Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The Seven Capital Sins of Muscle Building

By Ricardo d Argence

Good habits should be developed now to help building muscle for the long term. In order to build muscle continuously, it's important to start and keep doing the right things at the right times. But people can fall into bad habits without realizing the risks, or how their body and their progress, can be affected. Here are not only the top seven bad habits, but a few tips on how to avoid them.

1.) The worst sin in body building: Taking steroids. For so many, many reasons this is a horrible thing to do to yourself, from acne, swelling, bad breath, discoloration of the skin, dizziness and trembling, nausea, vomiting, mood swings, balding, liver damage, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, cardiovascular disease, aching joints, and even a slight loss of height! Not to mention testicular shrinkage, importance, pain while urinating, sterility, and the development of breasts. Simply put, don't take steroids.

2.) Over lifting. Yes, trying to lift more weight than your training partner can be highly motivating, but be careful about it. Not only can lifting too much weight decrease your muscle gain, it can also cause you severe injuries. If you find yourself unable to lift or lower a weight, or can't lift it with a controlled motion and have to use momentum to get it up, then you're lifting too much weight and need to lower it before you hurt yourself.

3) Eating too much protein. Everyone knows protein is good for you and helps you build muscle, but it's possible to consume too much. An average person's protein intake is about a gram or less of per kilo of body weight a day. A muscle building athlete consumes more, at about 1.7 grams of protein per kilo of bodyweight. Consuming more than this could lead to osteoporosis and irreversible kidney damage. You could even damage your heart over time, due to protein byproducts released by your body.

4) Taking stimulants such as ephedrine has dangerous side effects including heart palpitations, heart attack and stroke. Whilst these are not prohibited you wold be wise to exercise extreme caution and in fact would be much better off not using them. you may try a caffeine pill instead as these are far less dangerous. If any doubts exist make sure you get the opinion of a health care professional.

5) Some people seem to think that training on an empty stomach will make them burn off more fat. However your energy comes from carbohydrate therefore if you haven't eaten you will have far less energy and have virtually no chance of having a good workout. You will be unable to lift more than your previous best and you will probably be left shaking, jittery and even dizzy after your workout possibly due to low blood sugar levels. Instead have a pre-workout meal including thing like rice, vegetables and fruit.

6) Failing to stretch or warm up properly. In order to prevent debilitating injuries such as ligament strains and muscle tears, it's extremely important that you prepare your body for exercise. This also has the effect of improving your performance, range of motion, and posture. Spending about 10 minutes warming up is a wise and effective use of your time.

7) Not keeping a training log. A training log is an essential part of building muscle; you need it to measure your progress and keep track of your personal best lifts. A training log doesn't take much time and is very motivating at keeping you on track. Making use of one is a good idea.

OK, the above are a few pointers but mainly relax be safe and enjoy your workouts most of the time a healthy dose of common sense is enough to ensure your safety.

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