Exercises for female muscle mass gain
45 ° leg press: muscle groups: hip extensors and knees.
Squat: muscle groups: hip extensors and knees. According to the positioning of the feet, we can have a greater contribution from the hip adductors.
Sink: muscle groups: hip and knee extensors. Due to instability, we have a greater contribution from the middle gluteus and hip adductors.
Leg flexion in the machine: muscles used: knee flexors, which are: biceps femoris; semitendinosus and semimebranaceous.
Abduction and adduction with apparatus: muscle groups: hip adductors and abductors.
Exercises for male muscle mass gain
Gain muscle mass in the chest and triceps
Bench presses – straight, inclined, declined: muscle groups: horizontal flexors of the shoulder, extensors of the elbow.
They can be with barbells with dumbbells.
Crucifix : muscle groups – horizontal flexors of the shoulder and flexors of the elbow.
Gain muscle mass in the back and biceps
Fixed bar with pronated grip: muscle groups – shoulder extensors and adductors, according to the width of the grip, and elbow flexors.
High pull – open grip, supine grip: muscle groups – shoulder adductors and elbow flexors.
Curved row: muscle groups – horizontal shoulder extensors and elbow flexors.
Standing rowing: muscle groups – shoulder abductors and elbow flexors.
The importance of muscle rest time
For a workout to gain muscle mass perhaps rest is more important than the training itself.
The real gains happen during rest, that is, muscle growth happens after training while resting.
It is recommended, for total restoration of the energy levels of the organism, at least 20h interval between one training and another. High-level athletes have decreased this time. For practitioners of weight training or resistance exercises with high loads the recommended is 48 to 72 hours.
This time is sufficient for the replacement of muscle glycogen (the main energy reserve of cells) in the body, but it does not mean that the muscle is fully recovered, some studies indicate rests of 4 days or more depending on the intensity of the training.
Without proper rest, adequate nutrition, training that requires more than the physical capacity supported can lead to over training, a condition that leads to muscle loss or reduced gains.
Stretching: an important ally for muscle mass gain
Stretching is a set of techniques that increase flexibility. Therefore, stretching is to perform a series of exercises that will stimulate the muscle spindle by stretching the muscle.
Thus, it is considered an activity in itself, not recommended before hypertrophy training, as it increases the risk of injury and compromises the performance of maximum strength and power.
If you want to warm up before training you can do some sets with no load, or with reduced load for specific exercises.
Now, stretching is a useful tool only for the end of training with the objective of relaxation. There is no consistent evidence that stretching after training can reduce injury or delayed muscle pain.