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Passive muscle building

Aka rest. It does not matter if you say it once too often (actually I said it last week). It is during the rest you build up the body and without rest, the greater risk of damage and degradation. You don’t want your body to eat itself right?! Always make sure your body gets the recovery that is required before the next workout. This is especially important if you do full body workouts, but even if you work different muscle groups every day rest is still important.


Abs are made in the kitchen

Whether your goal is to lose weight or add muscle mass your diet has a huge role in your final results. Think about what you put in you and what you need, you need to think about when and how much you consume in relation to what you want to achieve. Some people say calorie intake is the only thing that’s relevant, but there’s a huge difference in eating 500g of carbs each day, and 500g protein. Sure, they may give the same amount of energy, but you can’t build muscles with chocolate and candy. Muscle makes muscle.


Structuring your training

A training program is a great tool in your training and to help you achieve your results. Most people think going to the gym is boring just because they don’t know what to do when they get there. So they do a few leg extensions, leg press and other weird machine exercises (which I really don’t care for…). If you’ve got a structured plan it is much more fun to work out, and you suddenly have a purpose to go to the gym. You can try to write your own programs, but if you are a beginner you should probably just hire a professional. Otherwise you’re stuck with curls/bench/lat pull/stupid Smith machine work (sorry, I mean coat rack) and an insane amount of upper body exercises. I don’t know about you, but I know I look at peoples glutes/quads/hammies first, and sometimes their face.
Just get help.


Listen to your body

In the case of damage, it is always best to listen to your body. If your shoulder hurts, then perhaps you shouldn’t do any pressing exercises, like bench or military press. For someone who has been working out for a long time it is easier to feel the difference between pain and discomfort. Training is not supposed to be easy or comfortable, so discomfort is normal. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is also normal, and should not keep you from working out. Pain on the other hand, is something different and should never be ignored.


Find motivation

Motivation plays a huge role in whether you will succeed or not. Only you can set the limits, and with the right thinking you can go far. Leave the past behind and try again. Believe in yourself and do not give up. When I last tried to set a PR in log press I didn’t make it until the sixth try. I was way more tired by then, but not succeeding gave me that extra push I needed to get it up. It’s when you’re in the right state of mind that you go from average to Awesome.

By: Isa Olsson
Content originally written for Fitmarker.com -- © 2011 All Rights Reserved.