Tips
- Daniel Maroun
- Jun 26, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 25
Form Over Weight
Sacrificing form for weight can lead to injuries and is detrimental to hypertrophy. To build muscle, we must take the muscle through a full range of motion (ROM) and try to isolate it as much as possible. Ego lifting will result in other muscles taking over and shifting tension away from our primary muscle.
Perform Warm-up Sets
You should never immediately jump into your working sets without first performing warm-up sets. Performing warm-up sets will prepare your central nervous system (CNS) for action and ensure proper form is being utilized. Before your working set, perform 2-3 reps at 80% of your working set weight.
Track Your Calories
Tracking your calories is a great way to ensure you get sufficient carbohydrates, protein, and fat in your diet. You will be able to lose, gain, or maintain weight more efficiently than if you were not tracking your calories. I recommend using MyFitnessPal to track your calories.
You Cannot Outwork a Poor Diet
Whether you are trying to lose or gain weight, you cannot outwork a poor diet. A poor diet will have direct effects on your training, mental health, and overall well-being.
If you are trying to lose weight and you are not eating nutrient-dense foods and burning more calories than you consume, you will not lose weight no matter how hard you train or how much cardio you do.
The same goes for building muscle.
If you are not eating a sufficient amount of protein alongside an adequate amount of calories, you will not build muscle no matter how hard you train. Stop trying to beat the laws of thermodynamics and expect results from the work you do not put in.
Log Your Workouts
Logging your workouts is a great tool to ensure that you are progressively overloading. It can show whether you are progressing in weight or reps or decreasing. You can use Google Sheets or a notebook to log your workouts.
Do Not Perform Static Stretching Before Working Out
Performing static stretching before your workout can fatigue your muscles and weaken your performance. Instead, you should warm up by doing dynamic stretching.
Take a Week Off Training Every Eight to Twelve Weeks
Your muscles are like a scab, the more you pick at them, the longer they take to recover. Not only will a week off allow for your muscles to recover, but it will allow your CNS, tendons, bones, and ligaments to recover as well.
Use Straps For Pulling Movements
If your goal is to isolate the back musculature as much as possible, I highly advise you to use straps since your forearms are often a limiting factor. Even if your grip strength is phenomenal, you are still training the forearms when your focus should be to isolate your back as much as possible.
Link to what I use: https://www.versagripps.com/products/pro?variant=37877425438869
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