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 By: Marika Johansson
Weightlifting has an amazing purpose, it can fit in with most people with different needs and goals. You can find hundreds and hundreds of articles about how to lose weight, how to shape up and trim down but it is really hard to find editorials on how to add size or weight gain for women. Many articles have been published in both magazines and online about mass training but most of them are written by men for men. I thought I would change this path and reach out to the women out there that either have a hard time to gain weight, to achieve more curves to their bodies, but also to the more serious athlete who wants to build more size with the hope to compete on stage. I have many clients that come to me for help with weight gaining purposes, many having a very hard time putting on any size and curves. It is very rare these people get any recognition or help since most programs are towards overweight women trying to lose weight. Putting on size can be just as hard for women as it is to lose weight. To gain size doesn't mean that you will turn into a man or get overly muscular, trust me, that is such a misconception. People may stare at me because I put many male bodybuilders to shame but I have been training for over 15 years to get where I am with the goal focused on competing and to become a professional athlete. For women with goals to add size and curves there is no reason to be afraid of the weights or to train heavy.
  Click Image To Enlarge.People Stare Because I Put Many Male Bodybuilders To Shame. Muscles are needed to obtain your curves, to help your posture and to tighten your skin. The good thing with muscles is that they help you constantly burn fat which together with a good diet will give you a leaner look year round without having to do hours and hours of cardio. I have tried many different workouts and I know now that constant changes of different workouts are by far the best way to attack the muscle and to gain new muscle size. It is important to keep your muscles in anabolic mode all the time to get the result you are looking for - whether this is to build muscle or burn fat.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Constant Changes Of Different Workouts Are The Best Way To Attack The Muscle. Different workout plans matched together with a good diet plan will always do the trick. Try to change your workout routine every 4 to 6 weeks and make sure to give your body the best fuel and building stones for total muscle recovery with the right food and supplements. It is NOT in the gym you achieve growth, it's when you recover and rest.
Although this is strictly a training article I cannot emphasize enough the importance of workout nutrition. This is where a lot of your training donations will get rewarded. I highly recommend a pre-, during- and post-workout drink that will prevent your muscles from dying empty of glycogen during this time of stress. We need to have them fully fueled and loaded all the way through the workout to get the result we want and to make sure we don't lose any muscle size (atrophy) during the workout. My secret formula is actually originally from Sweden and I have been using it for over 10 years. I am sure many of you have heard of Vitargo. Many companies have been trying to copy this product but cannot live up to the real product.
This product is used by many top elite athletes and who cannot mention its name because their current sponsors cannot make the product. It's common in different sports all over the world and has been scientifically formulated and approved. Read more about Vitargo on my blog. The best thing about this product is that, not like others - it has actually been scientifically proven on HUMANS to work better than any other product on the market.
Workout drink: Post-workout drink:
I have trained with many of the best bodybuilders in the world - 6-times Mr. O Dorian Yates, 8-times Ms. Olympia Lenda Murray, Veronica Dahlin (Swedish world champion and IFBB Pro in 1988), Bill Grant, and Robby Robinson, to name just a few, and I have learned a lot of different ways to train and to improve my size. To make their workouts work for me I have taken parts of their workouts and composed various workout programs that suit my needs. Here I present 5 different workouts that will wake up your muscles from the long winter sleep and make them grow to a curvy summer shape, or to a competitive muscle frame.
 Click Image To Enlarge.These Workouts Will Wake Up Your Muscles From The Long Winter Sleep. I encourage you to try them all and use the best qualities that work for you. Some of the programs don't include the warm-up sets you need to do before hitting the heavy weights. Always make sure to do a few light sets before each exercise.
Dorian Yates philosophy was, and is, is to use mainly compound movements and to conduct only one set to failure of each exercise. Each exercise starts with two warm up sets to feel the weight, get the muscle prepared and warm for what's to come.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Marika Training With Dorian Yates.
This workout is featured on my training DVD Cinderella Story where 6-times Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates is seen mutilating my muscles.
Arms:
Warm-up set = just to feel the weight and warm up the muscle
To prevent this from happening we need to change strategies every 4 to 6 weeks. This will help shock the body since we work on different muscle fibers from low or high intensity, one workout to another. All the while keep in mind we still want to keep some intensity to keep workouts on the shorter side, and NO talking between sets!
 Click Image To Enlarge.We Want To Make Sure The Body Doesn't Adapt To The Workouts And It's Intensity.
Chest + Triceps:
The purpose here is to go to failure and then you drop the weight about 25% and do a few more reps until failure is reached, and then drop additional 25% one more and final time to failure. Try to hit failure at around 10 reps on the first weight, 8 on the second and then 4 more reps on the lightest weight. This is a perfect workout in case you are lacking a training partner or a spotter and still want to work with heavy weights.
Chest & Biceps:
Well, back to reality, this workout will fatigue your muscles like nothing else and will make you pass limits of endurance and lactic acid. Endurance Articles: Here we try to use only one exercise to maximize the reps and to shock your muscle by doing five sets going from high to low reps, and then back up from low to high reps which will total at 10 sets. It might sound complicated but it is as simple as can be. You simply use 5 different weights going from super light for your 40 reps to the heavy weight for your 5 reps with no rest in between. I can assure you that when you go back down on the weights from high reps it will feel much heavier than you began with.
  Click Image To Enlarge.This Will Show You That Only The Strong Survive.
Back:
Our goal is now to get stronger for every workout we do which means breaking weight records in every workout. This can be challenging but also inspiring especially those needing a lot of hard work. But as they say, "No pain, no gain!" This workout is good to use after a period of training with higher reps.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Our Goal Is To Get Stronger For Every Workout We Do.
Every exercise consist of 4 sets with a 45 seconds rest in between each of them. For this training method it takes courage from the female of not being afraid of heavy weights.
Chest:
If you are ready for something new and don't get the results you want, then try these 5 mass-gaining workouts for 12 weeks. Feel free to contact me at "marika@kagedmuscle.com" with your progress and/or if you are interested in a customized training plan made to suit your goals. Good luck! Recommend this article to a friend by e-mail here! Visitor Reviews Of This Article!
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