You’ve undoubtedly had friends who went off into the military and returned after two months of basic training looking like a different person: buff, lean, and more muscular. This didn’t happen by magic. This transformation occurred because the military knows how to build muscle without weights. Their basic training’s emphasis is upon bodyweight calisthenics exercises. Watching Olympic athletes in action is another eye opener. Their muscular bodies also result from similar bodyweight calisthenics exercises. With this evidence set clearly before your eyes, you’ll have to agree that it is possible to build muscle without lifting weights.

You build muscle by challenging your muscles against a resistance of force. Your body does not distinguish among the different types of resistance that the muscles experience. You can be lifting bags of potatoes, exercising at a gym on a multi-million dollar machine, or using your own body weight. In the opinion of this writer, you should begin building muscle without weights before resorting to added weights. It is important that you learn to skillfully move your own body through a variety of exercises before worrying about adding additional weight for muscle building. Exercising using body weight only will provide your body with an excellent foundation upon which to build in the future using added weight.

The secret to muscle building is simple. Your body builds new muscle only when it needs it. If your body sees little demand, let’s say you’re a couch potato, you’ll have no need for muscle to function. If you exercise using bodyweight calisthenics, you’re body will develop the muscle that it needs to perform those exercises efficiently. In theory, it’s profoundly simple! And you can start immediately. You won’t have to acquire any expensive gym equipment. You have it all ready in your own body, and it goes with you everywhere. No matter where you are, your equipment is ready for use at any time to build muscle without weights.

All you have to do to start exercising is to start exercising correctly. In order to exercise correctly, you’ll need information. Don’t start without an understanding of what exercises are best for each muscle group and how long and how hard you should work out. This information is available on line, in library books, and from professional trainers at your local gym.

Once you have learned all of the proper exercises and know how to build muscle without weights, you can begin exercising anywhere. Find a small area for floor space in your bedroom, living room, or kitchen. If you’re travelling, your hotel room will be fine. Perform your exercise routine religiously and over a short time you will see the results in the growth of new muscle mass that will grow to meet your body’s new requirements for muscle to match the challenges that you are placing on it. When you are exercising using the right exercises, you will begin to achieve your goal of developing muscle without the use of weights.

When it comes to wanting to build muscle mass, it is important to know that there is a lot more to it than just hitting the gym. Knowing how to build muscles the right way is important so that you are not wasting your time or hurting yourself in the process. Because there is so many people out there with scams that claim to know it all, it is important that you always take matters into your own hands. There is nothing better than you taking control of your exercise routine on your own.

The first thing that you will want to do is to develop a decent program for yourself. This program will include days that you will take off. There is nothing worse than working out day after day to be left with little improvement in your muscle mass. You have to remember that muscles grow and build during their periods of rest, not when you are in the middle of working out at the gym.

It is also important to make sure that you are practicing good form. Otherwise, you are never going to get the best results possible. Take the time to learn how to do the exercise correctly in order to get the best results. If you have to, take a personal trainer aside and have him or her walk you through the basics of your exercise routine and weight lifting moves. This would only take a little bit of time out of one day but that small amount of time will make a world of difference for you.

In order to gain muscles with ease, it is also very important to you make some changes to your eating habits. You have to provide your body with the proper building blocks in order to gain the muscle you seek. Eat right, take vitamins and supplements, and keep on a regular eating schedule. Make sure that you are also adding complex carbohydrates into your diet. Lean protein is another type of food that you must include and make sure that you are avoiding white processed foods.

Make sure that you are drinking plenty of water throughout the day. But during your workouts, you will want to make sure that you have plenty of sport drinks on hand. The drinks with a high amount of carbohydrates and protein are the drinks for you. It also would not hurt to have a whey protein drink within about twenty minutes of your workout. This drink will help you rebuild lean muscle tissue.

Just make sure that whatever you are doing, you are doing it because it is the best and most natural way to get the muscle you desire. Stick with it and before you know it you will be able to call yourself a professional and knowing how to build muscles.

One factor that many people overlook when they do all their research about the best type of muscle building strength training program to go on is the various types of muscle tissue and what type of training is best suited to them. While you can’t differentiate between muscle fibers from your outside appearance, on the inside of the muscle tissue body, there are three main different fibers present.

Type A Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers

The first type of muscle fibers are known as Type A Fast Twitch and are responsible for the most forceful contractions generated, however, will fatigue the fastest.

For example, if you were to perform an all out set of 3 reps for bench press, you would predominately be using these type A muscle fibers.

They tend to have very large motor neurons and very low mitochondrial density. They also have a low oxidative capacity, meaning they will not be able to utilize oxygen very well. It is for this reason that they are not suited to endurance type of activities, because during these exercise variations, oxygen must be present in order to sustain the muscular contractions.

The major type of fuel that these muscle fibers are going to rely on is creatine phosphate and stored muscle glycogen (glucose). They will not utilize stored body fat at all due to the fact that they are only able to continually contract for between one and about 20 seconds.

Type B Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers

The next muscle fiber is also classified as a fast twitch muscle fiber but not to the extent that type A are.

This muscle fiber type is mostly utilized in activities that are relatively short in duration, but are not at an all out pace.

For example, if you were to sprint 100 meters, you’ll be using mostly type A. If on the other hand, you are to do a running interval at about 80-90% of your max capacity for 30 seconds, this would utilize the type 2A more.

Some of the characteristics of the type B are that they still have a large motor neuron (not as large as Type A though), they are on the intermediate scale as far as being resistant to fatigue, and they have a high degree of mitochondrial density.

These muscle fiber types are also able to use oxygen to a great extent, as demonstrated by their higher resistance to fatigue and longer duration of contraction abilities.

Slow Twitch

Finally, the third type of muscle fiber that you have in your body is classified as slow-twitch.

This is the muscle fiber type you would use if you were to run a marathon or any other extended duration, medium-to-low intensity activity.

These muscle fibers have a very high ability to resist fatigue and have a large oxidative capacity.

They are also relatively slow to contract, therefore you cannot expect a great deal of force generation from these muscles, thus, will not be intended for exercises requiring a high degree of power.

They are very high in terms of mitochondrial density and have a large number of capillaries running throughout their bodies. This is to enable sufficient oxygen to get to the muscle tissues so that they can carry on the extended duration of muscular work they are intended to do.

These are also the muscle fibers that will also rely more on fat as fuel, as opposed to strictly using carbohydrates or creatine phosphate.

Training The Muscle Fiber Types

So, now that you’re familiar with the three major classes of muscle fiber types, it’s time to recognize how you would train each effectively.

Since type A are your primary force generators, if you wish to get a higher performance from them you’ll need to train using exercises that require you to max out your effort for a short period of time.

Think sprinting at full speed, 1-5 rep sets for lifting, and any type of plyometric activities.

Next, to train your type B muscles fibers, you’ll want to slightly decrease the force with which you are to contract while simultaneously increasing the time over which you contract ever so slightly.

For example, perform 30-45 intervals repeated ten times with about a minute or a minute and a half at a low to moderate pace. For your weight training activities, aim to target the 6-10 rep range to utilize the fact these muscle fibers have a higher oxidation ability.

Finally, to improve your slow twitch muscle fibers, think endurance. This type of fiber will usually require the greatest amount of time to train for improvement because you’ll want to focus on simply going ‘longer’. If you’re a runner, try and run longer. If you’re a biker, bike longer. If you’re a swimmer, swim longer – you get the point. This type of muscle has the ability to go for extended periods of time so this is exactly what you want to train it to do.

So, next time you are trying to sort out your training plan, make sure to take the various muscle fiber types into consideration.

Doing so will allow you to make the most out of your training program so you get the exact results you’re looking for.

Remember when asked which muscles were sore after a workout or sporting challenge, you just pointed at the area and said “it hurts here”! Naming the muscles that were aching simply slipped our minds. We learned these areas back in health class or maybe human anatomy, but years have slithered by like a run away mud slide sweeping valuable knowledge into oblivion.

Let me show you a simple way to relearn the basic muscle groups and spread this knowledge with your friends and family. You say this is silly? Not so! We use to know the name of our gluteus maximus, but we are lazy now and let us not forget how cute we think we have become in our lives! We just refer to our gluteus maximus as our butt, ass, rear, or back side. There are many more words to describe our seat, but I feel these are satisfactory. Oh, how we celebrate our wondrous capture of our language! Where does it hurt one asks? My ass hurts we shout using our fore finger to point to the exact location. The job does get done illustrating the location of the pain, but let us try to learn a better way!

Why not learn the basic muscle groups with word association and movement. Yea, we can still be emotive expressing ourselves! Teach your self the following words and movements then transfer them to the family, then all will learn the basic muscle building language. Have fun learning as I explain the parts of a lesson learned years ago.

Pectorals: These are the King Kong muscles. Go ahead and beat you chest!

Abdominals: Let us call them the pizza muscles. Just rub that flat tummy.

Hamstrings: These are the ham muscles. Look for that hidden piece of ham behind your leg.

Trapezius: These are the trap muscles. Trap you right earn to your right shoulder, then the left ear the same way.

Deltoids: Fly around as these can be called the airplane muscles. Extend both arms out straight, and fly, fly, fly.

Triceps: We can call them the tricycle muscles. Rub your triceps and say out loud they have three parts just like a tricycle has three wheels.

Obliques: These are the “O’Boy” muscles. Put your hands on your waist and say “O’Boy I am full of pizza!

Quadriceps: You can call them the quarterback muscles. Simply rub your quadriceps and say these are the muscles quarterbacks use to throw the football.

Gastronemius: These are the gas muscles. Rub your calves and proclaim to the world this is where you keep the gas to run faster.

Latissamus Dorsi: These muscles are called the dinosaur muscles. Put your hands on your lower back and feel the humps just like dinosaur humps that were prevalent among dinosaurs.

Gluteus Maximus: These are the glue muscles. Just glue that back side to the chair.

Biceps: These can be called the bicycle muscles. Bicycles have two wheels and the biceps have two parts.

Using word association and movement you will begin to feel comfortable with these groups of muscles. Shortly, these words will become part of your weight lifting vocabulary and your family will appreciate when asked “where does it hurt” you replying your gluteus maximus is sore, not your ass!

Build Muscle Definition

There are a lot of fad diets and workout routines out on the market these days and many do claim to have the secret to how to build muscle definition. In fact, there is only one way to build and to keep this definition and it has nothing to do with a fad that will be gone a year from now. The only tried and true lasting technique to building and keeping muscle definition is not done overnight so get ready for a long road, but one that will take you to your destination.

The first key to success in learning about how to build muscle definition is aforementioned. It does not happen overnight. No matter how hard you work in one setting at the gym, it will not have lasting results. Sure, the immediate build up of the lactic acid in your muscles may give you the desired look for the time being, but wake up the next day and you will have to start all over again for that desired affect. That is of course, if you were lean to begin with and the instant workout will add any definition to your body at all. To build muscle definition you need consistency rather then a few short bursts. Build Muscle Definition

Now you know you need to keep at it. You need to train your muscles to how you want them to respond. You have to keep in mind then also that this will not happen while you are watching yourself work out in the mirror. What is the saying about a watched pot never boils. To get the results you need adequate working of the muscles but you also need a favorable amount of rest to get the desired results. You muscles need oxygen and rest to be able to recover and do what you are training them for over the long haul.

Lastly you know it will take awhile and you have to work consistently to get the desired results but you also must know a little something about the foods that you are eating to build muscle definition. If you are getting your adequate workouts on a consistent basis but are not taking the time to feed your muscles adequately then you may be, to use another saying, cutting off your nose to spite your face. Don’t cheat your muscles by not giving the protein and fiber that they need to survive. Build Muscle Definition