How to Increase Muscle Mass

     Hey guys!

     This post is about increasing muscle mass. I'm not sure how many of you know this, but the amount of repetitions you perform during a particular exercise dictates whether you develop strength, mass, or endurance. Generally, sets ranging from 8 - 12 reps develop muscle mass. I find that sets of 10 work best, but that is my preference.

     Now this may be a surprise to some of you, but lighter weights are better for building muscle mass. A common mistake people make when trying to get bigger is using heavy weight that they cannot control.

     In order to promote muscle growth you must increase the time your muscles are under tension. This is best accomplished with high volume (lots of sets and lots of reps), good form, and focusing on the negative (eccentric) movement of each repetition.

     The negative movement is often the second portion of a lift where the trainee lowers the weight back to the starting position. For example, the negative movement of a bicep curl is the part of the exercise where you lower the weight back down.

     These negatives create the most micro-tears in the muscle, therefore placing it under much more stress than the positive (concentric) movement. As such, those focusing on increasing muscle mass would be wise to control their negative movements.

     Gaining mass is all about control; focusing on squeezing, feeling the muscle ache, and controlling the movement.

     And unless you are a beginner, you should be performing at least 5 sets of 8-10 reps. I often perform 10 sets of 10 reps on each exercise to increase muscle mass - though you do not need as many sets if your intensity (weight) is high. Varying intensity (weight) and volume (reps and sets) can provide enough variation for you in order to prevent plateaus - a piece of advice to keep in mind.

     Finally, the best exercises to perform to get big are isolation exercises. Isolation exercises allow you to focus on not only individual muscles, but different portions of different muscles. For example, the flat bench press develops the lower chest, incline dumbbell presses work the upper chest, flys focus on the outer chest, and pullovers strengthens the inner chest.

     So those who would like to have an aesthetically-pleasing body should focus on a variety of exercises. This will give your body a fully-developed look.

     I hope this helps some of you in reaching your New Year's resolutions. If anyone has any questions, comments, concerns, or whatever, please leave a comment down below. As always, more exercises, stretches, nutrition info, and general tips coming soon.

     Get Stronger!
          -Nas