OK, I know what you’re thinking. You clicked on this blog HOPING like hell you’d find something different than the age old heavy weight for 3-5 reps for building strength, moderate weight for 10-12 reps to build muscle size, and light weights for 15-20+ reps to build muscle endurance recommendations…and guess what…you have! You see, when I’m asked what the most important variable is when it comes to building muscle, I NEVER start with rep counts. I don’t even start with the all important necessity of time under tension. And I definitely don’t start with the misleading measurement of how much weight you should be lifting. Instead, the focus must start before anything else with the concept of basic muscle contraction!
Addition by Contraction – Key to Building Muscle
All too often I see guys working out and it’s clear that the focus of their sets is on moving a weight from point A to point B a certain number of times. If their attention is on building muscle they’ll do this, as they have often seen recommended (and yes…as I have as well), 10-12 times per set. If the set is particularly tough they may even use just a little body momentum and muscle substitution to get the job done. Problem is? What’s the job?? Accomplishing 10-12 reps or ACTUALLY building that muscle? You might be thinking, “Well aren’t the two working together hand in hand”? Actually no…and this is where most are getting it wrong.
Let me explain. When you want to build muscle your main and priority focus should be on moving the weight by actually contracting the muscle you want to get larger NOT hitting some arbitrary number of reps! Sounds elementary right? But it’s not as easy as it sounds, and it’s certainly not a given that we’re going to get it right if we’re not 100% focused on doing it.
The reason being is that again, most of the time in an effort to perform something that is objective and measurable in our workouts we rely on counting reps and setting goal numbers of reps in each set. Hit that rep total in a set and you’ve “accomplished” your goal. Fall short and you may decide to decrease the weight a bit (the better alternative) or cheat your form even more (the worse alternative). Either way, the thinking is wrong…and it prevents you from building as much muscle as you can as quickly as possible.
How Much Ya Bench?
You see, if you want to add pounds of lean muscle you need a slight shift in mindset…and it starts with checking the ego at the door of the gym. Leave the chest thumping and bravado for the guy that grunts like Porky Pig with a sinus infection on every rep just to draw attention to the 400lbs he’s cheating up on every rep (exhibit A: the guy in the picture above)!
Instead what I want you to do is make sure that no matter what exercise you’re doing or what primary muscle group you’re training that you move EVERY REP of EVERY EXERCISE by C-O-N-T-R-A-C-T-I-N-G the muscle responsible for the movement or exercise. So, if you’re doing lat pulldowns or pullups then let the lats do their job! Pull down with the elbows, use a false grip so you eliminate the contribution of the forearms and try NOT to use your arms and you’ll consciously see how much more effectively you can engage the lats.
The exercise may feel like a completely different exercise done this way, and you might even find that you can’t do nearly as many reps as you’re used to or lift as much weight. And guess what? It’s perfectly fine, because when you actually contract the muscle group that’s supposed to be the primary contributor to a movement you get much much more of a training effect out of it.
Swinging the weights using momentum, writhing your body like a snake to do a Cross Fit style pullup (oh shoot…did I say that!) and forgetting for even a single rep to contract the muscle you’re supposed to be training is really one less opportunity out of the 10-12 you had in that set to get it right. Do that more often than not and the potential effectiveness of your workout (and ultimately the potential gains you would make from that workout) will be significantly diminished. And that’s the point.
Getting It Right…
If you’re going to be in the gym, busting your ass and giving it all you’ve got then you might as well be getting it right. Ever hear the old sports saying, “practice doesn’t make perfect….perfect practice makes perfect!”? That’s what I’m talking about here. And that’s the thing. When you make slight changes like this and the many others recommended in the ATHLEAN-X Training System’s 90 Day Workout plan you can start to appreciate why 30-40 minutes of training is MORE than enough to spark all new muscle growth. It comes down to efficiency.
Train hard or train long? Make the choice since you can’t do both. If you’re ready to train hard and you haven’t already joined the rest of the guys and pro athletes on “TEAM ATHLEAN” then what are you waiting for? Get into your new “athlean” body in the next 90 days by GRABBING YOUR ATHLEAN-X TRAINING SYSTEM HERE!
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Hey man good article.
But what about static contraction for building muscle? when you hold up your max possible weight in your strongest possible for 5 sec’s and your workout’s over. Many people have added 10 pounds of muscle in 10 weeks by static contraction.
Ronald he includes static contraction into AthleanX part 2 but it’s just a training phase like everything else.
Jeff, You hit the nail on the head with this article! Clearly, anyone who even try’s ANY of your so very much appreciated youtube videos or actually follow the AX-1/2 program, understand this concept quickly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone into the gym and get the comment “you need to bump the weight to get bigger”. Control the weight, don’t let it control you.
~Cameron
I always trained this way in the younger years of my life and yes it was all about the macho image in the gym who could grunt the loadest haha. 30yrs on and it’s only now we are getting the concept of how things are done properly to gain clean muscle and strength in a short time with a good eating plan which is the key to all training.
Was doing traditional bodybuilding workouts. got muscle, but go no core stability, etc. Since doing athleanx, I am not like the traditional bodybuilders, just mass. I have mass and speed. love the conditioning workouts!!!
Great article… I’m in my 40′s and have been doing Athlean-X for almost 7 months and have learned so much about physical conditioning. I know of a guy who benches like the picture above. I told him once your going to hurt your back benching that way. His comment to me… but I’m benching more than you…? With your program it’s made me realize i can work harder for a shorter period of time and get better results… Great program please keep up the great tips.
Hi, nice article. Im 15 years old I weigh 160 im a freshman football player and i want to weigh 220 pounds, how can i do that and how fast do you believe i can do that?! Thank you for reading.
I know you were probably expecting someone else to comment on this but ill give you advice that i wish i would have followed more. Before you get into the heavy lifting, get better at the technique associated with each lift or drill, these will prevent injury and keep you on the field more. And second, don’t think that you need to weigh 220 pounds to be a good player. I only weighed 190 and played middle backer in high school, but i threw my body around as if i weighed 225, and i got recognized for it. Pay attention to detail. Good Luck and keep your head up!
ERIC at your age i would eat everything you can just stay away from sugar,i would also do big body part lifting,bench dead lift squat with heavy weight low reps for 10 weaks then take two weeks of light lifting then go back to the 10 week program again.this should help you gain size and weight and hang in there you are still young and your just starting to get a good bit of your own testosterone and even more in the coming years.stay away from the roids they could stop your bodies natural growth at your age(bones)stunt your size
Thank you for your great advice!
I must say I’m reading every word on this website, not finished yet though. I can say objectively because I am not a customer (although seriously considering), and from my many years of formal education and training in physiology, kinesiology, sports medicine/athletic training, and three clinical cardiology credentials, that the materials written here are the most closely aligned to the science of resistance training than anything I’ve read in 30 years (yes, Im that old).
I apologize in advance for my questions. They are aimed to clarify your articles/videos as well as testing your science. I’ve just realized that not all your information is on this site (i.e. static contraction), which I can understand why, now.
I admittedly remain skeptical, mainly because I know the science and have seen so much bull over the years even today. No offense is intended.
Thank you.
A correction, the swinging pull-up is not a Crossfit pull-up. It is a transition style pull-up that is recommended for those that can’t do full body-weight pull-ups. This is called kipping. I leave it to experts as to whether this transition method is beneficial or not
They also recommend using powerband or chair assist in their posts.
The problem with Crossfit is that the WOD’s (work out of the day) are difficult if not impossible for beginners and even intermediate trainees. The warm-ups themselves involve full body-weight pull-ups and dips. You have to be in good shape just to even complete the warm-ups! Crossfit works if you are already in great shape. I doubt you can get in this shape without drastically modifying the program as a beginner or intermediate trainee.
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