For natural bodybuilding, the mirror in the weight room tells the truth...and he won't let you forget it! If you don't like what you see in the mirror, it isn't the mirror's fault. A friend will make you aware of your faults but put up with you anyway. A mirror will make you aware of the flaws in your physique, and you should pay attention to him, because he is not swayed by public opinion. He just reflects things the way they are.
The first thing the mirror can help you change is your attitude. Look at your face! If it is not smiling, take a deep breath. Practice lip curls on each corner of the mouth. Simultaneously and bilaterally, with the help of the cheek muscles lift your lip corners upward, imagining that you are trying to touch the right lip corner to the outside corner of the right eye and the left lip corner to the outside corner of the left eye. The muscle around the lips that helps you say "Oh!" is called the orbicularis orbis. Once you have learned the proper technique for performing lip attitude adjustments, you can say, "Oh! That was easy!" and then you can smile, stand back from the mirror, and look at the remarkable change your workout has accomplished in your appearance. Learning this technique is much more difficult for some guys than others, but in this case, attitude is 99% and effort only 1%.
Other adjustments are not quite so easy. Position yourself where you can see the full length of your body--first from a frontal position, and then from the side. Get a general mental picture of your overall appearance. If the first thing you see is fat, then you need to work on weight reduction. Lots of people pay big bucks to hear a doctor say they need to diet and exercise (I know this is true, because I type patients' office visit notes for doctors, and this happens regularly)! If you look skinny, then look for articles by reputable writers on smart weight gain plans. Visit your mirror friend regularly for a truthful update on your natural bodybuilding progress.
What does a natural bodybuilding judge do when the remaining two guys in a posedown are standing there side by side, one with a better build from the waist up and the other with a better physique from the waist down? How does he decide? The mirror will tell you what should be the location of your focus of effort. The mirror is a good pal when it comes to performing tricep pushdowns. Stand with your left side facing the mirror, and turn your face to the left. Use the mirror to ensure that each time you perform a repetition that you are using correct form and holding your elbows still. Repeat the process for the right side.
The same is true with incline presses. Use the mirror to make certain your body is symmetrically aligned with the bench and the weights. Symmetry is achieved when corresponding muscles on each side of the body are exercised equally. The mirror lets you know if one side of your body is doing more work. It will also tell you if you are cheating. I cannot pay the mirror to show what he can't see. What I see in the mirror most surely looks like me. When you are true to yourself and the mirror, you will get better results with natural bodybuilding.
Copyright 2008, Masszymes Inc. All rights reserved.
Kevin Dillon is a serious bodybuilder who has built muscle fast using the natural bodybuilding training system, Freaky Big Naturally. Get a FR-EE shocking Insider Report on Natural BodyBuilding, a Muscle-Primer Program and more at http://natural-bodybuilding.freakygrowth.com.
Why Your Muscle Pumps Have Nothing To Do With Your Muscle Gains
Your back is firmly planted on the bench as you wrap your chalked hands around the cold, steel bar. Your training partner helps you un-rack the weight as you power the bar up and down, squeezing your chest and triceps on each grueling rep. You complete your 6 repetitions, re-rack the bar and stand up.
Your chest feels tight and engorged with blood. You take a look in the mirror, thrilled with how full and vascular your pecs appear. You feel strong, powerful, healthy and motivated to blast through the rest of your workout with your newly achieved “pump”.
Let’s face it, a pump feels incredible. For those of you who aren’t quite sure what I’m talking about, a pump is the feeling that you get as blood becomes trapped inside your muscle tissue as a result of resistance training. The muscles will swell up and increase in size, vascularity and tightness.
There is certainly nothing wrong with achieving a pump in the gym, and it is simply a natural result of intense weight training. However, contrary to what the majority of weightlifters may think, a pump is in no way indicative of a successful workout. Anyone who uses the intensity of their pump as a gauge for the effectiveness of their workout is making a costly error.
On countless occasions I've heard lifters raving about the massive pumps they get in the gym as they share methods for achieving the best pump possible. "Dude, this will give you a crazy pump!" If you have already been working out for a decent amount of time then you know exactly what I'm talking about. While a pump does feel extremely satisfying, just remember that it means very little in terms of muscle stimulation and growth.
A pump is simply the result of extra blood within the muscle tissue. Think of it this way: if I took a pair of 10 pound dumbbells and performed 300 reps of a bench press movement, I would achieve an incredible pump. If muscle pumps meant muscle growth, then super light weight, ultra high rep programs would be the most effective way to grow. Any serious lifter with half a brain knows that this simply is not the case.
Do you want to know how to truly gauge the success of a workout? Here it is…
Take your workout records (in terms of weight and reps) from the previous week and compare it to the current week. Did you improve? Were you able to either increase the resistance slightly on each exercise, or perform an extra rep or two?
If so, you had a successful workout, regardless of how much blood you were able to pump into your muscle tissue.
Building muscle mass and strength is all about training with 100% intensity on every given set and then striving to improve from week to week. If you are able to consistently achieve this, your muscle size and strength will increase faster than you ever thought possible, with or without a pump.
I hope this article cleared up your confusion on the issue of "muscle pumps". There's so much misleading muscle-building information circling around on the Internet these days that it can sometimes be impossible to know who to listen to. If you want to learn the truth about 14 other common, counterproductive "myths", visit my webste below for details.
About The Author
Sean Nalewanyj is a bodybuilding author, dedicated trainer and writer of top-selling Internet Muscle-Building E-Book: The Truth About Building Muscle. Learn why 95% of trainees in the gym will NEVER see any significant results by visiting his website: MuscleGainTruth
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