
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Rest
1A: Reverse Lunge 4
12
60 sec
1B: Barbell Bench 4
12
60 sec
Press
The combination of the upper and lower body lifts will really get your heart going.
On top of this, the action of lifting weights will allow you to build muscle.
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As you can see, Brian lost 8.3% body fat in 3 weeks. Brian started out at 172 lbs.
This means that he lost approximately 16 lbs. of fat in 3 weeks. Not too shabby.
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Method #2
Build Muscle with Muscular Tension, Muscle Damage, and
Metabolic Stress
Recent studies have shown that the three keys to muscle growth are muscular
tension, muscle damage, and metabolic stress. Lets break these bad boys down:
Muscular Tension
This is when you squeeze and contract your muscles. The harder the contraction,
the more you will stimulate muscle growth. On top of this, you want the
contraction to last through a full range of motion.
For example, lets look at a biceps curl. When your arm is straight, you should fire
your biceps muscle before even bending your arm. Then, you will start to bend
your arm, maintaining the contraction in your biceps. When you cannot bend
your arm any further, contract your biceps even harder. Now, start to straighten
your arm again. Keep the biceps muscles contracted. This is harder than it
seems. Master this with every exercise and you will start to see impressive gains
in size and strength.
Muscle Damage
Have you ever worked out and then been sore the next day? This is partially
caused by muscle damage. Breaking down the muscle in the workout and causing
muscle damage will cause your body to respond and repair the muscles bigger
and stronger.
Metabolic Stress
This is the burning feeling and the pump you get when working out. The burning
feeling is caused by lactate in your muscles. The pump is caused by your muscles
filling up with blood. Both of these will cause your muscles to grow.
Combining the 3
Keeping tension in the muscles, try a dropset. We will use a standing overhead
press as an example. Use a weight that you can lift for 8 reps. Lets say you can
lift 40lbs for 8 reps. Here is what you will do:
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Method #3
Prioritize Ideal Proportions
There are certain muscular proportions that make you instantly give the illusion
that youve gained 20 lbs of muscle, when in fact, you may have only gained 3 lbs.
This is a very powerful concept.
For example, the ideal ratio of your waist to your shoulders should be 1:1.618.
This is also known as the golden ratio or the Grecian ideal. When this ratio is
satisfied, you will always look jacked. In recent studies, women and men were
both asked to rate the attractiveness of mens bodies, and sure enough, this
golden ratio was proven to be the most attractive body type.
Here are other ratios that you should strive for:
Body Part
Calf
Neck
Waist
Shoulder
Thigh
Chest
Forearm
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Everyone always asks me, Why dont you be an astronaut instead of a fitness
professional?. Heres what Ive realized: throughout my degree, Ive found
myself studying and reading fitness, health, and nutrition literature at times when
I should have been studying for aerodynamics, aircraft performance etc. Some
people in my program go home and read about airplanes. I read about health.
That is where my passion lies. The path of health and fitness that Ive chosen will
inevitably help people improve the quality of their life. Sure, aerospace
engineering can inevitably help people, but not on the same degree and
magnitude as health and fitness. Theres no way it can help someone live a
longer, happier life. For more info on health, fitness, and nutrition, subscribe to
my website: http://www.JMaxFitness.com/
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