Buy online www.maximuscle.com or call 01923 650 600
Do you always train your muscles to the point of complete failure?
Training to failure puts a huge amount of stress on your nervous system - exposing you to the real risk of overtraining.
The result?
Your gains slow down, you get weaker, and your motivation to go to the gym dries up completely. Sure, training to failure does have a place in any good training programme. However, you'll get far better results if you vary your training intensity. It's simple - during some workouts, push each set to the point of muscular failure, whereas on other training days, stop a rep or two short of total failure. The trick is knowing when you should train to failure and when to stop a few reps short. An easy way to cycle your intensity level is to train in three-week phases.
Week 1
For example, during week 1, start off using 3-4 sets per exercise, 6-8 reps per set, with each set stopping a rep or two short of muscular failure.
Week 2
In week 2, reduce the total number of sets per exercise to 2-3, while increasing the number of reps to 8-12. Here, the final set of each exercise would be taken to the point of failure.
Week 3
In the third week, you would really attack the weights, and go "all-out" during each set. This would complete your 3-week cycle.
Week 4
On week 4, add in and delete some exercises, and repeat the intensity cycle again.
It's a great way to make continued gains in strength and size and, most importantly, avoid overtraining. Plus, because you're changing your routine every three weeks, there's less chance you'll get bored. If you look at many of the worlds top powerlifters training routines, you'll notice they all do similar varied intensity phases, allowing them to make consistent gains, without overtraining, burning out and getting injured.
Another way to ensure that you make rapid progress in the gym is to improve the quality of your diet. In fact, some people believe that a diet lacking in protein, carbohydrate or fat (yes, even fat is essential) could be just as important as training in determining how well you progress in the gym.
It's very important to maintain your anabolic (muscle-building) drive by constantly feeding your body with protein and carbohydrate after exercise. If your body lacks these vital nutrients, your progress will slow down. In some cases, it will stop altogether.
Look for a formula with high-quality whey proteins and maltodextrins, such as Progain. Most experts consider it to be the most advanced weight-gainer on the market for anyone wanting to pack on muscle size and weight quickly and easily. For those people who want micellar casein, you can also mix it with skimmed milk, increasing the protein content further (milk protein is comprised of 80% micellar casein).
When Progain is used in conjunction with an effective training programme and a high protein diet, you should be gaining 1-2 pounds of weight per week. Because of the high-quality nutrients in Progain (such as MCTs, BIOMAXTM whey protein, and complex carbohydrate), more of the weight gain will be muscle, and not fat.
