Every man wants that body. The body that will get them noticed on the beach. But many do not attain it. Partly down to a lack of discipline, but also because they don’t know how to achieve it. Its not as simple as eating lean and lifting weights. Here’s some tips.
Don’t lift daily. Your muscles don’t grow when you are lifting. They grow when you are repairing. You repair when you rest. So rest is just as important as the work out. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday is a good balance.
Target muscles. Muscles actually need two – three days to fully recover. So target muscles. I refer to work each muscle just once a week. Really blitz that muscle. I target two muscle groups each day. Monday is back and bicep.
Low reps, high sets, high weights. For those that don’t know. A rep is 1 lift. A set is a groups of reps lifted until rest. So 3 sets of 7 reps means lift the weight 7 times, rest. do that three times. If you do 12-15 reps, you are lifting to light in most cases. 6-8 reps with a very high weight and loads of sets will maximise muscle growth.
Lay of the machines. Machines are ok. I use them very occasionally. Free weights are the way to rip those muscles. Remember, muscle growth comes from muscle repair. You tear tiny muscle fibres and they repair. So you are aiming to tear small parts of your muscle. Free weights work all of your muscle. You need to do all the work your self.
Easy on the carbs. Don’t avoid carbs. You need them. Carbs give you energy and you need that you beast your work outs. However, you do not need carbs with every meal and certainly not late a night. A very large steak with kale and broccoli is the best muscle growing food.
Protein. Along with every athlete, you must view protein as your best friend. Its is protein that will really improve your recovery and held you maximise your workout. 2g of protein for every 1kg of your weight is a good rule. If you weight 100kg, you want 200g of protein daily. Its not easy and takes planning.
Don’t forget cardio. Cardio is where so many go wrong. You may train daily and have big bulging muscles, but if you don’t do cardio, you body fat percentage is to high. plus, who wants to look good but be unfit? listing weights doesn’t make you fit, it makes you strong. You want to be both. A little cardio at the weekends will go a long way and will reduce that fat to reveal those muscles in all their glory.
Should you eat big? That depends on many things. A fat person looking to build big, lean muscles shouldn’t reduce their calories by much. Eat the right calories but maybe not reduce them. 3000 calories a day would be a good guide. An 11 stone man looking to become 16 stone of muscle should slowly increase calories to around 4000. These are estimates, everyone is different. This is based on training for 1 hour a day. People seem to think that they should be getting 10000 calories a day. Don’t be silly. Unless you are a professional athlete that trains 6 hours a day.
Supplements. This is down to personal preference. What I will say is this, most don’t work. They promise you great results in order o get your money. Then you see results and become convinced that it works and you NEED it. You are lifting and eating right, you were going to get those results anyway. The only thing I recommend to my clients is a good quality protein shake and creatine.
Carlos Gomez
English Boxing Union 