Gym workout intensity Bodybuilding
Let’s come to the point at once. The main gym workout efficiency criterion is its intensity. It includes the following three major parameters:
1. The Amount of Weight used
2. Duration of Rest Between Sets and Exercises
3. Repetition Velocity (method and speed of performing exercises)
That means the following: the heavier workout weights are, the shorter rest intervals are – the HIGHER gym workout intensity is.
In the very beginning you need to set exactly the first point as your main priority. Regular increase of basic weights guarantees growth and increase of intensity of your gym workouts. In bodybuilding everything is about workout overload: when increasing it you force your muscles adapt to new loads and, consequently, grow. But when increasing workout weights we are to keep the correct exercise movement biomechanics and perform the required quantity of reps, that we had already talked about. If you increase weights but sacrifice performance technique your intensity does not increase because you deceive your muscles by an easier way of performing workout exercises.
You need to work harder and harder with each new gym workout session. Only in this case it’ll mean that your load intensity is increasing; and increase of workout weights is the most appropriate time-proved way of intensity growth.
Another way of training intensity increase is shortening of rest intervals (and the duration of the whole gym workout session in general). More rapid training rate will force you rest less during rest intervals; and it’ll be exactly the increase of workout intensity. If you remember, we decided to stick to one-minute’s rest intervals; and this is quite a short time; that’s why it would be unreasonable to shorten it even more at the current stage. If you do it than your training will become less of power and more of endurance character; and that will not allow you to build muscles.
The third method to increase intensity concerns the most technically correct way of performance of each workout exercise movement. These techniques are extremely dangerous; you need to use them very carefully because they can easily cause over-training state of your organism.
I’ll describe these gym workout techniques in brief in order you know about this matter; but what comes to their mastering – I advise you to use only positive failure.
Do or Die! Intensity techniques
POSITIVE FAILURE
CHEATING
FORCED REPS
PARTIAL REPS
REST-PAUSE
STRIPTEASE
STATICS
NEGATIVE REPS
So, let’s start. The first station of our journey is POSITIVE FAILURE. It’s not difficult to reach muscle failure when performing a particular workout exercise; the thing you need to remember is that you are to be sure in efficiency of this failure.
What else can you do? – CHEATING. It’s idea lies in the following: you assist your muscles to overcome the most difficult points of an exercise with the help of your whole body. You force muscles to complete 2-3 more reps in excess to muscle failure and by doing this you additionally stimulate muscle fibers. This gym workout technique is not for beginners because it’s extremely difficult and dangerous.
Cheating is followed by FORCED REPETITIONS which you should to do together with your partner (spotter) after your force has ‘died’ completely. For example, when performing Bench Presses on reaching positive failure your partner helps you to complete several additional reps.
The next gym workout technique is PARTIAL REPETITIONS. It’s absolutely clear: you limit an workout exercise trajectory, for example, by a third or a quarter of its amplitude; and due to this you can ‘squeeze’ out of yourself several additional reps in excess to muscle failure. It would seem that the rules of intensity increase prescribe you to increase this amplitude but not to reduce it; but you shouldn’t forget that after muscle failure you are almost a dead man. And for a dead man partial reps are just the right thing to do.
We go on: REST PAUSE WORKOUT. Do you feel it – something starts burning. It’s your muscles – you wanted it, didn’t you? So, the procedure is the following: on finishing a set you put the working weight back on a rack or just on the floor and rest right on the spot for about 20 seconds; then you start working with the weight till you are no more; than again – 20 seconds of rest… and again… and again…
Now we switch to STRIPTEASE (it is not about my occupation))). In the beginning of an workout exercise you should load the barbell with maximum weight but don’t put on locks in order your partners can easily ‘pull’ off the barbell plates according to your command. Start performing the workout set; as soon as you reach muscle failure, command to remove two plates; than again work till failure and command to remove the next two plates – and so on till there are no plates on the bar.
Finally we came to the most difficult gym workout techniques. The first of them is STATICS (static failure). It’s performed like this: after reaching failure you lift or lower (depending on the exercise) an apparatus by several inches or leave it in the upper point of the exercise trajectory and try to keep it there for as long as you can.
And the last one is for those who have no restraints – NEGATIVE REPETITIONS. After you reached failure your partner helps you to lift the weight to the upper point but you are to lower it absolutely on your own and to do it slowly, deliberately slowly. Did you manage it? – Well then, – UP once again with the partner’s help… and so on, till you reach one more (this time absolute or negative) failure when you will be able to move the weight not by one inch.
Gym Workout Tips
In gym try to use each rest interval in an active way: stretch the muscle you are training, imitate the exercise workout without weight to train its performance technique, take a small walk, rub worked muscles with your hands. The main idea of time between sets is to make rest more efficient.
– When do gym workout exercise, you should follow two rules:
1. Don’t be worry by anything unimportant;
2. Everything but the training is unimportant.
Such psychological set will help you to gain the required mental mood for gym workout.
– Speed of an workout exercise movement should be average. Weight lifting (the positive phase) should be quicker than its lowering (the negative phase). While the first one lasts approximately 2 seconds, the second one – approximately 3-4 seconds. Breathe out during the positive phase; when lowering the training weight, breathe in slowly through your nostrils. Don’t reduce an workout exercise amplitude; don’t help yourself by ‘jerks’ of the whole body (don’t cheat). It’s better to reduce the weight but to perform an exercise in the required way. Correct biomechanics of an workout exercise excludes hurry.
When do gym workout exercise, it’s very important to reach muscle failure. Remember: “What does not destroy me, makes me stronger”. That means that having completed a set, you are to be sure that your last repetition was the last one you were able to do correctly. If you are not sure in this, it means that you are trying to deceive yourself and need to increase the basic weight. When do gym workout exercise, always remember about the overload principle. I can often hear such excuses like ‘I just do fitness’ but I think that this case represents no fitness but self-admiration. Any kind of activity (including fitness gym workout) needs to have its final goal; but if your goal is just to visit a gym and show other people what a great person you are – it’s no useful for your body.
- Use your rest intervals between gym workout exercises also to write down in your workout schedule log the weight and quantity of reps you managed to perform. Compare the current numbers with the previous ones and get ready to overload them. Don’t be sad if your present weights are rather light; think about how good it is that you are sticking to this system and understanding your progress. With such persistence you’ll be able to catch up with local fitness gym favourites who got used to work with heavy weights but haven’t changed them for years and leave them far behind in short time. In comparison with them your gym workout achievements will be constantly increasing. Still, it’s very important that you never lose your self-confidence.
SEQUENCE OF GYM WORKOUT EXERCISES
Muscles building better if we workout them in a certain sequence.
You need to start a gym workout with compound (multi-joint) exercises and finish with isolation (single-joint) ones because strength growth is especially important for muscle building. These two parameters appear to be in direct proportion; and if you tire one of muscles that participate in a compound exercise by performing an isolation one you’ll not be able to achieve the maximum result. For example, if you’d trained front deltoid muscles by means of Dumbbell Shoulder Raises before performing Bench Press they will limit your basic weight for this exercise because it engages not only chest muscles but also triceps, biceps and front deltoid muscles as well. Remember the following rule: ‘The strength of a chain is defined in accordance with the strength of its weakest link’.
Always start your gym workout exercise program with big muscles groups that are the following: legs, back, chest; small ones – deltoid muscles, biceps and triceps. Here is the descending body parts size list:
1. Legs
2. Back
3. Chest
4. Shoulders
5. Arms
GYM WORKOUT EXERCISE: HOW MANY SETS?
The question about the quantity of gym workout exercise sets is rather important. Some body builders say that 1-2 sets till muscle ‘failure’ are enough for muscle growth and all additional sets will only spoil it. Others are sure that an efficient gym workout training requires numerous sets. Who is right, after all? – Nobody is, as usual. The truth always lies somewhere in the middle.
There are people who need only 1-2 sets; there are others for whom 5 sets isn’t enough. It all depends on genetic and (even more often) on psychological features that allow an athlete to get ready for maximum efficiency of the only but the most important gym workout set. The absolute majority of people (and especially beginners) are not capable of such 100% efficiency.
Besides it, even if you are a lucky man who can workout effectively performing such a limited quantity of sets, you’ll have to do at least two more sets to warm up (otherwise you’ll definitely traumatize yourself). Ligaments and muscles are to be warmed up before hard gym workout; besides it, light-weight warm-up sets prepare not just our body but also our mental state for maximum efforts.
From a practical point of view, you shouldn’t run to extremes. You should do neither minimum nor maximum quantity of an workout exercise sets: stick to the middle. For example, do 2 warm-up sets, then 3 basic ones – it’ll be enough for the first exercise. So, if your basic weight for 8 reps of Bench Presses is 250 lb it’ll look something like this;
Bench Presses
120 lb X 15 reps (warm-up)
200 lb X 10 reps (warm-up)
250 lb X 8 reps (the major workout exercise set)
250 lb X 6-8 reps (the 2nd workout exercise set)
200 lb X 10 reps (the last workout exercise set (‘pumping’))
The first two sets we complete with reduced weight and numerous reps. This technique assists safer and more efficient warm-up of muscles and ligaments. This warm-up is followed by the first workout set. It is the most important one. Try to increase the barbell weight for this set regularly. The following (the 2nd workout) set is also a power one; it additionally stimulates your working muscles. Most probably, you won’t be able to complete the same quantity of reps in this set because you muscles are be rather tired after the previous one. The third (the last workout) set is the finishing one; here you should increase the quantity of reps in order to feel your muscles and pump them with blood to the maximum extent. To do it you’ll need to decrease the barbell weight because the working muscles are extremely tired.
Compound exercises in your training
Actually, it is possible to progress without basic exercises; in other word without compound exercises, during the execution of which, the work includes several muscle groups and multiple joints.
The main arguments of adherent of basic exercise is the assertion that compound exercises involve a large number of muscle fibers, thus contributing on increase muscle mass and strength. But in order to grow, the body must receive a constant load. And if for quite a long time to provide the same load, at the end your body will not respond to the training. Besides getting used your mind is overloaded, and this is much worse. You may overtrain or lose interest in training. Generally, performing basic exercises is easy to undermine your energy source, because powerful movement not only involve a lot of muscles, but also require a lot of energy.
Another negative aspect of the basic exercises is high risk to get injury. Exercises must be performed technically correctly. Therefore, beginners should not immediately get involved in this system.
So, you have in the arsenal a huge selection of isolation exercises, that is, those which involve in the work only one muscle group. But movement whiles this workout can be seemed only in one joint. For example, the extension of the legs while sitting in an exercise machine loaded quadriceps, but the motion is seemed in the knee joint; dumbbells fly loads pectoral muscle but motion is seemed in the shoulder joint. It is believed that the isolation exercises are not suitable if you are going to gain some mass, their purpose is form and relief. But if that were the case, it would not be the main exercise in bodybuilders’ workout. This conclusion is important, because many people believe that isolation exercises create only the illusion of exercise and are not suitable for serious training.
For example, let’s take a tall man who believes that the only way to increase mass would be for him squat. But, in a time, he will find out that after the hard work the main pain occurs not at the quadriceps, but on the glutes and lower back. A good alternative will serve the hack squat machine. Goldenmuscles.com assures you in this case about hypertrophied buttocks and expanded waistline you can forget.
Now let’s talk about chest muscles. Regardless of a growing breasts from this exercise or not, most athletes start training with the Bench Press. But the main burden falls on the front deltas and triceps, but not on the chest muscles.
Exercises for back
When training the back, we must remember that the back muscles – are the largest and are designed for heavy workload throughout the day. So just need to train with large weights and train on the conscience! Argued that from heavy exercise increases waist, buttocks and lower back and buttock becomes wider than shoulders, but this is a complete nonsense. Of course, the waist is growing too, but with proper technique a spin grows much faster and your upper body becomes so massive that the waist seems even smaller, even is added another couple of centimeters.
Chin-up wide grip
These popular exercises have effects on muscles. At the same time “pump” your biceps and forearms. Chin-up “to the breast” develops a lower region of the broadest, but pulling “over head “- the upper region.
When performing chin-ups, make sure not to swing or jerk as momentum will make the exercise less efficient and promotes injury. During the chin-up, the lats, teres major, rear delt and traps contract to bring the arms down (or body up). The biceps contract to bend the elbow. The lats are the largest muscles of the upper body and the most powerful movers of the shoulder joint. Over developed lats muscles can have ahuge negative impact on the integrity of the shoulder and spinal joints. An easy way to check the flexibility of your lats is to stans with your arms hanging at your sides. If your hands naturally face inwards toward your body, you’re doing well. If your hands are more than slightly turned inwards and to the back of the room, your lats are too tight. Lay off the chins and simply hang from the bar for 30sec-1min to stretch out.
Traction barbell to the belt in inclination
This is one of the fundamental movements that promote active growth of the volume of the broadest muscles. Indirect burden placed on the muscles – extensors, trapezius(trap), biceps and forearm.
Technology of Implementation: stand next to the barbell and feet shoulder width apart grabbing it from the top. The legs bend at the knees. Bend so the body has acquired a right angle with legs. Arch spine and start to pull the barbell up until it touches the neck of the lower chest. Slowly lower the barbell to the starting position. To increase the amplitude of motion, we can stand on a small stand, or even on a small gymnastic bench.
One Arm Row
Assume a staggered stance and bend your knees. Bend forward at the waist supporting you body with one hand on your knee or a bench. Rows involve the biceps and mid-upper back including the Trapezius, Rhomboids and Posterior Deltoid (shoulder). During a row exercise; the biceps contract to bend the elbow; the posterior deltoid, teres major and latissimus dorsi (lats) contracts to bring the arm back; the rhomboids and trapezius (traps) contract to retract the shoulder blades; and the erector spine (lower back) contract to stabilize the spinal column. Rows are a great exercise for correcting slouched shoulders and winging of the scapula.
Pull the dumbbell up towards your body while retracting the shoulder blades. Keep your shoulders level as opposed to turning at the waist.
Bent over Row
Bend forward at the waist maintaining a neutral lower back and bent knees. Rows involve the biceps and mid-upper back including the Trapezius, Rhomboids and Posterior Deltoid (shoulder). During a row exercise; the biceps contract to bend the elbow; the posterior deltoid, teres major and latissimus dorsi (lats) contracts to bring the arm back; the rhomboids and trapezius (traps) contract to retract the shoulder blades; and the erector spinae (lower back) contract to stabilize the spinal column. Rows are a great exercise for correcting slouched shoulders and winging of the scapula.
Pull the dumbbells up towards your body while retracting the shoulder blades.
 |
| muscle building workout |
1. The Amount of Weight used
2. Duration of Rest Between Sets and Exercises
3. Repetition Velocity (method and speed of performing exercises)
That means the following: the heavier workout weights are, the shorter rest intervals are – the HIGHER gym workout intensity is.
In the very beginning you need to set exactly the first point as your main priority. Regular increase of basic weights guarantees growth and increase of intensity of your gym workouts. In bodybuilding everything is about workout overload: when increasing it you force your muscles adapt to new loads and, consequently, grow. But when increasing workout weights we are to keep the correct exercise movement biomechanics and perform the required quantity of reps, that we had already talked about. If you increase weights but sacrifice performance technique your intensity does not increase because you deceive your muscles by an easier way of performing workout exercises.
 |
| muscle building workout |
Another way of training intensity increase is shortening of rest intervals (and the duration of the whole gym workout session in general). More rapid training rate will force you rest less during rest intervals; and it’ll be exactly the increase of workout intensity. If you remember, we decided to stick to one-minute’s rest intervals; and this is quite a short time; that’s why it would be unreasonable to shorten it even more at the current stage. If you do it than your training will become less of power and more of endurance character; and that will not allow you to build muscles.
 |
| muscle building workout |
I’ll describe these gym workout techniques in brief in order you know about this matter; but what comes to their mastering – I advise you to use only positive failure.
Do or Die! Intensity techniques
POSITIVE FAILURE
CHEATING
FORCED REPS
PARTIAL REPS
REST-PAUSE
STRIPTEASE
STATICS
NEGATIVE REPS
 |
| muscle building workout |
What else can you do? – CHEATING. It’s idea lies in the following: you assist your muscles to overcome the most difficult points of an exercise with the help of your whole body. You force muscles to complete 2-3 more reps in excess to muscle failure and by doing this you additionally stimulate muscle fibers. This gym workout technique is not for beginners because it’s extremely difficult and dangerous.
Cheating is followed by FORCED REPETITIONS which you should to do together with your partner (spotter) after your force has ‘died’ completely. For example, when performing Bench Presses on reaching positive failure your partner helps you to complete several additional reps.
The next gym workout technique is PARTIAL REPETITIONS. It’s absolutely clear: you limit an workout exercise trajectory, for example, by a third or a quarter of its amplitude; and due to this you can ‘squeeze’ out of yourself several additional reps in excess to muscle failure. It would seem that the rules of intensity increase prescribe you to increase this amplitude but not to reduce it; but you shouldn’t forget that after muscle failure you are almost a dead man. And for a dead man partial reps are just the right thing to do.
We go on: REST PAUSE WORKOUT. Do you feel it – something starts burning. It’s your muscles – you wanted it, didn’t you? So, the procedure is the following: on finishing a set you put the working weight back on a rack or just on the floor and rest right on the spot for about 20 seconds; then you start working with the weight till you are no more; than again – 20 seconds of rest… and again… and again…
 |
| muscle building workout |
Finally we came to the most difficult gym workout techniques. The first of them is STATICS (static failure). It’s performed like this: after reaching failure you lift or lower (depending on the exercise) an apparatus by several inches or leave it in the upper point of the exercise trajectory and try to keep it there for as long as you can.
 |
| muscle building workout |
Gym Workout Tips
In gym try to use each rest interval in an active way: stretch the muscle you are training, imitate the exercise workout without weight to train its performance technique, take a small walk, rub worked muscles with your hands. The main idea of time between sets is to make rest more efficient.
– When do gym workout exercise, you should follow two rules:
1. Don’t be worry by anything unimportant;
2. Everything but the training is unimportant.
Such psychological set will help you to gain the required mental mood for gym workout.
 |
| muscle building workout |
When do gym workout exercise, it’s very important to reach muscle failure. Remember: “What does not destroy me, makes me stronger”. That means that having completed a set, you are to be sure that your last repetition was the last one you were able to do correctly. If you are not sure in this, it means that you are trying to deceive yourself and need to increase the basic weight. When do gym workout exercise, always remember about the overload principle. I can often hear such excuses like ‘I just do fitness’ but I think that this case represents no fitness but self-admiration. Any kind of activity (including fitness gym workout) needs to have its final goal; but if your goal is just to visit a gym and show other people what a great person you are – it’s no useful for your body.
 |
| muscle building workout |
SEQUENCE OF GYM WORKOUT EXERCISES
Muscles building better if we workout them in a certain sequence.
 |
| muscle building workout |
Always start your gym workout exercise program with big muscles groups that are the following: legs, back, chest; small ones – deltoid muscles, biceps and triceps. Here is the descending body parts size list:
1. Legs
2. Back
3. Chest
4. Shoulders
5. Arms
 |
| muscle building workout |
GYM WORKOUT EXERCISE: HOW MANY SETS?
The question about the quantity of gym workout exercise sets is rather important. Some body builders say that 1-2 sets till muscle ‘failure’ are enough for muscle growth and all additional sets will only spoil it. Others are sure that an efficient gym workout training requires numerous sets. Who is right, after all? – Nobody is, as usual. The truth always lies somewhere in the middle.
There are people who need only 1-2 sets; there are others for whom 5 sets isn’t enough. It all depends on genetic and (even more often) on psychological features that allow an athlete to get ready for maximum efficiency of the only but the most important gym workout set. The absolute majority of people (and especially beginners) are not capable of such 100% efficiency.
Besides it, even if you are a lucky man who can workout effectively performing such a limited quantity of sets, you’ll have to do at least two more sets to warm up (otherwise you’ll definitely traumatize yourself). Ligaments and muscles are to be warmed up before hard gym workout; besides it, light-weight warm-up sets prepare not just our body but also our mental state for maximum efforts.
 |
| muscle building workout |
Bench Presses
120 lb X 15 reps (warm-up)
200 lb X 10 reps (warm-up)
250 lb X 8 reps (the major workout exercise set)
250 lb X 6-8 reps (the 2nd workout exercise set)
200 lb X 10 reps (the last workout exercise set (‘pumping’))
The first two sets we complete with reduced weight and numerous reps. This technique assists safer and more efficient warm-up of muscles and ligaments. This warm-up is followed by the first workout set. It is the most important one. Try to increase the barbell weight for this set regularly. The following (the 2nd workout) set is also a power one; it additionally stimulates your working muscles. Most probably, you won’t be able to complete the same quantity of reps in this set because you muscles are be rather tired after the previous one. The third (the last workout) set is the finishing one; here you should increase the quantity of reps in order to feel your muscles and pump them with blood to the maximum extent. To do it you’ll need to decrease the barbell weight because the working muscles are extremely tired.
 |
| muscle building workout |
Compound exercises in your training
Actually, it is possible to progress without basic exercises; in other word without compound exercises, during the execution of which, the work includes several muscle groups and multiple joints.
The main arguments of adherent of basic exercise is the assertion that compound exercises involve a large number of muscle fibers, thus contributing on increase muscle mass and strength. But in order to grow, the body must receive a constant load. And if for quite a long time to provide the same load, at the end your body will not respond to the training. Besides getting used your mind is overloaded, and this is much worse. You may overtrain or lose interest in training. Generally, performing basic exercises is easy to undermine your energy source, because powerful movement not only involve a lot of muscles, but also require a lot of energy.
Another negative aspect of the basic exercises is high risk to get injury. Exercises must be performed technically correctly. Therefore, beginners should not immediately get involved in this system.
 |
| muscle building workout |
For example, let’s take a tall man who believes that the only way to increase mass would be for him squat. But, in a time, he will find out that after the hard work the main pain occurs not at the quadriceps, but on the glutes and lower back. A good alternative will serve the hack squat machine. Goldenmuscles.com assures you in this case about hypertrophied buttocks and expanded waistline you can forget.
 |
| muscle building workout |
Exercises for back
When training the back, we must remember that the back muscles – are the largest and are designed for heavy workload throughout the day. So just need to train with large weights and train on the conscience! Argued that from heavy exercise increases waist, buttocks and lower back and buttock becomes wider than shoulders, but this is a complete nonsense. Of course, the waist is growing too, but with proper technique a spin grows much faster and your upper body becomes so massive that the waist seems even smaller, even is added another couple of centimeters.
Chin-up wide grip
These popular exercises have effects on muscles. At the same time “pump” your biceps and forearms. Chin-up “to the breast” develops a lower region of the broadest, but pulling “over head “- the upper region.
 |
| muscle building workout |
Traction barbell to the belt in inclination
This is one of the fundamental movements that promote active growth of the volume of the broadest muscles. Indirect burden placed on the muscles – extensors, trapezius(trap), biceps and forearm.
Technology of Implementation: stand next to the barbell and feet shoulder width apart grabbing it from the top. The legs bend at the knees. Bend so the body has acquired a right angle with legs. Arch spine and start to pull the barbell up until it touches the neck of the lower chest. Slowly lower the barbell to the starting position. To increase the amplitude of motion, we can stand on a small stand, or even on a small gymnastic bench.
One Arm Row
Assume a staggered stance and bend your knees. Bend forward at the waist supporting you body with one hand on your knee or a bench. Rows involve the biceps and mid-upper back including the Trapezius, Rhomboids and Posterior Deltoid (shoulder). During a row exercise; the biceps contract to bend the elbow; the posterior deltoid, teres major and latissimus dorsi (lats) contracts to bring the arm back; the rhomboids and trapezius (traps) contract to retract the shoulder blades; and the erector spine (lower back) contract to stabilize the spinal column. Rows are a great exercise for correcting slouched shoulders and winging of the scapula.
Pull the dumbbell up towards your body while retracting the shoulder blades. Keep your shoulders level as opposed to turning at the waist.
 |
| muscle building workout |
Bend forward at the waist maintaining a neutral lower back and bent knees. Rows involve the biceps and mid-upper back including the Trapezius, Rhomboids and Posterior Deltoid (shoulder). During a row exercise; the biceps contract to bend the elbow; the posterior deltoid, teres major and latissimus dorsi (lats) contracts to bring the arm back; the rhomboids and trapezius (traps) contract to retract the shoulder blades; and the erector spinae (lower back) contract to stabilize the spinal column. Rows are a great exercise for correcting slouched shoulders and winging of the scapula.
Pull the dumbbells up towards your body while retracting the shoulder blades.
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