Defined muscles and how to train for them

Nature has arranged it that way: If you want a shapely body with great and defined muscles, you must train accordingly and provide yourself with the right food. Without regular strength training, our muscles can’t increase their volume. Here are the best methods and strategies for defined muscles:

You must follow the principles of bodybuilding

An athletic figure with well-formed muscles and a six-pack is a beauty ideal for many women and men. One can achieve this ideal with regular strength training and a good diet. But some people want a little bit more, especially more visible muscles. To reach this goal, they have to orient themselves to bodybuilding principles during their workout. Therefore, you should pay attention to:

• The following training tips are only suitable for athletes who have been doing regular strength training for a longer time.

• You should be absolutely healthy. The exercises strain the musculoskeletal system and the cardiovascular system.

• You should warm-up well before every workout.

• During the exercises, you should try to breathe as normally as possible. Try to avoid to hold your breath even while lifting heavyweights.

• All exercises are best done with a training partner or trainer. Because it is important to perform the exercises technically correct.

Defined muscles and the role of ATP

First, I would like to explain why the following methods help get defined muscles. ATP deficiency plays an important role. ATP is the most essential energy source in the body, and our body needs almost all processes in the organism. The following training methods are designed to consume ATP completely. This leads to the desired deficiency and the feeling of burning muscles. Wanted deficit because the muscle is then forced to store more protein structures than usual. This clever strategy ultimately leads to muscle growth, bringing you that much closer to your goal of defined muscles.

The best training methods for defined muscles

• Last Repetition: You will continue each set until the muscle is completely exhausted. You are no longer able to do another repetition. But, a famous proverb used by bodybuilders: You can’t do anymore? Ok! Three more repetitions!

• Peak contraction: You make every single repetition during an exercise more challenging by holding an isometric tension for two to three seconds during the highest point of muscle tension before you move on.

• Stutter repetitions: You move the weight by about a quarter of the total movement amplitude. Then you give in a few inches before you push the next quarter of the amplitude until the full range of motion is finally done.

• Burn Reps: You do an exercise until you are completely exhausted. Then don’t stop, but continue working within a much smaller radius of movement. For example, bench press: Make the whole movement until you are exhausted. Then do two or three more repetitions, in which you lift the barbell only a few inches.

• Isolations: You train only a single muscle until complete exhaustion.

More training methods for defined muscles

• Forced Repetitions: You need a training partner or coach to do this. For example, do an exercise to complete fatigue, and then a second person helps you do a few more repetitions. Again, the support is as minimal as possible. Another variation: You do a few more repetitions with a lighter weight directly after the set.

• Supersets: Here you train a muscle, for example, the biceps (agonist), until exhaustion and immediately afterward, the triceps (antagonist). This leads to an increase in blood circulation in the strained musculature called floating.

• Rest-Pause Training: An insider tip among bodybuilders. You choose a very heavyweight for an exercise (e.g., bench press or squatting), which you can only handle for one or two repetitions. Then, after a brief break of 15 seconds or less, you repeat the exercise again with the same weight.

• Negative training: Here you pay attention to the eccentric phase of an exercise. For example, bench press: When lowering a weight (eccentric phase), the muscles can exert more force than lifting a weight (concentric phase). So, use a very heavyweight for the negative phase and ask a second person to help you with the concentric phase.

Pay attention to sufficient recovery

The individual training variants are very strenuous, and the body needs time to store the protein structures. Therefore, you should give the trained muscle groups 48 hours to regenerate. Otherwise overtraining threatens. Since the regeneration time varies from person to person, it is crucial to listen to your body. A training diary can help you to better determine your individual recovery phase.