Stretching For Bigger Muscles

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Can stretching really lead to bigger muscles? Yes it can! Today we look at how stretching can help you on your journey to those bigger arms and massive legs.

One of my favorite reasons why stretching helps muscle growth is because it elongates the muscle. By elongating the muscle, there is more space for the muscle to grow and makes the muscle look bigger and more aesthetic. It won’t look shortened or too small for the area it is supposed to cover anymore.

Static Stretching

Static stretching is a type of stretching where you stretch and hold a certain muscle for a few seconds before releasing (like toe touches). Research has shown that static stretching before exercise (hamstring stretch before running, for example) does not actually decrease the risk of injury. Research has also shown that static stretches do not improve muscle performance either, but actually decrease muscle output. For example, stretching biceps in a static fashion before doing bicep curls will decrease their maximum output before failure. This effect lasts for over an hour following a good, thorough static stretch.

Does this mean that there is no place for static stretches in the world of muscle growth? Not at all! Static stretches aren’t effective as a warm-up or before exercise, but they do offer benefits like increasing range of motion, releasing tension and correcting postural imbalances.  All of which will decrease overall risk of injury in the long-term and help with optimize muscle gain. By increasing range of motion, you are able to get the best out of every rep. For example, people who have a problem with their heels lifting off the floor during the squat (bad form) because of tight calves muscles and tendons can do static calf stretches for a few days to loosen them so that heels are flexible enough to stay on the ground and stabilize the squat movement. Lifting weights can tighten muscles over time which leads to them losing their overall range of motion. For example, people who have built up their upper bodies but have not stretched regularly can often feel uncomfortable when resting with their hands folded behind the back of their head.  This is not because their muscles are too big, but because their muscles have grown tighter over time. Static stretching can both prevent and undo this.

As discussed above, static stretching is NOT best done before exercise. Static stretching can be done after exercise to cool down. This works well because when the muscles are warm, they are more flexible and will therefore respond well to stretching. Even better, static stretching is great to do on rest days for a variety of reasons. Firstly, not much energy is required to stretch and this means that you are still not burning too much energy on your off day. Furthermore, static stretching releases built up tension. It also and relaxes the muscles. This helps them to recover faster and grow more. Static stretching also helps to improve blood flow which helps the muscles disperse lactic acid and get the nutrients needed for recovery.

Dynamic Stretching

Dynamic stretching is a type of stretching that has movement throughout the stretch, for example swinging the arms in front of the chest and behind the back to stretch out the upper body (chest, back, biceps and triceps). Dynamic stretching, in contrary to static stretching, is well suited as a warm-up before exercise because it increases blood flow to the muscles and ‘wakes them up’ before exercise. Studies have shown that dynamic stretching of a certain muscle before weight training increases its power and strength output. For example, swinging the arms in front of the chest and behind the back could increase the amount of reps performed on the bench press. Besides increasing short-term power, dynamic stretching also elongates the muscles and increases range of motion.

Stretching helps to make sure that the muscles are supple. Having big muscle won’t cost you your mobility. For bodybuilders, stretching does not need to be done daily, but a good stretch once or twice a week could just give you an extra edge. As small as the impact stretching has on muscle growth seems to be, over time the difference adds up and makes a significant contribution. STAY STRONG!

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The GARRY Bodybuilding Workout Program

17.07 in bodybuilding, garry, Money, program, the, workout

The GARRY Workout Program is designed for advanced bodybuilders whose muscles are already used to intense training. It is used boost muscle growth and blast through any plateau for a period of 2 months for fast muscle growth, but has an intensity that cant be sustained for too long. This workout should not be attempted by those who are just starting out because of the work load it places on the central nervous system. Muscle growth accelerates through this period as the body tries to adapt. As a result of the strain is placed on the joints, energy systems and metabolic system, the program should only be followed for 2 months before switching back to normal training.

How the Program Works

The program incorporates German volume training (high reps, high sets), limited recovery time per set and repeatedly forcing muscles to failure, driving them to complete exhaustion with every workout. The goal of this program is to enforce rapid hypertrophy by shocking the body into accelerated growth. This takes its toll on the central nervous system and even metabolic system over time which is why it is advised that beginners, people with injuries or other medical conditions, and people who have already overtrained do not try this type of program. The body starts showing a negative response (over-training) if the program is followed for longer than 2 months.

Program Rules

The program Runs for 6 Days a Week

The program is in a 6-day split, focusing on one muscle group per day. All major muscle groups are utilized in the program, through only one exercise. The only off day is day 7. You need to follow the program fully, not being off a single day.

Perform Only One Exercise per Day

Do only one exercise per day, excluding warm up and cool down. This is shown below. You can only add warm-up and cool-down exercises but do not stress the body more than what is described below.

 Every Set Is Till Failure

You need to work until complete failure each set. Forced reps are allowed.

You Must Follow the Prescribed Times

Every set has a resting period of exactly 30 seconds before the next one, with the exception of squats and dead lifts having 1 minute rest intervals. Do not rest longer or shorter than this between sets.

Keep Doing More Sets until Failure Until You Cannot Perform a Single Full Rep 

This blasts your muscles and will test your muscular endurance, but keep on performing sets of the exercise until you cannot do a proper rep with the right form.

The Program

Day 1: Squats (until failure) (e.g. 15-7-6-4-4-4-4-2-1)

Day 2: Standing Calve Raises (until failure) (e.g. 15-15-15-14-14-1-1-1-10-9-8-5-5-5-3-2-2-2-2-1) 

Day 3: Russian Twists (until failure) (e.g. 20-20-20-18-16-14-10-7-7-7-6-5-4-2-2-2-1-1-1)

Day 4: Deadlifts (until failure) (e.g. 12-11-10-10-10-9-8-7-6-6-5-5-5-5-4-2-1-1)

Day 5: Dumbbell Bench Press (until failure) (e.g. 12-10-8-6-4-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-1)

Day 6: Pull Ups (until failure) (e.g. 25-25-25-23-20-19-27-17-14-12-11-9-6-5-4-3-3-3-3-2-2-2-1)

Day 7: Rest

Give this program a try and tell us about your experience in the comments below.

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The Health Benefits of Sweating

23.54 in about, benefits, bodybuilding, facts, garry, get, health, involved, Money, of, program, sa, spotters, squats, sweating, the, with, workout

You sweat while you work out, while in the sauna and throughout the day because of heat. Sweat is the body’s way of cooling the body down because of the cooling effect when water evaporates from the skin. In the cave man era, humans were able to run for long periods of time - longer than most animals – because their ability to sweat. Sweating prevented them from overheating, which would lead to collapsing, feinting and even death.

Sweat is smelly and unattractive, but is essential for life. Here are a few benefits of sweating:

• Sweating Prevents death. 

This is because of its ability to cool the body down. If humans could not sweat, then more than 70% of the human population would die within one week. Scary statistics…

• Sweating helps to detox the body. 

Sweating allows the body to release some of the toxins that it needs to expel through the skin. This detox method can release up to 30% of the toxins and impurities that the kidneys and liver would otherwise have to deal with. This eases the burden on the kidneys and liver, allowing them to perform more of their other bodily functions like energy, nutrient and hormone control, metabolism and release.

• Sweating is good for the skin. 

Sweating opens up the skin so that it can receive some of the nutrients and minerals from within. This includes lipids and oils that moisturizes dry skin and also allows the skin to release excess oils that might cause pimples and blackheads. People who sweat more often have better looking skin than those who sweat less.

• Sweating can be used as an indicator to the level of effort used during exercise. 

Although people sweat differently (i.e. some people sweat less after high intensities of exercise while others sweat a lot even when they are not exercising.), without sweat people could push past what is safe because we could be overheating without realizing it. The dangerous effects of overheating progress until death.

• Sweating decreases water retention. 

Sweating gives the body an opportunity to get rid of some of the excess water under the skin. This excess water looks like cellulite, can make people look bloated and hides muscle definition. Sweating also gets rid of sodium, which is an important mineral but can cause health problems. People who follow a typical westernized diet consume too much sodium (the amount of sodium needed is 2400 mg. The average American consumes 7800 mg a day).


People who don’t engage in exercise and therefore don’t sweat often enough tend to have higher levels of toxins in their bodies. They are also more prone to duller looking skin which is more likely to breakouts with pimples or blackheads or whiteheads, rashes, redness, inflammation and flaking.
As healthy as sweating is, sweating too much can cause the body to lose precious nutrients like water and electrolytes that the body cannot survive without. Make sure to replenish water whenever you sweat to stay hydrated and eat a good diet that is rich in minerals and electrolytes. Mineral and electrolyte dense foods are foods like fresh, raw produce (like vegetables, leafy greens, fruit, seeds, nuts) red and white meat, fish and seafood.
It is commonly believed that those who sweat more are healthier than those sweat less. The fitter you become, the more you will sweat as one of the ways that your body becomes more adept at cooling itself down.

Sweating might not be the best thing for your image and it might make you feel uncomfortable, but at least you know that it is a healthy thing to do. Keep hydrated and make sure your diet / supplementation includes the minerals and electrolytes that are lost from sweating. STAY STRONG!

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