How many times have you considered your alter ego, your ultimate body shape, you know, the body you think you really ought to have, and just wished?..

Well, wishing will never achieve anything - as you well know.

But, whilst you are busy ?wishing? considers this: gaining mass may not be as difficult as you think. Getting it is quite simple and straightforward, as long as you are willing to put in some considerable effort, bust a gut, stick to a good training and eating plan and follow these 10 basic rules.

1. Use free weights for all heavy sets. As heavy as some machines might feel, they do not involve as much of the ancillary muscle areas as do free weights, and therefore do not build as much compound mass. Where the machine guides the movement of the weights for you, with free weights you are using your back, stomach, shoulders and so forth in a more co-ordinated manner to achieve the same effect. However you really achieve you also need to make sure that you are doing the free weight exercises correctly, otherwise you could be missing the target muscle you want to build

2. Utilise ?Compound Movement?. How you perform an exercise is perhaps the most important component in building mass. If you want to have full, hard bulk, do not isolate specific actions. Instead, use ?body thrust? to compound the involvement of all the muscles in that area. Also, don't fall for the theory that cheating robs you of separation (unlike machine work, where you can only use the appropriate muscle group). On the contrary, it augments the compound benefit and builds even greater size so that there's more muscle in which to carve separation.

3. Find areas of improvement. Assess your physique to determine which muscle groups need to be brought up in size, then go to the gym with that in mind, concentrate on working those areas first. Begin your workout with a barbell movement and follow with dumbbells. If you use cables, do so at the end of your workout. Never count cable sets as muscle building sets.

4. Experiment to find your best mass building exercises. I used to perform lots of squats, and I became incredibly strong with them, going as high as 40 reps with 315 pounds. But there came a point where, even at that level of intensity, my legs weren't growing to my satisfaction. I discovered that my lower back and hips were taking too much of the stress; the solution lay in working my quads more exclusively. I therefore stopped doing squats and switched to leg presses and hack squats instead. My legs are now bulkier than ever.

5. Avoid Injuries. Be wary of dangerous exercises. Squats and flat bench presses, for example, present the most injury potential, so I stay away from them. I can't count the number of individuals whose bodybuilding careers were ended by torn pecs, slipped discs or strained erectors. With proper knowledge and execution, you can get commensurate or even better growth from exercises that work those muscle groups thoroughly without placing undue stress on tendons and ligaments. This is particularly true if you are new to bodybuilding ? if you try such exercises then the first time you do them make sure that you get the proper guidance from a qualified trainer to do them correctly ? if you've been doing them for some time it's still advisable to check out your stance, posture and lift position with a professional.

6. Utilise optimum sets. Use a range of 16 - 20 total sets per body part ? and STICK to them!

7. Don't count exercise. There is no optimum number of exercises. Most bodybuilders prescribe four sets each of four or five different exercises per bodypart, but for some muscle groups, there might be only one or two movements that work them effectively. In those cases, you should do 16 - 20 sets of one exercise, or 8 - 10 sets each of two exercises.

8. Perform Optimum reps. I like to train heavy, but I also like to use lots of reps. I recently performed incline barbell curls with 405 pounds for 10 reps, but I consider that to be medium to light weight, and, therefore, not mass training. My favorite number of mass reps on a regular basis is 10, to failure(when you just can not do even 1 more?) of course. However, that doesn't mean you should avoid going as heavy as possible now and then.

9. Flirt with maximums. Check out your strength levels every so often by maxing out with one or two reps. Remember, though, that any time you play around with benchpress poundages above 405, you flirt with danger. The body cannot consistently take that type of training. When you want to test your max, do not take big jumps. Rather, work up gradually to keep your body accustomed to the changing forces and their deflections at each level. For example, I go up to 500 pounds for two reps on the incline barbell press, but I do not jump directly from 405 to 500. Instead, I make sure I can do 465 for at least four reps before I go to my max.

10. Eat your meat! The more protein you eat, the better, and the best form of protein for mass is meat, especially red meat. That's where you get your muscle building nutrients, your strength reserves and the necessary fats for joint protection. There is loads of advice freely available on what you should eat so use it ? you need to control calorie intake but you also need to get the right mix of carbs and protein, so use a proper eating plan.

Make all of these principles second nature to your bodybuilding lifestyle and you will gain good solid mass.