Getting strong is cool, but when you want to build muscle, you can be more creative than just loading more plates and lugging heavier dumbbells.

Muscle hypertrophy is the process in which muscle fibers are broken down and repaired. It’s an adaptive response to force generated against increased resistance. The recommended formula for stimulating hypertrophy is to lift submaximal weights for 6-12 repetitions per exercise. Strength development calls for heavier loads—usually around 80-90 percent of maximum—for sets of 2-5 repetitions, and anaerobic endurance requires lighter sets of 15 or more reps.

While it’s good to increase your strength, lifting heavy increases the chance of wear and tear as well as injury. The strategies described here promote muscle growth without pushing the loads. Implement them in your workouts, and you can continue to add muscle without adding weight to the bar.

1) Switch Up Your Rep Ranges

Working in rep ranges of 6-12 will stimulate muscle growth, but how do you find the sweet spot? Lower reps call for more sets and an increase in weight to stimulate a muscle fiber response. Higher reps mean less weight but a longer time under tension, which is the amount of time your muscles are working during any given movement. The body appreciates change, so mixing up your rep ranges will keep your body on its toes, encouraging further muscle development by changing the stress to the muscular system.  

2) Increase Your Volume Of Work

Simply put, volume is the amount of work done in any given training session, expressed in pounds lifted. It is the total workload—the sum of the weight lifted in all successfully completed reps. You calculate the total volume by multiplying each weight lifted by the number of reps lifted at that weight. Here’s a simple example that explains how you can do more work by lifting less.

Let’s say you’re doing overhead presses with 100 pounds for 3 sets of 10 reps. On your third set, you complete only 8. That’s 28 reps total, and your total workload is 2,800 pounds:

• 2 sets x 10 reps = 20 reps
• 1 set x 8 reps = 8
• Total reps = 28
• 28 reps x 100 pounds = 2,800 pounds

If you had used an optimal weight for your strength level—say, 95 pounds—and had been able to complete the last full set of 10, your total volume of weight lifted would be greater at 2,850 pounds (30 reps x 95 pounds).

As you can see, training to failure doesn’t always bring the optimum results. When you pay attention to total volume, it pays off in strength development and muscle gains in the long run.

3) Increase Your Time Under Tension

The longer a muscle is working to support an exercise, the more opportunity it has to break down and grow back stronger and fuller. One way to do this involves the eccentric phase of the rep, which is the returning phase of every exercise and is often overlooked.

If you’re benching and letting the weight crash down on your chest before you push the bar back up, you’re missing half of the exercise—arguably the most important portion of the lift. If, instead, you control the weight during the eccentric phase—in this case the downward movement of the bench press—your muscles will have to work their hardest to control the movement, and that’s where you reap the size benefits. Depending on the lift, and also taking into consideration the rep range and weight, an eccentric phase of 3-4 seconds is usually suggested to stimulate muscle hypertrophy.

4) Do Isometrics

Isometrics are exercises in which you hold your body in a certain position. It can be as simple as adding a pause when you’re benching or holding the barbell just above your chest for a 2-second count before you lift. It’s essential to implement isometric holds in your program if you want to maximize growth potential.

First, it trains you to create a stronger mind-muscle connection and isolate muscle groups more efficiently. You can really home in on which muscle is working during each portion of each exercise, which is pretty damn important if you’re going to make that muscle grow. Second, it minimizes momentum, allowing for more optimal contractions and breakdown of targeted muscle fibers.

5) Vary Your Exercises

As previously noted, the body craves variety and responds positively when you change things up. Still, if you want to get better at something, like a snatch, you have to snatch. How to do both? You break down the snatch into segments. Power, block, and pause snatches all have the same end goal—to get the weight above your head. By breaking down your main lifts and adding variety to your approach, you force your body and mind to take in information at a greater rate, improve motor patterns, and stimulate muscle hypertrophy.

6) Change Your Exercise Order

Another way to create variety in your workout is to expose your muscles to different lifting patterns. By switching up the order of your exercises from time to time, you force your muscles to work in new, challenging ways. This goes hand in hand with exercise variety. Focusing simply on the main lifts—like the squat, bench, overhead press, snatch, and clean and jerk.

7) Do Supersets

There is something to be said about pairing exercises together. You won’t be maxing out, but working with submaximal weight in supersets will help improve anaerobic endurance, increase muscle fiber activation, and improve recovery time. There are so many ways you can approach supersetting exercises: push/pull, upper/lower, quads, flexion/extension, etc. It’s all about incorporating new ways to stress your body, and supersets offer endless opportunities to change things up.

Action 1:  Eat More Fruits And Vegetables Every Day

Fruits and vegetables are essential to a healthy body and should be an important part of your daily diet. If you have a few (or a lot of) extra pounds to lose, one of the best goals you can set for yourself is to eat more fruits and vegetables throughout the day. Fruits and veggies are filling, high-fiber, oh-so-good-for-you foods. They’re packed with vitamins and minerals that can help to keep you healthy, but don’t carry huge amount of calories.

By increasing your fruit and veggie intake, you’re basically making less room in your stomach for anything that won’t help you achieve your fat-loss goals. You’re also doing your overall health a huge favor. By increasing your fruit and veggie intake, you’re basically making less room in your stomach for anything that won’t help you achieve your fat-loss goals. You’re also doing your overall health a huge favor.

Action 2: Strength Train Three Times A Week

I’m not telling you to go crazy and spend every open minute you have in the gym. Instead, make it a habit to lift weights three days per week.

At this frequency, you’ll still give your body the stimulus to lose fat, while maintaining or increasing your muscle mass. More muscle mass means your body will have to work harder to keep those muscles functioning and healthy, which means you’ll burn more total calories!

My preferred strength-training template for fat-loss training is three total-body strength-training workouts per week on nonconsecutive days.My preferred strength-training template for fat-loss training is three total-body strength-training workouts per week on nonconsecutive days.

Action 3: Move Your Body On Off Days

On days you don’t strength train, get in extra movement. This can be practically anything from hopping on your favorite cardio machine for 30 minutes, to going for a brisk walk, to doing something more fun like hiking, swimming, or any other activity you enjoy.

Mix and match, but focus primarily on activities you enjoy. If you’re doing things you like, you’re much more likely to move frequently, consistently.

Action 4: Eat More Protein

It’s a world of carbs out there. I’m not going to tell you they’re “bad.” Far from it. But if fat loss is the goal, include a good source of protein with every meal and snack you consume. Amazing health benefits of proteins include a better muscular health, stronger immune system, healthy hair, skin and maintenance of fluid balance in the body. Protein can also turn into an energy provider when required by the body.

Your body needs protein in order to build and maintain muscle. Your body’s protein needs are dependent upon your health and activity level. You need to fill your diet with a variety of protein-rich foods, which isn’t hard to do since protein is naturally found in many nutritious foods — many of which are likely already part of your regular diet.

Try not to rely on only one type of protein. Mix it up. But get it! Finally, they keep your immune system strong, transport and store nutrients and can act as an energy source, if needed.

It is always advisable to choose a balanced diet with an adequate amount of proteins along with other nutrients to ensure a healthy body and revitalized mind. So repeat after me: Protein and vegetables. Protein and vegetables.

Eat proteins, stay healthy!

Action 5: Put These On The Calendar

There’s nothing revelatory here. These are all solid, time-proven techniques. So what’s going to make them work when other stuff hasn’t? You’re going to plug them into your calendar, like they’re important meetings you wouldn’t dream of skipping.

For example, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (or whatever days work best for you) write down “Strength Training.” Set aside the time you’ll do it, and have your routine picked out and available, so you know exactly where it is. No guessing allowed.

On other days, jot down “hike” or whatever other activity you’re going to do. Like the training sessions, reserve a specific time, and stick to it. Every day, write notes or otherwise somehow remind yourself to “eat fruits and veggies” and “eat protein.” If you want, you can even plan out your meals beforehand. It seems like overkill if you’re not accustomed to it, but it works.

At the end of each day, check off what you accomplished. Then, you can look at the next day and know exactly what you need to do. These notes are a terrific way to stay on track because they provide identifiable actions to take on a daily basis.

Take this seriously for several months, and you’ll create habits that will help you lose body fat and build a leaner, stronger body for years down the road.

• 

Here are some health tips. Stay healthy and fit!

• Walk as much as you can, because it’s the simple of all exercises and it rewards you with various health benefits.

• Start with high intensity weight training and then move to cardio. Your body is able to handle weight training better early in the workout.

• Always opt for fresh, seasonal and local produce over exotic food imported from far off lands. Shipping and transportation take the freshness away.

• Having 2 to 3 liters of water daily not only keeps you hydrated but also keeps your skin healthy and reduces acne.

• Practice stretching exercises as soon as you wake up. It boosts circulation, aids digestion, and eases back pain.

• Most of the nutrients are lost in the water when you boil vegetables. Grill or steam them whenever you can.

• Avoid aerated or energy drinks while exercising. Drink water instead. The body burns glucose from the soft drink before burning body fat.

• Practice slow and deep breathing every day. It helps reduce stress and control high blood pressure.

• Your body takes about six weeks to adjust to a new exercise routine. Change the way you train every six weeks to see continued improvement.

• Climbing stairs is an excellent form of cardiovascular workout and also strengthens your leg muscles. So ditch the lift and take a step!

• Hot or iced, Green tea can help speed up your metabolic rate. Drink a cup about 10 minutes before exercising.

• For weight loss, first set yourself a goal then break it down into smaller achievable targets. This helps sticking to the lager goal.

• Eating about an ounce of nuts – particularly walnuts, at least three times a week may lower your risk from cancer or heart disease.

• Rest heals the body and has been shown to lessen the risk of heart trouble and psychological problems. Sleep for at least 8 to 10 hours every night.

• Laughter boosts the immune system and helps the body heal better. So laugh heartily more often.

• Eat at least five servings of fresh fruit and vegetables every day to get your suggested dose of vitamin C.

• A good massage can increase circulation, loosen tight muscles, stimulate internal organs and calm the nervous system.

• Mopping or sweeping the floor for 15 minutes can help burn up to 40 calories.

• When your energy levels start to drop then simply take a brisk walk. It can be more effective at fighting fatigue than a nap or a cup of coffee.

• A simple way to get your daily dose of vitamins and minerals is by eating one food each from the colors of the rainbow.

• Most vegetable lose nutrients on heating. Clean thoroughly and then try eating them as naturally as possible.

• Research shows that even 10 minutes of daily chatter appears to improve mental function and preserve memory. So, walk the talk!

• Chilli pepper contains capsaicin that helps cure arthritis, cholesterol and prostate cancer. Include it in your daily diet plan for a healthier life.

• Research shows that tomatoes and apples help reduce your risk of asthma and chronic lung diseases. Eat five apples a week or a tomato every other day to benefit.

• Trying to reduce belly fat? Pay attention to your carbohydrate intake and avoid artificial sweeteners. Choose whole grains, beans, and vegetables instead.

• Fresh air boosts oxygen flow to the brain and combined with a brisk walk, boosts endorphins and energy.

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You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

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