Build Mass

There are a million infomercials out there promising hard muscles in half the time. Some are selling strength training programs, nutrition programs, or nutritional supplements. But in truth there is just one way to effectively gain hard muscles in half the time: speed strength training.

Speed strength training is about the ability of the muscular system to produce the largest possible impulse in the shortest possible time. This is broken down into starting strength and explosive strength. Starting strength is how quickly you can exert power through your muscles. Explosive strength is how long you can keep that power going.

Speed strength training will give you hard muscles in half the time due to the fact that you are engaging in cardio workouts, not just muscular workouts. The difference is in how high your metabolism runs, and how lean your muscle becomes over time. When you only do routine work outs, and do not include cardio, your muscles do not take in oxygen effectively. This means they cannot work at their optimum level, and therefore will not build as quickly. Speed strength training solves this problem, making your workouts more effective.

Speed strength training is comprised of two main parts: interval training and weight lifting. Interval training is about sprinting short distances or changing your pace abruptly while running. Planning a route that includes hills or stairs will force this change in pace, making your muscles work harder for longer periods of time. If you are working on strengthening your upper body, interval training can include doing rapid sets on the weights rather than taking it slow and easy. You should take a few minutes break between each set if you plan to take this route.

Weight lifting may seem obvious, but it is how you implement a weight lifting program that matters. You have to build muscle by pushing it to the limits of its endurance. As the muscle repairs itself it grows larger and stronger. This is done by progressively overloading the muscles. You can overload the muscles by increasing weight or resistance, number of reps or number of sets, or the general intensity of the work out. The more quickly you can increase overload, the more quickly you will get hard muscles in half the time.

Decreasing rest periods between sets can also help speed up the amount of time it takes to build muscle. Static holds are extremely helpful in building muscle quickly. In static holds you are held at the point of most resistance on the muscles for as long as possible. Strip sets are another strategy for getting hard muscles in half the time. In strip sets you use the heaviest weight possible to perform a number of sets with no rest. As the muscles become tired, decrease the weight and do more sets.