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Bia Brazil!

We carry a beautiful selection of Bia Brazil Fitness Apparel.

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– Women and Exercise

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As a woman, have you ever wondered how heavy/hard you should exercise.  Read on to find the answers to these questions and more.

 

– Training Intensity?

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Improving your level of fitness requires training hard.  Read how to determine your level of intensity.

 

– Great Food!

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Ever want to be able to prepare a power meal quickly?  Read on to find many great recipes!

 

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Metabolix Nutrition to Sponsor Julie in bodybuilding for 2007!

Julie has been sponsored by Metabolix Nutrition in her endeavors as a competitive natural bodybuilder.  Being recognized as an athlete by a nutrition company is a great accomplishment and honor.  I'm sure she will represent the team well!

Metabolix has some of the finest products on the market today.  You can check out their products at Metabolix Nutrition.

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Forums > At the Gym > Muscle Mass
Subject: Gaining Muscle

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Author Messages
julie
Posts:550

Legend
06/16/2006 8:03 PM Alert 
One of my clients approached me the other day asking me about putting on more muscle. More muscle means your body is more efficient at burning fat, she said so I guess I should try to build more muscle, right? (Finally she's learning!!!!)

So the question she posed to me was if doing lower reps with heavier weight will produce better muscle gains?

Of course lower reps will help you attain more strength and muscle size. But you also have to be careful as to not injur your joints along the way.

One of the ways I've found works best is with a periodized lifting program. What this means is that you lift heavy certain weeks and shake it up other weeks with high volume sets, varied tempo sets, slow negatives, etc. That way, the muscle fibers are being stimulated in various ways without killing your joints. This type of program stimulates the slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers for optimum growth.

So shake up your program. Try different lifting schemes and keep those muscles guessing. It's defintely a great way to avoid adaptation; and you'll see continued progress.
Pumped4life
Posts:1
Junior Member
11/06/2007 9:09 AM Alert 
Julie,
I'm trying to get back into lifting after a few years off. Does it take a while to raise the level of intensity in a workout? Should I gradually increase intensity? It's hard not to start where I left off.

-Pumped4life
julie
Posts:550

Legend
11/06/2007 4:02 PM Alert 
Hey Pumped....

Great question. It would be great if we could just pick up where we left off after being away from the gym a while. But this is when serious injury can occur.

Gradually increasing your intensity is the way to go in this instance. You want to get the muscles and especially joints and tendons used to lifting again. It's very easy to tear a tendon or cause swelling in the joints if you try to go too heavy too soon.

I'd say start with a good warm up and only a good couple of working sets at a moderate weight and higher reps (10-15 range) to begin with. After a couple of weeks try adding in another set or two, depending on how many body parts your working. And then gradually increasing the weight as you bring the rep range down.
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Forums > At the Gym > Muscle Mass > Gaining Muscle


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