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In recent years, the focus on fitness has shifted from simply being defined, to being fit and strong. Gaining muscle in the gym has not only become a buzzword among fitness and bodybuilding enthusiasts, but it's becoming a lifestyle. Unfortunately for some, muscle growth can be difficult to achieve. While each individual will respond slightly differently to a strength training program, both mechanical damage and metabolic fatigue are two essential components that should be addressed when looking to encourage muscle growth. If adding muscle mass is important to your overall fitness goals, keep reading to learn how you can create the optimal environment to stimulate muscle growth.
1. Time Under Tension (TUT ) is the length of time a muscle contracts against external resistance. Contraction of a muscle for longer periods produces greater levels of mechanical damage and metabolic fatigue. When performing traditional sets of 10 repetitions, slowing down the movement can increase the amount of TUT to an optimal lengthening phase and shortening action, creating the necessary mechanical damage and metabolic fatigue to increase muscle growth.
2. Many gym goers focus on multi-muscle exercises, such as squats, deadlifts, and even shoulder and leg presses, which work multiple muscles. Focusing on single-muscle-group and isolation exercises is a more localized approach to working a specific muscle unit, creating the optimal environment for muscle growth. If you still want to work on those multi-muscle exercises, you can incorporate compound sets, such as a squat followed by an isolation exercise, such as a leg extension.
3. Fatigue can be a good thing, especially when done safely. Often, people have in mind to do a certain number of repetitions of a particular exercise and then stop. The smaller type I fibers are used when performing these repetitions until the larger type II fibers come into play when fatigue occurs. You can activate type II fibers by using heavy weights or doing a higher number of repetitions to stimulate muscle growth.
4. Intensity is the amount of weight used, while volume is the amount of physical work you do. There are different ways to structure the intensity and volume of an exercise, but the important thing is to do it regularly. Alternating between heavy weights for a few reps and then lighter weights for more reps will affect the stimulus between mechanical damage and metabolic fatigue, encouraging muscle growth.
5. It's easy to get into a constant routine , but over time what's comfortable for you becomes boring for your muscle groups. Doing the same exercises over and over again only engages a limited amount of muscle. Changing up your exercises can activate new muscle groups and fibers, which is important for building muscle mass.
STIMULATE MUSCLE GROWTH WITH NATURAL PLUS TRAINING SUPPLEMENTS
Pairing these training tips with the right training supplements to aid your training is a great way to encourage muscle growth and achieve your overall fitness goals. Natural Plus has everything you need, from pre-workout supplements to muscle recovery supplements to encourage muscle growth.
