TRAINING TO FAILURE

Training to failure in bodybuilding doesn't mean training to a point of complete exhaustion. It simply means continuing a set until you can't do any more repetitions with that weight without stopping to rest. Failure results from the gradual fatiguing of the muscle fibers involved and the inability of the muscle to recruit any more fibers to take their place. The process of contracting a muscle involves the process of oxidation-in effect,a form of burning which is why we say you burn calories as it creates heat with the release of energy when you exercise. Oxidation requires both a source of fuel in the muscle and oxygen. Whenever fuel or oxygen is in too short supply the muscle fibers can't contract until they are replenished as you rest and recuperate.

Another limiting factor is the buildup of waste products that result from the release of energy due to muscular contraction. The burning sensation you feel in a muscle as you continue to pump out reps is due to the accumulation of lactic acid in the area. When you stop to rest , the body removes the lactic acid from the area and you are able to do more reps.

Aerobic exercise which means with oxygen involves high repetition effort at sufficiently low intensity so that the body can pump enough blood and oxygen to the area to keep the muscle supplied running a marathon. Weight training is anaerobic without oxygen and the muscular contraction involved is just too intense for the oxygen supply to keep pace. So your muscles run out of oxygen , you fatigue and have to rest while the body pumps more blood and oxygen to the fatigued area.

Why is training to failure important ? When you are doing reps with a weight less than your one-rep maximum all the muscle fibers available don't come into play at once. You use some they become fatigued and the body recruits others to take their place. Continuing a set to a failure is a way of demanding that all the fibers available to be recruited at the same time. At what point failure occurs depends on the weight you use in a particular exercise. If you are doing an upper body exercise and want the muscles to fail at say 8-12 reps , you pick a weight that causes this to happen. If you find you are able to do 15 reps in the weight so you put more weight in the next set to bring it to failure point into the desired range. If you can do only 5 reps you know you need the lighten the weight so you can do few more reps before your muscles reach the failure point. But you never just stop the set because you have counted off a certain number of reps. 

One of the ways you gauge your bodybuilding progress is the change in where the failure occurs during your training. As your individual  muscle fibers get stronger you are able to recruit more of them and your body increases its ability to deliver oxygen to the muscles during exercise. As a result you will find you can do many more reps with the same weight before hitting the failure point. This is the sign you need to use more weight.

Of course you aren't a machine , so the way you actually do your sets is not that mechanical. Some sets need to be more demanding and more intense than others. Here is a perfect way to perform your workout to bring strength,shape and power to your body.

First set : a warm up set with a lighter weight 15 reps or slightly more.

Second set : Add weight so that the muscles fail at about 10 to 12 reps.

Third set : Add more weight to bring the failure point down to 8 to 10 reps.

Fourth set : For maximum strength add enough weight so your muscles fail after only 6 reps , this is a power set.

REPS

A rep is a one complete cycle of an exercise movement - a contraction of a muscle followed by an extension - that is , lifting a weight and lowering it again. A set is a group of these repetitions. How many reps you include in a set clearly depends on what kind of exercise you are doing. Both research and experience have shown that bodybuilders get the most results using a weight in each exercise that represents about 70 to 75 % of their one rep maximum - that is, the amount of weight they could use doing one full out repetition of that one particular exercise. If  you use this amount of weight you will generally find you can do sets of :

8-12 repetitions for upper body muscles 
12-16 repetitions for the major leg muscles

These figures are just approximations but they will work well as general guidelines and specially for beginners.

Why can you do more repetitions for the legs than the upper body ?

Simply because the fall off in strength over the course of a set is slower in the legs than in the upper body  -  upper body muscles just don't have the same kind of endurance as leg muscles. But in both cases the amount of weight used represents the same 70-75% of the one rep maximum ability of the muscles involved.

Occasionally, there are reasons for using less weight than this and doing therefore more reps and some very useful types of sets which involve heavier weight and fewer reps such as low rep sets for maximum strength and power. But these guidelines represent the majority of training bodybuilders do - and especially true for beginners. Some bodybuilders also do heavy weight for full power and strength and few reps such as 4-6 reps but in these workouts the risk of injury increases.

PROGRESSIVE TRAINING

Your muscles will grow only when they are subjected to an overload. They will not respond to anything less. Muscles will grow bigger and stronger only if you force them to. Making your muscles contract against a level of resistance they are not used to will eventually cause them to adapt and grow stronger. But once they have adapted sufficiently , this progress will stop. When this happens , the only way to make your muscles continue to grow is by further increasing the amount of overload to which you subject them. And the primary way of doing this is to add weight to your exercises.

Of course , this increase in resistance has to be done gradually. Using too much weight too soon usually makes it impossible for you to perform your sets using the proper technique and can also increase the risk of injury.

STRENGTH TRAINING

Strength training is a type of physical exercise specializing in the use of resistance to induce muscular contraction which builds the strength,anaerobic endurance and the size of skeleton muscles.

Before performing any strength training workout you should know how to properly perform as if not performed in the proper way its meant to be , the workout will not benefit your body instead the chances of harming yourself and the harm can be permanent. So you really need to know understand the proper way of performing the workout to stay fit and get the desired built.

Many men also take up weight training to improve their physical attractiveness that is broad shoulders and narrow waist and this type of body can be achieved with strength training but only if you are training in a right and proper way. No knowledge of "how to perform it" can be very bad for your body posture. 

When it comes to building strength there are 2 rules : lift heavy and use multijoint lifts with great technique. There are hundreds of exercises that can help you get bigger and stronger but if you are limited of time or equipment , there are four monster lifts with the help of which you can make your whole body stronger.8

Your body is comprised of muscles that help you push and pull , you have to work all to maximize strength. For the upper body you can perform the king of lifts : squat and you can couple it with deadlift and the upper body training is complete. For the lower body you can perform bench press and couple it with barbell row.

Shoot for 5-8 reps and 3-5 sets per exercise and you should be performing enough weight that can take you too near failure in each set. When performing strength training a bit more rest is recommended. Aim for 2-3 minutes rest between sets and increase the weight if you are having an easy time getting to 8 reps on each set. All big strength lifts should come early in your workout routine if you are using them with conjuction with other lifts for a specific muscle group. If you build your program around the following major lifts you can minimize the use of finishing exercises for your arms,calves and abdominals.

So if strength is your aim in the gym , try to perform all four major lifts atleast twice a week so you have 3-4 days in between for maximal strength. Try the following full body workout twice a week for a month or as needed and see the strength in you.

Exercise              sets      reps
Squat                                        5          6
Deadlift                                     4          6
Barbell row                               5          6
Bench press                             5          6
Triceps pressdown                   3          8
Barbell curl                               3          8
Calf raise                                  3          8

SMITH MACHINE FULL BODY WORKOUT

Full body workout on the smith machine. You can be on one machine and perform full body workout.

Here are some workouts:- CHEST,LEGS,SHOULDERS,BICEPS,TRICEPS,BACK.

All can be performed on one smith machine.

GET SOME MILK ! SERIOUSLY !

Those who compete in contest may prefer  to avoid milk but for rest of us , its a must have on our grocery list.

A study published in a biological trace element research journal regarding the effects of calcium supplementation on testosterone levels indicated that milk may be of even more value to hard training men.

The researchers looked at the effects four weeks of calcium supplementation on free and total testosterone levels in both active and sedentary adult males. The group of 30 males was divided into three study groups. The first group was non exercising and recieved 35 milligrams of calcium per kilogram of bodyweight and the second group recieved the same 35 milligrams of calcium and underwent a training program for 90 minutes each day , five days a week , the third group of subjects underwent the same training program but they didnt recieve the calcium supplement.

The researchers discovered that the calcium supplemented groups had higher overall levels of testosterone , which can play a huge role in workout intensity and muscle gains. So drink up just make sure you pick the low fat or skim variety . Milk can be used as a post workout also.

Don't weight for cardio

A very important point to be considered is that your weight training performance is hindered if preceded by intense cardio vascular training. If , however , you do weights first and then cardio , neither your resistance training nor your cardio performance will suffer. So always use the rule - weights first cardio second.

Research confirms you can drop more bodyfat with high intensity internal training (HIIT) in about half the time as regular steady state cardio.

Do your cardio at any time of the day you can fit in but don't let it disturb your weight training ....