Whether you are just beginning an exercise routine for the first time in years or have been training and are looking to start fresh with a new routine, there are certain tactics you should follow to achieve the perfect routine. Following these six key points in your exercise routine will get you well on your way to easy weight loss and getting lean.

 

  • Frequency. By training three days a week and focusing on basic muscle groups and movement patterns, you will see the best results. Instead of hitting the gym every day and focusing on one muscle group, include exercises for each muscle group three times a week. Hitting the gym more often can actually have adverse effects.
  • Rest. Despite what you may think, you aren't physically building muscle during your workout, you are actually breaking it down. This is what makes rest the most important part of muscle growth. Stick to weight training every other day, three times a week in order to allow your muscles, joints and nervous system time to recuperate before your next workout.
  • Intensity. A measure of exercise difficulty, intensity can be changed a number of ways including total weight, rest periods and work duration. Supersets are a great way to slightly amp up your intensity by performing two exercises back to back with minimal exercise in between. This allows one muscle group to recover while another one works, increasing intensity and efficiency.
  • Progression. In order to truly see results and muscle gain, it is important to steadily increase the weight you are using over time. Try to increase your weight each week in order to steadily progress.
  • Failure. In order to truly make progress, you need to approach failure. Many workouts call for 10-12 reps of a particular exercise. What this means is that you are shooting to get as many reps as you can between that range where you could only be able to complete one more. If you can't make it to 10 reps, that means you are using too much weight. If you feel like you could do 15 reps, you need to increase your weight.
  • Exercise Selection. Variety is key in each workout. Instead of sticking to just cable machines one workout and dumbbells the next, stable moves once and balance-challenged the next, or single sided moves once and bilateral moves the next; put a mixture of techniques together each workout to stimulate your body.

 

Following these tips and guidelines will help you gain muscle more efficiently and effectively and will help give you long term results.

 

As always, thanks for reading our Get Lean Blog!