Purpose is a result, end, mean, aim, or goal of an action intentionally undertaken, or of an object being brought into use or existence, whether or not the purpose was a primary or secondary effect.

When you step foot in the gym, the field, the track… You better have a purpose and reason for being there!

I often see people who aimlessly move around the gym with no clear goal or end in sight, saying that they are simply in “maintenance” mode and don’t wish to push the limits any longer.

I respect that, but I also wonder why they even train. If you are in the gym, you are there to better yourself. There is no such thing as staying the same!!

I wanted to post this for many reasons. Over the last few months, I got so caught up with running my warehouse gym business that I let my own training sit on the shelf. I was training with NO purpose. After all, as a coach I preach this every day to my athletes and clients that you MUST shoot for something and you MUST get better every time you set foot in the gym. No excuses! If you don’t wish to get better, then you simply don’t belong and you are free to go train at Globo Gym down the street. No problem, this ain’t for everyone!

So, after a self-realization the other day that I was not committed to bettering myself 100% to the fullest, I sought out help. One of the large reasons I feel why my training has been so random is the what I have coined the “Lost-Athlete” syndrome. If you were involved in competitive athletics like I was for many years and trained your a*s off to get better for that sport (or sports), then you know how hard of a transition it can be from going from athlete to hanging it up. I had nothing to compete for any longer and I was LOST. Like I said, if you are a former athlete, you can relate with me on this. I was sick and tired of it and was not going to train aimlessly any longer. My playing days may be over, but the competitive drive never dies!!

I have always been a HUGE fan of Olympic Weightlifting and the benefits it can have for athletic performance, but never really have been instructed on how to do them properly. With personal bests of 231 lb clean and 177 lb snatch at a bodyweight of 185 lbs, my numbers are fairly decent but I knew I could do much better with good coaching and consistency; or training with a purpose!! My goals? To get as strong as possible in the Olympic Lifts (Clean and Jerk, Snatch), compete in meets, and learn the lifts and be able to instruct them as best as I can to better serve my athletes!!

So, I have invested in quality coaching and joined up with Myles Ahead Weightlifting in Ronhert Park, CA. I have begun training with Freddie Myles, a national caliber lifter, this past week and make the 1 hour (round trip) drive 3 days a week. I hope to compete this year in my first competition, so I’m very focused and driven. It feels good to train for something again! See the video below of Freddie with a 163 kg clean and jerk! That’s about 360 pounds… More than the average person can deadlift! Now that’s real strength and athleticism if you ask me!

I also believe in practicing what you preach, so as a coach I feel that being able to show my athletes that I can actually walk the walk  and not just spew some nonsense will pay off dividends in how they respond to me and how I approach their training programs.

The whole point of this post? Don’t be afraid to take risks! Have a CLEAR focus with your training. Write your goals down and be as specific as you can. You must have a laser-like focus and attack it every day. Like I’ve said before,  you’re either 1 step closer to your goal, or 1 step back.. No such thing as staying the same!

I would like to hear your thoughts on this. Have you felt like this before? Have you experienced the “Lost-Athlete” syndrome? Let’s help each other prevent this from happening! Leave your comments and thoughts below!

1. Is there really such thing as type III muscle fiber?

A Type III muscle fiber is just a cool name for a hybrid type II muscle fiber that takes on traits of a type I fiber.

It’s nothing new. It’s just something a lot of people haven’t heard about. Early adapters of this theory included Dr. Len Schwartz who in 1995 coined the phrase “Long Strength”. Dr. Schwartz describes Long strength as “the ability to exert significant strength for an extended period of time.”

John Parrillo-the second proponent of long strength-began having his bodybuilders doing really high intensity cardio. He claimed that doing this actually altered the muscle composition. He called this form a resistance training the “100 rep extended set,” saying that it helped the body to construct more mitochondria-the muscles’ “cellular blast furnaces.” He also says that this increases muscular growth by developing the circulatory pathways that provide nourishment to the muscles.

Ori Hofmekler is the third early adopter of the long strength concept. Ori developed a weight training system that he called, “Controlled Fatigue Training.” According to Ori, this type of training was specifically designed to develop these super hybrid muscles-ones that were capable of generating and sustaining strength for extended periods.

2. Why do we want a type 3 super muscle?

We know that Type 1 fibers have a higher mitochondrial density than type 2 thus they are more fuel efficient. Simply put, they burn fat for energy better than the type 2 fibers.

Type 2 fibers usually have a thicker diameter… they are bigger fibers. When they begin adopting the behavior of type 1 fibers by gradually increasing their mitochondrial density they ultimately become even BIGGER in size as well a better at burning fat for energy.

So if you want muscles that are BIGGER, STRONGER, have more ENDURANCE, and are better at FAT BURNING than you’ll want to develop these muscles.

3. How do we get them?

By combining cardio and resistance activities it causes the composition of muscles to transform from predominately type II or type IIb into Type III. By doing this, we are able to push “beyond our genetic limits,” much like the ancient Spartans, Gladiators and Vikings did.

Having more mitochondria in the muscle cells means that more nutrients can be processed, giving the muscles the ability to work considerably harder for longer periods. They’re also able to grow larger and are able to resist getting tired for longer periods.

Knowing this, we can see that the goal of cardio combined with resistance-sometimes known as hybrid cardio is to push our muscles to undergo a reconfiguration and increase the number of mitochondria in the cells.

4. Should I eat for size or fat loss during this program?

The answer to that is…it depends. Sometimes you’ll eat more calories and sometimes you’ll eat less. However nutrient timing is just one aspect of gaining muscle and burning fat.

Nutrition would be such an easy topic to practice and discuss if human beings were as simple as a mathematical equation.

You know… 10 – 3 = 7

But when it comes to the dynamic hormonal and nervous system fluctuations present in the human body… often times

10 – 3 = 478!!

With such various reactions to a broad spectrum of stimuli, the simple notion that calories in vs. calories out determines your fat loss or muscle building results, is a completely ineffective means for determining fitness results. For example, when exposed to the harsh and threatening demands of prison life, many inmates continue to build thick, lean muscles despite the lack of access to high quality foods, proteins and supplements.

This is due to the highly anabolic state that their bodies are able to maintain when in such a testosterone driven environment. Also, have you ever met a fat person that barely eats? They consume very little calories yet they are obese! This is also due to a hormonal response. It also destroys the notion that lower calories equal less body fat.

Fat loss and muscle building are the result of several lifestyle and nutrition modifications, none more important than the other. All of our daily choices have an impact on our fitness results, not simply how much food we eat.

5. Can I continue my current workout and add Resistance Cardio at the end of my workouts for 20-30 minutes?

Yes that’s a great idea. That’s a hybrid workout in itself. Continue to train with weights for strength, muscle growth and toning. Than instead of doing 30-minutes of traditional cardio on a treadmill or stationary bike add some resistance cardio to your workout to start developing the Type III muscle fiber.

To do hybrid cardio all you need to is combine aerobic and anaerobic (resistance) activities. You can do this by adding dumbbells to your cardio workout.

If you want to go jogging, try wearing a weight vest while doing it. If you want to do something low impact, pick up some kettlebells or dumbbells and walk up a flights of stairs. Interval hybrid cardio using your bodyweight is another good option.

Another idea is to set up a circuit of pull-ups, squats, box jumps and push-ups. Alternate exercises every 20-30 seconds and keep moving. Keep going for 20-minutes. I guarantee you a bodyweight circuit like this will be faster, burn more calories and keep you more entertained. You can mix things up even more by holding each position for five to ten seconds-up for pull-ups and push-ups, down for lunges and squats.

Once the bodyweight cardio exercises aren’t challenging enough you can try a few of these sample Metabolic Resistance Cardio workouts to do at the end of your normal workouts. They are all full body workouts, so feel free to rotate through them, it doesn’t matter which one you pick.

Remember your muscles will already be somewhat fatigued from the weight training session you just performed so you’ll want to use a much lighter weight when doing this kind of resistance cardio after a weight training session.

When you buy the Lean Hybrid Muscle program you get hybrid cardio templates that you can add to the end of your workouts. Like we mentioned this is great if you want to spice up your boring cardio sessions but stay with the current lifting program you’re currently doing.

To learn more about the Type III muscle fiber visit this page:

http://www.leanhybridmuscle.com/ Get my free report entitled, The Muscle Shifting Doctrine. Click to learn how you can rapidly build muscle and burn fat at the same time.

Mike Westerdal is the founder of Critical Bench, Inc. A free online weight training magazine.

Bulking up and eating like crazy, to pack on serious mass, is one of the most controversial topics in bodybuilding today…

Some people say bulking is a thing of the past… others say it’s a necessary evil for serious gains, and insanely effective way to pack on serious mass.

Honestly, I am a firm believer that you can gain muscle without having to put much fat on. Yes, there will be some fat gain but you can keep it to a minimum while you aim to put on muscle/size.

This is pretty important, especially considering athletes who wish to put on more muscle without adding unnecessary body fat that could put a damper on their speed and power..

Speaking of that topic, you can download a couple of FREE reports that talk about this very subject from Vince Del Monte and Lee Hayward.

No e-mail address needed, just simply click the links below to get ‘em!

The Death of Bulking <—- Click to Download!

The Anabolic Amplifier Effect <—- Click to Download!

Let me know what you thought in the comments section below! What do you think? Can you gain muscle without fat, or is traditional bulking the way to go?

I’m the type of guy that can get distracted easily. Most of the time I stay focused and attack my training, business, and everything else I’m caught up in with 100% intensity. I have to admit though – lately I have “fallen off the wagon” so to speak and really have not been as consistent with my own training as I usually am. I’ve been so busy training other athletes and clients that I neglected myself. I don’t have any excuses for it, it just so happened that way. I LOVE to train, but I don’t really like marathon sessions; especially when I have to focus on other business building tasks, keeping my girlfriend happy, hanging out with friends/family, etc.

Yes, there is a LIFE outside of the gym. I appreciate and value that more than anything, so the last thing I want to do is spend countless hours training. The fact of the matter is you can still get kick-ass results in a very short amount of time training per day (think 30-45 minute sessions!)

I recently picked up a copy of Jason Ferruggia’s latest product Minimalist Training and let me tell you – this was the product I’ve been looking for!

The minute I heard about it, I was very excited. I’ve been really interested lately in a minimalistic-style of living; eliminating all that is unnecessary in your life to allow freedom and a sense of relief while letting go of things that are not needed. And that includes training, personal possessions, nutrition, etc. I strongly adhere to keeping it simple and this book does exactly that!

Who is it for?

This is a GREAT resource for trainers and coaches who want to keep things simple and still get their athletes/clients results. There are programs for beginner, intermediate, and advanced lifters, so you’ve got all areas of the training spectrum covered! It really makes no sense trying to re-invent the wheel when you’re looking to get bigger and stronger. This manual lays it out for you in a simple and progressive way. All you have to do is execute!

This is also useful for the lifter who has “program A.D.D.” or someone who jumps from program to program hoping for a miracle in a short amount of time. Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. This will eliminate any confusion you may have about designing a program for maximal gains without over-training, a very common mistake in new lifters who think doing more is better.

From programs ranging from “70′s Strength and Mass”, “Three the Hard Way”, and “Two for the Time”, you’re sure to never run out of options to keep your progress moving forward and ensure that you’re adhering to the KISS principle while maximizing your time in the weight room and giving you some breathing room in your life to do other things.

You’ll even get options on simple yet intense conditioning methods, so no stone is left unturned!

I mean, honestly – who really wants to spend 2-3 hours in the gym multiple times per week? I don’t, and neither should you! I plan on using this as a go-to resource for my own training as well as for my own athletes and clients that wish to get bigger, stronger, and faster.

The best part of all in my opinion is that the “sciencey” stuff is really kept to a minimum; just pure, no BS content that you can apply right away. It’s virtually impossible to over-analyze and over-think your training with this product in your arsenal!

As a strong proponent of Jason Ferruggia’s training methods and an avid reader/follower of his blog, I highly recommend picking up a copy of his latest product Minimalist Training to see how you can get awesome gains in strength and muscle without becoming a slave to your training.

Grab your copy of Minimalist Training now by clicking HERE!

Enjoy!

- John Cortese, CSCS

Corteseperformance.com

Day 1...

Hope you’ve been kickin’ ass and taking names in your training, life, school, or whatever you’ve got going on!

Below is a video I shot today at my warehouse soon-to-be strength & conditioning facility for athletes!

There were a few names I forgot to mention in the video, but a very special thanks to some fellow strength and conditioning pros who have been very supportive in my journey to make this happen: Joe Hashey, Travis Self, Travis Stoetzel, Matt Wichlinski, Elliott Hulse, Jim “Smitty” Smith, Zach Even-Esh, and Rick Daman. I’ve yet to meet any of these guys in person yet, but I’ve spoken to all of them either on the phone, e-mail, through facebook messages and/or chat, or a combination of all 3 and I’m very grateful for the time they have taken to give advice, tips, and strategies to help me grow this from idea to reality. You guys rock and have all had an influence on me up to now! Anyways, enjoy the video below.

Along with these guys, thanks to my lovely girlfriend who supports me with 100% certainty and really is my biggest fan; also to my friends, family, and everyone that has given me support along the way.

HUGE thanks to everyone that has read my blog posts, watched my videos, read my articles, and that have trained with me via online or in person. You guys have all helped me get here as well, so thank you!!

Stay tuned as I give you all more updates..

See ya!

John Cortese, CSCS

This book is jam-packed with a full “how-to” of exercise videos for upper body, lower body, grip strength, conditioning, etc.

Need variety? Wondering how to perform an exercise? This is really a must-have for all serious athletes and strength training addicts.

You can get your FREE e-book by clicking the link below. This is a PDF document, you’ll need Adobe Acrobat Viewer to view it.

====> CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE ESSENTIAL EXERCISE INDEX E-BOOK <======

Enjoy,

John Cortese, CSCS

But you shouldn’t have to analyze the program to death and try to make it perfect. Why? Because there is no perfect program in existence. In reality, every program/workout/routine (whatever you’d liked to call it) will work for some time; but eventually you’ll stall out and either hit a wall or regress. Not good!

There are many common mistakes that I see all too often and most of the time they just need a simple fix to help get results. Check ‘em out…

1.) Too Much Volume – Less is more, especially when you are looking for all-out, blazing speed. Speed is the critical “game-changer” and more often than not, the faster team or athlete will ALWAYS have the advantage. I usually almost always start my athletes out with low volume sprints 1-2 times per week, never exceeding 200-300 yards in total volume (the number of sprints you ran X the distance on each sprint). Think about it: do you think running endless repeat 100 yard sprints , as fast as possible,with 30 seconds rest will do anything for your speed? Sure, it might make you tired; it might make you sore; you may even throw up… Most sports require you accelerate anywhere from 5-30 yards. I usually recommend the “short-to-long” approach with most team sport athletes, where you begin sprinting at shorter distances for a couple weeks, then gradually extending the distance and volume out each week.

2.) Too Many Exercises – This one is extremely common. For example: you walk into a regular gym on a Monday (also known as universal bench press day) and everyone and their mother is performing every exercise known for the chest; bench press, incline press, decline press, chest flyes, machine flyes; and often times each one will be performed with ZERO warm up, too many sets, and way too little rest. This basically is doing absolutely nothing but getting you the “pump” which only lasts for a short while after you’re through exercising anyways. Instead of focusing on how many exercises you should be doing, I think the better choice would be to focus on the quality of movement and continually adding weight to the bar each week.

3.) Body Part Splits – This is another very common occurring trend that really is only effective if you’re very advanced and have built up a substantial base of strength and muscle. Body part split routines typically explore a bodybuilder’s routine, for example:

• Monday – Chest
• Tuesday – Back, Biceps
• Wednesday- Legs
• Thursday- Shoulders, etc..

You see that each workout works in isolating muscle groups; in reality, when does the human body EVER work in isolation? Not only is this routine very ineffective for most trainees in building muscle and strength, it’s really BORING. That type of routine would leave me bored to tears and who really wants to perform 5-6 different chest exercises in 1 day? Instead of a split routine, switch up to either 3-day per week “full body” workouts, or 4-day per week upper/lower split. By doing this you will eliminate boredom, your workouts will be much more effective, you’ll be in the gym much less, and you’ll get way better results. I prefer 3-day per week full body workouts for most people, but 4-days per week has also served me well too.

4.) Employing Fancy Gadgets and Gizmos – This is pretty funny, but sad also. Parachutes, ladders, ankle weights, hand weights, thigh

Looks Cool, but not my thing.. I'll take the hill, please!

weights, tubes, cones, velcro/band strapped to every joint on your body, etc.. The list could go on. When it comes to speed training, the simplest methods and tools yield the greatest results. I have used nothing but a hill, sled/tire with a strap and belt for resisted sprints, set of cones to mark off distances, and a medicine ball to develop extremely fast and explosive athletes. In order to move fast… You need to practice moving fast. If you’re going to utilize resisted sprints that’s fine; sprint up a hill, or use a sled/tire with a 25-45 lb. plate in it and start sprinting. Keep the rest period longer if you’re after speed, keep them shorter if you want some extra conditioning and fat loss.

Remember, this stuff is simple. Yes there is a science to programming and planning (that’s why there are professionals out there that do this for a living), but you can still get results by doing the simple things, being consistent, and making sure you are making progress every time you train.

Have a purpose, a goal, and a plan, and you will not fail.

See ya,

John Cortese, CSCS

**Guest Post from Jason Ferruggia author of Muscle Gaining Secrets and owner of Renegade Strength and Conditioning; Enjoy.**

Change Your Mindset and You Will Build Muscle Fast

By Jason Ferruggia

Let’s be honest. Everybody wants to improve the way they look. I don’t know of too many people that don’t want to build muscle fast or lose more fat in a hurry. It’s just human nature. You want to appeal to the opposite sex and command respect from you peers. Personally, I am obsessed with performance gains and train for strength and function first and foremost, but even I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to look better. We all do.

But wanting and doing are two entirely different things. Everyone wants to dramatically transform their physiques and make mind blowing gains, but how many people actually do? How many people do you know that build muscle fast and get absolutely jacked in the course of even a one year period? Very few. And do you know why? Because they don’t have the right mindset. Change your mindset and you will change your body. With the right mindset you can make gains in as little as 12 weeks that other guys don’t even make in 12 years!

People who have made unbelievable physical transformations first accepted the fact that it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park and they were willing to work for it and do whatever it took. That’s not to say that it takes an incredible amount of time. You don’t have to spend every waking hour in the gym. You can progress incredibly well in just a few short hours per week. But if you don’t possess the proper mindset and the determination to do whatever it takes during those three or four weekly hours of training you will never get anywhere.

We all have commitments and time restraints that prevent us from working out as much as we would like to. But lack of time never was and never will be an acceptable excuse. If you search hard enough and cut out the wasted hours of TV time and other useless nonsense, you will find that we all have two or three hours per week to dedicate to our health and to transforming our bodies. After all, what is more important in life than your health and your body? Very little if you ask me.

Guys like Arthur Saxon, Dorian Yates, Arnold, Bill Pearl, George Hackenshmidt and Ed Coan all had the never-say-die, take-no-prisoners attitude that is an absolute prerequisite of massive physical transformation. Bill Pearl found that he was so busy that he had to rise at 4am every day just to get his workouts in. But that’s what it took, so he did it happily.

It doesn’t require fancy machinery and a high tech gym, it doesn’t take a lot of time each week, it doesn’t take any over hyped, over priced supplements; but it does take hard work, dedication and a burning desire to be the best. If you think you are going to loaf through your workouts and make head turning changes to your physique you are simply lying to yourself.

Will be this be the day when you finally make the mindset change necessary to achieve greatness or will you just keep putting it off ‘til tomorrow?

For a simple to follow, step by step plan that will motivate you beyond your wildest dreams and finally help you build muscle fast and get in the best shape of your life, while spending less than three hours per week in the gym, check out http://www.MuscleGainingSecrets.com/ now.

Jason Ferruggia is a world famous fitness expert who is renowned for his ability to help people build muscle as fast as humanly possible. He is the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness Magazine where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. For more How to Build Muscle Fast tips, check out http://www.musclegainingsecrets.com/

Yes, IMPROPERLY PERFORMED WEIGHT TRAINING IS BAD FOR YOU. This should be not confused with PROPERLY EXECUTED, WELL-COACHED, SOUND-REASON weight training. Unfortunately somewhere along the road the two got mixed together because a couple of morons got hurt deadlifting with a rounded back or not warming up at all and tearing a pec or injuring their shoulder on the bench press because they used a weight they were simply not ready for.

So, let’s go over a couple myths and lies about Strength Training for Athletes, shall we?

1. “Squats are bad for your back and knees” OK this has got to stop. Bad squatting is bad for your knees and back, this is true. Properly performed, full range of motion squats are NOT; in fact, done properly, they should be alleviating your problems. I don’t remember where I read this, but to loosely quote the author “If the exercises you are doing are making you feel like shit, evaluate your technique. If they are still making you feel like shit, STOP!” Look, we all like to making things more complicated than they really are for some reason or another. Take a look at the leg development of some of the best speed and power athletes in the world; Maurice Jones-Drew, Barry Sanders, Maurice Greene, Ben Johnson, etc. They didn’t earn legs like that overnight! I don’t care about genetics, natural athletes, etc because most of that garbage doesn’t apply to you or me! Properly executed squats will yield tremendous benefits to your athletic performance and physique. If you are unsure of what a real squat looks like, check this video out below:

2.) Machines are Safer/Easier: This drives me nuts. No athlete should ever be allowed to use traditional “fitness” machines. You know, the funny looking, expensive, space using, pieces of equipment that do most of work for you, while sitting down? Catch the last part of that sentence? DO MOST OF THE WORK FOR YOU, WHILE SITTING DOWN. Athletes need to train movement patterns that require some form of coordination, rhythm, timing, balance, mobility, strength, and speed. What machine allows you to do this? I know plenty of barbell exercises that train all of these qualities at once: Squats, Cleans, Snatches, Overhead Presses, Unilateral upper/lower body exercises, sprints, jumps, throws, etc. Yes machines are EASY because the machine has a fixed path that the resistance travels; usually up and down on some form of cable and pulley apparatus. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few machines out there such as the reverse hyperextension and glute-ham developer that have merit and are excellent for athletes and regular Joe’s to use; but if you’re looking for results, stick with free weights and body weight exercises such as push ups, jumps, pull ups, dips, etc.

Pretty sure she lifts weights.. Not very bulky or manly looking if you ask me!

3.) “Weight Training Will Make Me Slow and Bulky” I usually hear this garbage from females and inexperienced athletes in general who don’t really have a clue. I don’t blame them though, since the majority of popular media would like us to believe that women should only perform aerobics and use frilly 5 pound dumbbells, and athletes should be performing 1-leg balances on a swiss ball, juggling, while catching a football because it’s totally sport-specific (I hate that term by the way; “SPORT SPECIFIC”. I’ll touch on that topic in a future post). Let’s clear the air here; ladies you don’t have enough testosterone to turn “bulky” in the first place, and weight gain is simply a result of taking in more than you burn, simple as that. Nothing will get you “toned” faster than some good ol’ fashion weight training, coupled with a day or two of metabolic conditioning like sprints, jump rope, sled drags, etc. Same goes for athletes; getting stronger will only HELP your sprints and jumps. As long as you stay on top of mobility and flexibility (which you are, right?) and you continue to sprint and/or do some form of jump training at least once a week,  then you should see no loss in speed.

Now that I’ve had my soap box minute, what about you? I’d like to hear your thoughts below.

What myths and lies about strength training for athletes (or just people in general) frustrate you?! Leave ‘em below!

See ya,

John Cortese

How To Gain Muscle

By Jason Ferruggia

When it comes to the question of how to gain muscle, there are many things you must know and do. But, often times what is more important than what you should do is what you shouldn’t do. With that in mind here are five muscle gaining mistakes you should avoid at all costs.

1. Training Too Often- In order to grow you must provide your body with the optimal stimulus and then back off and allow it time to rest and recover. Without ample rest time you will never grow to your maximal potential. For this reason I recommend that you don’t train with weights more than 3-4 days per week.

2. Training Strictly For the Pump- Far too often I see skinny guys in the gym pumping away 10-15 rep sets with weights lighter than my grandmother would use. Yes, high volume training leads to a great pump but a great pump does not always lead to muscle growth. You can get a pump by treading water for a few minutes but everyone knows that won’t turn you into a mass monster any time soon. Chasing the pump should only be a small concern in your workout; after you have gotten your more productive work out of the way.

3. Not Cycling Your Training Intensity- Overzealous skinny guys love to work themselves into the ground. They figure the harder they work the quicker the gains will come. The problem is that when you constantly train to failure you will eventually burn out your central nervous system and this will greatly slow down your recovery and thus the rate at which you build muscle. If you want to make long lasting gains you have to back off once in a while and give your body a break. After a period of reduced intensity you can ramp back up again and repeat the cycle.

4. Using the Wrong Exercise Order- One thing that is often overlooked by those interested in how to gain muscle is exercise order. Always start your workouts with the most demanding exercise. So if you are doing a clean or any other form of explosive lift or jump this exercise would usually come before squats or chin ups. If you are not doing explosive lifts or speed work, the biggest compound exercise should almost always come first. Therefore a deadlift would usually come before a chin up. Also, the heaviest, lowest rep sets should be done early in the workout and the higher rep work should be done at the end. There are exceptions to this rule and times when breaking it could actually be quite beneficial but for the most part his is how you should plan your training.

5. Not Using a Training Journal- If you want to get bigger and stronger you absolutely must record each and every workout you do in some type of notebook or training journal. This way you can know what is working and what isn’t and you can also measure your progress over time. The most important element of the training journal is that it gives you a quantifiable goal to beat every time you enter the gym. There is no way anyone (unless you have a photographic memory) can remember all of the details of every workout they do. So without a record of it you are just guessing and never know if you are doing more or less than the previous workout. And if you want to get bigger and stronger you had better be doing more; be it weight, sets or reps

Now you know how to gain muscle fast by avoiding those five deadly mistakes. Train hard and stay dedicated; you will be outgrowing your wardrobe before you know it.

Jason Ferruggia is a world famous fitness expert who is renowned for his ability to teach people how to gain muscle fast. He is the head training advisor for Men’s Fitness Magazine where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. For more great muscle building information, please visit http://www.musclegainingsecrets.com/