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[B944]Build Muscle Mass And

by Gordon Chandler, Gor

To speak of aging and muscle gain in the same body of words requires a few simple rules. It is almost a certainty that if you are over the age of fifty then you have some sort of ailment or infirmity that has come of a life style choice. By definition "aging" indicates that you get older. The sole alternative is to not get any older, and I am sure that most of us wish to live as many years as possible. The goal then becomes to live as hearty and healthy as we can. Exercise is the answer and weight training is a convenient form that is available to all of us. Weight training can be through free weights or machines designed for a specific purpose. However any form of weight training puts stress on your body and detrimental effects need to be guarded against. Therefore it is imperative that prior to beginning any strenuous activity you clear yourself with the medical people. There is absolutely no reason to induce a heart attack if not having a heart attack is your goal!

Reality is that when you ingest more calories than you burn throughout a day you will inevitably gain weight. Nutrition is the KEY to increasing your muscle mass through exercise. You can no more put a body through a work out program without proper intake of food than you can drive your Buick to the mountains without filling the gas tank. The key word is PROPER food. It is time to grab hold of the fruits and vegetables. Whole grains and a source of lean protein are a must. And do not forget to add fat into your diet. Sounds like an oxymoron to suggest intake of fat when your goal is to reduce the amount your body carries. Fat is necessary to our diet. However you need to choose the good fats.

Omega 3 is the fat that is high on the good list. This fatty acid is instrumental in aiding digestion as well as well as having a cardioprotective ability. And protecting your heart is what this is all about. Sources of this oil include fishes such as salmon, walnuts, olive oil, beans and flaxseed. And of course supplements. Choice is up to you but please understand the benefits of this fat.

Along with choosing the proper nutrition for building muscle mass is the methodology of ingesting these calories. Current thoughts are that a number of small meals spread throughout the day is much better than two or three larger meals at the commonplace breakfast, lunch and dinner. We are seeking higher metabolism in order to burn calories and increase muscle. Also by spreading your intake of protein, carbohydrates and fats over the higher number of meals you provide a consistent source of fuel to maximize your body's ability to build muscle.

Time for the work! This is the area to engage the services of an expert. Get some help setting up a good routine for your age and beginning abilities. If you really want to build muscle you must keep challenging your body. The object is to stress the muscles but not to injure them. This is where you will begin to see some change. However your body has a tendency to adapt to the stress so you will occasionally need to change your weight training routine. Another plus of changing the routine is that you can reduce the boredom of the training. Absolutely no chance of gaining muscle and losing fat through weight training if you get bored the first week and quit.

To engage in a weight training program in our "senior years" necessitates more than a bit of intelligence. This is not the time to try to impress the boys at muscle beach. Your object should be to increase your muscle mass while reducing your body fat. This probably should not be a daily task. If you can set a training schedule of two or three days per week for an hour at a time you will gain significantly. Whatever weight routines you choose you should limit the amount of weight lifted in each one while increasing the number of repetitions performed. The increased reps will help tone the muscles you have while aiding your body to add mass to them.

The routine that you and your trainer choose should contain about eight to ten different exercises. These exercises should be designed to target separate areas such as back, shoulders, arms and chest. Performing each one two or three times for eight to twelve reps per workout should give you the progress that you will like. Please remember to include your age and prior condition into the formula and DO NOT hurt yourself needlessly.

Now we have nutrition coupled with the workout itself. The final addition to this fitness formula MUST be rest. And by rest we really mean SLEEP. Recovery time is a crucial part of strength training. A sixty year old who has not exercised in years quite obviously requires more recuperation time than a twenty year old brick layer! Do not be foolish. Attempt to sleep eight or nine hours per night. This will give your body time to repair, grow and remodel. Also by resting we help ourselves continue with the workout routine. If you are continually bored and tired you will not keep up the good work.

You are older. You must understand that weight training will not produce the muscle mass at sixty as it did at twenty or thirty. However it will produce muscle mass. At any age there is no reason not to look and feel good. While you must be aware of your age do not dwell on it. Consider your beginning abilities and your desire to improve. Combine those two with how much effort you are putting into it and you will grow. Results are a result of the effort you put in and not based solely on how old you are.

So here we are. Nutrition, weight training and rest (sleep). Put into action and you will regain flexibility, increase metabolism (your ability to burn calories) and protect your immune system. A precise combination of these three will provide you with the maximum results. Feel better, look better, and above all LIVE LONGER!

Having spent many years doing many different workouts involving weights, cardiovascular machines, and calisthenics, I determined that the best way to build mass and boost metabolism is by doing pushups. Lots of pushups! After less than three months training, I was able to complete a one-thousand pushup routine in exactly 80 minutes. I gained 15 lbs of solid muscle mass, lost a considerable amount of body fat and consistently ate 5000-6000 calories daily.

Calisthenics, like pull-ups and pushups, are commonly avoided because they can be extremely painful. Because strength training exercises are typically anaerobic, with few exceptions, the body produces a high amount of lactic acid, thus causing a burning sensation in the muscles. Coupled with physical and mental exhaustion, an abundance of lactic acid can persuade even the hardest of athletes to give it a rest. Remember that your body will prevail, as long as you maintain your mental strength.

To begin, I would recommend a routine consisting of no more than 100-200 pushups, spread out over an entire day. Break them down into even sets, of say 20 pushups per set. Whenever you feel confident in yourself, drop to the floor and pound out a quick set. If 20 pushups are too many when you begin, then do more sets consisting of fewer repetitions per set. Do not concern yourself with the amount of time it takes to complete the first few workouts, just make sure you drink a lot of water and eat a lot of high protein food throughout the day. The day following your first pushup workout, your chest, stomach, shoulders and legs will be sore. It will become apparent just how many muscle groups are worked when doing pushups. Take 2-3 days rest.

The secret to building the endurance strength necessary to do extremely large numbers of repetitions is to strategize with your own body. The workouts need to be strategically spaced apart and sometimes stacked together to maximize results.

The second workout should be the same as the first, however do not take a 2-3 day rest after the workout. Instead of taking a long break, work out every other day, until you no longer get sore the day after. It may take a few weeks in order to be comfortable doing 200 pushups every other day. Do not lose sight of your goal. Remember that pain is a result of muscle wear and recovery, and should mentally represent progress, not a limitation. It will never go away, but it will greatly diminish over time as your body adjusts.

The third stage requires that you compress your workout into a set time interval. For the sake of example, let's say one hour. Find a comfortable number of repetitions that you feel that you will be able to repeat until you have reached your daily goal of 200 pushups. In this example, we'll do 10 repetitions. This workout will consist of 20 sets of 10 repetitions. 20 sets, evenly divided across 60 minutes means that you will need to do one set of 10 pushups every three minutes. Make sure that whatever goal you choose is achievable, and also poses a challenge. Repeat this routine every other day, until it becomes comfortable.

Because your muscles will quickly become fatigued doing calisthenics, it is very difficult to continually add more reps or sets to your workout. The easiest and most successful method [in my opinion] for building endurance is stacking workouts. By stacking, I mean completing the same workout more than one time in less than a 24 hour period. During the fourth stage, complete a 200 pushup routine in the morning and in the evening, followed by a day of rest. Once again, just like the previous stages, do this routine until your body becomes comfortable- this should only take a couple of weeks. At which point, you will complete the workout stacking, by coupling the two sessions into one two-hour session, consisting of 40 sets of 10 pushups, totaling 400 pushups. My buildup workouts include two sessions of 300-500 pushups apiece, followed by a day of rest. Note that you should not work the same muscle group two days in a row without rest. This method gave my body time to rest and refuel between sessions without going completely into recovery mode.

If your body responds quickly and you start to build considerable muscle mass in a short period of time, which I'm sure you will, the next thing to do is increase the number of repetitions per set and decrease the amount of time between sets. I would recommend a goal of 25-30 reps per set, beginning one set every 2 minutes. If done gradually, the workout compression can be very smooth and your 400-pushup routine can be completed in 32 minutes. It sounds very difficult, but it is achievable.

Now that you have the tools; timing your sets, timing your workouts and adding reps, you can pull the strings and make the workout work for you. If you have any difficulty in any particular aspect that prevents further gains, use the other techniques to manipulate your body into cooperating. For example, if you cannot add more reps to your sets, do more sets, or if you cannot do more sets, do two larger workouts spaced apart from one another.

Two important things to remember when doing mass building exercises such as pushups are; drink lots of water and eat lots of high protein food throughout the day. When doing my one-thousand pushup routine, I drink at least one full gallon of water daily to avoid dehydration and joint fatigue. Good luck!

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Both Gordon Chandler & Rick West are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Gordon Chandler has sinced written about articles on various topics from Build Muscle, Marriage and Vitamin and Mineral Supplement. glchandler is an early senior (62) who is attempting to live his words and get on with life. Although disabled approximately eight years I have decided I do wish to live longer and better. Hope to see you around the gym!. Gordon Chandler's top article generates over 1900 views. to your Favourites.

Rick West has sinced written about articles on various topics from Build Muscle, Metabolism and Build Muscle. Written by Rick West. Find more of his work here: . Rick West's top article generates over 5400 views. to your Favourites.