9 Beginner Muscle-Building Tips From Elite Athletes part 3

2 Add plyometrics
Plyometrics are a great tool for increasing speed and power—both important aspects of lifting heavy and building muscle. Plyos also increase your heart rate, so they can be a great way to incorporate cardiovascular training into your resistance workouts. Plus, plyometrics add some extra fun to your training sessions!

“You will often see me in the gym combining a leg press with a stationary high jump,” says Dawn. “This helps me activate all my muscle fibers in each working set I do.”.

The combination of a controlled movement with an explosive movement also helps Dawn develop her physique alongside her performance. After all, why build muscle if you don’t put it to good use?

Dawn also likes to build explosive, plyo-style power into her lifts. “On leg press,” she says, “I go down slowly and with control. Then I drive the weight up as explosively as possible to mimic jumps.”

Keep in mind that plyometric training taxes your body heavily, so include sufficient rest in your workout split whenever you add plyos as active rest or build them into supersets in your workout regimen.

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9 Beginner Muscle-Building Tips From Elite Athletes part 2

1 Adjust weight and rep range for your goals
You have complete control over how you build your body. But, in order to utilize that control, you have to have a clear vision of the type of physique you’d like to create.

“I don’t desire oversized muscles, but an overall athletic look,” says Jennifer Dawn, IFBB bikini pro. In order to perform well on stage, Dawn has to look lean, symmetrical, and balanced. To get that symmetrical bikini look, Dawn says she adjusts the way she trains various muscle groups.

“I lift heavier on certain body parts,” she says, so that she can really improve her weak points. Lifting heavy weights for lower rep ranges tends to be the fastest way to yield maximum results on any area she wants to fill out.

If your body is imbalanced—small legs beneath a huge upper body, for example—try Dawn’s tactics and go to war on your legs with heavy, compound exercises. Utilize heavier weights and fewer reps where you need to add some size, and lift lighter reps for more reps on the body parts you want to maintain but not necessarily build.

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9 Beginner Muscle-Building Tips From Elite Athletes

Building muscle isn’t easy, and it certainly doesn’t happen by accident. If it did, you’d see a lot more muscle-bound guys and gals walking the streets! Put simply, gaining quality size takes hard work in the gym and dedication to a good nutrition program—and not overnight, but over the course of a lifetime.

While you can fight your way to gains all by yourself, it doesn’t hurt to gather advice from fitness professionals who’ve already accomplished the goals you have in mind. These 12 muscle-building tips from Team Dymatize will help you learn how to perform better workouts, eat healthier meals, and supplement smart to aid your goals!

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