Muscle mass is among the criteria that judges use to evaluate contestants at bodybuilding competitions. Bodybuilders increase their muscle mass with workouts that stimulate muscular growth. Bodybuilding workouts also stimulate growth to overcome muscular imbalances, because judges evaluate the proportion and symmetry of each bodybuilder's physique. Muscle growth requires workouts that do not overtrain individual muscle groups -- and bodybuilders must avoid overtraining to prevent injury.
High Impact
Bodybuilders use high impact weight training sessions to stimulate the most muscular growth. High impact training involves heavy weightlifting to failure with few repetitions. Each weightlifting set may include four to six repetitions to failure. This kind of training targets muscle fibers that have the most potential for growth. High impact weightlifting effectively damages muscle fibers by breaking down the contractile proteins, actin and myosin. Muscle growth occurs during your post workout recovery, because your muscles adapt by repairing the damage and synthesizing new muscle tissue.
Maximum Tissue
The most muscular growth occurs when bodybuilders use high impact weightlifting to target multiple muscle groups. This maximizes the amount of affected muscle tissue. Bodybuilders use compound weightlifting exercises to stimulate growth in the multiple muscle groups with a single exercise. Compound exercises recruit the most amount of muscle tissue possible by requiring multiple joint movements. Exercises such as the bench press, rows and squats are compound exercises. Compound movements also follow your body's natural movement patterns, and may help bodybuilders develop good stage presence for competitions.
Growth Imbalances
Competitive bodybuilders must strive for balanced development among all muscle groups, and symmetrical development between the left and right sides of the body. Isolated exercises require a single joint movement, and may help bodybuilders target individual muscle groups to overcome disproportionate development. Bicep curls, leg curls and calve raises are some examples of isolated exercise. Isolated or compound exercises with dumbbells can help you overcome asymmetrical muscular imbalances, because they allow you to work the left and right side of your body independently.
Recovery Time
Muscle growth depends on your post workout recovery, because growth only occurs during rest. Higher impact workouts require more recovery time. Recovery time for workouts with four to six repetitions to failure may require two or more recovery days. Dividing a full body workout into three days ensures that each muscle group gets at least two recovery days. You may target your back and chest on the first day. Shoulders, biceps and tricpes may occupy day two -- and then target your hamstrings, quadriceps and trapezius on the third day.
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