It’s not always about working harder; but working smarter that get’s the best results.
1) Adaptation & Progression – Everything pretty much boils down to this principle. Muscle growth is a function of your body adapting to stress, and it only continues to adapt (grow) as long as their’s progression, or an increase in intensity/load.
2) Intensity & Frequency – Tied to the concept of progression, intensity measures the amount of effort put forth in a given period of time. Frequency is how often you train, and its surprising how many magazines and “so-called” experts get this concept wrong.
3) Optimal Warm-up & Stretching – Often ignored by most weight-trainees, the proper warm-up can increase strength, minimize injury, and enhance overall results. The facts about stretching have changed over the years, but many people are still applying old-school principles. Stretching is absolutely critical to your success.
4) Duration & Volume – How long should you train for? How about the amount of sets and exercises you should do? These factors are critical to growth. Mess it up and you’ll grow slow or you won’t grow at all.
5) Exercise Selection, Sequence, & Technique – All exercises aren’t created equal. To unleash maximum muscle growth, you should choose the best exercises. Sequence refers to the order you do the exercises in. Technique refers to form, or the way you execute an exercise.
6) The Perfect Rep Zone – 2-3 reps? 5-6 reps? 15-20 reps? How many reps are proven for muscle growth. There’s a correct answer, although all the different rep ranges offer different benefits.
7) Tempo of repetitions – How fast do you execute your reps? This is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle for muscle growth. Do it right, and you’ll work 50% of your muscle fibers that most people never train!
8) Rest & Recovery – You can’t have a “rocky” mentality when training in the gym. Its all about get in, get out, and get results! Which means to allow for adequate rest & recovery between sets, and outside the gym. This is the main reason that people end up over-training, and shooting their muscle gains in the foot.
9) Muscle Building Nutrition – The real grand-daddy of building muscle. It is the nutrition, directly, that builds muscle. It is the raw material that your body needs to grow. Get it wrong, and you’ll either end up fat or not gain an inch.
10) Nutritional Timing – This area is so important that we had to separate it from actual nutrition. Time is of the essence, in life and in lifting. There are critical times when your body sucks the nutrients right into your muscles. If you don’t feed your body at these critical times, you will hurt your growth.
These bulletin points sourced from: Hanif Furqan – Chief Editor
Editorial Team of http://weight-lifting-workout-routines.com/