Contrary to what every fitness commercial would have you believe, a gym membership isn't required to build muscle. You can get great results when building muscle at home. You just need to know what equipment is needed and how to get started. Assuming you're generally healthy and can put in thirty minutes or so a day, there's no reason that you can't build lean muscle and burn off unwanted fat.
Resistance Training with or without Weights
Working out at home doesn't necessarily require a lot of equipment. Doing exercises with just your own body weight can yield significant muscle gains. Pushups, chin ups, and sit ups are great exercises to start with. Work on increasing the number of reps you can do until you're able to complete 5 sets of 15 easily. If you have a basic weight bench and a pair of dumbbells or a barbell, you can move on to heavier weights and a whole range of new exercises.
While building muscle at home can be more convenient than going to the gym, that doesn't mean that your workouts should be any easier. Strive to perform every set to failure. We're defining failure here as no longer being able to perform a rep in perfect form. Your muscles should be exhausted at the end of your workout. If they aren't, you need to consider adding more weight or adding more sets.
Don't forget the Cardio
In addition to weightlifting, you should add some cardio exercise to your routine. The great thing about cardio exercise is that you don't need any equipment at all, unless you count running shoes. Go for a brisk walk or jog to help burn off some of that excess fat.
Jogging can be surprisingly difficult when you're first starting out. You may find yourself sucking wind after just a few minutes. If you can only do it for a few minutes, that's fine. Just try adding a couple of minutes to each attempt until you're able to go for thirty minutes without stopping or gasping for breath.
Workout Schedule
So what does a good schedule look like for all this muscle building and fat burning activity? In the beginning, you should lift weights twice a week and perform cardio three times a week. For example, lift weights on Mondays and Thursdays, and perform cardio on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. You don't want lift weights every day, because your muscles need time to recover and grow.
A Word on Nutrition
Your regime of building muscle at home also includes eating at home. It's cheaper than going out and you can be sure of what you're eating when you prepare food yourself. Nutrition is a really big subject, but it doesn't need to be complicated. Make sure you eat lean protein sources, take your vitamins, and drink plenty of water. Try to consume about one gram of protein per pound of body weight, as extra protein is required to build muscle. Avoid all sugars and keep starches to a minimum.
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