When your main goal is to gain as much muscle weight as possible, you have to know exactly which of the two "factors" you are training for, either to "fatigue" the muscle, closely related to "pumping" and "burning" it, or to use "power", meaning lifting as much weight as possible, regardless of getting a pump or not.
There is a major difference between taking a set to failure (which you should be doing on your "real sets") because of fatigue, or reaching failure because of having no more strength, or power, in the muscle to continue to lift the weight.
I'm sure you have experienced doing a high-rep set and quitting because the pain and burning ("fatigue") just got too much to support.
However, deep down inside you knew that you still had enough strength to actually complete another 2 or 3 reps.
On the other hand, I'm sure you've also done sets that no matter how much effort you put into it, no matter if every vein in your body was popping out because of the strain, you just could not complete one more rep because you simply had no more strength left.
If it's fatigue that causes you to stop a set, all you are going to be building is muscle endurance.
That's fine and dandy if you're training to climb mountains or chop logs for 8 hours straight.
All fatiguing a muscle does is fill it with stale blood, without any oxygen, and forms lactic acid and other waste products??.all of which do nothing for building muscle mass and gaining weight!
But if you want to build and gain muscle mass, what should stop you from continuing a set is that you have no more stength / power in the muscle.
That will build strength, and as a result, forces more fibers to come into play, to work, and is what will cause overload in the muscle............all factors that lead to bigger and stronger muscles.
Period.
You can go on ahead and get all the pump and burn you want, but if it's big muscles you're after, you need to train for stronger muscles.
To illustrate: you can do 100 push ups and get a real good pump and burn, fatiguing the muscle in the chest.
But what do you think is going to give you a bigger chest......100 push ups, or lifting 315 pounds for 13 reps??
Remember, if you want to gain muscle weight, train for power, not fatigue.
Copyright 2006 Jonathan Perez
However, I'm having a real problem lately seeing too many people blaming genetics for their lack of progress.
As soon as someone begins to mention that he / she can't seem to build muscle no matter how hard or long they weight train immediately the lack of having "bodybuilding" genetics is to blame.
As soon as an individual notices that he / she isn't gaining an ounce of muscle mass even though they are following the strictest of workout nutrition / diet, who takes the blame?
Genetics.
Don't get me wrong, genetics is definitely a limiting factor in your overall, long-term muscular development.
That's why you have some individuals naturally stronger and / or bigger than others.
However, and this is a big however, being quick to blame a bad set of genes as the main reason why you are not experiencing the muscle gaining progress you feel you should can be turning you into your own worst enemy.
Someone that instantly blames genetics for a lack of results is doing a huge disservice to themselves.
"Is it that you have bad genetics, or is that your workout routine isn't that effective?"
"Is it that you have bad genetics, or that you aren't consistent enough with your workouts or you aren't sincerely training intensely as you are capable of when you step into the gym?"
"Is it that you have bad genetics, or that you simply aren't eating enough calories to allow your body to recuperate, recover, and then grow from your workouts?"
"Is it that you have bad genetics, or the fact that you are focusing too much on getting stronger and are using incorrect training techniques that don't allowed you to get more hypertrophy out of it?"
"Is it that you have bad genetics, or that you are expending too much energy and calories on other activities, such as cardio, sports, work, etc.?"
You see what I'm getting at?
There are so many other factors, and actually probably more important ones, that have an effect on your progress that quickly jumping on the bad-genetics bandwagon is going to result in you forever being stuck.
You will never find the proper training or eating technique that is right for your particular body type if you feel that it is a lost battle because of bad genetics.
Ever notice that when someone mentions that a particular individual can gain well-defined muscle with minimal fat by eating fast food, pizza, ice cream, etc., the very first thing someone else says in reaction to that is "It must be his genetics that allows him to eat garbage like that and still stay lean!".
Instead of instantly shooting down someone else's training or eating techniques because it isn't the "proper", "politically correct", "goes against bodybuilding tradition", "is everything we are not supposed to do or eat" etc., thing to do, how about looking at things with an open mind.
Maybe it's not the fact that someone has good genetics that allows him / her to be able to gain muscle using non-traditional / non-popular workout techniques or nutritional plans work for them.
Perhaps it's that he / she has found what truly works for them and their particular body type.
Hey, there are tons of us that can burn off a lot of fat while eating on a daily basis a diet consisting of lots of carbs and fats, like fast food, fried chicken, donuts, etc.
No, it isn't in every individual case that we have genetics that allow us to do that, it's that we have found the correct amount of food that we can eat per day, regardless of what type of food it is, that will allow us to lose fat weight.
There are many that have been able to build a lot of muscle while eating very little protein.
Is it because they have great genetics, or is it that they know that the real key to eating to gain muscular weight is not in a specific "percentage" or "ratio", or in consuming a certain amount of grams of protein, but in fact that it's the overall, total calorie amount that has the biggest impact on building muscle?
Have you been following the typical you must "keep your reps in the 8-12 rep range per set to gain size", yet you don't seem to notice any difference in your appearance?
Is it that you have bad genetics, so you might as well give up bodybuilding and take up checkers...or could it be that for your particular body type a much higher rep range is needed to properly stimulate muscle mass?
So, again, stop blaming genetics for every physical downfall.
Step back, examine your training and eating techniques.
Experiment.
Find what works for you...regardless of what the whole "he can get away with it because he has good genetics, but you don't and can't" philosophy says.
Don't hesitate for one second to go against the grain and try things that most preach are incorrect.
That may mean for you eating foods that many call "prohibited".
It could mean using a much higher rep range.
It could mean using more isolation exercises than compound exercises.
It could mean hitting a muscle group several times a week instead of once.
It could mean completely ditching cardio for good.
You just might find that the key to unlocking your true muscle building potential was lying under your nose the whole time.
Jonathan Perez has sinced written about articles on various topics from Lose Weight, Build Muscle and Cardio Training. How did a Cleveland Firefighter discover how to gain over 40 pounds of muscle weight WITHOUT using any supplements, no special diet, eating very low protein, and working out only 2 hours a week? Jonathan Perez has created the *ultimate* guide - "From Skin. Jonathan Perez's top article generates over 74000 views. to your Favourites.