Have you ever wondered if cardio increases your muscle building?

Most of the old time bodybuilders will tell you that doing cardio will just waste your time. This is really another one of the many myths spread about building muscle.

Cardio not only helps build muscle, it helps in two different way.

1) Muscle building cardio warm-up.

A short five minute session of cardio is the best way to warm for a weight lifting routine.

This short cardio session raises the core temperature of your body and preps your limbs for your weight lifting session. This prep is needed to help reduce the chance of injury doing your workout and should never be skipped.

Any type of cardio is good for this whether it is cycling, running, jogging in place, or using equipment like an elliptical trainer or stair climber.

Cardio will increase your heart rate causing increased blood flow throughout your body so that it is properly prepared and warmed up for weight training.

2)Cardio is good for building muscle.

If your primary goal is to just build strength and muscle volume, then cardio will not play much of a role except during your warm-up.

But, if you want to get six pack abs and be able to show of a great ripped look then you need to add some high intensity cardio to your weight routine.

In gyms all over the country you can see people that start wanting to look like their favorite sport or screen idol with that fabulous ripped  physique so they hit the gym.  They pump iron for months and they do get bigger and gain strength if they are doing it right. But they simply don’t get the definition and tone they wanted. Definition will never come if they do not include muscle building cardio in their workout routines.

So which type of cardio do you include? Do you do a hard 45 minute treadmill workout 3 times each week or long pleasant run through your local park?

Neither of them will give you what you need. You need to go for high intensity, low interval cardio if you are truly serious about muscle definition. It is a must to get those washboard abs and a seriously ripped body.

Running on a treadmill or taking a long run through the park will not do it for you. Not just any old cardio will do the job. To be really effective, muscle building cardio can be short but it has to be intense.

Okay. We know that cardio has to be intense to be effective, but how often do we need to cardio and is there a best time? Studies have shown that if you do your high intensity cardio immediately after your weight training workout you will burn the maximum fat.

Since you are going to do both your weight training and cardio at the same time you can truly have an off day to relax and enjoy. If you are up to it, doing some additional muscle building cardio on your off days can also maximize your fat loss.

Like all new routines, when you begin high intensity cardio to build muscles, you need to start slow. Trying to make up for lost time will only increase the chance of injury. This doesn’t mean that you should reduce the intensity of your workout but you should not do it every day of the week.

Some guys think that cardio is just too easy to build muscle but they are wrong. It is hard work.
When you are panting for breath, with your eyes watering and muscles burning, you may want to quit.  But if you keep on, you will finally see those muscles you have been building which have been hidden beneath the fat.

And you will realize that cardio can build muscle and it was all worth it.

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Many guys are doing a lot of things right in the gym and you can see the results. Sculpted physiques with bulges in  all of the right places speak for themselves. These guys are not only doing things the right way but are probably spending less time on their muscle building workouts than you think.

Then there are those guys that seem to be working themselves to death hours every day and getting nowhere. What’s the difference? Some would just say they are hardgainers and leave it at that.  Many of them keep looking for that elusive muscle gaining secret that is finally going to produce the results they are looking for.

If you are in the latter group, the following guest article by Jason Ferruggia may be the end of your search.  Jason is the guy that wrote the book – Muscle Gaining Secrets – and what he tells you you can take to the bank.

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Less Time Equals Better Results?

By Jason Ferruggia

Why is it that almost everyone you see working out in the gym does high volume bodypart splits? Today is Monday and in just about every gym in America that means it’s chest day. Tomorrow is back, Thursday is legs and Friday is arms…or something like that, I guess.

Why the lack of variety or rational thought? What is the need for all that training volume?

You need to understand that most forms of training have just been passed down for decades from one generation to the next, without the inclusion of rational thought. Sometime in the 60’s, sensible training programs started becoming less and less prevalent with the rapidly growing usage of anabolic steroids.

In the days of old, men like Steve Reeves and Paul Anderson trained with far more sensible, lower volume programs but these started to disappear during the 60’s. By the time Arnold got to Gold’s Gym in Venice for the first time, high volume, bodypart splits were the widely accepted way for everyone to train for size and strength.

This type of training is not based on deductive reasoning but just on the fact that “it’s what everyone else is doing.” The proponents of these training methods will always blindly tell you that “higher volume training is needed for hypertrophy gains.” Says who? I can tell you for a fact that the University of Chicago isn’t wasting time examining the effects of Jay Cutler’s marathon workouts. There are no studies saying that you need 8-12 sets per bodypart to grow. In fact there are studies that show the opposite; that one set is just as effective as three.

The proponents of this type of training will also tell you that higher volume training is associated with higher levels of growth hormone secretion. What they don’t tell you is that the level of GH increase is not enough to make any difference at all. In fact, almost anything you do elevates GH. Extreme temperatures elevate GH but my biceps don’t get bigger every time I take a shower. The increased GH secretion from training is so minimal that it is not enough to make the slightest difference whatsoever.

For the drug free lifter who does not possess muscle building genetics quite up to par with the Austrian Oak, training this way is a huge mistake. Not only does it drain your amino acid pool and glycogen stores but it dramatically enhances your recovery time between workouts. If you do 8-12 sets for chest on Monday you can not recover from that workout and be able to train again for seven days. So you are only getting one growth stimulus per week or fifty two per year.

Now if you reduce your volume to the point where you can recover faster and more efficiently without draining your amino acid pool and glycogen stores so greatly, you can train bodyparts twice per week instead of once. Now instead of 52 growth stimulating workouts per year for each bodypart, you can now do 104. In fact, if your volume is kept low you can even get away with training bodyparts three times a week in certain situations. Now, which do you think will be more effective; 156 growth stimulating workouts per year or 52?

To train more often you absolutely have to lower your training volume. The total sets per workout should be kept low and the total sets per exercise should be even lower. There is no need to hit four sets of incline presses, flat bench presses and decline presses for your chest workout. Doing that is a form of neuroses; you think that you need to hit every angle and do and endless amount of sets to stimulate every last muscle fiber, but this is simply not the case.

The reason these training programs remain popular is because nobody wants to be told that they are wrong. Admitting your mistakes is something many people can’t do. It is why when something radically different is proposed, the high volume proponents get upset and offended. Nobody likes to have their ego bruised so they keep on doing and promoting the same old high volume workouts that they always have.

That’s fine, let them continue to do what they choose; personally I have way more important things to do than spend all of my waking hours in the gym. If I can get better results in a fraction of the time I will choose that option every time.

Cut your volume down, up your weights and intensity and get ready for the “what are you on” questions to start rolling in.

For more tips on building muscle mass the the right way, visit Jason’s Muscle Gaining Secrets site.

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To build muscle muscles you need to consume specific nutrients throughout the day and at specific intervals. You will have to eat high quality protein, natural/unrefined carbohydrates, and a small amount of healthy fat.

The best foods for muscle building are the ones that give a balance mixture of quality proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. You may already know this: proteins are the best foods for muscle building. You need to eat quality protein at each meal, and healthy sources such as fish, lean cuts of meat, low-fat dairy, and protein powders are good choices.

Boneless, skinless turkey or chicken breasts are also good foods for muscles building. Protein is an essential part of any bodybuilder’s diet because it directly contributes to the building of muscle fibers. Your muscle gains will be negatively affected if your diet is low in protein.

While it depends on how much muscle mass you want to build, your diet should consist of 30 to 40 percent of protein.

Carbohydrates are equally important foods for muscle building; they trigger an insulin response, which, in turn, allows for excellent cell growth by putting nutrients into cells.

Carbohydrates also add four calories per gram to your diet. Many carbohydrates also have essential vitamins and minerals. Starchy vegetables (such as baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams); whole grains; oatmeal; and fresh fruit are some good sources of carbohydrates.

Highly processed sources of carbohydrates like doughnuts, white bread, and other baked goods provide only empty calories and are high in trans-fats (a type fat which is extremely unhealthy for you); thus, it’s best to stay away from these.

It may be hard to believe that fats are also necessary foods for muscle building, but they should be consumed in moderation in a healthy bodybuilding diet.

Fats that contain high numbers of essential fatty acids, which must be taken in the food we eat because the body cannot manufacture them, are the healthiest.

Linolenic acid and alpha linoleic acid are the two most common essential fatty acids; these are also known as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, respectively. They are usually founds in oily fish like salmon and in fats from some vegetables.

You can also get the essential fatty acids that you need by consuming a tablespoon of flaxseed oil and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil twice a day.

These are good foods for muscle building as they are high in essential fatty acids.

For complete meals plans with foods for muscle building visit The Muscle Gain Truth.

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I just finished reviewing The Muscle Experiment by Mike Thiga and I’ve got to say I was impressed.  If the following review synopsis whets your appetite for more, please read my full review and visit The Muscle Experiment site. You owe it to yourself to give this some thought.

The Muscle Experiment is an amazing book. This is the only step by step rapid muscle building blueprint that will help you build muscle WITHOUT ever having to lift weights…and it’s simply amazing.

The Muscle Experiment program is based upon the use of bodyweight training protocols. And the best part is that you don’t have to have any previous bodyweight training experience…everything is perfectly laid out for you.

This training program was created by a guy named Mike Thiga…a guy who faced some MAJOR obstacles as he tried to build muscle. Imagine the frustration of trying to pack on muscle while exercising with a withered right arm…

…but that didn’t stop him. Because in 5 months and 3 weeks, he was able to pack on a stunning 39 pounds of muscle. And now he wants to show you how YOU can do the same.

The Muscle Experiment is already helping hundreds of people make insane muscle gains, and the results are just remarkable. If you’re looking for a brain dead simple guaranteed way to build muscle fast, you should definitely check out The Muscle Experiment. You can get your copy at:

http://www.the-muscle-experiment.com

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