#1 Factor in Building Muscle

My friend Vince DelMonte was the classic "skinny guy", but in the past few years he has built a lot of muscle and has helped thousands of folks around the world do the same.

He really has been a hero to the "classic hardgainers" over the years.

(He's even giving away a copy of his "Upside Down Workout". Click here to get it.)

And because he knows how hardgainers must train and eat, I asked him for the #1 factor that leads to muscle gains and making progress in the gym.

His answer?

Proper form and technique.

Here's why he said that...

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Craig, imagine driving into town and seeing a series of store fronts called "Doug's Dental Center" or "Bill's Auto Center" where you have a few dozen chairs for members so they can operate on their own teeth and cars?

Wouldn't that be crazy?

Or what if there was "Amy's Accounting Office" and "Larry's Legal Office" which provides offices for everyone to do their own taxes and legal work?

Of course, this doesn't happen. Instead, we all hire dentists, mechanics, doctors, lawyers and accountants to get professional advice.

However, walk into any gym and you'll see rows of machines and benches where members are free to join and do anything imaginable to their bodies - no wonder gyms have a 60% failure rate in the first 3 months!

If you approach me for fitness advice I can make suggestions to change your intensity, volume or frequency but none of that makes a difference if I cannot assess that you're training with proper form.

I know this is a critical issue from personal experience.

I have personally been trained by over a dozen personal trainers over the past six years and I am regularly corrected with errors in my technique so I have developed a skill set to detect training errors - yet I still continue to make them.

So how in the world is the average gym-goer supposed to detect error in their training form and how will they develop the skills to suspect inappropriate training form without any professional instruction?

Let me ask you another question.

Would you attempt to ski a double black diamond without mastering the technique required to ski on the bunny hill? Unless you're a lunatic I'm going to guess you wouldn't.

But beginners regularly march into the gym and start doing the same super-advanced program they found in the steroid user's guide magazine they bought at the bookstore.

Before I share my top do's and don't to proper technique let me strongly suggest to invest into a professional fitness trainer; train with someone far more experienced or invest in fitness videos that show you how to do each exercise with proper form .

Now Craig, I know you might not agree with everything I'm about to say here, but I truly believe this is the absolute best way for someone to train for maximum results AND safety.

Here are some do's and don'ts of proper technique so that you can maximize your weight training routine and avoid injury:

Do:

1. Focus on full-body workouts and include a variety of exercises for each body part so that you can strengthen the various supporting tissue from multiple angles.

2. Use a slower and more controlled rhythm to feel the muscle. Also focus on squeezing the muscle.

3. Focus on full-range of motion before increasing the speed of the motion. Increase the speed of the motion before increasing the load selection.

4. Use a pyramid rep scheme like 12, 10, 8, 6 reps to progress your weights up safely.

5. Breathe out when you push the weight and breathe in while you lower the weight.

6. Always stop 1-2 reps shy of muscular failure.

7. Stick to dumbbells and uni-lateral exercises before progressing to barbells.

Don't:

1. Avoid using momentum to move the weights.

2. Skip out on some dynamic stretching to assess any tightness in your body.

3. Perform unfamiliar exercises without doing an unloaded set or light weight set first.

4. Train through unfamiliar pain. Burning from lactic acid is acceptable but pain is not.

5. Perform technically challenging exercises at the end of your workout.

6. Bring your ego to the gym. People are more impressed with how you look, not how much you lift.

7. Train when you're muscles are overly sore and not recovered. Light weights and high reps is okay.

If you want to build muscle fast with safe workouts, those rules will help you achieve more in less time than ever before.

=> Click here to get a FREE copy of Vince DelMonte's "Upside Down" workout