Are you frustrated because you’re not making the strength gains you expected? Read on and discover five common “sticking points” that may be keeping you from reaching your true potential.
How often do you strength train? Three times a week? Twice a week? More importantly, how often should your strength-training frequency be to maximize your gains? Find out what research shows.
The female hormone, estrogen, is important for a variety of reasons, and even helps preserve bone health. Since women lose strength after menopause, you might wonder whether estrogen plays a role in muscle strength and hypertrophy gains. Find out what research shows.
Are you lifting enough weight to see significant growth and gains in muscle size? It’s easy to get too “comfortable” with a workout and not see the gains you expected. How do you know when you’re not lifting hard enough? Here are five signs.
One technique athletes use for muscle recovery after a workout is cold showers an ice bath. Weight lifters sometimes do the same thing – but is this a smart practice? According to recent research, taking a cold bath doesn’t necessarily help with recovery or muscle soreness and could make it harder to reach your strength goals. Find out why.
Most winning athletes have a “success” mindset. The same applies to success in any endeavor, including strength training. Surprisingly, research shows a negative mindset can limit your strength gains. The reality? You’re likely stronger than you think you are. Find out more.
Concurrent training, including circuit-style workouts, offers a way to get a workout in the shortest time possible – but do they interfere with strength gains? This article discusses the issue of whether concurrent training workouts interfere with each other and what the pros and cons of doing aerobic and resistance training on the same day are.
If your ultimate goal is to build lean body mass, does cardiovascular exercise make it harder to reach your goal? This article looks at the issue of “concurrent training,” whether aerobic exercise interferes with muscle development. Find out what research shows and tips you can use this information to enhance your own training.
Once you’ve gained strength and lean body mass and want to maintain muscle – how hard and how often do you have to work out? It’s harder to build strength and muscle than it is to maintain it but that doesn’t mean you can slack off. Find out what research shows about exercise frequency and intensity when you’re in maintenance mode.
To maximize strength and lean body mass, you need to challenge your muscles. That means lifting heavier weights. Does this mean high-rep workouts have no benefits? Definitely not. Discover the benefits of lifting lighter and doing more high-rep resistance during some training sessions
Have you ever noticed how your muscles look larger and more defined after a resistance workout? Why does this happen? This article discusses this phenomenon and what distinguishes it from true muscle hypertrophy.
Are your fitness goals conflicting? Are you unknowingly making it harder to meet your goals by the type of exercise you’re doing? If you’re trying to build lean body mass, doing extra long periods of steady-state cardio may be sending the wrong signals to your muscles and making it difficult for them to grow. Find out why.
