Losing weight, means you will look good in your clothes.   Exercising and gaining muscle means you will look good NAKED!

If you do not have enough muscle, losing your body fat will probably not produce the results you would like.   Without building muscle, having the sculpted looks of the fitness posters you hung up (you know you did!!!) will become difficult.  Spending hours on the treadmill doing cardio is not enough!   By following these  eight simple secrets, you can have that body you want and feel great about it!

These are the secrets to build more muscle and look fantastic:

1. Lift Weights
Long-continued efforts, such as distance running or cycling, are great for burning fat but do not make your muscles grow.  Take a look at the physique of bodybuilders, sprinters, and football players.  If you want to grow,  you have to have some iron in your life.

2. Lift More Weight
To build muscle, you have to work over your limit.   But be careful, you don’t want to go nuts and hurt yourself.  Push yourself to lift more, but know your limitations.  Always keep proper posture and good form.

3. Volume
Need more weight or more reps?  Both!  Total volume is weight lifted times the number of repetitions, and that is the value that you have to increase.  If you do only three reps with a lot of weight, your strength will increase, but not the size of the muscles.

4. Short and Intense
Spending two hours in the gym is a bad idea. Your muscles store a finite amount energy as glycogen. If you run out, you’ll never get to achieve maximum volume, because you’ve run out of strength.  You have to take the muscle to the limit with the energy you have.  The session should not last more than 50 minutes.

5. Measurement and Progress
Muscles quickly become accustomed to the day to day workout routine.  Therefore, it is important to keep a diary of your training and progress.  Also, you should constantly progress in your weight lifted and volume over time.  This will continue to stimulate muscle growth.

6. Rest
Muscles do not grow in the gym, they grow while you sleep.  If you do not schedule rest days between training, and not get enough sleep, your muscle fibers do not regenerate and grow properly.  Having problems lifting more than in the previous session?  Your muscles probably have not recovered fully.  Go home and come back tomorrow or do a different activity.  As they say in California, Go Hard or Go Home.

7. Eat
We’re talking about gaining muscle, not losing weight. You have to eat more, but without going too far over your daily requirements based on your activitiy level. To build more muscle, you need the bricks, i.e. more protein. Try not to focus solely proteins. If you do not eat enough carbohydrates, the body breaks down protein for use as energy, and does not reach the muscles.  Eat carbohydrates that are absorbed slowly, like vegetables, brown rice and lots of greens.  Do not forget quality fats!   Don’t go nuts, but they need to be part of a balanced diet.

8. Avoid Stress
Growth hormone is essential to increase muscle size.  But if you’re stressed, your body is flooded with cortisoll, a hormone that puts us on alert and decreases growth hormone and testosterone levels.  Stress also lowers the immune system, increasing the risk of falling ill.  Everyone has stress, but you need to find an outlet.

So, what are you waiting for?  Get out there, follow these steps, and LOOK BETTER NAKED!

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