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The human body contains hundreds of different muscles, and with a little dedication and desire, you can exercise to strengthen and build up each group. All muscles increase in size if exercised regularly, and some exercises have a “faster” and more pronounced effect than others. That means to establish a successful strength and muscle building program, you should get guidance from a professional strength trainer. Many strength training experts recommend that you round out a regular exercise program with at least two strength-training workouts a week. Those guidelines are also recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine.

Here are five keys for setting up a successful strength- and muscle-building program:

1) Initially, your muscles will need an excessive amount of stimulus in order to become strong. Once you’ve gotten used to the program, you should adjust the amount of stimulus (with the guidance of a strength-training expert) to continue improving.

For best results, your body will require variety. In order for your neuromuscular system to advance you’ll need to vary the weight you lift, or the number of lifts.

2) Increase the amount of weight you lift at regular intervals, and get enough rest to avoid overtraining.

3) For optimal success, your muscle-building program should include regular

repetition of similar exercises, and easy, recovery workouts as a way to follow-up more strenuous workouts.

4) Experts recommend that you plan your most strenuous or demanding workouts after a few days rest. About two days later your next workout should be a recovery-type session involving lighter weights and fewer repititions. Following another day of rest, you can workout at an intensity that falls somewhere between your first and second session.

5) When building muscles by lifting weights, it’s important that you learn to pace yourself. Strength-training experts say that the weights you use should be small enough for you to complete 8 or more repititions. Before you add more weight, you should increase the number of repititions. The suggested goal is 12 repititions per minute. The general rule is: if you can perform three sets of 15 repititions on one muscle group without any problems, you are ready to add more weight.

One of the best ways to build up your muscles is to go to a health club and take advantage of the various weight-lifting machines. These machines, if used properly, can strengthen specific groups of muscles and are safer than free weights. Good health clubs also provide a staff trainer to supervise your muscle-building program.

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