Muscle is a contractile variety of tissue. There are three general types of muscle:

• Cardiac muscle is a specialized kind of muscle found only within the heart.
• Skeletal muscle or “voluntary muscle” is fastened by tendons to bones and is used to achieve skeletal movement such as locomotion.
• Smooth muscle or “involuntary muscle” is found within structures such as the throat, intestines and blood vessels.

Bodybuilders focus on skeletal muscle, and usually the first muscle group that comes to a beginner’s mind is the upper arm or more specifically the biceps. The idea that adding bulk to your arms will give your entire upper body a major increase in size is a common delusion that many beginners have. Here is a list of the 7 principal muscle groups, sorted by most to least important, when it comes to adding mass to your upper body.

1. The main muscle group for adding bulk to your upper body is the deltoids. This muscle group is divided into anterior, lateral and posterior deltoids, and can be worked out using the following movements:

Anterior Deltoid

Barbell	Cable	Dumbbell	Lever	Smith
Behind Neck Press Front Raise Military Press Shoulder Press	Front Raise Shoulder Press	Arnold Press Front Raise Shoulder Press	Behind Neck Press Shoulder Press	Behind Neck Press Shoulder Press

Lateral Deltoid

Barbell	Cable	Dumbbell	Lever	Smith
Upright Row	One Arm Lateral Raise Upright Row (Stirrups and One Arm)	Lateral Raise (One Arm) Lying Lateral Raise Upright Row (One Arm)	Lateral Raise	Upright Row

Posterior Deltoid

Barbell	Cable	Dumbbell	Lever	Smith
Rear Delt Row	Rear Lateral Raise Rear Delt Row Seated Rear Lateral Raise	Lying Rear Lateral Raise (One Arm) Rear Lateral Raise Rear Delt Row Seated Rear Lateral Raise	Lying Rear Lateral Raise Rear Delt Row Seated Rear Lateral Raise Seated Rear Lateral Raise (Gripless)	Rear Delt Row

2. Next is the chest.

Barbell	Cable	Dumbbell	Lever	Smith
Bench Press (Power Lift and Guillotine)	Chest Press Decline Fly Lying Fly Seated Fly Standing Fly	Bench Press Decline Bench Press Decline Fly Fly Pullover	Bench Press Chest Dip Chest Press Decline Chest Press Decline Bench Press Lying Fly Peck Deck Fly (Decline) Seated Fly	Chest Dip Push Up

3. Next are the traps or trapezius muscles.

Barbell	Cable	Dumbbell	Lever	Smith
Shrug Cambered Bar Seated Shrug Trap Bar Shrug	Shrug	Shrug	Gripless Shrug Seated Gripless Shrug Shrug	Shrug

4. Next are the lats or latissimus dorsi.

Barbell	Cable	Assisted	Lever	Weighted
Pullover (Bent Arm)	Close Grip Pulldown Front Pulldown Pullover Rear Pulldown Straight Arm Pulldown (Seated) Underhand Pulldown	Chin-up Close Grip Chin-up Pull-up Rear Pull-up Underhand Chin-up	Close Grip Pulldown Front Pulldown Pullover Underhand Pulldown	Chin-up Close Grip Chin-up Pull-up Rear Pull-up Underhand Chin-up

5. Next comes the triceps.

Barbell	Cable	Dumbbell	Lever	Smith
Close Grip Bench Press Lying Triceps Extension Triceps Extension	Bent-over Triceps Extension Incline Triceps Extension Kneeling Triceps Extension Lying Triceps Extension Pushdown (Heavy and One Arm) Triceps Extension(One Arm)	Incline Triceps Extension Kickback Lying Triceps Extension One Arm Triceps Extension Triceps Extension	Overhead Triceps Extension Pushdown Triceps Dip Triceps Extension	Close Grip Bench Press

6. Biceps are next.

Barbell	Cable	Dumbbell	Lever	Smith
Curl	Curl (One Arm) Supine Curl	Curl Incline Curl	Curl

7. Lastly, we have the abs.

Cable	Lever	Weighted
Lying Stability Ball Crunch Lying Leg Hip Raise (Straight Leg) Kneeling Crunch Seated Crunch	Seated Crunch Seated Crunch (Gripless)	Crunch Hanging-Leg Hip Raise (Straight Leg) Incline Crunch (Advanced) Incline Leg-Hip Raise Incline Sit-up (Advanced) Jack Knife Sit-up V-up Vertical Leg-Hip Raise Incline Twisted Crunch Incline Twisting Sit-up Twisting Crunch

There are certain laws and rules of bodybuilding that have been added over the years. Each year, there are new methods in exercise, diet and supplementation that permit us to take our physiques to the next level.

Good nutrition, good genetics and a good workout routine are the basics needed to build a good body. This is how a basic routine should be split up:

• Day 1: Chest and Biceps
• Day 2: Cardio and Abs
• Day 3: Back and Triceps
• Day 4: Rest
• Day 5: Shoulders and Legs
• Day 6: Cardio and Abs
• Day 7: Rest

Professionals say resistance training, including lifting free weights, working out on weight machines and doing pushups, helps maintain and increase lean muscle, which revs up metabolism and increases the number of calories the body burns at rest. The reason for the metabolic advantage: the larger your lean muscle mass, the more calories your body burns at work and at rest.

Don’t fall in love with any one exercise. If you repeat the same exercise, you’ll overdo a particular muscle group. Everyone undoubtedly has a particular asset they would like to develop, but don’t overdo it. Use a full variety of exercises, machines and resistances. Try lifting free weights, water, household items, and even your own body weight. Changing it up will shock the muscles, challenging them to lift the weight.

Myths and Facts About Stretching

Stretching recommendations are clouded by fallacies and contradictory research reports. Stretching has been encouraged for years as an essential part of fitness programs to reduce the possibility of injury, ease pain associated with “stiffness,” and advance sport performance, in spite of limited data. New evidence suggests that stretching immediately before exercise does not prevent overuse or acute injuries. However, results from animal studies suggest that continuous stretching, (i.e. over 24 hours per day), compared with intermittent stretching of only minutes per day, outside of exercise periods may produce muscle hypertrophy, which could theoretically reduce the risk of injury.