You already know what a barbell looks like and what you need to do on a Scott bench. Now it's time to start an adult conversation about what your workout should be like and how to properly shape and pump up your muscles.
You are no longer new to the gym, and you can even distinguish a pronated grip from a supinated one, however, all this is child’s play, and it’s time for you to learn everything about how to pump up your body at any age, even at 20 or 40 years old.
A complete guide from a professional to creating an intensive, smart training program. You'll learn concepts such as training load and volume, and learn how to optimize your workouts to achieve maximum results. The training complex for the whole body will be divided into 3 days according to the split format:
- How to pump up your chest and back muscles
- How to pump up the muscles of your shoulders and legs
- How to pump up arm muscles
Maintain personal balance
Among wellness trends, self-care is coming to the fore.
According to statistics, nervous breakdowns and depressive states are being diagnosed in 35% more people compared to last year. Therefore, the main thing that all adherents of a healthy lifestyle care about is the search for personal balance. This means that it is important to spend less time on social networks in order to give up like addiction and learn to take a break from everyone. Experts advise not to be afraid to travel or go to a restaurant alone. This will help not only relax, but also find harmony with yourself.
Dressing for WFH
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WFH (work from home) is a special dress code that has become a new trend for people whose office has become their home (and there are more and more of them since the beginning of the pandemic). Working from home in pajamas, a robe or stretched sweatpants is not a good idea. WFH is comfortable, but not too formal clothing, in which you can conduct a Zoom meeting or write a quarterly report much more productively.
Is it possible to build muscle at 40?
All of these aspects of training depend on each other, and if one is adjusted, then all the others must also be adjusted accordingly. Those who aspire to be true bodybuilders must be more conscious when increasing the intensity of their training.
This set of recommendations gives the most complete picture of strength training technology and opens the doors of the gym for both young and older athletes. There is no restriction to start building muscle at 40 or 50 years old.
Getting pumped up and sculpted muscles for a man or woman after 40 years of age is no more difficult than for a young person. More often than not, older athletes are more disciplined, while younger athletes find it more difficult to put together a training program. A person with an established career can afford sports supplements and the right amount of rest time and massages, while young guys are most often limited in this.
The human body easily adapts to everything, and if new conditions are not given to it, it will have no incentive to change. Try to create a plan that challenges you with its high intensity and have fun training.
Still in doubt? Watch the training of Alexander Yashankin, one of the brightest popularizers of bodybuilding in the CIS.
Sports nutrition will help speed up the process of quickly pumping muscles - proteins, creatines, gainers, arginines, BCAA, amino acids. These supplements are specially designed for athletes and fitness-active people of different fitness levels. Such drugs are completely safe, and their effectiveness has already been proven.
Stay in vegan hotels
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Not only hotels where the menu offers original dishes made from vegetables and cereals are called vegan, but also those where materials of animal origin - wool or silk - are not used in the interior. So-called second-city travel is especially popular.
This term denotes a holiday that is different from the usual urban tourism. You should not choose the capital of the country with the most famous attractions, but small cities where you can truly feel the local flavor.
Bodyweight exercises at home: how to increase the load
It is important to gradually increase the load as the body adapts to it. To do this, according to the advice of Edward Kazaryan, work with the following parameters:
- Number of repetitions . “Increase their number in each approach. In the first week, do 15 repetitions, and in the second, 20, and so on,” says Edward Kazarian.
- Number of approaches. Do not two approaches, but three.
- Duration of rest. “If you are a beginner, first rest 2 minutes between exercises. After a month, reduce the break to one and a half minutes, then to one,” the expert advises.
- Speed of exercises. By performing familiar movements faster, you also increase the intensity. However, remember about safety precautions. “It is important that you make a fast movement as clearly as a slow one. You need to learn this gradually,” adds Edward Kazaryan.
Bodyweight training can also be based on the interval principle, that is, performing exercises for a certain period of time. This method is effective for losing weight. A workout from Jacqueline Wood, a fitness trainer and blogger from the USA, was designed based on this principle. We invite you to try it today.
How to build a lesson
- Start your workout with a light warm-up.
- Perform the exercises consistently for the specified amount of time.
- Finish your workout with stretching.
- Do this program 2-3 times a week.
To complete the complex you only need a mat.
Stick to clean eating
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Clean eating is another trend that all healthy lifestyle followers are following. This term means a conscious approach to food and an emphasis on organic foods that are as rich in vitamins and nutrients as possible.
It’s even better if it’s local food with minimal processing. This is a new level of healthy lifestyle, which followers of healthy eating pay special attention to. For example, the global trend is alternative (or plant-based) milk. It can be used to add to smoothies, coffee or breakfast cereal. Second in line is alternative flour. Not so popular yet, but actively gaining momentum.
Don't forget about time for yourself
In the modern world, when every person has a job, family and children, it is difficult to find time for yourself. But adherents of a healthy lifestyle are sure that without Me Time it is impossible to maintain mental health.
It is important that dates with yourself are beneficial. This could be a workout for health, not for a figure, a beauty bath or meditation.
Is it possible to pump without weights?
Yes, to a certain extent. “Depending on how intensely you train, doing bodyweight exercises , you can achieve the following results: increase muscle tone, pump up your arms, increase energy expenditure to reduce body fat and overall body weight (a prerequisite for relief), increase endurance, increase flexibility,” comments Edward Kazaryan, expert in X-Fit group programs in Russia .
bodyweight exercises alone . own weight,” says Elena Chindyaeva, personal trainer, author of the Instagram blog @chindaeva_fit , nutrition consultant . “To do this, you need to add weights, work with equipment, additional weight and adhere to a different type of diet - with a calorie surplus.”
This is due to the peculiarities of our body’s functioning. “We use the musculoskeletal system every day, and our muscles have the characteristics that are necessary to work specifically with your weight. Therefore, by exercising without weights, it is impossible to significantly increase muscle mass,” notes Edward Kazaryan.
But there will still be a positive effect from exercise without weights. Firstly, by intensely training with your own body weight, you can get rid of puffiness, which will already lead to some reduction in volume. “Secondly, you will be able to increase muscle tone to get your body in shape. By training in different intensity zones (it depends on the number of exercises, repetitions, duration of rest), you will develop your endurance and be able to increase calorie expenditure, adds Edward Kazaryan. “The big plus is that with good exercise control, your workouts create a stimulus for the development of all muscles, ligaments and joints, and this makes the body more functional.”
And strength exercises with your own weight are a good basis for weight training. That is, if you have no experience in fitness at all, then after working out without weights for a couple of months, you can move on to full-fledged strength training in the gym. Because learn the correct technique for performing basic exercises and allow your nervous system to adapt to periodic physical activity.
Use additives
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To feel good even while in the rhythm of a big city, real health workers closely monitor their diet. They also use various supplements to saturate the body with useful substances and look good even without makeup.
Among the most common dietary supplements are collagen, chlorophyll, Omega-3, hyaluronic acid, and adaptogens.
Day 2 - shoulders and legs
Crunches
- 4 sets of 20 reps
- Body Part: Press Equipment: No
Raising dumbbells in front of you
- 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Body part: Shoulders Equipment: Dumbbells
Standing dumbbell lateral raises
- 2 sets of 10-12 reps
- Body part: Shoulders Equipment: Dumbbells
Elevated Back Lunges
- 3 sets of 12-15 reps
- Body part: Quadriceps Equipment: Barbell
Lunges with barbell to the side
- 3 sets of 12-15 reps
- Body part: Quadriceps Equipment: Barbell
Smith machine deadlift with straight legs
- 4 sets of 15 reps
- Body part: Hamstrings Equipment: Exercise
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Arm muscle training
At the end of the week, you will have the most enjoyable training. Your arms have been waiting in reserve and feel great after a few days of break after training the pectoral muscles and back, where their role was high. Start with the abdominal muscles and gradually move from joint to isolation exercises. It is advisable to finish with forearm training and a good warm-up.
Give up alcohol
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If you want to live like true adherents of a healthy lifestyle, you must say goodbye to alcohol forever. And the point here is not even about harm to health, although not without it. When you drink a glass or several, it's like you're taking credit from yourself.
By liberating yourself, you become who you want to be. But in the morning the harsh hour of reckoning comes. Challenge yourself and forget about alcohol as if you don’t want it at all. To avoid being completely sad, replace millet with kombucha - and life will sparkle with new colors.
