If you seem to spend all your time in the gym without making any progress, or if your initial muscle gains have reached a plateau, take a moment to think about your recovery plans (or lack thereof).
I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't heard too much about the recovery phase in bodybuilding. After all, if you were to visit your local bookstore and browse through the bodybuilding magazines, you would most likely find little mention about recovery. Sure, there'd be plenty of ads to try and sell you the latest supplements and maybe even some useful advice on improving your training techniques. If you're having trouble making progress despite spending all of your time in the gym, however, you should take a moment to learn the importance of a recovery plan.
Are you wondering what the recovery phase is? Well, let's review how muscle is built in the first place. In order for your body to build muscle, you first have to give your body a reason to build it. You see, on a basic biological level muscle is an expensive asset to have, and the body would rather not have to maintain it. The only way to stimulate new muscle growth is to give the body a reason to build it, and the way to do this is to take advantage of our basic biological need to survive.
Muscle fibers are damaged when we lift a heavier weight than we're used to. As long as there are enough nutrients, the muscle will be rebuilt bigger and stronger so the body can prevent a similar stress in the future. So how does this tie in to the importance of resting during the recovery phase? Simply put, the muscles must be given time to rebuild before they are put under heavy stress again. This means that we must limit the frequency of our workouts in order to maximize their effect, and this is why many bodybuilding experts recommend only a few hours of training per week. A simple way to remember this is Less is More.
Aside from avoiding over training by carefully planning your workouts, you definitely need to make sure you get plenty of sleep. Sleep is when your body repairs itself, and, as you learned above, the body has to repair and enlarge your muscle after a heavy workout. If you choose to ignore this advice, you may find yourself limiting your muscle growth potential.
Why do bodybuilding supplement companies get away with it
I've made the point repeatedly that you can build a large amount of muscle naturally and safely without supplements (and definitely without steroids). In this article, I wanted to tackle an interesting question that came up recently in one of my conversations. Namely, why do supplement companies do so well?
Why you should take antioxidants to build muscle
I've had a lot of negative things to say about bodybuilding supplements in my previous articles. After all, the bodybuilding supplement industry is a huge industry that relies on human nature. What do I mean by this? Well, I believe that many people are looking for an easy way out to their problems, and this is especially true when it comes to improving their physical health or fitness.
If you want to have great looking abs
It's obvious that many people are eager to get in shape and improve their physical appearance. If this weren't true, you wouldn't see so many advertisements on TV for the latest weight loss pill or exercise machine. These companies do well because people are always looking out for the easiest way to get in shape.
