How to Accelerate Muscle Growth
Slow down your lifts., Vary the speed of your reps. Fast reps and slow reps both have their place, provided you can lift rapidly with proper form., Use heavier weights., Allow adequate recovery time., Increase the weight you use gradually., Use a...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Slow down your lifts.
Many people believe that if you want bigger muscles, you need to lift heavy weights as quickly as possible, doing as many reps as possible.
However, slower reps enable you to concentrate on the muscles you're working and ensure perfect form.With slower rates, you also have the opportunity to take your muscles through their full range of motion, leading to more even growth. -
Step 2: Vary the speed of your reps. Fast reps and slow reps both have their place
Varying the speed of your reps introduces an element of surprise so your muscles don't adapt to the same movement.For example, you might start with a moderately paced set, then move to a fast set, then move to a slow set, then go back to a moderately paced set.
Don't lift any faster than you can with proper form.
Make sure that on the fast reps you aren't cheating the movement but are going through your full range of motion. , If you're trying to accelerate muscle growth, you need to lift the heaviest possible weight you can lift for the number of repetitions you have planned.
Your muscles won't grow unless they are adequately challenged.Make sure you can lift the weight with proper form for the given exercise.
If you can't complete the range of motion in the exercise, choose a lower weight.
Using heavier weights typically means fewer repetitions.
However, using the heaviest possible weight you can use with 8 to 10 repetitions is one way to significantly accelerate muscle growth. , Muscle growth doesn't happen while you're working out – it happens while your muscles are recovering.
You should leave at least 48 hours between exercising a particular muscle group to give the muscles adequate time to recover and grow.Create a regimen that targets specific muscles groups on specific days to enable rest days for other muscle groups.
For example, you may have leg day on Monday, work your arms and shoulders on Tuesday, work your core on Wednesday, and then work your legs again on Thursday. , You should be testing your max weights every few weeks, or at least once a month, and increasing as necessary so that you're always working out with the heaviest possible weight you can use for the exercise in question., Just as with varying the speed of your repetitions, varying the types of machines you use keeps your muscles from adapting to a particular type of movement.
Allowing your muscles to get used to a particular motion will slow muscle growth., Over time, it can be easy to forget the number of reps you were doing of a particular lift or exercise, or the amount of weight you used last time.
Keeping a detailed log of your weights and repetitions allows you to stay on track.To have solid gains, you must have a handle on exactly what exercises you've done with each training session and how much weight you used.
You also might benefit from including other observations such as how you felt, what you ate before your workout, and what the atmosphere was like in the gym, since all of these things can affect your performance. , While cardio is important to build endurance and increase your overall cardiovascular health, too much cardio can slow muscle growth.
If you want to build larger muscles, your focus should be on anaerobic exercises such as weight lifting.Limit cardio exercise to 75 minutes of vigorous activity (i.e. running), or 150 minutes of moderate activity (i.e. walking) per week. -
Step 3: provided you can lift rapidly with proper form.
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Step 4: Use heavier weights.
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Step 5: Allow adequate recovery time.
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Step 6: Increase the weight you use gradually.
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Step 7: Use a variety of machines.
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Step 8: Track your training sessions.
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Step 9: Keep your cardio exercise moderate.
Detailed Guide
Many people believe that if you want bigger muscles, you need to lift heavy weights as quickly as possible, doing as many reps as possible.
However, slower reps enable you to concentrate on the muscles you're working and ensure perfect form.With slower rates, you also have the opportunity to take your muscles through their full range of motion, leading to more even growth.
Varying the speed of your reps introduces an element of surprise so your muscles don't adapt to the same movement.For example, you might start with a moderately paced set, then move to a fast set, then move to a slow set, then go back to a moderately paced set.
Don't lift any faster than you can with proper form.
Make sure that on the fast reps you aren't cheating the movement but are going through your full range of motion. , If you're trying to accelerate muscle growth, you need to lift the heaviest possible weight you can lift for the number of repetitions you have planned.
Your muscles won't grow unless they are adequately challenged.Make sure you can lift the weight with proper form for the given exercise.
If you can't complete the range of motion in the exercise, choose a lower weight.
Using heavier weights typically means fewer repetitions.
However, using the heaviest possible weight you can use with 8 to 10 repetitions is one way to significantly accelerate muscle growth. , Muscle growth doesn't happen while you're working out – it happens while your muscles are recovering.
You should leave at least 48 hours between exercising a particular muscle group to give the muscles adequate time to recover and grow.Create a regimen that targets specific muscles groups on specific days to enable rest days for other muscle groups.
For example, you may have leg day on Monday, work your arms and shoulders on Tuesday, work your core on Wednesday, and then work your legs again on Thursday. , You should be testing your max weights every few weeks, or at least once a month, and increasing as necessary so that you're always working out with the heaviest possible weight you can use for the exercise in question., Just as with varying the speed of your repetitions, varying the types of machines you use keeps your muscles from adapting to a particular type of movement.
Allowing your muscles to get used to a particular motion will slow muscle growth., Over time, it can be easy to forget the number of reps you were doing of a particular lift or exercise, or the amount of weight you used last time.
Keeping a detailed log of your weights and repetitions allows you to stay on track.To have solid gains, you must have a handle on exactly what exercises you've done with each training session and how much weight you used.
You also might benefit from including other observations such as how you felt, what you ate before your workout, and what the atmosphere was like in the gym, since all of these things can affect your performance. , While cardio is important to build endurance and increase your overall cardiovascular health, too much cardio can slow muscle growth.
If you want to build larger muscles, your focus should be on anaerobic exercises such as weight lifting.Limit cardio exercise to 75 minutes of vigorous activity (i.e. running), or 150 minutes of moderate activity (i.e. walking) per week.
About the Author
Paul Burns
Experienced content creator specializing in organization guides and tutorials.
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