Muscle jock Micah LaCerte is fast becoming one of our favorite fitness gurus.
Check out the video above where Micah gives you some advice on how to achieve that washboard abdominal wall that you’ve always wanted.
A lot of people have misconceptions on how to gain muscle mass in a short period of time.
We always read about fad workouts and regimens that do not work.
But if your goal is to build muscle mass in 3 to 5 months then you must keep in mind that discipline and a lot of hard work is not enough. You need to be more efficient by doing the right things and, at the same time, doing them the right way.
Experts say that using free weights for all heavy sets will help you gain muscle mass fast. Basically, dumbbells will make your ancillary (secondary) muscles work and at the same time build multipart mass. With this, results are better.
However, heavy weights combined with intense workout will often increase the risk of injuries. A lot of bodybuilding professionals’ careers ended because of torn pecs, strained erectors and slipped discs.
Always be careful and be sure to warm-up. Don’t overdo it!
Some experts say you can use a limit of 16 to 20 sets per body part… but if you are not competing, you’re fine with 12 to 16 sets per muscle group. Each set should be concluded in exhaustion so that you can maximize the benefit of your weight lifting routine.
Also, try to avoid training more than 2 body parts in a single day or you will end up over working your body. This might cause your muscles to stop growing.
Another important thing for building muscle mass is your diet. You need to watch what you eat all the time to get better results. Include lean read meat in your diet – this can be beef or pork. Chicken, turkey and fish are also good sources of protein. You just have to make sure it’s 98% fat free.
Proper diet incorporated with the right workout is proven effective to gain muscle mass and to achieve the body that you always wanted… in light speed!
In the muscle gut punch fetish clip, a big muscle gym jock lets his smaller wrestling partner take a few jabs at his washboard abs.
But in our opinion, the little guy should’ve really put some more muscle behind those punching movements.
We love seeing big muscle dudes get taken down by jocks who are much smaller than them!!!
For you to build muscles in a short period of time with NO steroids, it’s not enough that you simply exercise and hit the weights. The key in here is that you educate yourself so you know what you’re doing and can be consistent with your bodybuilding routine.
Before you start, you need to decide what your goal is: (1) TONE and ENDURANCE or (2) MASS and STRENGTH.
If your main purpose for lifting weights is for muscle mass and strength then the first thing you need to do is subject your body to a level of stress that it is not accustomed to so it will be forced to add muscles. This is called the overload principle.
Muscles grow as a response to the trauma during your weight lifting routine. However, there is no need to overdo it… becaus ea tiny bit of overload will get you great results FAST!
Also remember that it is during the rest period that your body uses the nutrition to help muscles grow. Not allowing your muscles to recover after the stress will slow down or in some cases even overturn the muscle building process.
You may also want to concentrate your training on key exercise movements that relate to the areas you want to build (by this we mean bench press, leg press, etc). This is referred to as the specificity principle.
But if you also want to burn some fat while building muscles, you should definitely incorporate cardio into your routine to help avoid bloat or water retention during you muscle mass-building bulk phase.
You can do your cardio before or after your muscle training. However, since your main goal is to build mass, you should only do cardio 1-2 times every week or once in every two weeks. The reason behind this is that performing too much cardio can take away the quality of muscle gain therefore giving you muscles smaller in size.
If you are skinny and are a hard-gainer, we’d recommend keeping your cardio to a minimum. If you’re a bit chubby, then you may want to do cardiovascular activity 3-4 days per week. But again, don’t do too much cardio during your mass-building cycle because you will be shooting yourself in the foot!
If you’re a naturally skinny person then you know how hard it is to gain weight.
Even if you sit around and eat all day you still cannot seem to gain weight.
Since we have been there ourselves, here are a few tips to help you pack on a few pounds of muscle.
Keep Eating!
It is not only about what you eat but about how you eat. What you need to do is eat 5 or 6 meals everyday. We know that sounds like a lot of eating, but your body will get used to it. Just space the meals out to about every 3 hours. After you do this for a couple weeks you will be surprised at how hungry you will be if you go over the 3 hour mark without eating.
If you do not have the time to eat 5-6 meals a day then just eat three and supplement the other meals with protein shakes or meal replacement bars. There are a bunch on the market to choose from. Some taste pretty good while others taste like shit. You can add a tablespoon of peanut butter or a banana to give it some better flavor if you like.
Train Hard!
In order to gain weight you will have to train with some intensity. Exercises that target the larger muscle groups such as you back, legs and shoulders are where you’re going to put the weight on fastest. You cannot baby these exercises, however. You’re going to have to put some serious effort into it if you want some results.
Follow A Proven Program Built For Hard Gainers!
Following a program that has worked for other skinny people before you is a great way to stay motivated. Skinny people who have put on a good amount of size have a bond kind of like a club or gang. They know what it is like for a skinny person to begin the journey of breaking out of the thin ectomorphic body type and into one they can be proud of. Also, knowing that people who were skinny that followed the same program got great results will help you to not give up before you have reached your full potential.
We truly know how uncomfortable the feeling of being too thin is, but we also know from experience that you can change it.
For those of you who are on an anabolic steroid cycle or are merely considering it, here’s what you need to know about needles and injections…
To understand what type of needle/syringe combo you need, you first have to understand a few basic attributes such as needle gauge and needle length.
What is needle guage?
The gauge of the needle refers to the width or barrel size of the needle. It is important to always remember that the bigger the number the smaller the needle size, it’s the opposite of what you might initially think. For instance, the smaller the number is, the larger the needle size is. So a 16 gauge needle is larger than 23 gauge.
What gauge needles should I use?
If you are injecting intramuscularly (IM) either water or oil based liquids then the standard needle size is a 22 or 23 gauge, for glutes and quads whereas you may want to use a 25 gauge needle for delts which is a smaller muscle. Generally just use common sense because oil is thicker therefore you want a slightly bigger needle hole (smaller needle gauge) so you aren’t there all day trying to inject.
Common Needle Gauges:
| Location | Gauge |
| Glutes | 22 or 23 |
| Quads | 22 or 23 |
| Delts | 25 |
Needle length:
The needle length is usually 1.5 inch but you can use 1 inch for smaller site injections like deltoid injections. I would recommend you use 1.5 inch needle all the time to ensure you reach the deep muscle tissue.
Common Needle Lengths:
| Location | Size |
| Glutes | 1.5 inch |
| Quads | 1.5 inch |
| Delts | 1.0 inch |
Syringe size:
The standard syringe is the 3 cc (3ml – same size) will be what 95% of users will use when injecting. The 3cc syringe is so popular because if you are injecting 1cc, 2cc or 3cc the 3cc has you covered.
Brand of needle:
Terumo, B-D, and Monoject are the most common brands. Look for the ones with the “ultra thin wall design” because that means you can inject more fluid without buying a larger gauge needle. The ones that have this design is Terumo and B-D, with the sharpest being Terumo.
Pre-loading syringes:
If you have to just make sure they are stored safely because if the plungers are accidentally pushed then you lost some of your steroid plus you’ve wasted big money as well. If possible don’t preload your syringes and just leave your gear in the vial or amp until you’re ready.
Close your eyes and picture this….
You place your palms together in front of you, pressing them forcefully into each other. The contraction spreads up your forearms, through your biceps, triceps and shoulders, and explodes across your pectorals, rippling from outer to inner edge. Your chest rises, clenching into a searing knot of muscle, popping your shirt buttons off, one by one. How would it feel to have pecs that big, brawny and powerful? Three words: pretty damn good.
As you probably realise, that kind of size isn’t built without a lot of effort. And even clockwork consistency in the gym won’t totally do the trick, as you can’t keep throwing the same battery of exercises, sets and reps at your body workout after workout and expect to achieve the superhuman results you seek.
To succeed, you need an array of solid training options at your disposal. So, to help, we’ve collected five hardcore techniques you can use to shake up your workouts from experts whose business it is to help people get huge and strong. Use these at your own risk — sewing kit not included.
TIP 1: INSTABILITY TACTICS
“One trick that works well to build the chest is called Stabilisation Equivalent Training,” says Rodney Corn, director of education for the American National Academy of Sports Medicine. “For example, you follow a stable chest exercise like the dumbbell flye on a flat bench with an unstable equivalent move — a dumbbell flye on an exercise ball with one leg bracing you.”
Most guys steer clear of exercise-ball moves because they have to drop to a much lighter weight than they’re used to handling. But by doing so, you grow much stronger in the long run performing both stable and unstable moves. “Stability training places a greater demand on your body to internally stabilise itself,” Corn explains. “By training the brain how to work the pecs while stabilising the body, you increase the potential of your pecs to produce more force.” By doing the ball exercise immediately after the traditional version (with little to no rest between sets), the lighter weight now becomes more of a challenge for the chest because those muscle fibres are prefatigued.
DO THIS: Do a set of flyes on a flat bench with dumbbells that allow you to get no more than 8–10 reps. After little to no rest, grab a pair of lighter weights and do 10–15 flyes on an exercise ball. Rest two minutes and repeat the superset twice more.
TIP 2: PARTIAL REPS
“Doing partial reps at the end of a set will take your chest to a place it’s likely never been before — total fatigue,” says Guillermo Escalante, president of Sports Pros, a sports medicine, fitness and rehabilitation centre in California.
A partial rep is a rep that stops short of the typical range of motion for that exercise. If you gauge your fatigue by the inability to complete a full repetition, you aren’t taking the muscle to its true limit. If you continue with partial reps until you can no longer budge the weight, you know without doubt that you taxed the muscle to its upper limits.
“For chest training, partial reps are perfect on press exercises like the bench press or machine press,” Escalante notes. “The reason is that the triceps play a monumental role in the top half of the exercise. Often you surrender on the bench press when your smaller triceps muscles fatigue, not the chest.” By doing reps in the lower three-quarters of your full bench press range of motion, you minimise the role of the triceps and maximise the use of the pectoral muscles — ultimately leading to bigger pecs. Be careful when using this technique; it’s very taxing. Use it on only the last set of an exercise.
DO THIS: With a spotter close by, do three sets of incline barbell presses. When you can no longer do complete reps on the third set, continue repping in the lower one-half to three-quarters of the range of motion until you can no longer push the weight to the halfway point.
TIP 3: ECCENTRIC TRAINING
To get a bigger chest, you’ll need to develop stronger pecs. David Sandler, professor of exercise science at Florida International University, says one way to increase your strength on an exercise immediately is to overload the eccentric portion of the lift, in which you lower the weight. “The heavier the weight that you’re lowering, the stronger you’ll be on the lifting phase of the exercise,” he adds. This is due to the potential energy that builds in a muscle as you stretch it. When you release the stretch as you begin to lift the weight, that energy is transferred to the contracting muscle fibres.
DO THIS: Do three sets of decline bench presses with a weight that limits you to 6–8 reps. On each rep of the third set, have a spotter push on the bar as you resist it down to your chest. Then your spotter lets go and you push the weight up with your new-found strength.
TIP 4: MAX OUT FIRST
Another trick for gaining immediate strength and long-term muscle mass is to first max out on an exercise, then go for reps, states Tim Scheett, an exercise science professor at the University of Southern Mississippi. With this max-out technique, you’ll use a weight with which you can get only about 2–3 reps and do one rep with it, then follow with a lighter set for more reps.
“Doing one rep on the bench press with an extremely heavy weight primes your nervous system to recruit the maximal amount of muscle fibres in your chest,” Scheett explains. “When you do a following set with lighter weight, the nervous system still recruits the same amount of muscle fibres as for the heavy weight — in essence making the weight much easier so you can get several more reps.” (The reason you don’t want to use a true max weight is so you don’t overfatigue yourself on the first set.)
DO THIS: Choose a weight with which you can bench press for only about two reps and do one set of one rep. Rest about three minutes and do a set with a weight that allows you to normally get 6–8 reps. You should be able to get 2–3 extra reps out of this second set. Repeat the process two more times.
TIP 5: EXPLOSIVE REPS
“I like to combine standard exercises like the bench press with power moves that are explosive and ballistic,” remarks Neil Purves, manager of Personal Training for Executive Fitness Leaders (Ottawa). Explosive moves, performed very fast with light weight, activate more fast-twitch muscle fibres, which have the highest potential for growth. “They also allow you to push the weight without having to slow it down, helping you to gain more power and strength,” he adds.
For example, when you do a bench press, you push the weight off your chest as fast as possible, but you have to slow it down at the top due to the length limit of your arms. This steals your power and strength because you spend part of the lift actually pulling, not pushing. With a ballistic bench press, you explode the weight off your chest and let it go: it’s all push and no pull.
DO THIS: Set up a Smith machine with a weight that lets you get only about 6–8 reps. Do one set of normal bench presses with that weight. Immediately strip off about 50%–70% and do 3–5 ballistic bench press reps.
START: For the plyometric portion, push the bar off your chest as fast as possible, letting it go at the top.
FINISH: As you catch it on its descent, immediately move into the next rep by bringing the bar to your chest and exploding back up. (Resist the motion of the bar on the descent only enough to stop it from crashing into your chest.) Rest two minutes; repeat the superset twice more.
Now get off the couch and make those muscle-man tits grow grow grow!!!
We’re not gonna let the cat out of the bag just yet, but we do have an intere$ting question that we’d like to ask you…
[poll id="28"]Butt muscles are very large and require a lot of rest to recuperate.
The glutes also adapt quickly…
So your best best would be to incorporate any two butt exercises in addition to squats, and to perform this routine once a week for 2-3 weeks before change to a newer workout with a different combination of muscle ass exercises.
Now go out there and make it happen, gym jocks!
Ok, first let’s stop calling them lumps or bumps and refer to them more properly as skeletal muscles, or just muscles for short.
Muscle is composed of bundles of muscle fibers or myofibers. Each fiber is composed of myofibrils, which, in turn, are composed of myofilaments.
The myofilaments are made up of two proteins called myosin and actin. The myosin and actin act within the smallest functional unit of muscle, the sarcomere, to produce a contraction. It is the myosin protein, however, which holds the key to the differences in muscle fiber types. (Complicated lumps these muscles, aren’t they! Still with us? Hope we didn’t lose you… Read on….)
In general, there are three different fiber types in skeletal muscle. These three include: Type I, also known as slow-twitch or red fibers; Type IIA, and Type IIB, also known collectively as fast-twitch or white fibers.
Type I are the slowest, smallest, and have the highest level of endurance of all the fibers. Next come the Type IIA and finally the Type IIB, which are the fastest, largest, and least endurance oriented in the group.
As you contract a muscle, you’ll recruit those muscle fibers in a specific order. The smallest fibers, Type I, are recruited first. As the speed or force of contraction is increased, you will sequentially recruit the Type IIA and IIB muscle fibers. However, to recruit the Type IIB fibers it may take over 90% of a maximal contraction!
All people are born with these muscle fiber types. Most muscles contain almost an even split of slow (Type I) and fast (Type II) fibers. There are a few exceptions, however, as the soleus muscle of the calf is predominantly slow twitch, while the gastrocnemius muscle and the hamstrings are predominantly fast twitch. Also, individuals that are involved in sports with vastly different requirements, like sprinters vs. marathon runners, may have a higher/lower percentage of one fiber type.
So what does this mean to all of us bodybuilders? Well, in order to obtain maximal muscle size we must regularly train all of our muscle fibers. A combination of bodybuilding (higher and lower rep), powerlifting, and even a little Olympic-style lifting may be best. Bodybuilding seems to stress the Type I and IIA fibers, while the IIB fibers may be best stimulated through powerlifting and Olympic lifting.
We here at GymJox believe that the key to long-term bodybuilding progress is: VARIATION!!!
Using the general training protocol of 3 sets of 10 reps will work to a point, but soon your body and mind will adapt and a change will be necessary to keep progress constant. By selectively alternating your training volume (total sets/reps), training intensity (weight lifted), training techniques (forced reps, pre-exhaust, supersets, drop sets, etc.), training tempo (rep speed), rest between sets, body part arrangement, etc., you’re more likely to avoid injuries and over training and therefore maximize your gains.
Just remember that your muscles are stubborn. The body enjoys homeostasis and change is not something that comes easily. The body will fight you every step of the way. Don’t do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. Don’t get stuck in just one type of training program! Be creative! Be dynamic! Your muscles will reward you with continuous gains in size, strength, and endurance.
Now, get to work on those “lumps.”