It may sound too simple or funny but many people just simply miss out to take this important step. No matter if you want to lose weight, tone up, get stronger, get in better shape this is 101, key element most of people miss in their  muscle   building   workouts . This type of approach is not proper because it is unclear and therefore the results will be of the similar nature. For example, someone states they want to have more muscle and strength. More muscle? How much more? And where you want to gain muscle mass more? Do you want to have it on your tongue? Off course not.

Or you can imagine somebody wants to become stronger? OK, but stronger in what sense? Does that person want to become stronger in a particular exercise or do they want to be able to play with their kids without getting tired. I hope that you are one of us that understand clearly that proper goal setting is very, very important. Remember to follow the basic rules of  muscle   building   workouts  is goal setting. And here they are. As soon you start using them, sooner you will see the results! Goals characteristics:

* You can measure them

* Achievable

* Have meaning and value for you

* In harmony to Your Personal Value System

* Set with Completion Date

* Outline Sacrifices that will have to be Made

* Create a Plan

Are you one of those people who worry about the “perfect”  muscle   building   workouts ? If you are, let me help you – there is NO such thing. Every workout has pros and cons; the point is that your current workout plan has more benefits than costs. First of all you should come to the plan that you know you can consistently follow. Sometimes people have very good programs written on papers and in their planners, but they are not applicable to them, their lifestyle and abilities! So, at first place please do take steps towards that.

When you are done, you can concentrate on implementing core muscle exercises, sets, reps, etc. This is where hiring a qualified instructor can pay off to you. If he is good off course. The reason I recommend hiring a coach is that you can gain valuable ideas on program design and learn new exercises. Since I am very cynical on the actual number of “good” coaches let me provide some basic things to help you find a qualified instructor. Basically, you can do two things. In order to find good, efficient and affordable fitness /  muscle   building  instructor you should:

– Check His/Hers current credentials.

– Ask when was the last education seminar they attended (this will show their commitment to education which is the key for their success).

– Personally check out with current clients about what they got out of the training methods

– See if they perform a physical assessment on your abilities and take time to outline your goals specifically.

– See how organized is he or she (you can see that easy by things like prints out plan, time scheduling etc.)

– Make sure you and the trainer set a completion date to measure the success of the program.

OR

You can save great deal of your time, energy and money by simply using advantages of unbiased, proved  muscle   building  program and you will be more than happy if you try that one. In order to be successful in this way you will need to have your own strong decision. You may call this a disadvantage,decision is entirely on you. It’s your life and your call I decided long and this is why I’m telling you this. This one is dozen times better, quicker, and cheaper.

Time frame

Just keep things simple. There are some very easy things to do basically having a logical progression in one’s training is what is important to have. If you have guidance than you have your program of exercises, cycling, phases etc. all planned in detail. If, for any reason you decide to take longer way here are few things you need to know in order to advance:

– Do one program for not longer than four weeks.

– In the fourth week cut down the amount of work to half. If you typically are doing 24 total sets in a workout, cut it down to 12. This is known as de-loading which is necessary to stimulate new increases. The body cannot constantly make increases without a break.

– In each micro-cycle (which would be approximately the duration of the month) try to increase the load of the core lift by 5% each week.

– Do not train to failure for the majority of your training. This will inhibit your ability to recover and make progress in the following routine. There is no research that training to failure is any more effective in stimulating gains in body composition.

Some people are getting to the end of their inspiration simply because they do not know the variety that exists. And therefore they are bored and stacked. It is quite easy to take exercise and develop many more movements. In the many  muscle   building   workouts  you don’t find this. But in program I refer too I consider as the best for me this is covered in detail but I will show you method here how to take one exercise and change it a million ways so that you can stick with some basic lifts and just change the way they are performed. It is just to give you idea.

Lets take the dead lift. for example It is a terrific exercise for stimulating so many different muscles.

Conventional, Sumo (wider stance), Clean Grip (hands just outside thighs), Snatch Grip (hands much wider), Off Pins (this will place more work on the lower back), Off Elevated Platform (standing on an increase height will put more work in the gluts and hamstrings), Romanian (common known as stiff-legged, but actually performed with slight bend in knees), Dumbbell (this usually requires more work in the legs because the increased depth), One Legged with Dumbbells or Kettle bells, Cable One-arm (more work for the grip and abdominals), Barbell Hack “Squat-Hip Dom” (the bar is behind the body), Dead lift plus explosive shrug (great for trap development and preparatory work for Olympic lifts).

Recovery Methods

I hope there is no need to convince you that if you want to achieve anything from their training needs to make sure they are receiving enough sleep and implementing a proper nutrition program. I am still amazed how many emails I receive from readers that are confused why they are not making progress in their training even when they admit they do not eat well. Well… this is easy, clean up the diet!! You cannot expect to make progress on junk fast food and sugars. There is a classic saying, “Doing what you know is different than knowing what to do”.

Many injuries can be avoided and many aches and pains cleared up if people were to take their post-workout recovery seriously. I will post entire article on that very soon It could be as simple as icing the trained muscles, or using contrast showers. I constantly hear about the amazing  muscle   building   workouts  filled with the core  muscle  exercises that Eastern European countries use and here in the West many try to copy these training protocols.

Two things you should consider here. First is, avoid cows mentality! Cow is always considering the grass on the other side of the fence as more juicy. It is NOT always better what we don’t have near us. Second is that these coaches and trainers forget that these methods were used in harmony with complex recovery techniques. You can’t train like a top sportsman individual if you are not willing to complete all the work that such training involves.