When it comes to weight training, many people aren’t aware that the details in how you workout to build muscle will often determine the outcome of your hard work.  This is very important to consider when designing a workout routine, and will determine what exercises you perform, how often, and with how much weight.  There are generally 2 different kinds of outcomes from weight training: Strength and Endurance.

Inexperienced weight trainers will often blindly go into the gym and workout to build muscle without having a game plan.  It’s very important to determine what type of outcome you want from your weight training, are you going to strength or endurance?  I’m going to explain how to maximize your muscle workouts and the best ways to achieve muscle strength and mass.

Strength Training

Strength training is performed by those people who wish to gain muscle mass and strength at the same time.  This approach to fitness is one that involved heavy weights and fewer repetitions.

Generally those who are going for strength training will want to use enough weight in their exercises that they reach full fatigue at around the 6th repetition in a set.  A good example is, say you’re doing a bench press with 135lbs and you’re able to comfortably do 12 reps.  In order to build strength and mass, you need to increase this weight until you reach a point to where you can only do 6 reps before your muscles can’t squeeze out any more.  By getting out of your “comfort zone” you are essentially shocking your muscles into a growth state, which is critical to increase muscle mass.

Another thing you’ll want to do when working out to build muscle strength and mass is to increase the time in between your sets.  Since you’re pumping at 75-80% of your maximum capacity, your muscle need adequate time to recuperate before moving on to your next set.  You should avoid setting a specific rest time between sets, just start the next set when it feels right.  This will also help keep your muscles from getting used to a specific routine, which can also impair your muscle growth.  One thing I do frequently is have 2 exercises (different muscle groups), that I’ll alternate between.  This gives me at least 4 or 5 minutes of rest in between sets of the same exercise, but doesn’t force me to be at the gym for 2 hours.  I can usually get my daily training done within 1 hour following this staggered technique.

When your goal is to workout to build muscle strength and mass, these are just a few of many tips to keep you headed in the right direction.  It’s important to keep your eye on the prize, but remember to check yourself a few times in the process to make sure you’re getting the most out of your muscle workout routine!