Top Ten Muscle-Building Tips

I know we're all in a hurry to get big, lose body fat, and otherwise enhance our athletic performance. In that light, I'm starting a series, a Top Ten if you will, on getting things done better and faster.

The first part of this Top Ten is all about building muscle: What are the tricks, tips, and techniques for building muscles that are bigger, faster, and stronger?

Without further ado, here they are:

1. Do compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, rows, pull-ups, and overhead presses. In that order of preference. These exercises stimulate more muscle growth because they employ more muscle fibers at once, cause increased growth hormone production, and also facilitate the mind-muscle connection.
2. Do 2-4 sets of each exercise.
3. Do sets of 6-10 reps.
4. Train to concentric failure on the last "heavy" set of at least one exercise per workout. This means that if you work chest, back, and shoulders, do at least one set of Bench Presses, for example, until you cannot do another rep without help.
5. Throw in a forced rep or two every few weeks.
6. Cycle your training. Don't go stale. I suggest using mini-cycles of 3-6 weeks on, one week off. The harder you train, the fewer weeks of hard training you do before a rest.
7. Cycle your supplementation. I suggest 3 days on, 1 day off. Repeat. Make your diet coincide with your training. This means that every 3 to 6 weeks, you take some time off.
8. Work toward progress. A little progress is better than none at all. Tweak here and there to keep progress moving. There's no sense in trying to build Rome in a day. It won't work and you'll get hurt and/or disappointed.
9. Get plenty of rest and drink a ton of water. Reduce inflammation by cutting out junk food including sugar, high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, and other crap. It does you no good. Even if it tastes really yummy and gives you a killer buzz. Nothing in life comes easy.
10. Everything is subject to change. Nothing is written in stone. Including these "rules."

That's it for now. Next up: Fat-loss Top Ten.