Work out Less Often to Get Massive Muscles

A lot of people think that harder you work the better the results will be. Although this is often the case it is not always the truth. Referring to lifting weights you might think that you will be able to gain muscles faster by training longer or more often.

Isn’t that obvious? Well, not really.

No matter what you might think, it is a fact that this is not true when it comes to bodybuilding! This common rule does not longer apply.

Ok, I guess I know what you want to say now:
“You mean that it will help to get massive muscles by spending less time in the gym?”

Yes, exactly! Training less often can actually help you to get massive muscles, and it becomes obvious why this is the case when you think about the basics of the muscle-growth process.

All the processes in your body are designed to keep you well and healthy. Evolution made sure that the human body can adapt to something you put it through and finally come out stronger than before.

If the body is deprived of food or water starts to send out signals of discomfort. In the presence of UV rays it reacts by tanning and developing calluses to protect the skin, and so on.

When we work out, we break down our muscle tissues. So what is the body’s response to that? – If your answer is “you get massive muscles” then you’re absolutely right.

Your muscles will respond if your body feels like you have posed a threat to its muscles.
The reaction of the body is to increase the size of the muscles (hypertrophy) because it wants to protect you. Therefore the best way to get massive muscles is to keep the body in a state where is it permanently forced to adapt. To achieve this you can either increase the weight or the number of reps or each week.

Doesn’t sound too complicated, right?

It is actually not hard to understand but please keep one important thing in mind: your muscles need enough time to recover otherwise it won’t work. It’s not possible that the process of muscle growth takes place if you don’t give your muscles sufficient recovery time.

The best thing is to use the minimum volume necessary to get an adaptive reaction so that your muscles can grow and become massive. This should be your goal whenever you work out.

All you have to do is to trigger the muscles’ alarm system by pushing them past the level where they feel comfortable. If you put more stress on your muscles they will need more time to recover.

In the gym I regularly see people who train too often and do too many sets than necessary to get massive muscles. The strain of weight training at high intensity is underestimated by most people.

So don’t follow a training program that will only hinder your gains because you won’t reach goals.

To get massive muscles I recommend you to follow the three guidelines below:

1) Don’t train more often than 3 day each week.

2) The duration of your workout should be under 60 minutes.

3) To train the large muscle groups like your chest, your back and your thighs you should do 5 to 7 sets and for the small muscle groups (shoulders, triceps, biceps, abs, calves) only 2 to 4 sets.

You should reach muscular failure during the concentric phase of the exercise when you perform your sets. Increase either the weight or the number of repetitions each week to progress. It will hinder your gains to increase the duration of your workouts period or the frequency of your training if you train with full intensity.

I hope my article was helpful and if you would like to read more tips about bodybuilding, weight lifting and fitness related topics, then feel free to check out my fitness blog!