Muscle Confusion
One of the most commonly talked about terms in the world of bodybuilding is Muscle Confusion. This refers to the the idea that your muscles can adapt to particular exercises and so will gradually stop being stimulated by them and will cease growing in size or strength when you perform them.
This idea of muscle confusion is what leads many trainees to completely alter their training routine every 6-8 weeks and is even the basis of some popular fitness products sold today.
But is Muscle Confusion a real issue? Does it even exist or is it just a myth?
What Muscles Adapt To
I remember a conversation I had with a trainer who advised me on how to do more pull ups. His basic advice was to do them every day and often so your muscles become familiar with the movements involved in a pull-up and the load of your body weight, so they will find it easier.
This wasn’t a limited time advice. He wasn’t saying that I should stop doing pull-ups after 6 weeks. In fact, he was giving me permanent guidelines. He had no problem with me doing pull-ups for years and years. He encouraged it.
What this shows you is that the thing muscles adapt to are not just movement or a specific exercise. They adapt to the load being placed on them in a particular exercise. In the case we’re talking about it was the weight of my body.
As soon as my muscles became strong enough for my weight, it was easy for me to quickly add on the reps of the pull-up since all my muscles had to deal with is the volume, or the number of reps, that I wanted to do.
Power Lifting Proves Muscle Confusion is a Myth
Let’s talk about Olympic weight lifters. These are men and women who train for 4 years to be able to perform a small set of specific movements. All the need to do is snatch, jerk, and lift. No one cares about anything else. This is all that they’re judged on.
So, how do you think they train? Do you believe they change things up every few weeks or do they focus on the specific movements they need to perform?
I’m sure that power lifters do a variety of exercises. But I am also confident that they never stop practicing on these basic movements. All they’re interested in is increasing the load they place on themselves. Their muscles never get “confused”.
Muscles Are Dumb
Let’s be clear: muscles are stupid. They have no brain. You tell them to contract and they do. You tell them to release and they comply. They don’t have the ability to get confused, bewildered or anything else for that matter. They are either strong enough to do something or not.
Switching Things Up May Be Counterproductive
Muscle Confusion is worth talking about because it may turn out to be counter productive to muscle building. The problem is that too many trainees are so distraught by the idea of their muscles becoming confused that they switch their entire workout routine so often that they never give their muscles time to improve.
You actually need to take advantage of the fact that your muscles adapt to movement to be able to hit them with a greater load. This is how you build greater strength and muscle mass.
Should You Never Switch Things Up
There are certain times in which changing your routine may be necessary:
1. You suffer an injury – If you have an injury which prevents you from doing a specific exercise then by all means, work the muscle in another way until you recover.
2. You are just bored with your workouts – This is probably the main reason why people need to spice their workouts with new stuff. If you’re not really into training then you will likely grow bored with the same routine.
Have a Basic Routine and Work on That
Since changing things up too often may lead to lesser gains, it’s good to have a basic routine with exercises that you do regularly and work around that. For me these are squats, lunges, chest press, and back rows. Other than that, I’m open to change. These exercises are the foundation of my workout and I want to get as good as I can with them. This requires me to keep at them.
Bottom Line on Muscle Confusion
Muscles don’t get confused. You just get bored.
You may change your workout if you like but don’t do it often. You may be disappointed with the results. It’s better to increase the resistance you train with then try to start all over again with a different exercise. This is how you get stronger.
Hyperplasia vs. Muscle Hypertrophy
In today’s post I want to talk about two terms which are often used in the world of bodybuilding and which may cause some confusion. Both refer to growing the size of your muscles.
The first is Muscle Hyperplasia and the second is Muscle Hypertrophy. I want to go over the difference between these two terms, what they mean, and how they can be achieved
Muscle Hyperplasia
Hyperplasia is a medical terms which describes a condition in which the number of cells in a particular organ increase dramatically. I’m not talking about the size of the cells but the actual number of them.
This can often lead to unwanted results such as swelling, unseemly growths, etc. While hyperplasia is often harmless, such as in the case of post-pregnancy breast tissue, it may have unwanted effects.
Naturally, if you could control hyperplasia and focus its effects on muscle tissue, you may experience an increase in muscle size and strength, which is why so many bodybuilders are infatuated with the idea of muscle hyperplasia.
However, achieving it is not so easy. In fact, up to this point in time I have yet to see any research which shows how it may achieved in humans. Some animal studies do point to various exercises and routines which may induce hyperplasia but the only way in which this can be achieved in humans is through the use of various hormonal supplements, which may carry certain risks.
So, for the moment, the dream of increasing the number of muscle cells at will is still unfulfilled.
Muscle Hypertrophy
This is the regular increase in muscle size and strength which is achieved by weight training and it’s the regular and natural form of muscle building.
Hypertrophy has two types: Myofibrillar Hypertrophy and Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy. Each has its own use when you’re trying to build up muscle and strength.
Myofibrillar Hypertrophy is the strength oriented muscle growth. When you achieve this kind of hypertrophy you increase the density of the muscle cells by adding more fibers to the muscle already there. This improves strength and ability. However, as you’re increasing density, this growth may not be so apparent. It’s more of a toning and shaping sort of muscle growth than one done for size.
This kind of hypertrophy is achieved by working with big weights and low reps. Anywhere from 2 – 6 reps per set will create more density vs. size.
Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy is the size oriented muscle growth. When this is achieved, your muscle cells fill up with sarcoplasm, a fluid like material which makes the cells swell like a balloon. This makes the muscles visually bigger and it is this kind of muscle growth which accounts for the many “untoned” muscle builders that you see in many gyms.
This kind of hypertrophy is achieved by working with high reps, 7 – 12 is a good number.
To achieve a big and ripped body, you need to combine both kinds of muscle hypertrophy, neither is good or bad. You have to be able to play the two together to not get “too big” but be out of shape. A good program which helps you do just that is Visual Impact Muscle Building.
In Conclusion
Muscle hyperplasia may be good in theory but it is not something that you can achieve without resorting to extreme measures. The way to grow muscles is to focus on making the cells bigger and not by fantasizing on what it would be like to have more of them.
Killer Chest Circuit
If you’re looking to build an awesome looking chest, this pectoral workout routine will come in handy. In this post I’ll share with you a simple and powerful chest circuit that will “force” your pecs to grow.
Ready? Let’s get started.
Barbell Chest Press - Wide Grip
The first exercise that you’ll do is a barbell chest press. In this variation, you will use a wide grip, wider than shoulder width that is. The purpose of this variation is to focus your effort on the outer part of the chest muscles.
In this case, you will work on a horizontal bench to target the middle-lower parts of the pectoral muscle. Don’t worry, later you will be switching things up.
Chest Flies
This exercise can be done with either cables or dummbells. I prefer dumbbells myself, but it’s a personal decision and you can try both or even switch between the cables and dumbbells. What’s important in this exercise is to work symmetrically. Don’t let one arm go lower than the other on the opening movement and work with the same pace and path on the closing movement.
Chest flies provide a bigger range of motion than chest presses do simply because your arms are extended further. When you do flies, your arms are nearly straight while in presses they are bent at the elbow.
Incline Chest Press – Narrow Grip
The incline barbell chest press works the upper part of the pectoral muscle. It’s important to perform this variation to achieve a completely developed chest. The narrow grip works the inner part of the muscles.
Push ups
The 4th chest exercise in this circuit will be push-ups. The reason why I’m using this exercise as the last one is that I want you to work almost to failure. It’s much safer to do so with a bodyweight exercise than it is when you’re holding a barbell or dumbbells above your head.
The Chest Circuit Itself
- Horizontal chest press, wide grip: 6 – 10 reps.
- Chest flies: 6 – 10 reps.
- Incline chest press, narrow grip: 6 – 10 reps.
- Push – ups: Up to near failure.
Once you complete this circuit, you can rest for a moment and proceed to do another one. You can change things up a bit. For instance, you can do incline chest flies and switch between the narrow and wide grip on the chest presses.
What I like about this chest circuit are the following things:
1. It is an intense circuit and once which will help you build chest muscles fast.
2. It works the chest from multiple angles.
3. It trains the pectoral muscle in a variety of ways and movements.
Final Note and More ideas
This chest circuit should be done before any tricep exercises. I like doing tricep workouts after I’ve completed my chest session. This is because the triceps are supporting muscles of the pecs and you want them fresh when you work the chest. Once you finish the chest exercises, doing tricep isolation exercises will be more effective.
One note on the narrow grip: by narrow I mean at about shoulder width. Too narrow and you’ll be shifting the effort away from the pectoral muscle to the triceps.
That’s it. I hope you like this chest workout circuit. Try it during your next workout and see how you feel.
Muscle Building Salad Recipe
Some guys think that a salad is a food which is fit for birds or diet-crazed women on their lunch break. I’m here to to tell you different.
A salad can be a powerhouse of nutrients which keep you healthy and help you build more muscle. In this article I want to share with you my own muscle building salad recipe. Let me show you how you can combine all the healthy vitamins and minerals in vegetables along with healthy fat and lots of protein to help you add more mass fast.
High Protein Salad Recipe
For protein in my salad I like to use one of the following ingredients (or both):
- A can of tuna fish – One can holds more than 20 grams of protein. Fish protein is of high quality and tuna also contains fish oil which is healthy in many ways. It is also one of the most affordable fish you can find. Tuna cans come in various forms. Avoid tuna in oil. Always go for tuna in water. I don’t like tuna in olive oil. I will add olive oil to my salad but I want to be sure that it’s of the highest quality.
- An egg – The protein in egg is the best natural protein for muscle building. In addition, the yolk contains a variety of other nutrients including the B12 vitamin.
Add some volume to your salad
A lot of guys worry that they won’t get full by eating salad. I have the solution: add chick peas to it. You can buy canned chick peas and they’re very affordable.
Chick peas are also a rich source of protein as 23% of them is made of it. Chick peas also contain calcium and iron, both of which are good for muscle building.
In addition, why not sprinkle some nuts on your salad? Nuts are also rich in protein and they also contain healthy fats which your body needs to process all the vitamins from the vegetables that you’re about to add to your dish.
I like to crush my nuts to small pieces and add them on top of all the vegetables, the tuna, and the chick peas. You can use walnuts, cashew nuts, or pistachios. I find that almonds don’t go as well as these other nuts in a salad.
Vegetables
My favorite vegetables are:
1. Carrots – rich in antioxidants and fiber. Carrots are also a source of vitamin A which is good for your eyes. I love how carrots taste and their crunchiness.
2. Tomatoes – This is one of the healthiest vegetables. Tomatoes are rich in the antioxidant Lycopene which has been linked to decreased risk of various cancers.
3. Avocado – I usually slice up half an avocado into my salad. While this veggie is high in fat, it’s the good and healthy monounsaturated fat. This is the kind of fat that you should be eating, the kind that your body needs. In addition, avocados are very tasty.
4. Bell Pepper – These add a lot of color to your salad. You can find them in red, green, purple, yellow and orange. They seem to be cultivating new strands of bell peppers all the time which is why you get such a variety of color.
5. Radishes – Not only do these have a remarkable taste, they also offer a variety of nutrients. Radishes are rich in folic acid, magnesium, potassium, vitamin B6 and others.
Sometimes I will add leafy vegetables to my salad but not often. I like to eat vegetables of substance so I eat very little lettuce and similar veggies.
Preparation
I place all the sliced vegetables in a big bowl, add the tuna and/or the egg to it. I sprinkle the nuts on top (you can also use sunflower seeds) and sprinkle the whole batch with a healthy dose of virgin olive oil, another source of healthy fats. I usually sprinkle a bit of black pepper on top which, according to Dave Ruel, helps to boost your metabolism, and I have my muscle building salad ready.
You can play with the proportions of each vegetable as you like. I didn’t write specific proportions for a reason: I think they’re not as important as the actual ingredients. They’re a matter of preference.
There you go, now you have an awesome salad which is rich in protein and other healthy nutrients. Perfect for building muscle.
For more healthy muscle building recipes check out Anabolic Cooking. It has over 200 recipes for gaining muscle.
The Pen is Mightier Than The Weight
If I ask you what is the most important piece of equipment a person who wants to build muscles needs you may point to a barbell, a dumbbell, or weight plate. All these answers would be wrong.
The answer is a pen and a notebook.
Just like the pen is mightier than the sword for the power of words, so is the pen mightier than the weight. This time, the words this pen will write will be for your eyes only but they are no less important. In fact, they are your ultimate tool.
The reason why the pen is mightier than the weight is that serious muscle building must be “managed”. You can’t go into the gym and start doing any exercise you like in any manner, order, or method.
The unplanned method may yield some results but they won’t be optimal. In some cases, this kind of messy approach may even be counterproductive. To get the very best results, you have to plan ahead and keep track of your current progress.
If you don’t plan ahead, whether it is your next workout, or a complete workout plan for the near future, you won’t be able to follow a systematic training progression. Don’t assume that you can somehow keep track of everything in your head. It will probably not work.
You also need to keep track of your progress during the workout itself, noting the weight you’re working with and the number of reps that you perform. Tracking is the only way in which you can adequately judge the way a fitness routine works or not.
What you eat and when you do so, is also information you must record. After all, your nutrition is crucial for your success or failure as a muscle builder. Unless you eat correctly, you will never be able to build a lot of muscle mass.
Proper nutrition is a science in and of itself which is why muscle builders pay good money for eating plans such as the Anabolic Cooking plan. Buying the best food for muscle growth is not enough. You need to eat it in the right quantity at the right time. Doing so requires you to keep a record of what you eat and when.
As you can see, the Pen is the muscle builder’s tool in and out of the gym. You need to get used to working with it. At first it can be quite a hassle to write everything down. It’s not fun, it’s tedious, and it’s boring. However, it is something that simply has to be done and you will quickly get used to it.
I recommend having a notebook with you every time you go into a gym. You want to have a complete record of your progress. This is how you get results.
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