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We seem to be a community of instant gratification. We start to exercise and want to build muscle mass and expect immediate results. Perhaps there is a change in your diet, and expect immediate weight loss. When it doesn’t happen right away, we quit and move on to something else or go back to our couch potato ways. It’s the easier option. Remember however, “Good things are worth waiting for,” and “Patience is a virtue.” It sounds cliche’, but true.
After people work to build muscle mass or any kind of exercise, (1-2 weeks), they come up to me and say, “I’ve gained weight!” I’ll say that is natural and it’s a way your body responds to exercise. This happens A LOT! Here is the reason why. If you haven’t done any exercise for a while, or if you’re trying to build muscle mass, your muscles and your body first think that this is trauma to your body. As a result, the muscles used will hold onto excess water, which will cause a weight gain of 2-5 pounds. When the muscle realize that this is not trauma, they will release the excess water.
The time frame for reduction for everyone is different, depending on how much you exercise, how often, your intensity and the type of workout you choose. When you build muscle mass, it doesn’t happen over night, it is a steady routine of training and healthy diet. So don’t freak out if you initially gain weight after a few weeks of exercising. It is a normal way your body adjusts to exercise and building muscle mass.
The shirts are off, the tank tops are out and how is that upper body…specifically your shoulders? The best way to shapely shoulders is to build muscle mass. For men, having broad shoulders “makes the man”. For women the wider your shoulders, the smaller your hips appear, giving you that coveted hour glass figure.
There are three shoulder specific exercises that helps build muscle mass. They are:
- Lateral Side Raises- Which can be done with the cable machine, exercise apparatus, dumbbells and/or kettlebells. Dumbbells & kettlebells recruits more core work for stabilization of the lower back as you lift the arms out to the side.
- Upright Rows- Using a barbell with decent amount of weight and pulling the bar up to your chin. The grip is what is important. If you have a wide grip, you’d be working more of your trapezius. With a closer grip about 6 inches apart, it isolates the deltoid more specifically.
- Military Shoulder Press- Which can be done on an exercise apparatus, with a barbell, dumbbells and kettlebells. If you do a standing Military Shoulder Press, it requires the abdominals to engage for lower back stability. Doing the exercise 1 arm at a time with a kettlebell can build muscle mass.
Build muscle mass effectively with 3 sets doing 8-12 reps for each exercise. As strength progresses, increase your weights to get the muscle mass you desire for your shoulders!
There are 4 principles of resistance training in which you can build muscle mass. I’ll briefly attempt to explain them here, today. The 4 principles are; progression, regularity, overload and specificity.
Progression, as you can imagine is, continually placing more demands on the muscles and progressively increase the demands overtime, to result in long term gains. If you don’t constantly challenge the body (muscles) they will no longer have a reason to adapt or change. You’ll see faster progression in beginners, than you will with novice resistance trainers. A natural and helpful way to increase the progression, is to increase weight by 5-10% and decrease repetitions. You can also increase weights and increase repetitions, or even add another exercise for that body part.
The second principle is Regularity. Sure it makes sense if you don’t consistently train your muscles you won’t see and muscle gains. The old adage, “Use it or Lose it” is consistent with this principle. Training adaptations cannot be stored. You’ll only see long term muscle strength and performance if training is done on a regular basis.
Principle Overload is the 3rd principle in resistance training. Place greater demands on the muscle, beyond the level which it is normally stressed! Change the exercise intensity, duration and frequency for changes to take place. You can see a further explanation of this on my web page, www.fitnessfromthepro.com!
Finally, the 4th principle is SAID-Specific Adaptations to Impose Demands. That is every muscle should be trained to make specific gains in strength and endurance.
When you are starting a program to build muscle mass, please keep these 4 principles in mind so you can see the gains you seek with the proper demands placed on the muscles!