Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Muscle Building Deadly Sins You Must Avoid

By Ricardo d Argence

If you want to build up muscle over time, it's crucial for you to develop good habits. Building muscle continuously requires you to be regularly doing the right thing and taking the right steps. Unfortunately, people sometimes get into bad habits without being aware that they're risking their health and adversely affecting their progress. To help you make the right decisions, here is a list of the 7 worst muscle building habits and how to avoid them:

1.) The worst sin in body building: Taking steroids. For so many, many reasons this is a horrible thing to do to yourself, from acne, swelling, bad breath, discoloration of the skin, dizziness and trembling, nausea, vomiting, mood swings, balding, liver damage, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, cardiovascular disease, aching joints, and even a slight loss of height! Not to mention testicular shrinkage, importance, pain while urinating, sterility, and the development of breasts. Simply put, don't take steroids.

2) Attempting to lift weights that are too heavy. Being competitive and trying to beat your training partner might be good motivation, but it's important to be careful. If you lift too much weight, then you're increasing your chances of injury, which can cause you to lose form and slow your muscle building progress. If you need to use momentum to lift or lower the weight, or can't do so under complete control, then the weight is too heavy.

3) Consuming too much protein. An average persons protein intake level should be 0.8-1 gram of protein/kilo of bodyweight/day and a muscle building athlete ought not to take on board more than 1.7 grams per bodyweight kilo. Consuming more protein than this increase the likelihood of getting osteoporosis and also it could lead to irreversible kidney damage. Also your risk of heart disease is increased because a by product of protein metabolism homo-cysteine can cause damage to your heart over time!

4) Taking stimulants. Stimulants might not be prohibited, but they often come with numerous dangerous side effects, and it would be wise to exercise caution when taking them - or better yet, not using them at all. Stimulants such as ephedrine have been known to cause heart palpitations, heart attacks and strokes. For a less dangerous pick-me-up, try a caffeine pill instead. If you have any concerns at all about what you're taking, be sure to get a doctor's opinion first.

5) Some people seem to think that training on an empty stomach will make them burn off more fat. However your energy comes from carbohydrate therefore if you haven't eaten you will have far less energy and have virtually no chance of having a good workout. You will be unable to lift more than your previous best and you will probably be left shaking, jittery and even dizzy after your workout possibly due to low blood sugar levels. Instead have a pre-workout meal including thing like rice, vegetables and fruit.

6.) A failure to stretch properly. To prevent muscle tears, ligament strains, and debilitating cramps, be sure to get your body ready for your workout by stretching. Even taking ten minutes out of your day can help you improve your range of motion, your posture, and most importantly, your performance.

7) Not keeping a training diary. Without this how do you intend to monitor your progress? How can you keep a track on your personal best lifts. A training log is very motivating and simple to do. Why do you not make use of one.

So, keep an eye on those seven deadly sins of muscle building, and with a good dash of common sense, you should be able to avoid all of the bad and dangerous habits and have a healthy, safe workout.

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