Accelerate Muscle Growth Using Progression & Overload
By Sean Nalewanyj
 |
Sean Nalewanyj is a natural bodybuilding expert and best-selling fitness author committed to providing effective, research-based advice for building muscle, burning fat and gaining strength. Sean is the creator of the "No Fail System" bodybuilding program and president of EliteImpact Labs.
Connect With Me: Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Google+
|
|
Have you been going to the gym for months on end without getting any substantial muscle gain? If not, you might want to follow this strategy to get the gains you want. Progressive overload is a basic principle that is a necessity if you are trying to accelerate muscle growth.
There is no more essential factor to accelerate muscle growth than to progressively increase how much weight you lift or how many reps you complete on a weekly basis. Let me say it again: the only proven method to accelerate muscle growth is to consistently increase the difficulty of your weight training exercise regimen.
You must do this because you only accelerate muscle growth as a result of the body adapting in response to increased stress and environmental changes. If there are no environmental changes, there is no reason for the body to adapt. It really is that simple. For instance, you spend three months performing 7 reps of squats with 200 pounds, you will not activate your body's adaptation mechanisms that accelerate muscle growth.
The only way you can accelerate muscle growth and build muscle is to increase your strength. You will only achieve noticeable increases in muscle mass after you dedicate yourself to improving your strength with every rep and every exercise that you perform. You can look at this as the universal principle of muscle growth and must be applied regardless of your goals or approach.
Many weight trainers who ignore this principle continually lift the same amount of weight to only end up disappointed that they are not amassing size and strength and that they cannot accelerate muscle growth. They are putting in the right effort without seeing any results.
Since they have not challenged themselves to improve their strength, they are not able to accelerate muscle growth. On the other hand, lifters who progressively work out with heavier weight and/or increased reps are able to continually accelerate muscle growth.
Your entire bodybuilding workout regimen should be centered on the principle of minor but incremental increases in the amount of weight lifted and the number of reps completed. This is the path to improving muscle size and strength.
If you don't stress your body, it will not respond by increasing muscle size. Therefore, there is no increase in muscle size except with progression. You can only accelerate muscle growth by progressively increasing the difficulty of your routine.
The easiest method of successfully maintaining this progressive approach to your workout is to keep a training journal. Note all the exercises performed, the amounts of weight lifted, and the number of reps completed. By keeping track of what you did during your last workout, you can focus on small increases in weight and reps in your subsequent sessions.
You should also use your training journal to document your goals. When you put your goals on paper, you are making yourself accountable for whether or not you accomplish them. These notes can also serve to motivate you since you will be able to easily track your improvements.
While a five pound increase in the amount you were able to squat doesn't seem like much, over the course of several months those 5 pound increases add up to 50 to 100 pounds of increased weight.
When you take a look at your journal, you will be able to note that you increased how much weight you used and how many reps you completed and see how these improvements helped you to accelerate muscle growth.
To get your complete, fully structured muscle building program that will help you build a ripped, muscular new body in as little as 12 weeks, click below to watch this free video presentation...
