The secret to fast muscle building is really no secret at all; but the proven strength training method of continual increase. The theory is simple: the greater the load against which your muscles are forced to work, the greater the gains in strength and muscle mass will be.

Whether you’ve been doing resistance training for awhile or you’re brand new to it, you probably have some familiarity with the framework of a resistance training workout. A workout generally involves of a number of sets of an exercise; where each set consists of a number of repetitions (reps: individual completions) of the basic movement. By tweaking the elements of this basic structure we can tailor-make a workout promote fast muscle building.

When building strength and muscle is the primary goal, a resistance workout should include 2-3 sets of each exercise. (On a day when you’re pressed for time at the gym, a single set with a slightly higher number of repetitions is sufficient to maintain muscle mass, but is not recommended for increasing it.)

The number of repetitions you perform will depend on your particular muscle building goals. Body builders, for example, perform very few reps with relatively high weights. For the average exerciser’s fast muscle building goals, 4-10 repetitions (with 6-8 being the optimal range) with challenging weights is a good set.

Remember, you should be working to fatigue (meaning that another repetition is impossible) within every set. As your workout progresses, your muscles should get tired. So it’s possible that during the first set with a given weight you’ll achieve 9 or 10 repetitions, and on the third you’ll struggle to finish the fifth. If 10 repetitions or more is consistently doable, it’s time to up your resistance (increase the weight).

The keys to fast muscle building are twofold: to be consistent with your strength training program (make sure you’re working out on a regular basis), and to pay attention to where and when you need to make increases. By consistently challenging your muscles to work as hard as possible you’ll be setting yourself up for success and efficient, fast muscle building.

Tags: bodybuilders, building strength and muscle, fast muscle building, mass, Muscle Building Tips, resistance training, strength, strength training program

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 at 5:52 pm and is filed under fast muscle building. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.