How to Get More Muscular
By Joseph Marshall.
Whether it's for better health, personal confidence, to maximize your athletic potential, or a combination of all three, every man in the world wants to get more muscular. If you are a typical young male, you likely want to get more muscular for appearance - to look good for the ladies. A worthwhile goal. Its not just bout looking good on the beach. You will fill out your clothes and people who encounter you in everyday life will notice even with your shirt on.
You will also obtain better strength - you will be able to lift more things than other guys in everyday life. If you are in an office, it will be you that people ask to help move that desk or sofa. You'll be admired by those who cannot do what you can do.
One opportunity to consider if you enjoy being admired. Register to become a "Campus Man" on CampusMen.com - its a great opportunity for a young guy who is transforming his body. Becoming a Campus Man is a perfect way to get affirmation and support from followers. During their effort, most beginner weightlifters being to gather a set of friends and admirers who track their progress and admire their gains. They see you getting a more muscular and comment that they notice the transformation. As a Campus Man, your admirers are called your "Fans." Fans follow your progress. They can provide motivation for you to keep going when you hit a dry spell or need that extra boost to keep hitting the gym in your effort to get more muscular.
And if you later enter a bodybuilding contest, having organized a list of all your supporters in one place makes it easy to encourage those Fans to be an audience member in any contest you enter.
So, once you start getting more muscular, take it to the next level by becoming a "Campus Man."
Avoid Shortcuts to Getting More Muscular
The only question is, are you willing to do what it takes to get more muscles? Getting more muscular means building muscle. Many of the same guys who want to get muscular are not willing to put in the countless hours at the gym or have any clue how to approach choose a muscle-building strategy. Don't make the mistake of getting lazy or looking for a short cut.
Different Strategies to Getting More Muscular
There are a million personal trainers and muscle experts out there, many are talented and have different strategies on what works. We have compiled the following books and DVDs that we feel best give answers to those seeking more muscle. Some trainers may disagree with our choices, but you can at least start on your dedication to more muscle by committing yourself to a book or DVD. Taking that first step in purchasing a book or DVD obligates yourself to continuing on your program from day to day.
You will learn that you don't always have to take the hard way when it comes to getting more muscular, as long as you know where to look. You'll find out about products that will teach you techniques that will turn heads in a matter of weeks, as well as the necessary equipment to help you along the way. Don't start a muscle-building effort by being uninformed and unprepared; do things the right way, the first time.
So, here are our recommendations for guys who want to get more muscular:
Recommended Books to Get More Muscular
Men's Health Book of Muscle $23.10 - The name that men around the world have come to know as an authority on men's lifestyle brings you a definitive guide on building muscle. The Men's Health Book of Muscle contains firsthand experience from both the magazine's in-house fitness director, Lou Schuler, and from Ian King, a former power-lifting champion. These men break down and explain each of the body's muscle groups, both in their function and in ways to push them for maximum gains. Full color drawings and photographs compliment the advice, and the entertaining 'guy talk' that makes Men's Heath readers come back for more rounds out the overall experience.
Scrawny to Brawny: The Complete Guide to Building Muscle the Natural Way $12.10 - For those of us that seem to stay skinny no matter what, this book specializes in offering advice and techniques to skinny guys that want to get big, the right way. In a world full of temptation and bad examples of bodybuilders taking the steroid shortcut, this book features a predominantly anti-steroid message, instead offering advice on diet and exercise techniques that boost natural hormones and maximize a skinny man's gaining potential. If you have trouble putting on muscle, you owe it to yourself to try the techniques illustrated in this book.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding $17.10 - If you know what a gym looks like, then you have heard of the incomparable Arnold Schwarzenegger- he is the bodybuilder that all other bodybuilders look up to. In this book, the seven-time Mr. Olympia explains that, through all of the questioning and begging for advice that came along with his fame, he decided to do extra research and inform himself on the finer points of bodybuilding. As a result, you will not only get all of the firsthand advice that comes through Arnold's personal experience, but the added benefit of hours of research and techniques that he might not have used. With thorough, detailed information on a wide variety of exercises, diet plans, and workout routines for all skill levels both young and old, there might not be a better piece of workout equipment for the money than this book.
Get More Muscle By Watching These DVDs
For those non-readers who prefer a DVD to a book, we recommend these DVDs:
Men's Health "Huge in a Hurry" $35.99 - Author Chad Waterbury uses his Master's Degree in Neurophysiology to bring you unconventional, scientifically proven workouts that will challenge your muscles like never before. Whether you've been lifting weights ten days or ten years, you will experience unbelievable gains in a matter of just days, putting an extra inch on your arms in as little as eight weeks. Waterbury's workouts are not only more efficient than anything you've ever tried, resulting in less wasted time at the gym, but feature specific techniques and postures to limit the risk of injury.
300 Workout DVD $33.99 - 300 is a movie that tells an epic tale through talented actors, visual effects, and, most memorably, unbelievably ripped physiques. The man behind the world-famous bodies featured in the movie 300, Steve Maxwell, now brings you a DVD that illustrates the same concepts and principles that got the actors in the shape of their lives. With beginner, advanced, and expert level workout routines that focus on the metabolism-busting concept of non-stop supersetting, you can reap the benefits of world-class personal training regardless of your current level of personal fitness.
In these books or DVDs, you will learn about these concepts:
- Clean Diet
- Muscle Groups
- Progressive Resistance
- Training Plateau
- Grazing Meals In Bodybuilding
- Importance of Testosterone
- Effects of Overtraining
- Resistance Training
- How many repetitions should I perform?
- How frequently to train each muscle
- Why you need a Spotter
Advanced Exercise Techniques Beginners Should Know
It is not all about the workout plan. Any of these recommended books or DVDs will teach you techniques on how to effectively build muscle by combining the techniques below WITH your workout plan - to build muscle and avoid wasting your time:
Forced Reps: If you never teach you muscles to lift more weight, they might never get the message! Force your muscles to 'learn by doing' through incorporating forced reps into your workout. Pick an exercise that requires a spotter and use 110%-115% of the maximum weight you can lift, instructing your spotter to help ONLY as much as is necessary. You will be amazed at the soreness the next day, and you will never go a workout without ending it in forced reps again!
Different Grips: Anyone who lifts weights will tell you that once you hit a plateau with your training, it can be nearly impossible to break through and move past it. One sure-fire way to challenge your muscles in new ways is to alternate your grip. When you grip weight using a different hand position, different muscle groups are recruited, shocking your muscles into responding in different ways!
Superset: Rather than taking a break between sets, keep the blood pumping by performing exercises back-to-back. You muscles will feel more full and pumped than ever before, and you will get an added cardio benefit from keeping your heart rate up!
Supplements You Must Buy to Get More Muscular
Supplements "add" to the foods you eat normally through the week. Supplements fill the gap your normal diet does not meet. These books and DVDs will explain which supplements are necessities. Why and when these supplements should be taken is too extensive to explain in this article. We encourage you to invest some time in reading one of our recommended books. We'll give you a hint: you need a certain amount of protein for every pound you weigh, but there are different kinds of protein that range in price and effectiveness. Protein can get expensive. Read up to avoid wasting your money.
4 Supplies You Will Need to Get More Muscular
Finally, you'll need some basic supplies for the gym. These are supplies most weightlifters discover they need over time. Buying these supplies from Amazon is always cheaper than purchasing at your local gym - which likely charges 10-20% more than you can obtain on Amazon. So, save time and money, buy these Weightlifting Supplies:
Weightlifting gloves - we recommend Harbinger Pro FlexClosure Wash & Dry Gloves $14.99 because they hold up over time. The stitching in many gloves can loosen from use, something that the 'ventilator mesh' construction avoids by allowing the gloves to stretch repeatedly over time. Reinforced leather padding located in the palms helps to avoid slippage, as well.
Lifting straps - You use these for many pulling exercises. Buy the Schiek Sports Schiek Lifting Strap $19.95, and your grip strength will no longer be an issue. Designed with extreme amounts of tugging and pulling in mind, this reinforced, triple-stitched construction promises to hold up to any workout time and time again.
Weight belt - Buy the Valeo VRL 6-Inch Padded Leather Belt for only $15.50. This leather lifting belt is a must-have item for all power lifting related workouts, both in providing added stability as well as an extra bit of safety. This is a great deal, and leather holds up much better than Velcro versions.
Men's Health Training Log $10.17 Keep track of your every last move, set, and weight amount with this training log, featuring smear-proof paper that holds up to those pesky drips of sweat. More than just a data sheet, this log contains workout suggestions and training routine samples to help you make your workout more effective than ever before!
Questions? Our recommended books or DVDs will explain what this equipment is for and how to use them.
Next Step
Once you develop enough muscle to impress girls, its time to start getting attention for your hard work by getting qualified to become a Campus Man. You can show off your new physique by uploading a photo that shows some muscle, or make videos to share your newfound knowledge to others. And most importantly, start building a fanbase of girls who admire your musculature. Girls see you on CampusMen.com and click to "Become your Fan." Remember, building muscularity is worthless if nobody gets to sees what you have built!
