Ah
yes. It's that time of the month again ladies and I don't mean that!
I'm talking about one of the many questions I receive several times a
week. It's about training, more specifically, repetitions.

The
question is "how many repetitions do I need to perform?"

Well, that all
depends on your goals. It's not a simple straight shot answer.

Exercises,
sets, and repetitions all center around your goal; whether it is muscle
gain, muscle maintenance, or fat loss. Let's discuss muscle growth so
you can get a better perspective.

Muscle Gain

Muscle
is built through intensity, heavy weight, and proper form. It is also
built with proper nutrition, adequate rest, and added supplementation.
Assuming you have that down, let's dig a bit deeper to really get those
muscles to respond.

Obviously, it
takes desire, work, and dedication to build a muscular physique.
Quality training is also a necessity to build a body of iron.

When
we speak of quality training in relation to muscle gain, it's a bit
different than just mere muscle maintenance or basic fat loss. The
working factor behind building muscle is receiving enough calories to
power the training, AND to feed the body afterwards to prompt recovery.

When you are training to build
muscle you have to train your mind, as well as your body to move the
weight because at least 90% will be mental energy.

To
build large and dense muscle you have to target the Type II B muscle
fibers, and those are recruited in the 4 to 6 repetition rage. This
does not mean you can just choose any weight, start lifting, and expect
to explode muscle.

The weight has
to be heavy enough in order for you to reach complete muscle failure at
the 4 to 6 repetition range. When you go beyond the 6-repetition range
you are doing more endurance and muscle maintenance training, unless
the set is taken to complete failure. (Muscle failure is when you
cannot possibly do any more repetitions within a set)

Countless
exercises and sets are not needed to stimulate muscle hypertrophy. The
idea is to stimulate, not exaggerate. Tear down the muscle and allow it
to rebuild and grow.

Constant
badgering will not make your muscle respond, but it will send you into
over training mode. With this, choose two different exercises for the
targeted body part and limit your sets to 2 or 3 in the 4 to 6
repetition range.

Get The Most Advanced And Up-To-Date Female Bodybuilding Information!

Example of a Quality Shoulder Workout for Musle Gain:

Read Part 2 of The Never Ending Question regarding repetitions and fat loss

**********************************************
Train + Eat + Rest = Muscle Growth
**********************************************

About the Author

Karen
Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988 and is a
multi-certified personal fitness instructor and specialist in
performance nutrition. She is a nationally qualified natural female
bodybuilder, holding numerous titles in the southern states including
two overalls.

Karen has written six eBooks on
fitness. She also writes articles for several fitness websites, and
distributes two monthly newsletters regarding weight loss and female
bodybuilding.

Karen
has helped hundreds of clients reach their goal of transforming their
body. Her success and success stories speak for themselves. www.Iron-Dolls.com

**The
contents of this article should not be considered as medical advice.
You should consult a physician before starting a fitness program.

This
newsletter is protected by copyright, 2003, Karen Sessions, All rights
reserved. You may use this newsletter in your e-zine or we site as long
as the copyright and links remain intact.**