My How to Grow Muscle Fast

Could you teach me how to gain muscle fast? Could you teach me how to pack on an extra ten to fifteen pounds of muscle mass before my next vacation? Could you help me get ready for my first bodybuilding or fitness model competition? Could you help you look like someone who actually lifts weights? Could you help me build a body that turns heads and demands respect?

As a skinny guy muscle building expert, I get approached these questions daily in my office. Every single hard gainer I consult with wants to know how to gain muscle fast and how to do safely and effectively.

Hard gainers, please listen up! There is hope for you. I am happy to say that learning how to gain muscle fast is not as hard as some would make you believe but it also not as easy as you might think. But you must be prepared to train smarter and not harder. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about wimping out during your workouts. I am referring to the big picture of training more intelligently.

Here is some of the most popular advice I give to the hard gainer when he wishes to gain muscle fast.

1. Never Perform More Than 10 Reps.

If you are lifting weights beyond 10 reps than you are emphasizing your slow-twitch muscle fibers which have the smallest opportunity for muscle growth. You are a hard gainer and you need recruit the maximal amount of muscle fibers in every set. Always choose your weights knowing that a 11th rep is forbidden and trespassing into 'skinny land.'

If you really want to gain muscle fast than get your mind into heavy lifting mode. Every single set and every single exercise. Keep the weights heavy and never more than 10 reps. Approach every workout knowing that you are going to be venturing into new territory and waging war on your skinny genetics. I recommend these workouts with a workout partner so you can eliminate any safety issues, not slack off and push your limits every inch of the way.

2. Reduce Your Workout Time

Perform more work in less time and you have increased your work capacity. Work refers to the number of sets, reps and poundage within your workout. Who is fitter? The guy who can do 4 sets of 185 pounds bench press with 30 second rest or the guy who can do 4 sets of 185 pound bench press with 90 second rest? The one who can do the same amount of work in less time. Guess who is more muscular? The one who has a higher work capacity.

Next time you enter the gym, try to complete your current workout in less time. Take shorter rests. Move from one exercise to the next much quicker. Don't be surprised if you feel out of shape! This is one of the easiest tips you can take away to increase your muscle density and take your fitness to a new level. Be prepared to humble yourself and get out of your comfort zone.

3. Do Only One Exercise Per Muscle Group

Only one? Yes, only one, unless you want to buy into the notion that you must mutilate a muscle for over an hour to get any growth out of it. Consider this typical day in the gym. Today is your chest day. Your first exercise is bench press. You perform your first set with 185 lbs, second set with 205 lbs, third set with 225 lbs and fourth set with 245 lbs.

Assuming this is your max weight for the desired number of reps, is it not safe to say that you have used the maximal number of muscle fibers? Your goal is to simple spark your muscles into growth. Not exhaust them to death. Once they experience a unknown assault (stimulus), your body will be forced to adapt and create new muscle to prevent future assaults! Therefore, your take home lesson is this: Once you have out performed your last workout, it is time to move onto the next exercise.

4. Do No More Than 3-5 Sets Per Muscle Group

I question a hard gainers workout intensity if they must do more than 3-5 sets per muscle group. Now if you are using anabolic steroids or have muscle friendly genes than you can safely dismiss this advice. Remember, learning how to gain muscle fast for the hard gainer requires following a new set of rules.

Consider the first 1-2 sets at 85% maximal effort. The third set at 95% maximal effort and the fourth (and sometimes fifth) set at 100% maximal effort. It is only this last all out set that contributes to the greatest muscle growth. Anything over and above this last go till you blow set simply exhausts the muscle beyond reason and delays your recovery ability to hit the muscle again. It is this last set that you should perform at least 1-2 extra reps or 5-10 extra pounds than last workout. Mission accomplished. You have sparked your muscles into growth. Time to move on.

5. Increase Your Strength 5% Every Two Weeks

One of the biggest mistakes I see hard gainers make in the gym is not track there progress. They return week-after-week to simply rehearse the same workouts with the absence of progress. How do you expect to gain muscle fast if you continue to lift the same weights each workout? Your body is designed to tolerate stress. Assault it and let it get bigger. Assault it and let it get bigger. It's a simple concept.

So your take home message is to aim for a minimum of 5% strength increase every two weeks. You might progress a little quicker with larger muscle groups like back and legs versus smaller muscles like biceps and triceps. Just think, in six months from now, you will be over twice as strong as you are now! I would actually recommend writing down your strength goals for six months from now and than work backwards. If you are currently dead lifting 135 lbs, aim to be dead lifting 270 lbs over the next few months!

Conclusion

I know these five tips were not your typical Muscle and Fitness 101 advice and not your typical generic bodybuilding advice. I learned a long time ago to question everything you read and hear. Learn for yourself by doing and not by talking about it. As a skinny guy once myself, 149 lbs to be exact, I defeated my skinny genetics and learned how to gain muscle fast by not following the herd and training smarter and not harder Will you?

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About the Author:

Vince DelMonte is the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain found at http://www.VinceDelMonteFitness.com

He specializes in teaching skinny guys how to build muscle and gain weight quickly without drugs, supplements and training less than before.

Building your body doesn't materialize overnight, and it will be a learning process for you to know how to Grow Muscle Fast. If you have already spent a lot of time with little results, that's okay. You can start from here on to do things better.

Cardio

Yes, there are a lot of fitness experts who will claim that you could meet your cardio needs from weight lifting alone, but take it from me, they are wrong on that. To be really fit you need to add a substantial cardio component to your routines to build your heart and lung ability as well as your muscle tone.

Now there is no doubt that a good set of leg exercises will raise your cardio for a bit and make you feel you have run a marathon, but it's just
not the same as a good prolonged run. The rest of your weight training is episodic and does not sustain the cardio intensity you want to get absolutely fit.

When you engage in an effective cardio workout you are forcing your body to develop a stronger network of blood vessels. These directly feed your muscles as you grow them causing greater supplies of oxygen and a better pickup system for waste removal.

Bicep and Triceps

Possibly the most common mistake I notice at the gym is people aiming to build their arms to the exclusion of everything else. The funny thing is that in spite of set after set most of them fail badly, which is weird since it actually takes less effort to Grow Muscle Fast on your arms as opposed to many other body parts.

It's time to be serious about where your arms fit into the overall body building routine. Your legs, chest and back muscles are larger and ultimately more important than your arms. In the process of building these larger muscle groups you will definitely get some arm growth as a side effect. The thing to understand though is the need to focus more on large muscle groups and less on small muscle groups like your arms.

When you put all your attention to on the large muscles of the legs, chest and back and work on improving their strength and size, you will notice that the arms develop much easier.

Get Stronger

Many new trainees assume the game is to Grow Muscle Fast to look ripped, and don't realize the basic need to add a serious strength training
component to their training from early stages.

If you wish to build up muscle, you have to focus on getting stronger. Not only to set new personal strength records but since this is what can help you develop the muscle you desire. For some reason there is apparently an aversion to including strength as an important component of the workout and this is a mistake.

The more powerful you become the more you can do in terms of sets and reps. Your strength makes it easier for you to do the exercises properly and if you have been including a serious cardio component, your recovery times will be faster. This in turn allows you to expedite your
improvement. Make no mistake about it, as you build strength, you build muscle mass.

If you want to discover quick ways to gain muscle and learn how to make muscles bigger you need to understand the key to discovering the best supplements to gain muscle. To start you need to learn what is important to know about protein powders.

Protein powders are one of the easiest ways to boost your protein intake to make sure you are getting the necessary levels of nutrients to promote fast muscle growth. The best supplements to gain muscle are protein powders that deliver raw power in a form you will enjoy and take over time. A solid workout regimen combined with proper supplementation is the quick way to gain muscle. There are a huge number of competing products available of widely varying composition. When evaluating protein powders most people focus on three key elements.

1. Taste

While it may seem frivolous to some hard core folk, the taste is a critical element in a product if you are going to be using it consistently over time. Yes you can grin and bear most anything, but if you can find a quality product that tastes good, why put up with bitter or chalky powders? If you are going to include a protein shake after your workouts, reward yourself with something that tastes good. No need to punish yourself after your workout. This is is one quick way to gain muscle.

2. Nutrient Profile

The reason you are adding the protein to your diet is to get the nutrition you need to feed your muscle growth. You want to be sure you are getting both the proper amount of protein and the proper balance of all eight essential amino acids. That means you really do need to do some homework and learn to read the labels when shopping for a brand you can trust in the long run.

At a minimum, you want to make sure you are getting at least 20-25 grams per scoop of protein. Make sure it includes all eight amino acids. For the record they are in alphabetical order: arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine and tryptophan. These amino acids work in conjunction with one another and each must be present in ample quantities for you to get proper benefit. This is how to make muscles bigger.

In addition to making sure you get the required amino acids, you want to be sure to limit the things you do not want, specifically fat and sugars. Check the label and reject any products that have more than 4 or 5 grams of fat or sugar. Some is okay, but more than that is cause to look for an alternate product.

3. Blend-ablility

The final simple criteria is blend-ability. This will sometimes be the difference between cheap and better quality products. You want your protein powder to blend will with liquids so you don't end up choking on dustballs or chewing dumplings.

The inexpensive products tend to blend poorly resulting in big globs in your drink. These are neither pretty nor pleasant. Most of the top end protein powers will blend much more readily. Just as taste is important so is the texture of the drink.

If you goal is to know how to make muscle bigger, start with a quality protein source. Many protein powder can help you get the muscle building value from the protein in them. But in the long run the taste and texture factors also matter. Experiment at first until you find the right product for you. Then stick with it and your workout regimen and you will see the results you want.

Check out this post for a great deal on QuestBars These are my personal pick for great tasting protein bars. Not the same as a powder, but still a valuable part of my program.

When looking for a training program specifically focused on growing muscle fast you need to be careful to make sure the program pays attention to different muscle fiber types.

Sadly, a number of body building programs aren't well designed when it comes to dealing with muscle fiber types.

You should know that inside the muscle, there are three principal different fibers present.

Type A Fast-Twitch Muscle tissues

The first type of muscle tissue are known as Type A Fast Twitch. These are responsible for the most forceful contractions produced. They will fatigue the fastest.

For example, should you perform an all out set of 3 representatives for bench press, you'll predominately be using these type A muscle tissue.

They tend to have huge motor neurons and very low mitochondrial density. They also have a low oxidative capacity, which means they are not able to use oxygen very well. That's why they are not necessarily well suited for endurance form of activities, because over these exercise variations, o2 must be present in buy to sustain the actual muscular contractions.

The major form of fuel that these muscle tissues rely on is creatine phosphate and stored muscle glycogen (glucose). They cannot make use of stored body fat.

Type B Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers

The next type of muscle fiber is also classified as a quick twitch muscle fiber but not to the same degree.

This muscle tissue fiber type is usually utilized in activities that are relatively short in duration, but are not from an all out tempo.

For example, if you were to run 100 meters, you'll use mostly type B. If on the other hand, you are to do intervals at regarding 80-90% of your max capacity for 30 seconds, this would use the type A more.

A number of the characteristics of the sort B muscle fibers are usually that they still have a big motor neuron (not as big as Type Any though), they are on the intermediate scale so far as being resistant to exhaustion, and they have a high amount of mitochondrial density.

These muscle mass fiber types are also able to use oxygen with a great extent, as shown by their greater resistance to fatigue and longer duration of shrinkage abilities.

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

This is the muscle mass fiber type you'd utilize if you were to run a race or any other extended period, medium-to-low intensity activity.

These kinds of muscle fibers have a very large ability to resist fatigue and have a large oxidative capability.

They are also relatively sluggish to contract, therefore you cannot expect a great deal of force generation readily available muscles, and thus, won't be as useful for exercises needing a high degree of strength.

They are very high when it comes to mitochondrial density and have a large numbers of capillaries. This permits sufficient oxygen to get at the muscle tissues so that they can carry on the prolonged duration of muscular function they are intended to carry out.

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

Training The Muscle Fiber Types

So, given that you're familiar with the three main classes of muscle tissue fiber types, it's time to learn how to train each effectively.

Since type A are your primary push generators, if you wish to obtain a higher performance you'll need to train using exercises that require you to max out your energy for a short period of time.

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

Next, to train your kind B muscles fibres you'll want to slightly decrease the force with which you might be to contract whilst simultaneously increasing the duration of the exercise.

For example, perform 30-45 intervals repetitive ten times with about a moderate rate. 5 at a slower pace in order to moderate pace. To your weight training activities, try to target the 6-10 rep range to utilize the fact these types of muscle fibers have a greater oxidation ability.

Finally, to boost your slow twitch muscle fibers, think staying power. This type of fiber will usually require the greatest timeframe to train for improvement because you'll want to focus on simply going 'longer'.

If you're a runner, run longer. If you're the biker, bike longer. If you're a swimmer, go swimming longer - you get the point.

This type of muscle mass has the ability to go for extended periods of time so this is exactly what you want to train this to do.

So, when you are designing your own training plan, be sure to take the various muscle fiber types into consideration.

Doing so will allow you to maximize out of your training program so that you get the exact results you're looking for.

So what do you really need to know about protein powder? As a skinny guy or beginner to the whole bodybuilding scene you simply want to know a few answers. Is protein powder necessary? Does it really work? How much do I need? What kind should I take? What is the best? And finally, will any of these answers make a difference when it comes to getting jacked and attracting the ladies? 

This article is not meant for you if you want to learn the science behind the ion-exchanged, cross-mutaed, isotopically labeled protein tracers - blah blah blah. In this article, I will strip away all the hype, science, and confusion that surrounds protein powder. By the time you are through this article and put it to memory, you will become the resident protein powder expert and amaze your friends the next time you visit the sport nutrition store. No more 2-hour shopping trips for protein powder because you don't really have a clue what to look for!

Is Protein Powder really necessary?

So, although protein supplements are not an absolute requirement for gaining mass, I have yet to meet any person able to get 400 grams of protein per day from cooking food. If your protein intake is greater than 200 grams per day I will suggest a protein powder - it will make your life a lot easier.

In addition, dollar for dollar, protein powders and meal replacement drinks tend to be more cost effective than whole food. Don't get me wrong, though. Protein powders are still supplements in my book. Supplement means an addition to the diet. I emphasize this because the focus of any diet should be food. Whole food is often preferable to powders because it can offer a whole spectrum of nutrients that powders cannot.

Most of your dietary protein should come from meat, fish, poultry and eggs. However getting all your protein from whole food is not always practical or convenient, especially if you have to eat 6 or more times a day to get your required intake. I will stress to you, for optimal muscle gains, you should limit yourself to a maximum of three shakes per day or 40 % of your meals. To some this might even sound like it's going 'overboard' and I would not disagree.

The bottom line is that both food and supplements are necessary to achieve a complete nutritional balance as well as the desired level of protein intake, especially if you're not a big fan of cooking. And I assume that over 95% of you reading this do not have a personal maid at home cooking all your meals while you sit around waiting for your next meal. Do not make the fatal mistake of thinking protein powders can take the place of a solid training and nutrition program.

Does protein powder really work and are they healthy?

I get this question emailed to me almost every day. I just showed how it 'works' as a supplement to help you hit your supplemental protein mark but you are probably still wondering, 'Yeah, but is protein powder going to help me get muscular or is it a scam?" A better question would be, "Does protein really work?" and the obvious answer is 'yes.' You are fully aware that protein is composed of building blocks called amino acids, which performs a variety of functions in the body such as building and maintaining healthy muscles when combined with diet and exercise. Protein also:

• Supports red blood cell production


• Boosts your immune system


• Keeps your hair, fingernails, and skin healthy

However, not all protein powder is created equal. Most protein powder contains an array of questionable ingredients such as aspartame, saccharin, fructose and artificial colors. It's interesting to note how unhealthy most of these protein powders actually are. Look for a protein powder with natural ingredients rather than products that are sweetened with chemicals and made with ingredients that are certainly not going to create an environment for muscle growth and fat burning.

Also avoid products with refined carbohydrates such as fructose, sucrose or brown rice syrup. Make sure that the product is made from a reputable company that is genuinely interested in good health. Unfortunately supplement manufacturers will continue to meet the demands of bodybuilding consumers with unknown crappy products because we buy it and it is cheaper for them to create. Do your homework by seeking out unbiased reviews, investigating the company's history, and reputation. And then make a decision and take responsibility!

In the past one of my criteria for a healthy protein product was that it was great tasting and that it should mix easily. Most protein powders mix quite easily, even with a spoon, however I was disappointed to discover that taste will inevitably be sacrificed for a safe and healthy product. I can live with this. You see, once a product is removed of all artificial chemical sweeteners such as aspartame or sucralose, and simple sugars, it is left almost tasteless and sometimes even gross.

How much protein powder do I need?

A better question would be, "How much pure protein do I need to achieve my goals?"

Protein is an extremely important macro nutrient and should be eaten frequently throughout the day. I recommend at least 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass. This means that if you are 150 pounds and 10% body fat (150 x 0.10 = 15 lbs of fat leaving 135 lbs of lean mass), you will require at least 135 to approximately 205 grams of protein per day.

I recommend that protein powder be used primarily for your pre-workout, workout and post-workout shake. This is when liquid food is more advantageous over whole food since it has a faster absorption rate.

I do not recommend protein powder do be used for meal replacements for more than two meals. Here is what a typical day might look like:

Meal 1 (breakfast) - whole food

Meal 2 (mid morning) - liquid protein meal

Meal 3 (lunch) - whole food

Meal 4 (mid afternoon) whole food

Meal 5 (pre and post workout) liquid protein meal

Meal 6 (dinner) whole food

Meal 7 (before bed) whole food

What kind of protein powder should I use?

Before deciding which protein powder is necessary, here is a short protein primer to help you make sense of the thousands of different protein powders from which to choose:

WHEY PROTEIN makes up 20% of total milk protein. Whey is recognized for its excellent amino acid profile, high cysteine content, rapid digestion, and interesting variety of peptides. Since it is very quickly digested the best time to consume it is before your workout, during your workout or immediately after your workout. These would be considered the phase in the day where you need energy the most and when your body is in anabolic state.

CASEIN PROTEIN makes up 80% of total milk protein. Casein is recognized for its excellent amino acid profile, slow digestive nature, and interesting variety of peptides. Since casein is slowly digested into your bloodstream, don't use it during workouts or after workouts - you need a fast absorbing protein at these times. Instead, use a casein protein for all other times outside the pre and post workout window.

SOY PROTEIN is the most controversial of all protein types. While the soy groupies have gone to great lengths to label soy as a super food with magical effects, there is also a good amount of research that suggests soy protein may be contraindicated in many situations. BECAUSE OF ALL THE CONFUSION, IN MY PERSONAL OPINION, I SUGGEST AVOIDING SOY PROTEIN ALTOGETHER AND STICKING TO THE OTHER TYPES LISTED.

Protein Blends are generally a combination of several types of protein blends such as whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, egg protein, casein protein, and soy protein.

Why would you want a blend anyway? You will receive the full spectrum of proteins and you will receive varying rates of absorption from the different types of protein. Using a blend will create an anabolic environment from the whey and an anti-catabolic environment from the casein - use this kind at any time of the day but NOT before or after a workout.

Whey hydrolysates (also known as hydrolyzed whey protein, and are also called peptides), are powerful proteins that are more quickly absorbed; more so than any other form, since your body prefers peptides to whole proteins. Hydrolysates are produced through very low heat, low acid and mild enzymatic filtration processes, (those highest in the essential and the branched chain amino acids) and are potentially the most anabolic for short-term protein synthesis such as the pre and post-workout window.
Whey Protein Versus Whey Isolate:
Most whey protein powders that stock the supplement shelves are made up of whey concentrate and mixed in with a small portion of whey isolate. Comparing the two, whey protein isolate is more expensive than whey protein concentrate because it has a higher quality (more pure) and a higher BV (biological value). Whey protein isolate contains more protein and less fat and lactose per serving. Most whey protein isolates contain 90-98% protein while whey concentrates contain 70-85% protein.

Check out this post for a great deal on QuestBars These are my personal pick for great tasting protein bars. Not the same as a powder, but still a valuable part of my program.

Protein powders are one of the easiest ways to boost your protein intake to make sure you are getting the necessary levels of nutrients to promote fast muscle growth. There are a huge number of competing products available of widely varying composition. When evaluating protein powders most people focus on three key elements.

1. Taste

While it may seem frivolous to some hard core folk, the taste is a critical element in a product if you are going to be using it consistently over time. Yes you can grin and bear most anything, but if you can find a quality product that tastes good, why put up with bitter or chalky powders? If you are going to include a protein shake after your workouts, reward yourself with something that tastes good. No need to punish yourself after your workout.

2. Nutrient Profile

The reason you are adding the protein to your diet is to get the nutrition you need to feed your muscle growth. You want to be sure you are getting both the proper amount of protein and the proper balance of all eight essential amino acids. That means you really do need to do some homework and learn to read the labels when shopping for a brand you can trust in the long run.

At a minimum, you want to make sure you are getting at least 20-25 grams per scoop of protein. Make sure it includes all eight amino acids. For the record they are in alphabetical order: arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine and tryptophan. These amino acids work in conjunction with one another and each must be present in ample quantities for you to get proper benefit.

In addition to making sure you get the required amino acids, you want to be sure to limit the things you do not want, specifically fat and sugars. Check the label and reject any products that have more than 4 or 5 grams of fat or sugar. Some is okay, but more than that is cause to look for an alternate product.

3. Blend-ablility

The final simple criteria is blend-ability. This will sometimes be the difference between cheap and better quality products. You want your protein powder to blend will with liquids so you don't end up choking on dustballs or chewing dumplings.

The inexpensive products tend to blend poorly resulting in big globs in your drink. These are neither pretty nor pleasant. Most of the top end protein powers will blend much more readily. Just as taste is important so is the texture of the drink.

Your goal is to get the muscle building value from the product. But in the long run the taste and texture factors also matter. Experiment at first until you find the right product for you. Then stick with it and your workout regimen and you will see the results you want.

Check out this post for a great deal on QuestBars These are my personal pick for great tasting protein bars. Not the same as a powder, but still a valuable part of my program.

You would like to take full advantage of your workouts, but you're uncertain how? Try following these guidelines to make your precious exercise hours count.

Vary your exercise routine program. Should you perform the identical exercises day after day, your system is certain to get utilized to them and can not be as challenged. You'll want to introduce new exercises because each new activity will challenge one's body in the new way, which builds more muscle and forces your body to expend more calories.

Take precautions so that you won't injure yourself. This really is one other reason to build up a love for a number of different sports--you'll prevent yourself from deteriorating your joints or body building in a area but neglecting another. It is best to put money into at the least three variations of exercise, for instance running, yoga, and aerobic dancing, all of which you need to do each week.

Incorporate both strength training and cardio for your fitness routine. Ideally, you need to pump iron at least two times weekly and perform aerobic fitness exercise three to five days a week. Make sure you rest involving weight training workouts, and push yourself in aerobic workouts by alternating a fast, hard pace with a moderate pace.

Increase difficulty slowly. Don't begin any new exercise routine with too much zeal, or you can find yourself so sore you can't stand to work out in the morning. Avoid any injury risk. Begin your program exercising in a fashion that challenges you but only making you feel somewhat sore the very next day. Increase your degree of exercise because you progress, always seeking that much cla of moderate soreness. Should you not feel it in any respect, it wasn't enough. If you wish to take Advil, you're pushing too hard.

Get training where needed. Make sure you learn how to utilize all equipment properly; your gym probably has a free orientation program which can help a lot. Get advise on aerobic fitness exercise and proper form also; you save from injury later. You will end up amazed at the amount of variations you'll find on exercises you thought were simply.
Vince Delmonte is a competitive fitness model and trainer, along with the author of No-Nonsense Muscle Building, a complete self-help guide to building muscle for that hardgainer. 

Vince's program includes extensive fat loss programs, complete body building regimens, training videos, and full email personal training support.

While some individuals are strictly interested in obtaining muscle for aesthetics, for most people, this isn't an interest. Instead, you're more interested in knowing what health benefits weight lifting will have for you%u2026

Far too many people overlook the many health and fitness benefits that weight training has to offer, and because of this, experience problems down the road with their body such as decreased bone density, a slowed metabolic rate, increased stress levels and other negative consequences that are associated with constant stress.

Increased Bone Density

Weight lifting, being one of the best weight bearing exercises you can do, will increase your bone density and help ward off osteoporosis or stress fractures in the future.

Many people think running is the best exercise for increasing bone density, but this isn't necessarily true. If the truth is told, running actually promotes muscle breakdown in the body, while weight lifting, being an anabolic process, helps to promote the building of tissues.

Therefore, weight lifting is going to be much better at preserving your bone mass, not to mention it's far less impact than going for an hour run.

Decreased Frequency of Injuries

When you strength train, not only are your muscles going to get stronger, but you'll also work the ligaments and tendons that are connecting bones, muscles, and other tissues, thus reducing the chance they become injured when participating in other physical activities.

If you've ever been injured, you know just how frustrating this can be. In about 80% of all injury cases, the injury is a direct result of a tendon, ligament, or muscle not being strong enough when a stressful force is applied.

Since weight training will really hit all those deep tendons and ligaments, it's the best injury prevention out there.

Reduction of Health Related Risks

Numerous studies have demonstrated that regular weight training can have a positive effect on health by showing reductions in the rate of insulin resistance, blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.
If you couple a solid weight training program then with a well-thought out diet, you'll be putting your best foot forward at warding off these chronic problems

Prevention of Fat Gain

The more you weight lift, the higher your metabolism will be, thus the more food you can eat while maintaining your weight. If that isn't good news for your future and the fight against body fat, I'm not sure what is.

Now, with all of this said, one big problem many people run into is the thinking pattern that using a muscle building program will make you big and bulky.

This is most certainly not the case.

Let's look at an analogy to gain an understanding of this.

Pretend you have two teams and each are going to try and build a house using the exact same building technique.

One team is given 10,000 bricks to construct this house, and the second team is given only 1,000 bricks.

Who's going to build the bigger house?

The choice should be obvious - team one since they have more bricks to build it with.

Now, think of those bricks as being the calories you put into your body. Unless you're supplying enough calories, you aren't going to build really big muscles. This is precisely what makes bodybuilders look like bodybuilders.

It's not just about the way they train, but more about the way they eat (if you've ever had a teenage son in the growing process in your house, you likely know just how much food must be consumed when growing at rapid rates).

Whether it's growing in height during puberty or trying to build bigger muscles later on, calories must be supplied for this growth process to take place.

You can't build a house out of nothing. Likewise, you can workout all you want, but if those building blocks - in the form of amino acids, carbohydrates, and dietary fats are not there, you aren't going to see too much muscle growth.

So, don't get caught thinking that just because you add weight lifting to your workouts, you're going to develop large bulky muscles. If you control your diet, this simply will not happen.

So, hopefully it is clear now that just because you're weight lifting, it does not mean you will end up with bulky muscles as a result. Many people make this incorrect assumption - but it really is the diet that makes all the difference in how this weight lifting will shape your body.

When you make the decision to work with me using my 6-Pack Ab Quest program, I'll take you through the weight lifting and ab techniques that will provide maximum results with minimal effort on your part (why spend more time in the gym than you have to?), as well as provide you with meal plans that are custom designed to ensure you get the best results from your training without the muscle bulk - in fact, the plans are formulated to help you shed the fat so you look leaner and more defined.

Not choosing to include weight training as part of your current workout program is without-a-doubt the biggest mistake you could make as far as your long-term health and fitness level is concerned. Don't let this exercise pass you by any longer.

About the Author:



Vince DelMonte is the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain found at http://www.VinceDelMonteFitness.com

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