Building Your Muscles Properly

Just so there are no misconceptions, there is nothing in this article that can be considered a "miracle breakthrough" for muscle building. Realistically, 99.9% of the "miracle breakthroughs" you hear about today are only interested in building one thing - the bank balance of the person peddling the product. We're going to discuss a few general, realistic, and workable ways to build your muscles.

For that reason, none of them work overnight, none of them work while sitting on the couch watching television and none of them work by simply drinking some funky concoction. While muscle building supplements have their place, we'll discuss those at another time.

We also won't discuss overall nutrition and health but, suffice it to say, if you have an unhealthy lifestyle which makes you overweight and out of shape, you need to fix that immediately. Why waste time on these muscle building activities if you have set your life up as an oppositional force to your own success? Develop a healthy lifestyle and then begin to focus on building your muscles.

One piece of advice that applies to everything we'll be discussing is to be realistic and don't push too hard, too fast. The number one reason that people don't stick with their workout plan is that they start off pushing too hard and get burnt out.

Finally, you need to decide what kind of muscle form you're looking to achieve. Drawing on examples nearly everyone is familiar with, you need to decide if you want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger (bigger bulk) or Bruce Lee (lean and toned). This decision will help you determine which kinds of exercises you do and how you do them.

Now, with all of that out of the way, let's look at some things you can do to build your muscles!

If you don't already, start getting your body used to working out. Start running every day, not jogging or walking, to help get your blood moving and your muscles primed for building. You're not running a race so you don't need to be a speed demon. Instead, maintain a comfortable and steady pace, taking long and powerful strides.

If you want to have the lean, Bruce Lee appearance, you need to work with lighter weights and have a higher number of repetitions in each set. By doing this, you are toning and shaping your muscles into longer and thinner forms. If you want the Arnold look, you need to work heavier weights and do fewer repetitions. By doing this, you are toning and shaping your muscles into short and thicker forms.

Ensure that you have a regular plan, focusing on specific muscle groups, and stick to it. Don't try to work every muscle in your body every day of the week. At best, this will lead to burnout and at worst it will lead to injury. Your muscles will be getting worked hard, so they need to have time to recuperate.

However, you should rotate your plan every month. For example, let's say that you are working on your chest, shoulders and biceps on Monday; your abdomen, forearms and upper back on Wednesday; and your lower back and legs on Friday. Every four weeks, rotate one day so that you'll be working on your lower back and legs on Monday; your chest, shoulders and biceps on Wednesday; and your abdomen, forearms and upper back on Friday. The following month, rotate one more day.

This will allow each of your muscles groups to take advantage of the fact that you probably workout differently on each of those days. If you simply stick with the exact same schedule forever, then you'll find yourself quickly running into what are known as "plateaus," where you just can't seem to build that muscle group past a certain point. With a rotation schedule, you will avoid this problem by giving each muscle group the benefit of your natural changing body rhythm.

If you keep these general guidelines in mind and consistently work at your plan with passion and intensity, your body will be more toned and shaped than you ever imaged it could be. While it won't happen overnight, it probably won't take as long as you're afraid it will.