When guys that are 40 or older approach me for muscle building advice they are often skeptical whether the advice is solid. After all, I primarily work with athletes, and what does some 25 year old pro athlete have to do with a 45 year old business man?

Well, to tell you the truth, there really isn't that much of a difference between the training for these two people, especially if the focus is on gaining muscle and strength. There are typically only 3 things that need to be factored in when you pass 40:

1. Hormones
Somewhere between the ages of 35 and 40 testosterone levels begin to fall. This drop in levels has been termed "andropause." This has huge consequences for building muscle, as anabolic hormones are the signal for our body to repair and rebuild. With less of these hormones you cannot repair your muscles as efficiently as a 20 year old. This fact should be kept in mind when designing the training program. Options for optimizing hormone levels should also be considered.

2. Injuries
Over time everyone begins to accumulate injuries. Even if it's nothing serious those little aches and pains can prevent you from training as hard or as often as you would like. Because of this a good physical therapist and/or chiropractor are a definite must. If you are serious about gaining muscle then you need to be serious about training hard. And you need to be serious about taking the steps necessary to able to train hard on a consistent basis.

3. Mindset
Call it wisdom gained through experience, or cautiousness due to age, either way it is often difficult to get people with long standing habits to try something new. I have talked to more than one guy in his 40s who was still doing the program he got from his high school football coach! Look, if you are serious about changing your body then you need to be ready to change the way you train and eat. Embrace new training programs and diets. What you've been doing isn't working, so try something new. Remember, the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing and expecting different results!

Keep in mind that I am pointing out the differences here. The basics of a good scientific training and nutrition plan still hold true no matter your age. Anyone at any age can make huge improvements in their physique. Keep this in mind the next time someone tells you (or you think to yourself) that you're too old to be lifting heavy weights!

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One of the best benefits of being on a restricted nutrition plan is having a cheat meal. There is nothing better than leaving the stress of counting calories and protein behind while you just eat for pleasure at one meal.

Cheat meals are as much about the psychological benefits as they are about the physical. So your choice of cheat meals should mostly be determined by what it is that you have been wanting. This will allow you to make it another week or more on a strict meal plan without losing your mind.

With that said, I find that some cheat meals are better than others for improving fat loss and muscle gain. These meals are high in calories, as all cheat meals should be, but they are also high in sodium and protein, which helps to benefit your physique in the long run. They also are deficient in trans fats, which should never be consumed in large quantities, even at a cheat meal.

1. Pizza
Pizza is a great choice because it is a high in fat, high in protein, and high in sodium. These 3 factors make it very anabolic, which means it will help you to gain muscle mass. The large caloric load will also up-regulate your metabolism, leading to more fat loss when you resume your diet.

2. Mexican
Just as with pizza the high fat, protein, and sodium content of most Mexican food makes it very anabolic. Couple this with the high cholesterol content, which is great for testosterone levels, and you have a cheat meal that will jump start your muscle growth. You also have a great opportunity to get some fiber in as well, in the form of refried or black beans.

3. Sushi
Complex carbs in the form of white rice along with a great protein source from fresh fish make sushi an ideal cheat meal. Couple this with the healthy fats found in fish like salmon and the high iodine levels in the seaweed and you have a great meal for promoting health and fat loss.

These are just some examples of good cheat meal choices. Remember that first and foremost you want to use cheat meals as a psychological break from strict dieting. With that said, I typically recommend you choose something relatively high in protein. You want to stay away from things like ice cream and other sweets, unless they are combined with a quality source of protein.

Keep in mind that we are just talking about cheat meals here. Just because pizza and Mexican food have some beneficial nutrients does not mean they have a place in your everyday muscle growth meal plan.

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If you look at the bodies of strength and power athletes you will notice huge amounts of muscle mass. This holds true for powerlifters, sprinters, football players, wrestlers, etc.

While heavy strength training plays a large part in the development of these athletes' muscles, it is not the only type of training they do. They also perform a lot of explosive training. This is also sometimes referred to as speed-strength, power, or plyometric training.

Whatever you call it, this type of training really hits the fast-twitch muscle fibers. These fibers have the highest potential for strength and muscle building so it is important that they are stimulated adequately.

Here are 3 groups of exercises you can use to shock those fast-twitch muscle fibers into new growth!

Jumping

There are wide variety of jumps you can utilize. Starting with the basic vertical and long jumps and then progressing to jumps over hurdles or up stadium steps. You can even add additional loading to jumps in the form of a bar on your back or weights in your hands. All of these variations have their own intricacies and will develop power in different ways. But if you are just looking to shock the muscles with something new then just pick any exercise and try a few sets. Don't forget things like clap push-ups as an upper body "jump" variation!

Sprints

Sprinting is a great total body exercise and I believe that anyone who dares to call themselves an athlete should be able to sprint well. Every athlete I work with, including swimmers and hockey players, will sprint at some point during the year. This exercise not only taxes your lower body, but also the abs, lower back, and even the shoulder girdle! Just look at the deltoid and trap development on an Olympic sprinter.

If you haven't sprinted in awhile then it is important to ease into it. Don't go right into an all-out sprint or you will put your body at unnecessary riskof injury. Start with short distances (less than 50 feet) and go at 60% speed the first week, 75% the second week, and 90% on the third week. If you're feeling good after that then you can try an all-out sprint, but only after an extensive warm-up.

Throwing

Throws can be done with various implements. I find medicine balls are one of the most versatile objects, but you can use an old plate or dumbbell, or even a make your own medicine ball by stuffing an old basketball with something heavy. Try a mix of throws to stimulate the upper and lower body. Chest passes, soccer throws, shot puts, and backwards tosses are great basic throws to get you started.

Give one or more of these explosive exercises a try before your next workout. Not only will you activate those fast-twitch muscle fibers, but you'll also get some variety in your routine and have a chance to workout outdoors.

Explosive training is one the important steps to building muscle that not only looks good, but performs at a high-level. Remember, if you want to look like an athlete then you need to train like one!

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If you’re interested in fast ways to build muscle and gain weight in record time, naturally you should ask yourself: "What are the best muscle mass building exercises to accomplish this?"

The answer is simple, but because the market is flooded with so much garbage all you hear or read about is either the latest supplement or “advanced” exercises. If real, solid, steel-like muscles are what you want then anytime you are introduced to a “new” or “advanced” way of performing an exercise, you’ll do yourself a world of good by throwing it out the window.

Too many times do I see curious skinny gym members look over at the “gym buff” doing some funky exercise upside down on an exercise ball with one leg up flailing a pair of light dumbbells around thinking that if they learned how to perform that exercise they can look like him. Forget about it. Whether it works for him or not is irrelevant, the bottom line is that this type of exercise or anything like it will NOT work for hardgainers.

If an exercise is “new” I can almost guarantee it is far less effective then the simple, basic muscle mass building exercises. Why? Because all of the best exercises for maximum muscle growth have already been accounted for years ago. They have and always will be the number one exercises for the single purpose of how to gain muscle weight fast. Nothing compares and they will never be bested.

Basic or compound exercises allow you to lift more weight, and the heavier weight you can lift, the bigger you will be. With that in mind, what are compound exercises and which are the best for maximum muscle mass? Compound lifts, or multi-joint lifts, are weightlifting exercises that force you to use more then one muscle group, preferably 3 or more.

For example, the bench press is a compound lift because although the primary muscle used is the chest muscle, your shoulders and triceps are also helping to lift the weight. Tricep pushdowns, however, are what’s called an isolation or single-joint exercise. Since this exercise just isolates a single muscle, your triceps, it doesn’t stimulate nearly as much muscle growth as a compound lift would. Though there are many different compound exercises, you must focus only on those that stimulate the most amount of muscle and allow you to lift the heaviest amount of weight.

Here are the granddaddy of all compound muscle mass building exercises that you MUST include in your workout if you expect to build maximum muscle mass in the least amount of time:

1) Squats (quads, hamstrings, calves, and also has an effect on most of the upper body)

2) Deadlifts (hamstrings, quads, traps, lower back)

3) Bench Press (chest, triceps, and shoulders)

4) Shoulder Press or Military Press (shoulders and triceps)

5) Bent-Over Rows (back, biceps, lats)

6) Pull-Ups (back, biceps, lats)

7) Bar Dips (chest, triceps, shoulders)

If your workout programs to gain muscle don’t include any of these exercises, then don’t expect to grow very much, and don’t expect to grow at all if you are a hardgainer. Try starting your workouts out with one of these exercises first, before you do any other exercises for that same muscle. This will ensure you exert most of your energy into the most important exercises, the ones that will be most responsible for your growth. For example, if you are training your shoulders, start off with the barbell shoulder press before you do any laterals, shrugs, or any other isolation exercise.

A couple of months ago, a friend asked me why he wasn’t gaining any weight and getting any bigger. So I asked him to tell me about his workout. You can probably guess what it was. Sure enough, he was doing about five exercises for each muscle group, mostly isolation exercises. He wasn’t doing any lower body exercises whatsoever, and the only compound exercise he was doing was everybody’s favorite: the bench press.

So here is what I did: I gave him a simple but proven workout program for fast results that consisted of ONLY compound exercises, which in fact doesn’t look too much different from the list of muscle mass building exercises above. I told him to just do a few sets of each exercise a few times a week and to focus on just adding weight to the bar every week. Did he grow? About five weeks later he e-mailed me back and told me of his improvements. He weighed 18 pounds heavier and added around 20 to 30 pounds to each of the compound exercises I told him to do.

Is this a common result? Those who are willing to work hard on just a few compound exercises can expect results like this, even hardgainers. Was it easy? No. He worked hard, just like everyone else who got results like this. No fancy supplements or advanced exercises, just hard work on the key muscle mass building exercises, lots of clean food and plenty of rest.

Now that you know the key muscle mass building exercises for maximum muscle growth in record time, I want you to use them! If you haven’t tried any of them before then you will be in for a treat. They’re tough, they’re demanding, they take sweat and grit and everything you got. They’re not the type of exercises you can do while you hung-over or on 3 hours of sleep. You have to have lots of energy, be properly warmed up, and fully concentrated if you want to get the most out of them.

But they will bring you more results then all of the other exercises put together.


Derek Manuel is the author of the best-selling How to Gain Weight and Build Muscle for Hardgainers. If you want to learn how you too can gain 20 to 30 pounds of solid muscle in as short as 8 weeks, or if you just want more quality information on how to gain weight and build muscle, please visit http://www.hardgainers-weight-tips.com

Building muscle is just as much a mental activity as it is physical. The mind controls the body. If your mind does not want to go through hard and heavy workouts, your body will not want to either. You will end up solely going through the motions and training without the intensity required for maximum gains.

Many professional bodybuilders and top athletes already use psychological techniques to give them that 'edge'. Arnold Schwartzenegger used to visualise his muscles growing bigger and bigger, until they literally “filled the room”. The record breaking and 400 meter Olympic champion Lee Evans owes some of his success to visualizing every stride of the race. His strategy is to "search out and correct weaknesses in every step I take". Tiger Woods' mental coach, Jay Brunza, hypnotises him to block out distractions so that he can focus purely on his golf.

There is one hidden reason why many people fail to build muscle or improve their physical attributes. That reason is that their unconscious mind will not let them

Bodybuilding requires supreme amounts of personal discipline in the face of temptation. It demands discipline over the mind and body as you face pain and fatigue at each training session in an attempt to surpass yourself. It demands discipline to keep working and moving towards your goals for many years. There is a saying that the ‘will gives up before the muscle’. If you can increase your will with mental techniques, then you can increase your training intensity, and thus increase your gains.

Bodybuilding also requires mindfulness. You must be mindful about the foods you eat and how this will affect your mind and body.

Being present in the moment when training, and being mindful about what you are doing turns weight lifting into a meditative pursuit. Focusing on the muscle as it contracts and relaxes creates a powerful mind-body connection. This allows you to move and squeeze your muscles in a way that maximises your growth potential.

Every time you lift a weight, your mind must lift it first. You must see yourself lifting it, and believe that you can lift it. I have seen many times someone accidentally picking up a heavier weight than they intended and complete their training sets with it. They thought they could lift it, so this removed the mental block that they previously had.

You sometimes hear people say they want to achieve something to only then follow it up with excuses, such as “I just don’t think that it’s possible.” Or “I don’t have the genetics” They have already defeated themselves mentally. Lots of people compare their talent to someone else's, and when they see how far away they are from achieving this, they give up. The person who believes – achieves. How can you achieve anything without the belief? You will simply go about it half heartedly, if at all.

Hypnosis can help you improve all these mental approaches. Hypnosis can help you establish your goals clearly through visualisation. You can also rehearse and practice with visualisation. Hypnosis can also help you believe you can achieve your goals, and keep you motivated to stick with your plan. There is also some evidence to suggest that through hypnosis, you can direct your body’s energies to places you wish to develop. Arnie was simply telling his body to build up his muscles when he visualised them growing bigger and bigger.

It is also widely documented that hypnosis can increase emotional responses in the body. These can be harnessed to release testosterone, which can further help muscular development. If you are serious about increasing your muscular, or indeed any other sporting abilities, then hypnosis could help you unlock your potential and go that extra yard you need for success.



Jon Rhodes is one of the UK’s leading clinical hypnotherapists. Click here for more details on exercise motivation - http://www.hypnobusters.com/hypnosisdownloads/exercisemotivationhypnosis.html

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