When you first started lifting weights, you probably thought to yourself: “Easy job! I’ll start lifting weights, a little bit of chest, a little bit of arms, eat some chicken and tuna, and in a few months I’ll become big and muscular.” The truth is that even your high-protein diet and your regular workouts are not going to help build muscle and develop an extraordinary physique if you don’t master the basics of proper training.
Here are three simple, but essential steps that any beginner should implement for quick and quality muscle gains:
1. Concentrate on the Squat and the Deadlift
These two should be the base of your workout routine. The squat and the deadlift are two lifts that are responsible for building muscle mass and power. The muscles that get worked by these two exercises activate about 75% of your entire muscle system.
By neglecting these exercises, you can never get that thick and muscular physique. These two exercises work your glutes, hams, quadriceps, traps, back muscles, shoulders, arms, forearms, calves, and abs.
Also, the level of intensity that is required to perform squats and deadlifts will force the body to produce more growth hormone, which results in building bigger muscles all over the body. This is why these exercises are even more important to hardgainers that want to build muscle.
This advice applies to females too. Don’t worry, doing squats and deadlifts is not going to turn you into a muscle freak.
2. Concentrate on other compound movements
Now that we are clear about the squat and the deadlift, let’s talk about the other exercises. You can always use more weight on compound movements, and with that, you stimulate more muscle fibers and send signals for more growth hormone production.
Which exercise do you think will target more muscle fibers—a dumbbell bench press or cable crossover ? A standing overhead press or front dumbbell raises? Isolation exercises are not bad per se, but they should not be the base of the workout. Instead, concentrate on compound movements that work multiple muscles and joints and add isolation exercises to finish off a certain muscle group.
These include, chin ups, pull ups, barbell and dumbbell rows, barbell and dumbbell presses etc.
3. Monitor the rest periods between sets
In general, there are short rest periods in the range of 60 to 90 seconds and long rest periods that last 3 to 5 minutes. Each of these has its own purpose. When training for strength gains, you should use long rest periods, while short rest periods should be used when training for muscle hypertrophy.
If you spend too much time resting, you will not give your metabolic system an honest workout and your muscles won’t be stimulated enough for muscle growth. On the other hand, if you are training for strength, too short rest periods don’t allow your nervous system and muscles enough time to recover from the previous set.
It’s not easy to build a great physique. Using random exercises will not get you even close to your goal. Apply these 3 principles and build your dream physique faster.
