The usual explanation of why resistance training promotes gains in muscular size and strength is that resistance training imposes stress on contracting muscles, which leads to damage to muscle fibers. After the training, the body works to repair the fiber damage and institutes … [Read more...]
The Elements of Increasing Muscular Strength by Jerry Brainum 12/23
The primary goal of those who begin bodybuilding is to develop increased muscle mass and strength. Most resistance training members believe building larger muscles requires increasing muscular strength. On the surface, this seems to make sense. If you lift heavier weights, … [Read more...]
Overtraining: The Most Common Training Mistake by Jerry Brainum 11/23
Mistakes are common in bodybuilding, fitness, and sports training. Such mistakes can include poor exercise form, using too much weight, not training with sufficient intensity, resting too long between sets, playing with a cell phone rather than focusing on training, and many … [Read more...]
Weight or Repetitions for Muscle Growth? by Jerry Brainum 8/23
The three established requirements for exercise-induced muscle growth are mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscular damage. Unless these three factors are produced by exercise, no gains in muscle mass will result. Except under one condition. Testosterone alone was … [Read more...]
Optimal Triceps Training by Jerry Brainum 4/23
Most weight exercises can be divided into two basic types: isolation exercises and compound exercises. As the name implies, isolation exercises focus on specific portions of a muscle, such as training the upper back and the lower back. Or it can be even more specific, … [Read more...]
Do Hard-Gainers Exist? by Jerry Brainum 3/23
Although anyone can build muscle once they embark on a resistance training program, it seems that some gain more muscle faster than others. Those that experience difficulty in building muscle mass are referred to as "hard gainers." Many reasons are offered to explain why some … [Read more...]
Minimum Exercise for Maximum Gains by Jerry Brainum 7/22
What is the least amount of training needed to produce maximal muscle gains? It's a question long debated among both bodybuilders and exercise scientists. Many bodybuilders follow the dictum that "more is better." They believe that the greater the training volume, or the … [Read more...]
Gaining Muscular Size and Strength: What Does the Research Show? by Jerry Brainum 4/22
How do you determine the best training techniques to develop added muscular size and strength? One obvious answer would be the time-honored trial and error technique. What this entails is trying various styles of training until you find the particular plan that works best for … [Read more...]
Don’t Have Time To Train? Sure You Do! by Jerry Brainum 12/21
People can offer all sorts of excuses for not exercising regularly. The most common excuse is time, as in "I don't have enough time to exercise." While many people do live busy lives, the notion that they cannot spare any time for exercise is usually not true. The simple truth is that … [Read more...]
Muscular Hypertrophy for Bodybuilders: What Training Styles Work the Best? by Jerry Brainum 6/21
In this publication, I've presented science-based training techniques that work for most people. When I say "science-based" I'm referring to the fact that most of this information has appeared in various scientific studies of competitive bodybuilders. But there are … [Read more...]