Getting a top-notch muscle building program doesn’t automatically entitle you to big gains.
It is a very strong first step towards the accomplishment of your goals but it isn’t a guarantee.
Unfortunately, some people fail to “get it” even with the perfect program plan right before them.
They continue through life with a physique that they are unhappy with, never realizing just how close they were to positive change.
You have to work the program, suck up all the knowledge and apply the guidelines religiously to get the best possible results.
Here are some tips to help you make sure that strong first step turns into a results stampede.
1) Do Not Treat A Muscle Building Program As You Would A Cafeteria Line
Do not pick those parts that sound good to you and walk right past the stuff that may not immediately ring your bell. I can’t emphasize this enough. This is the key.
Again, the cafeteria approach is NOT the way to maximize your muscle gains. It is the way most trainers go about their training and the reason most trainers fail to receive significant results.
See The Muscle Building Blunder That Most Beginners Make article for more on cafeteria bodybuilding.
Unless you are a very advanced trainer, you simply don’t have the experience and the frame of reference that comes with that experience to determine what you need to do and what you should ignore.
People who have been in the fight, the Vince Delmontes (NoNonsense Muscle Building) and Sean Nalewanyj’s (Body Transformation Blueprint) of the world are guys who have already made all of the mistakes you are about to make – you can listen to them and save yourself some time and grief or you can learn the hard way.
You follow a proven program to take the guesswork out of building a solid mass gain program. You follow it to allow someone with appropriate experience to tell you EXACTLY what you need to do to achieve EXACTLY what you want in the shortest amount of time possible.
Don’t get a program and then keep guessing
Recently I saw a message board post where the poster reviewed one of the programs I rated with 5-stars. The review was lukewarm. He reported minimal muscle gains. He then went on to tell how he hadn’t really followed the diet advice, how he had increased the volume on some of the exercises and decreased it on others in an effort to work on his problem areas. In other words, he hadn’t followed the program.
This guy was an idiot. Any experienced trainer can clearly see the frustration train that is going to run over and keep running over this guy’s goals until he lets go of the beginner’s logic that is keeping him small. He had the right information right before him but instead of using it, he let his brain get in the way.
Don’t stand in your own way. Get off the tracks.
Follow the programs as they are written. The power is in the complete program. Unless something is said to be optional, don’t assume that it is. Not one of the 5-star authors put anything into their programs just for giggles.
2) Put Forth Intense Effort
A proven program isn’t a bus ticket to muscle gain, it is a map. That map will provide the fastest route to your desired destination but it is just a map. Until you get off your butt and follow the directions, you will remain exactly where you are now.
Not one of the programs asks you to move into a gym, not one asks you to abandon the life you know to pursue your mass gain goals. What these programs do require is that you change bad habits into good ones. Changing habits takes effort. It takes steady determination.
Until you are ready to supply effort, these muscle building programs are not for you.
3) Use the provided support.
Again, you don’t get a program to keep on guessing. If you don’t understand something, don’t hope and pray you get it right, make sure you get it right. This is important.
The top programs supply resources (monitored message boards, email consulting, tools etc.) that will help you get perfectly clear on the presented concepts. Take advantage of those resources. Don’t be shy.
4) Print it out
If the program you choose comes only in electronic format, don’t just read it off your computer. Studies have been done that show reading comprehension is greatly lowered when reading off the computer screen. You tend to skim a lot more.
You don’t want to skim past any parts of any of the top muscle building programs. Take the time to print them out and give them a thorough reading. Then read them again. You want to fully understand everything that is there.
How Do You Pick The Right Program For You?
If you’ve searched for muscle building information, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that there is no shortage of gurus out there promising to help you pack on muscle. Which ones deliver what they promise and which ones don’t?
That question inspired this site’s comprehensive program reviews. To get a little more into just which of the top programs might best fit your situation, check the article Choosing The Right Program (to Catapult Yourself To Big Muscle Gain).
Couple more articles you may like…
The Bodybuilding Tips Checklist: 21 Tips for Bigger Results
Check your program against this checklist and see if you are doing as much right as possible and getting the best possible results.
How Much Muscle Can You Really Expect To Gain?
Discover the story behind this controversial topic and what new trainers can reasonably expect when following a solid mass gain program.
