What if I were to tell you that throughout the years there has
been a growth of strength training techniques that have no
scientific proof to back them up.

Well there are hundreds of them, do yourself a favour, have a
look at the facts presented in this outline of muscle gain
principles and make up your own mind.

Below you will find the Scientific Guidelines for strength training
that have always been around for a long time but not followed by
many main stream training systems these days.

1. Limited Energy Level

A strength-training program should be short and simple as you
only have a limited amount of energy per training session.

Scientific studies reveal that blood sugar levels (energy) start to
deplete after 30 mins, so exercise selection and the time taken
to perform them is crucial.

What you should be aiming for is stimulating as many muscle
fibres in the shortest period of time available.

Your blood sugar levels deplete after high intensity training
(usually between 20 - 30 minutes) and remember that you need
energy to recuperate after the workout.

The trick is to give yourself a high intensity workout before your
blood sugar level depletes, and then you will have given your
body the exercise that it requires to gain the maximum amount
of muscle possible.

2. Progressive Overload

Progressive Overload is the main exercise principle you need to
be aware of in order to get the results that you're after with
strength training.

The two most important points are:

* Complete your exercise with perfect technique
* Push to total failure when doing a set and overload the weight
on the bar progressively. (Overload your targeted muscles to
beyond what there used to)

Basically this means that when the body is stressed by high
intensity training beyond its normal demands, the body will
adapt to these new demands of improved strength.

When I say "normal demands," I mean what level of
stress/strength your body is used to now.

An example: The set that you performed last week using the
same technique and weight, your body will now have adapted
to. If you stay at this level your muscles will not become stronger
or bigger, so this is where the Progressive Overload plays a
major part.

Once your muscles have adapted to a particular weight then it'll
be time to overload them further (add more weight, speed,
repetitions). You'll need to keep on repeating this process of
overload if you want to become stronger.

Remember to always use 'Good Technique' Technique must
never be sacrificed for extra load.

3. Training Frequency

The sad reality is that the popular high volume type of training
that you find in bodybuilding books and magazines (and used
by the stars) is irrelevant to the majority of the population and
has a shocking failure rate.

What is good for Joe Star is probably not good for you.
Everybody has different genetics; most of us have poor genetics
and are not taking steroids like the stars.

The only way the majority of us can make any gains at all is to
perform short intense workouts followed by long periods of rest
so that we don't overtrain.

4. Over-Compensation

Many studies conducted around the world have shown clearly
that recuperation from strength training requires far more rest
time than previously thought.

Infrequent, short, high intensity weight training sessions,
followed by the required amount of time to recover and become
stronger is necessary for you to increase your functional muscle.

Here's what you need to do - allow your body enough
recuperation time for over compensation to take place, so that
the muscles can adjust to their new strength and growth.

5. Exercise selection for intensity

I can't stress enough of how exercise selection is absolutely
crucial. There are only a few exercises that you really need to
perform. These exercises consist of multi-joint movements.

These particular exercises are far superior to that of isolation
exercises (working 1 muscle group at a time) because you are
required to use more muscles from every muscle group.

By using these exercises your whole body will be worked hard.

6. Visualization

Over my 20 years in the industry, I've noticed that this area is by
far the most neglected by mainstream health and fitness
professionals...

Most books or courses concentrate on the physical side of
muscle gain or fat loss and completely neglect the mental side
of things.

By training your mental state as well as your physical body you
can even further progress in muscle growth.

Now that you know these strength-training principles put them to
the test straight away and stop wasting your time in the gym.