1)  Before you even arrive at the gym be sure you have a muscle building progam. You can’t arrive and just wing it if you wish to see serious results.

2)  Psyche yourself up en route to the gym by visualizing the workout in your mind. See yourself going through each of your exercises and dominating the weights.

3)  If you train at the community gym, where it’s more than likely that they will be playing Usher and other alike R&B tunes that will make you want to cleanse your ears using a gun, make sure you possess some good training songs loaded on your iPod.

4)  Train 3-4 days each week. Which one is optimal? Three always is most effective for beginners. For everybody else you need to know what your schedule and recovery ability allows. Should you play a pick up sport regularly throughout the year or take part in kickboxing or surf a few days per week, three days is probably the best choice. If you do no other physical exercise outside the gym (no sprints, no walking, biking, nothing) than four days may be a much better idea for you.

5)  Whatever option you select, always limit your workouts for an hour, tops. Excluding the warm-up, the main strength training part of the workout should never take more than 45 minutes. Use a stopwatch to keep yourself in check.

6)  Stick with a muscle building program for 12 weeks, minimum. The best way to see zero results is by jumping from one routine to the next from week to week.

7)  Start each workout using a full body dynamic warm up to start the CNS, lubricate the joints and activate the muscles; especially those that may not necessarily fire properly or in the right order.

BEGINNER MUSCLE BUILDING WORKOUT

WORKOUT OVERVIEW

• Always be sure to start with a ten minute warm-up of five minutes of light cardio along with an initial warm-up set on your first lift. Aim to lift only a small amount of weight on this set but focus on using correct form to get the blood flowing to the muscles
• Use a heavy enough weight that has you fully fatigued by the time you hit the last rep indicated but not so heavy that you aren’t able to maintain good form
• Focus on lifting heavy first and foremost. If you need to rest slightly longer than what’s indicated to keep the weight heavy, do so.
• At the same time, always make sure you’re maintaining the proper form. If good form is not used, injury risk will be high.
• Perform the workout using a Monday/Wednesday/Friday set-up or a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday or Sunday set-up
• Make sure to consume your post-workout meal or shake immediately after this workout to promote maximum recovery