The Science Of Muscle

You ever wondered what it takes to achieve a nice physique with muscularity. Well it requires a number of things. First off you need to train with resistance or weights. When you do this you are causing microscopic tears into your muscle fibers which you hope grow back stronger and bigger. I remember the first time I ever trained with weights. It was at my friends house in Laupahoehoe, he had one of those old fahioned plastic bench presses. I couldn't even lift a hundred pounds. This was when I was thirteen. I was so embarassed,but that didn't weaken my resolve to someday do that weight. Now nine years later I can do triple that amount.

What people often misconceptualize is that your muscles grow bigger in the gym. What happens though is that when you train you force oxygen rich blood into the bodypart you are training called the "pump". Bodybuilders everywhere strive day in and day out to achieve this state. But that doesn't mean your muscles will stay at that size. The pump always dies down. The way to restore that muscle and build it back up is with proper nutrition and rest.

Yes rest is often the part of muscle building that gets overshadowed. I can get into a ten page document on why rest is important. Rest is the actual part when the muscles begin to rebuild. During sleep your body uses the nutrition you stored and starts the process of turning it into muscle fibers and repairing what you have torn down.

Thats why I recommend for those training to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night.

By applying these principles I've been able to work my way up to a 455 squat, 315 Chest press, and a 327 pound deadlift for two reps.

For those of you who want to get in great shape and don't want to spend endless hours on the treadmill. The best way to activate your metabolism and lose weight is to weight train. Granted there are many training methods. But don't think that by lifting weights you'll look like a steroid freak. I've heard girls and even guys say I don't want to look like that and look monstrous . Believe me it takes years and lifetimes and anabolic steroids to look like that. When you train you'll tone and shape your body in ways the cardio machine could only dream of.

The more weight you use, the more tension you place on your muscles. That activates a greater number of fibers, leading to greater growth. It also builds strength faster, which means you'll be able to lift even heavier weights, increasing the tension on your muscles even more. But there's one problem: Lifting near maximal weights means you won't be able to do as many reps per set, and you'll need more time to recover in between, limiting the total volume you can perform in a workout--and the size of your muscles.

So I encourage you to give it a shot. I found out many years ago that weightlifting gives me a sense of accomplishment and peace that is really unmatched. In my opinon it is the perfect stress reliever. The health benefits are endless.