Another critical factor to be aware of, is the efficient use of
time. If a routine is performed in approximately one hour, the
muscle gains will be much less than if the exact same routine
was performed in half and hour. This aspect is a “secret” to
most. Time is one of the most effective ways to increase
intensity of effort.
When performing a workout, your breathing should be more rapid
than normal. This should start to happen within the first minute
of your workout. Ideally, your breathing should not return to a
normal pace until at least ten minutes after you finish your
workout. If your breathing pace has not increased, then you are
not training rapidly enough. This will seriously reduce your
rate of muscle gains.
I have rarely seen guys at the gym willing to train at the
required pace. An unwillingness to work hard is the number one
reason for lack of muscle gains. To inspire maximum results from
training, you must train hard. Your breathing and heart rate
must be elevated. But you know what. Such a pace only needs to
be sustained for fifteen to twenty minutes. Any additional
length will prove a waste of your time and effort.
When I first learned this secret, I focused on this one factor
almost entirely. Doing this had a direct impact on all of the
other factors involved. Training the largest muscle groups of
the body at an elevated pace, until momentary exhaustion,
literally forces you to workout briefly. Fifteen to twenty
minutes maximum.
By forcing a time constraint on your workouts, you immediately
raise your level of intensity. Simultaneously, you will have
managed to reduce the amount of time spent training. The
absolute opposite of this method is working out six times a
week, in a vain attempt to produce greater muscle gains. This is
simply not an option. If that was what natural bodybuilding
really required, I’d consider it to be a bad use of my time.
The best results from your training can, and should be achieved
by exercising no more than three times a week. In most cases,
maximum muscle gains will be achieved from only two workouts
weekly. Training time should be no more then a total of sixty
minutes per week, or twenty minutes for each workout. More often
than not the greatest results will be obtained by reducing your
total workout time per week to thirty minutes or less.
When focusing on reducing you workout times, training must be
intense and fast paced. The rest period between sets should be
reduced as quickly as possible to no more than sixty seconds.
Eliminating rest periods almost entirely should be your ultimate
goal. Although spending less time in the gym should be
considered worthy, saving time is not the motivation for this
method of training. Maximizing your overall muscle gains is.
Training at a rapid pace will dramatically improve the condition
of your heart, breathing, circulation, and muscle endurance. In
order to produce maximum muscle growth, fast training is a
critical requirement. Performing the same routine in twice the
time will greatly reduce your muscle gains.
The ultimate goal is to perform your routines in the shortest
time possible. A consistently fast rate promotes enormous
improvement in muscular size. Reducing or eliminating rest
periods is the easiest way to minimize training time. The
performance of your sets however, must remain slow and
deliberate. Momentum should not be used to “cheat”, as this will
risk injury. When the set is completed, the rest period before
the next should be really brief. Speed between sets, not during
them, is the key.
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