How to Build Muscle Size and Strength Using "Death Sets"

If you really want to know how to build muscle size and strength as fast as humanly possible, study the old-timers. One very distinguishing factor between strength trainers and bodybuilders of yesterday and today was the intensity of their training.

One training technique they used that is very rare to see today is something called "Death Sets." By the name alone, you can tell they definitely aren't a walk in the park. But what they give you are results. Real results, and faster then any supplement or home gym can promise. In fact, they can very well be the fastest way on how to build muscle size and strength.

As a hardgainer, death sets can and will slap more pounds of muscle and strength on your frame then practically any other way of training. They are perhaps the most intense type of training you may ever do, but like I said, the results you get will be like nothing else. So if you really, really want to learn how to build muscle size and strength faster then ever before, and aren't afraid of some hard work, these are for you.

Death sets were properly named because they trigger what some call the "Grow or Die" mechanism. Unlike conventional training, they really work you closer to your absolute limit like nothing else. Basically, death sets are heavy, high rep training, and are not meant for your smaller muscle groups like arms or neck, but rather for the big muscle groups such as your legs and lower back.

Though you can apply death sets with most larger muscle groups, performing squats or deadlifts, either regular or stiff-legged, are by far the most grueling, but most effective when you’re learning how to build muscle size. Even though squats and deadlifts are known as mainly lower body exercises, you can no doubt expect your whole body to grow. The intensity will include your whole body to come into action, and as a result the rest of your muscles will benefit.

Some examples of death sets are 15, 20 and even up to 30 reps of squats or deadlifts, but with HEAVY weight. Heavy enough to where you feel finished at the tenth rep. But this is where your will power and focus come into play. This is a good test of your mental strength, because as soon as you even think about quitting or giving up, your body will do it. This is why it is so important to mentally prep yourself before the set, and to stay in that animal instinct throughout the whole set.

The good news is that you only have to do one of these sets per exercise, two at the maximum. But after you are finished you will feel completely wiped out. You may throw up or feel like passing out, but as long as you complete the set and make sure to nourish your body after with plenty of good food and rest, your body will grow. You certainly won't grow overnight, this is at least a two month process; but if you work hard enough and build up to heavy enough weight, your body will literally transform. Your mental toughness will also develop and you will eventually become as tough as nails both physically and mentally. Now that's a true strength trainer!

You can very easily over train with these, especially if you are a hardgainer. Just a couple other major compound exercises for your upper body should be plenty, and don't neglect proper nutrition and plenty of rest or you will be completely wasting your time and effort. This is perhaps the best way on how to build muscle size and strength fast.

Derek Manuel
www.Hardgainers-Weight-Tips.com

Hard Work: What it is and what it ISN"T in the Gym

If you are a true hardgainer, then you don't have any time wasting energy on haphazard efforts. In order to get the most out of our less fortunate genetics, we have to be willing to train HARD. However, what I don't mean by working hard is by working out TOO MUCH. Overtraining is one of the major causes of failure in gaining weight and building muscle for hardgainers.

In weight training to gain weight, think quality over quantity. It is much better to train HARD on a few exercises then it is to do ten different sets of each exercise.

Here is a good way to make sure you are training hard enough: set goals. Think about it, if you just walk in the gym each day with no particular goal in mind, when you are doing your sets, how hard can you possibly work? Without a specific goal in mind for each set, chances are you'll probably cut yourself short and think you trained hard enough by the way you feel. Don't fool yourself.

Set both long term and short term goals. For example, a long term goal would be to be able to bench press 250 pounds for 1 rep when you currently bench press 215 pounds. A short term goal would be to beat either the amount of weight or the amount of reps you did for a particular exercise last time. For instance, if you performed 3 sets of 8/8/6 reps with the bench press last workout at a certain weight, then you can make it a goal to do at least one or two more reps on your third set to complete the full eight.

It sounds simple, but don't pass short term goal setting up, because it can make all the difference in your results, and it also serves as a systematic way to make sure you are training your hardest each day.

Derek Manuel
www.hardgainers-weight-tips.com

Workout Routines to Gain Weight

If you are looking for workout routines to gain weight, you need to follow a specialized program, especially if you are a hardgainer. Weight training for gaining weight is a little different then weight training just to build muscle mass, build lean muscle, building big chest and biceps, etc, etc. Instead of focusing on making sure all your muscle groups get a good pump and are worked out in from several different angles, your main focus should be increasing your strength on the top 3 to 5 compound exercises.

For effective workout routines to gain weight, you should really train for strength with a focus on your biggest muscle groups, namely, your legs, back, chest, and shoulders. If you just focused on adding weight to the bar on exercises like squats, deadlifts, barbell bent-over rows, bench presses, and shoulder presses, your biggest muscle groups will produce the most testosterone and growth hormone, which means an inevitable increase in weight and muscle mass.

This may sound simple, and it is, but let's take a look at what most hardgainers do when trying to gain weight and are not aware of how to do so (a.k.a me ten years ago). I see most hardgainers go to the gym thinking that they have to hit ALL their muscle groups with several different exercises and angles, they have to make sure they get a good "pump", and the more often they train them the faster they'll gain weight and build muscle mass.

However, as you probably figured out by now, this is the wrong approach if you are looking to gain weight. Training your biceps with five sets of three different exercises won't help you gain weight, and, if you're a hardgainer, it probably won't add much muscle to your biceps anyway, especially if you're a beginner. Following this same approach with ALL the rest of your muscle groups will only hinder your progress towards gaining weight.

So let me get to the point: short, abbreviated, intense, and strength focused workout programs preformed two to three days a week at no longer then 75 minutes per workout is sufficient to gain weight.

Click the following link for more specific workout routines to gain weight

I hope this helps,

Derek Manuel
www.hardgainers-weight-tips.com

How to Gain Weight for People with Fast Metabolisms

There is such a barrage of misleading information out there today that it's no longer a question of getting information, but instead discerning the right information. So let's go over some of the key aspects you must follow on how to gain weight for people with fast metabolisms.

The first key is weight training, and before I go any further I want you to forget everything you have ever read on the subject of weight training, bodybuilding, and anything else of the sort. Chances are if you are a hardgainer, you have been fed more misleading information then anything good, and since it isn't really that complex, let's start from scratch.

OK, there are only a few key exercises that you need to do, no more then two to three days a week. More is better in a lot of things in life, but not in weight training to gain weight, it's quite the opposite. If you spend too much time in the gym on too many exercises all you are going to do is over-train and you may even lose weight, especially if you have a fast metabolism.

The key is to really train HARD on just a few major exercises, and to really concentrate on getting stronger each and every week, even if it's only by a couple of pounds. Here is an example of a few exercises you should do two or three days a week.

1) Squats: 2 x 15

2) Bench Press: 3 x 12

3) Bent-Over Barbell Rows: 3 x 15

4) Overhead or Military Press: 2 x 12

5) Romanian Deadlifts: 1 x 15

These are the mother of all weight gaining exercises, and squats are the granddaddy of them all for people with fast metabolisms. Don't think that squats and Romanian deadlifts will only make your legs big. In fact, if you do them in the way I'm about to reveal to you, they will be responsible for 80% of the weight you will gain on your WHOLE body. Now, here is one key point you can't forget: don't make the mistake of believing that because the reps are relatively high, means you are only going to be using light weights. Think just the opposite, you are going to be training with HEAVY weights (relative to your strengths or course) for HIGH reps. Sounds like a paradox I know, but heavy weight for high reps will work for these exercises, and more importantly, they will work wonders for your weight gains.

The second aspect is your diet. The number one rule to gaining weight is this: you will only gain weight when you have consumed more calories then you have burned. So here's what you should do next: starting tomorrow, eat what you normally eat everyday, but count how many calories you are eating. Whatever your number is, your goal is to eat around 500 to 1,000 more calories then that each day. Here is a little trick to help you do that: every morning make yourself a huge protein shake, enough to fit in a gallon container, and consume it evenly throughout the day, both with and without your meals. Throw in a bunch of healthy, calorie and protein packed foods until altogether until it equals the 500 to 1,000 extra calories you need. Examples of what you can add are milk, a banana, peanut butter, molasses, powdered milk, and ice cream.

The last aspect you can't forget is to limit your other activities and rest as much as possible. Any time you're moving you're burning extra calories, and you'll want to burn as little as possible outside of your weight training. That means no cardiovascular exercises or any sports for that matter. Remember, you are trying to learn how to gain weight when you have a fast metabolism and any activity outside your weight training is counter-productive.

Derek Manuel
www.hardgainers-weight-tips.com