The Basic Principles
What actually matters in order to build muscle?
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Principle 1: The Most Important Principle by far
The biggest key to seeing results in the gym is actually a really simple thing
And that key is Actually showing up!
Consistency over a long time is the most important aspect of lifting weights. Everything you learn in this resource is useless if you aren't actually going to the gym and putting it into practice.
How did I stay consistent over the past few years? Because I enjoyed going to the gym. I loved it in fact, I would look forward to going because it was fun.
When looking at your own training, you may manage to create the perfect training plan to build the most muscle, but if you don't enjoy it you won't stick to it. Granted there are times it's not so fun when you push yourself very hard on a set or when you get tired, but overall you should enjoy going to the gym and it shouldn't feel like a chore or struggle.
When incorporating the other principles into your training, always make sure you enjoy your workouts or you won't keep showing up.
Principle 2 - Mechanical tension
Mechanical tension is the key driver of muscle growth.
It might sound complicated but its quite simple. When we lift weights we are applying tension to a muscle. This in turn disrupts the structure of muscle fibres and causes muscle damage. The more tension we can put on the muscle the more our muscles can grow.
I could go into the advanced explanation of how are muscle cells respond to this, but in essence, our muscles grow in order to adapt to the tension we are putting our muscles under.
Any good exercise achieves a good amount of mechanical tension on the desired muscle, so how do we achieve this?
A good exercise must...
1)Accurately perform the function of the muscle we want to work
2)Take the muscle through a good range of motion
Here is a worked example
Lets take a bicep curl, here is a video of a set of bicep curls
2022-03-17-163832621.mp4The reason this is effective for the biceps is because
1) I am performing the correct function of the biceps which is to flex the arm
2) I am taking the bicep through its full range of motion ie. fully extended to fully flexed
This is probably the most confusing principle but if get the hang of it, you will always be able to know which exercises are good or bad. When you see a fancy exercise someone is doing and want to try it you just have to think...
1) Does the exercise correctly perform the function of the muscle I am training?
2) is it taking the muscle through a good range of motion?
If it does these 2 things its likely a good exercise
Principle 3 - Progressive Overload
VID_20220317_165628~2.mp4Start by watching the video above
This is a really simple concept but its arguably the most important principle. If you are not following this principle your progress will soon halt.
What is Progressive Overload?
-The gradual increase of stress placed on the body over time.
In training context it basically means slowly increasing your effort at the gym over time.
The main way to do this is by increasing the weight you lift over time
If you bicep curl 10kg on day 1, that is a new stimulus so your muscles will grow in response. But after a few weeks you get used to that stimulus and 10kg wont cause any growth. You have to increase the stimulus to get a response.
This principle carries through across your whole lifting lifetime. It is something I still have to follow.
Increasing the weight isnt the only form of overload you could
1) Increase the number of reps performed
2) Increase the number of sets you do
This isnt exhaustive but they are the only ones you really need to know for now.
A linear progression approach is the easiest and most effective way to do this.
For example In the previous video I did a set of bicep curls with 20kg. In that workout I did 3 sets of bicep curls for 10 reps. (in shorthand: 20kg 3x10)
To progressive overload the next workout I could either increase the weight, or increase the reps.
For this example: Lets set a range of 10-12 reps.
Next workout I'm going to attempt 3 sets of 11 reps instead of 10 (3x11). and workout after that 3x12.
A few weeks go by and I finally get 3x12. So now I'm going to increase the weight and and go back to 10 reps.
and then the cycle repeats
I will talk more about sets, reps, and how hard a set should be in the next sections
Once you have looked at these sections move on to the body parts & exercises section:
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