As a personal trainer in Schaumburg, I see a number of papers, books, and articles written on building muscle. In fact, this is probably one of the most frequently discussed subjects within mainstream fitness.
However, a lot of these publications and discussions miss the boat on what actually needs to happen from an exercise-conditions standpoint. And honestly, it is really not as complicated as some sources make it out to be.
One thing I am seeing in the exercise industry is a lack of specificity. In particular, specificity when it comes to exercise design and prescription for an individual. This bleeds over into many areas – the type of exercise, the dosage of the exercise, the speed/tempo at which the exercise is performed, the tools used to perform the exercise. In fact, almost everything in the exercise industry is the complete opposite of specific. One size fits most programs; group fitness classes; semi-private training; exercise DVDs, books, and online programs; and exercise tips given to the masses are all examples of this.
Throughout my life, I have held many views on exercise. Initially, I was a sports performance guy. Anything that could improve my performance from an athletics standpoint was worth doing. That was the lens I viewed exercise through. Shortly after that I started focusing on two things: size and strength. Read more…
When you exercise, you use the muscles that are working well. In fact, we do this all the time, even when we are not exercising. We naturally default to making tasks as easy for ourselves as possible. Often times, we call this compensation. Having the ability to compensate Read more…
