Extreme muscle growth can be achieved by paying careful attention to your diet and training. Resistance training provides the muscle growth stimulus and eating nutrients repairs damaged muscle and rebuilds it stronger. You can achieve extreme muscle growth by learning the basics, observing your results and adapting to your unique body type and metabolism. Always consult with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program.
Significance
Training for extreme muscle growth can boost your performance in sports, increase confidence, improve body composition and even facilitate everyday activities. Building functional strength decreases your risk of injury while helping to build bone density and improve immune function and recovery. Even adding a small amount of muscle to your frame drastically speeds metabolism because muscle takes a lot of calories to maintain, according to "The Abs Diet" by David Zinczenko.
Basics
Lifting weights in the gym only tears down muscle tissue, representing half of the hypertrophy or muscle growth equation. Nutrition supplies all the nutrients needed for your muscles to recover. "3-D Muscle-Building" authors Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman recommend focusing your resistance training on the compound and multijoint exercises, which trigger the most muscle fibers for growth. Train progressively by increasing workout poundage as you get stronger. They also recommend using an eight to 12 repetition range to target growth.
Advanced
Advanced techniques like training to failure, using partial reps and forcing negatives can provide a powerful muscle growth stimulus. Failure training means stopping each set only when you can no longer do another controlled repetition. Partial reps are mini-pulsing repetitions at a specific point in the range of motion of any exercise. Just below the midpoint of a bench press makes a good example of a situation where you might add partial reps to the end of a set. Forced negatives mean slowly resisting the weight as it lowers, for several repetitions at the end of the set, then your partner or spotter lifts the weight for you, allowing you to complete as many more slow negatives as possible.
Considerations
The small-boned ectomorph body type responds best to highly anabolic exercises like squats, bench presses and deadlifts, according to "Hardgainer Project X" by Jeff Anderson. Isolation exercises can be highly catabolic and work against this body type. The mesomorph and endomorph body types respond better to a higher volume -- sets and exercises -- of training and typically gain muscle and weight much more easily. Ectomorphs generally must take in far more calories, particularly from carbohydrates, in order to achieve extreme muscle growth.
Misconceptions
Many beginning trainees believe that they will achieve extreme muscle growth by following the workout programs of professional bodybuilders. However, these athletes commonly use performance-enhancing drugs and can train much longer and harder than the average bodybuilder. Another common misconception says that you must eat massive amounts of protein daily to gain muscle. "The Holy Grail Body Transformation Program" recommends 1 to 1.5 g of protein per pound of your body weight daily. The 2 to 3 g per pound ingested by some pros may be excessive for recreational trainees. You should focus instead on getting the right amounts of proteins, carbohydrates and fats for your body.
References
- "The Abs Diet"; David Zinczenko; 2004
- "3-D Muscle-Building"; Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman; 2005
- "Hardgainer Project X"; Jeff Anderson; 2008
- "The Holy Grail Body Transformation"; Tom Venuto; 2010
- "Muscle & Performance"; The Best Muscle-Building Moves of All Time; Chris Logan; May 2010
Member Comments