Building Muscle - 10 Tips For A Better Workout
Posted on November 29, 2007
About once every week I get some great tips from Vince Del Monte. I thought I would share the one I got this week with you. It’s “10 tips for a better workout”:
1/ Wear your iPod so nobody distracts you.
2/ Wear a long sleeve so you don’t get caught up doing “mirror workouts”.
3/ Walk right pass the cute front desk girl. No distractions allowed gentleman.
4/ Sprint on the treadmill (75% effort) for a five minute warm up before you do your weights to carry a hard sweat onto the gym floor.
5/ Do every exercise with a pyramid - That means you will do 10 reps, then 8 reps, then 6 reps and then 4 reps. Add 5 lbs each set and move onto your next exercise. Your last set of 4 should be a personal best.
6/ Perform each set like it’s your last. Don’t worry about the rest of the workout. Who knows? You might not even finish it if you keep up the intensity like this…
7/ Perform each rep like your life depends on it.
8/ Set your rest period to 60 seconds, using a STOP WATCH, so that you keep your workout honest.
9/ Squeeze the heck out of the weights as you move them. This means you should be squeezing the barbell or dumbells as hard as you can to recruit as much muscle as possible.
10/ Use a 201 tempo. This means you will take 2 seconds to lower (or raise) the weight. 0 second pause at the bottom (keep the weight moving) and 1 second to lift (or lower) the weight. This means you will not be lifting “fast” but you will definitely be lifting with a “rhythm”.
Hope you enjoyed these tips…
William
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Building Muscle - Not As Fit As I Thought
Posted on November 25, 2007
I have been to the gym twice since my last post - on Wednesday and on Saturday. On Saturday, I didn’t really want to go… only because of laziness… but I forced myself to go. And I am glad that I did.
I have come to realize one thing… I am not as “fit” as I thought I was.
Because of this, I have decided to incorporate a bit of exercises to improve my “fitness”
So, this morning I went cycling. I cycled for 30 minutes, did some push-ups and pull-ups and then cycled for another 30 minutes. 
I definitely still need to get into a proper routine… both with respect to my visits to the gym and my eating habits.
William
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Building Muscle, Commitment and Proper Nutrition
Posted on November 18, 2007
Good day everyone…
The last time I have been to gym was last Sunday. This has been so for a number of reasons… initially it was being sore from the last workout, then there was being unable to find the time and feeling tired and low on energy.
This made me realize the importance of two things:
Being committed - At the start of Vince DelMonte’s No-nonsense Muscle Building, the course which I am following, he talks a bit about having the right mindset… the first part to success in gaining weight through building muscle is having the right mental attitude and making sacrifices.
Proper Nutrition - I attribute my low energy levels to not eating adequately. Based on Vince’s Calorie Calculator, I should be consuming at least 3000 calories per day. This is based on such factors as my weight, sex, height and daily activity level.
I doubt very much that I am consuming this amount 
… So this is something that I have to pay more attention to.
I will be off to the gym later today.
William
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Building Muscle - Pre-Training Program
Posted on November 13, 2007
I went to the gym on Saturday and on Sunday…
On Saturday, I did lower body stretching and strengthening exercises as well as an abdominal circuit. The lower body excercises included exercises for calves, hamstrings, quadriceps and inner and outer thigh muscles.
On Sunday I did body conditioning and strengthening exercises. This consisted of a series of exercises using only my body weight, such as, pull ups, push ups, bodyweight squats, bench dips, etc.
I didn’t go to the gym yesterday and I may not go today, since my muscles are still a bit sore and may need some more time to recover… According to Vince DelMonte, recovery is absolutely important..
William
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Building Muscle - Upside Down Pre-Training Program
Posted on November 10, 2007
As I have indicated before, Vince’s Non-nonsense Muscle Building Program has a 4-week pre-training program.
This 4-week program is aimed at:
1) minimizing personal muscle weaknesses,
2) ensuring that both sides of your limbs are performing equally
3) minimizing possible injuries during the full 29-week muscle building program
Now I can’t give the details of the 4-week program, but I would like to give a small overview of what is involved.
The program can be basically broken down into 4 parts:
1) Lower body stretching exercises
2) Upper body stretching exercises
3) Lower body strengthening exercises
4) Upper body strengthening exercises
The exercises include exercises that strengthen weak core muscles, which is very important for having good posture. Also, many of the exercises are body weight exercises which improves functional strength and conditioning.
Vince suggests a schedule where you would have 4 days in the gym and 3 rest days.
Well, I’ll be off to the gym this evening and would be doing Lower body stretching and strenghting exercises as well as abdominals (part of your core muscles).
Till Next Time,
William
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Building Muscle - My First Day Back At The Gym
Posted on November 4, 2007
Today was my first day back at the gym since I have done my research. As I indicated, I am following the programs in Vince DelMonte’s No-nonsense Muscle Building.
In his manual, Vince gives a 4-week pre-training program which is geared towards conditioning your muscles for the extensive muscle building program afterwards. This 4-week program, among other things, would help to minimise injuries.
As such, today I did quite a bit of stretching and only body weight exercises - push-ups, pull-ups, dips, etc.
I will be back at the gym tomorrow…
William
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I Signed Up For The Gym Today
Posted on November 1, 2007
Today I went and signed up again at the gym. I am hoping to start actual training on Saturday.
In the meanwhile, I am going over the programs given in Vince DelMonte’s No-nonsense Muscle Building Book and taking some serious notes.
Something that I found very interesting and I totally agree with is that in addition to the full weight training program, Vince also gives a 4-week pre-training program. This program is to minimize muscle weaknesses, ensure both sides of your limbs are performing equally as well as to minimize possible injuries…
… Makes sense, doesn’t it?
Till Next Time,
William
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Who Is Vince DelMonte?
Posted on October 26, 2007
I just wanted to give a synopsis of Vince DelMonte. This short overview is extracted from his website - Vince DelMonte Fitness.
Vince knows what it takes to build muscle, lose weight and overcome muscle unfriendly genes in the shortest time possible. He was so skinny growing up, he earned the nickname Skinny Vinny.
Competing in long distance sports such as running and triathlon for ten years did not help improve his chances of overcoming his muscle unfriendly genes.
Over the course of six months, Vince gained over 41 pounds of rock-hard muscle and climbed the scale from a scrawny 149 pounds to a muscular 190 pounds without drugs, without a lot of supplements and training only three days per week.
After entering the world of competitive fitness modeling he became the Canadian Fitness Model Champion in his third show ever! His transformation even caught the attention of the International fitness magazine Maximum Fitness which featured a 2 page spread of his transformation story.
Vince has an Honors Degree in Kinesiology and has been a Personal Trainer for five years. He now shares this information with anybody who is serious about building muscle - especially skinny guys who can’t gain muscle weight. Just recently he has authored the brand new e-book “No Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain.” This is a 199 page manual that teaches skinny guys how to build muscle and gain weight quickly naturally and in less time.
Vince believes that the majority of skinny guys are mislead and misinformed with what it takes to build muscle. Naturally skinny guys need to play by a different set of rules and his mission is to empower and inform each client to reach their true genetic potential completely drug free.
Vince DelMonte is the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain
Well there you have… a bit about Vince. I purchased his book and would be following his program.
William
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Going Back To The Gym - To Build Muscle And Gain Weight
Posted on October 20, 2007
Over the last few weeks I have been researching and reading a lot about building muscle and gaining weight. For those of you who haven’t been following my blog, here is a brief overview of my story up till now:
“Earlier this year, I did a full medical which showed that I was healthy. However, I am about 5 lbs underweight for my gender, age, height and body type. So I asked the doctor, what can I do to gain weight. He indicated that since I am ectomorphic (naturally slim), I would have to go the gym and lift some weights… do heavy weights for small reps.
I joined the gym a few months after and started training.. doing just as the doctor said as well as some advice from the trainers in the gym. I was in the gym for about 3 - 4 months.
…And The Results….. Nothing Significant… I didn’t gain any weight.
I became a little frustrated and decided to stop the gym and do some research as to find out why is hard for me to gain weight…
Is it simply because I have a high metabolism?
Is it that I haven’t been training properly?
Is it that I wasn’t training long enough?
… I wanted answers!
Anyways, like I said, I have spent the last few weeks doing research and reading a lot; books, websites, magazines, etc
Here are my favourite resources:
Websites: building-muscle101.com, muscleandstrength.com, gain-weight-muscle-fast.com
Magazines: Men’s Fitness, Muscle and Fitness
Books: Vince DelMonte’s Insane Gain Report: Avoid The Top 20 Ways To Screw Up In The Gym, Vince DelMonte’s No-nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain
Actually, after reading Vince’s Insane Gain Report, I decide to buy his full program - No-nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain.
His Insane Gain Report, made me quickly aware that I was guilty of several mistakes, thereby jeopardizing my chances to gain weight.
His No-nonsense Muscle Building book is also quite good. I haven’t read the entire book, but I like it so far because Vince is very thorough and covers many issues that affects successfully building muscle and gaining weight. Vince also gives you a Muscle Growth Program - A Step-by-Step Program telling you what to do, when to do it and how to do it include what to eat!
When I am finished reading the book… should be by the end of next week I will do a full review of the book for you.
…And Now I am ready to go back to the gym and start back training. I am going to follow the programs, recommendations and strategies given in Vince’s No-nonsense Program.
Here are a few things that I discovered that are critical for someone like me (naturally slim) to build muscle and gain weight:
1/ I have to train above my threshold
2/ I have to do what is called “progressive overloading”
3/ I have to allow by muscle to recovery fully
4/ I must eat more calories than my body is burning
So over the next several months I would be reporting on my progress with his program.
Also, please take a look at his short report - Insane Gain Report: Avoid The Top 20 Ways To Screw Up In The Gym… Very useful information.
William
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Building Muscle Mistakes - Part 3
Posted on October 16, 2007
Ok, so here are another four common mistakes that are made when trying to build muscle
Mistake No.7 - Not Making Consistent Strength Gains
Vince indicates that your muscular size is ALMOST (there are many other factors) a direct correlation to your muscle strength. I then follows that if you focus on a program that prioritizes building your strength, the mass will come… Interesting isn’t it!
Mistake No.8 - Training Instinctively And Not Listening To Your Body
Put Simply - “Building muscle is based on improving the intensity of the workout progressively each session. So why complicate things by following this ‘inner compass’ that has never been scientifically verified to work?”
Mistake No.9 - Focusing On Getting A Pump
The ‘muscle pump’ is described as when you put your muscles under an extended period of constant tension. As your muscles stretch and contract they become gorged with blood that makes them feel tighter and fuller.
Vince points out that some bodybuilders swear that getting a pump is important… but in reality it isn’t.
Mistake No. 10 - Reading BodyBuilding Magazines
Vince starts off by asking - “Do you think professional athletes and professional strength training coaches read bodybuilding magazines?”
It is in fact important to remember that one of the main focuses of such magazines is marketing!
Well there you are… another four mistakes. I am continuing to do a lot of reading and research… and I am going to share more of what I have found with you.
Till Next Time,
William
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