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The 3 Different Stages of Muscle Building

Posted on 01.11.2010 : Authored by Maureen Kurman
Before you jump head first into a muscle building program, there are 3 basic principles you have to understand in order to know what it takes to build muscle. Having an understanding of the process the body has to go through in order to build lean muscle will help you put together your own weight lifting and training program. Getting to know the process will get you more in touch with your own body.

There are 3 stages involved in building lean muscle. If you are missing any one of the 3 from your program, you will not see the results that you want from your efforts. They all have to be in place. Here are the main facts about the 3 different stages.

The first phase I would like to talk about is muscle stimulation. This is all the work you do in the gym. It is done by the weight lifting and other exercises. This is when you will be breaking down your muscle. To stimulate muscle growth, you must push it beyond a point that it has never been before. It is then that it will adapt and adjust. This will cause the muscle to grow stronger, and larger. The idea of large amounts of volume that is common in many muscle building programs is unnecessary and even damaging to your efforts. You want to generate as much stimulus to your muscles in the least amount of time. So lift heavy, and with high intensity. Use a low amount of sets, and a low amount of reps, but make them count. Use maximum effort each rep of each set.

Many beginners tend not to give their nutrition the attention it deserves. But in order for your muscles to repair themselves they have to be fed the proper amount of nutrients. Take the time to research proper muscle building nutrition yourself. Everyone is different and so you will have different nutritional needs. But there are basic rules that everyone should follow. Depending on your fitness goals and your level of fitness, you will need to check with your doctor before changing your eating habits.

And finally, you will need to be aware of the amount of rest you give your muscles to recover from your training. This is very important for a couple of reasons. The first being that your muscles need time to rebuild themselves, using the nutrients you have provided them with. The second is that if you don't get the proper amount of rest you run the risk of over training your body. This can and will be a great setback. So just be sure to remember that less is more sometimes.

These are the 3 no bull facts you need to know in order to get anywhere with your muscle building program. If you start here and follow them, you will begin to see results.

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