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Building Muscleand Gaining Weight
Unlikeaerobic exercise,which emphasizes endurancetraining,anaerobic exercise focuseson
strength training. Agradualweightgaincanoccur whilebuilding the sizeandstrength of muscles.
While developing muscle mass,yourbodyadaptsto thestress placed upon it.You can modifyyour
diettoincludefoods suchasmeat,fishandvegetables. Thesefoods helpmusclesrecoverand
replenish importantnutrientsafter astrenuousworkout.
MuscleStrength andEndurance
To achievethegreatest benefit fromexercise,itis important to developan exerciseprogramthat
allows youtoworkall of themajor musclegroups equally.
To increase musclesstrength; followthis principle:
Increasing resistanceandmaintainingthenumber of repetitions ofanexercise results inincreased
musclestrength.
To toneyour body,followtheprinciple: Decreasing resistance plusincreasingthenumber of
repetitions ofanexercise results inincreasedbodytone.
Onceyoufeelcomfortablewithanexercise, you canchange theresistance, thenumber of
repetitions, or thespeedat whichyoudotheexercise. It isnotnecessarytochange all three
variables.For example, let’s saythatyouare training at50lbs andperforming theexercise10times
in3minutes. Whenthis becomestooeasy, youmaydecideto move uplifting60lbsforthe same
number of repetitions inthesame amountoftime. Liftingmore weightsfewer times mostoften
developsmuscle strength. To gain both muscle strengthandendurance, it is recommendedthat you
performeach exercise15to20 reps perset.
Training Intensity
Howhardyoubegin to train dependsonyour overalllevel of fitness.The soreness youexperienced
canbelessened bydecreasingtheloadyouplaceonyour musclesand byperformingfewer sets.To
avoidinjury, youshould graduallyworkinto anexerciseprogramandsetthe load to your individual
fitnesslevel.Theload shouldincreaseas your fitness levelincreases.
Musclesoreness iscommon,especially whenyoufirst start exercising.Ifyou arepainfully sorefor a
long time, itmaybetime to changeyourprogram. Eventually,your muscle systemwill become
accustomedtothe stressand strainplaced onit.
Beginning a Strength Building Program
