There is more to massive muscles than their contribution to an impressive physique and greater strength.
The human body naturally burns more calories to maintain a pound of muscle than a pound of fat, for example. Building more muscle increases your metabolism and helps you burn a ton more fat during recovery. Sweet, isn’t it?
Building muscle mass is the ultimate foundation of the great bodybuilding process and the first rule of muscle building is progressive overload, which means adding more and more weight to the bar. But if you spend some time online looking for additional helpful tips on gaining mass, you will end up feeling pretty lost and confused.
The internet is flooded with mixed and even contradictory advices for building bigger muscles – not very surprising since this issue is definitely the most discussed one in the world of bodybuilding. It should be simple – eat quality food, take your proteins and train hard and heavy, but the truth is a lot of people are having a hard time putting on the desired amount of mass. It’s an incredibly common problem, so if you are one of those guys, don’t get too hard on yourself.
You might be doing some things wrong, like training the same muscles over and over again and neglecting other ones altogether or not paying enough attention to your diet. Stalled progress can be frustrating as hell but it’s not a reason for you to quit bodybuilding – this article will provide you with the greatest yet most underrated way to bulk up and grow those huge muscles.
But first, let’s get basic. In order to grow, muscles need decent levels of testosterone and human growth hormone. Testosterone enhances the protein synthesis in the muscle tissue and therefore makes it actually possible to develop muscle mass. As you already know, men naturally have larger amounts of testosterone than women, which makes it easier for them to build bigger muscles. But getting the testosterone in your bloodstream to peak through certain exercises is not enough for wholesome muscle growth – you need to make sure your workout targets large muscle groups. Like, for example… the legs!
If you have decided to achieve a strong body with some solid and balanced muscular development, you simply don’t get to ignore the legs – leg exercises are actually your best friend.
All of us have witnessed that nothing makes or breaks an impressive physique more than the size and definition of the legs. The sight of guys with skinny chicken legs and ripped biceps is cringe-worthy at the very least. No matter what your main bodybuilding goal is, not giving your legs a proper workout or neglecting them completely is the biggest mistake you could make. The legs are the biggest and strongest muscle on your body, remember?
Ok, we bet you’ve already heard of many other important arguments why the legs deserve more of your attention, but most probably you don’t know our favorite one.
Here’s the thing. In general, all types of exercise stimulate the release and production of testosterone, but which exercise stimulates it the most? You guessed it right, it’s the leg workouts. Studies have shown that since this group of strong muscles is made for hard work, overloading it will boost your testosterone levels like no other exercise – and actually push all other muscles to grow. In other words, you can make greater gains in the upper body by working the legs!
But the type of the workout is crucial here. Researches suggest that you can maximize the hormonal response to the exercise by using high exercise volume (three or four sets of 6 to 12 repetitions), heavy loads and short rest periods (one to two minutes between sets. If you structure your workout like this, you will be able to maximize the body’s natural capacity to stimulate muscle growth. Remember, successful leg workouts are supposed to be tough and painful – think squats, deadlifts and leg presses, so don’t settle for anything less than complete exhaustion! Pay special attention to squats – 3 to 5 sets in the 8 to 12 repetitions range is optimal.
This being said, you have the freedom to decide if you want to dedicate your whole workout to the legs or split up. So if your main goal is to build iron shoulders, work them right after the legs to get the best of your testosterone peak. Try out different combinations to find out what works best for you. Also, you can get extra help from using quality supplements containing ingredients that naturally boost testosterone.
This might come as a great shock, we know, but you might even start enjoying your leg workouts after a while!
