When I was a young man just starting out in bodybuilding, I wanted massive arms and a big chest, and of course, I wanted them yesterday-and I know I was not the only young man who felt that way.

Now this in and of itself is not so bad, but it is what I did (and I am sure thousands of other young men and women did) because I wanted to get big so fast that was bad.

I over trained, I did things I had no business doing, like endless sets of barbell curls, and to be brutally honest, I have the injuries to prove it.

So for my money, the absolute best way to go about building muscle is simple-do not get ahead of yourself.

What I mean by this is, do not do more than you are capable of-because when you load that bench or squat bar with tons more weight than you can do, nothing good is going to come out-of-it.

Stick to working on the basics, squats, dead lifts, overhead presses, power cleans, bent over rows-you know good old fashioned basic lifts.

And when I say stick to them, I mean stick to them.

Oh, you can read the popular muscle magazines (I sure still do) but do not worry about all of the fancy routines, just stick to working on the basics.

Everything time you can do your target reps in good form; add a small amount of weight, but not before.

SOME POINTS

Am I saying that you need to stick to the exact same exercises forever, no, you can substitute front squats for back squats or add in things like farmers walks to shake things up, but always substitute one basic exercise for another-do not swap out the hard stuff and replace it with easier stuff.

Also, if it is your goal to build big arms you must remember that you need to gain the mass first, by working the basic exercises, then you can shift to exercises like curls and press downs to help shape the mass that you built with the big lifts.

I bring this up because you will be tempted to do curls and press downs, don’t fall prey to the trap-if your goal is to be massive stick to the basics and you will get there.

FINAL POINT

Always remember, every pound you add to the squat rack or pound you add to your body adds up, even though it seems like you will never get big-slow and steady will always win.

Think of it this way, five pounds added every year will turn to fifty pounds in ten years.

Yes ten years will pass-and when it does just think of how different you will look.

So the next time you feel like missing a workout or skipping a meal-just remember every pound every ounce, puts you that much closer to your goal.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

NEVER QUIT