Build Great Traps

Many people don’t know what traps are, that is until they see a man who looks like he has two sets of shoulders.

As you can see from the picture, the traps (actually called the Trapezius) are two muscles found in the back. The traps start at the lumbar region of the back and finishes at the top of the neck just below the start of the skull where the cerebellum region of the brain is situated. The muscles then reach out across the back to the shoulders.

The name Trapezius comes from the fact that the two muscles together looks like a trapezium.

When exercised and increased in size the traps help give the back overall size (not width) and also give a statement of power as they give size around the neck and shoulder region when accompanied with well trained shoulders.

Many people don’t realise that the traps are actually used in so many exercises by supporting and assisting the main muscles involved.

So how do you build big strong traps?

Try incorporating the shrug exercise into your workout. The best way to carry out the shrug exercise is to sit with dumbbells in either hand and literally shrug your shoulders up (straight don’t roll your shoulders) as best you can and hold it for 2 secs before moving back to your starting position.

Another great exercise is the upright row. This exercise is used by many in the shoulder workout yet it also works the traps too!

The seated row, this is my favourite resistance machine (I don’t like using resistance machines as Im a free weight lover). The seated row will work your traps to a good level as well as other muscles in your back so is another great exercise to incorporate into your workout.

The traps only take a short period of time to grow in size and with a good shoulder workout will support your goal of a great and powerful physique.

Muscles Neglected

There are quite a few areas of the body where people neglect the muscles when weight training, the interesting thing about this is that these are muscles that can really support other muscles in growth and strength.

I regularly see that people seem to neglect their legs, forearms, wrists, grip, core muscles and lower back. Looking at this list there are quite a few muscles that are forgotten about, some of which don’t require much attention for improvement.

Legs

Ah the legs, that one group of muscles neglected by most; it seems that while people have the intention of working on their leg muscles when it comes to it they are very often forgotten about. The legs are important as they carry your weight and help you move from A to B, not rocket science…the reason why they get neglected is that they don’t really fit most peoples idea of vanity (chest, biceps and the like).

Forearms, Wrists and Grip

From the forearms down people don’t realise or don’t think to train these smaller muscles but they are very important for one reason more than any other. By working on these muscles you will improve the strength for holding onto a free weight bar, especially when it comes to deadlifts and similar exercises that require lifting extremely heavy weight.

Have you ever tried lifting a free weight bar on exercises like the deadlift or shrugs only to find you cannot complete so many reps because you start losing the strength of your grip?

Core Muscles

The core muscles are those of the trunk of the body, to many this is the abdominals only but there are a number of other muscles that are just as important yet never get trained such as the Obliques.

The trunk of the body, or should I say the core muscles, are extremely important and support your body in everything you do. With nearly every weight lifting exercise requiring you to engage your core muscles it is important to train them.

Lower Back

The lower back, also known as the Spinae erector is the muscles located at the bottom of the back above the gluteus maximus (bum to you and me). This muscle is important for big lifts such as the deadlift as well as supporting the weight of the body and your spine.

Many people work the muscles of the upper back but neglect this muscle.

The Core Muscles

When you hear someone saying they are about to train their abdominals, it always conjures up the feeling that the person who said it does not understand training quite as much as they think. If you ask any ardent gym goer they will say they are training their core muscles, but just what are the core muscles and why are they called this?

The muscles of the core are situated between the Pelvis and Thorax and are made up of the following:

The Obliques

The Obliques are made up of two muscles, these are the obliques externus and obliques internus (external and internal obliques).

The Obliques are found on the lower eight ribs, they look like fingers that curve down and forward towards the top of what is known today as the “Six Pack”.

The Transversus Abdominis

The Transversus Abdominis is a muscle with horizontal muscle fibres that is flat and triangular in shape. The muscle can be found under the oblique on the lateral side of the body and runs down to the bottom of the Rectus Abdominis, this means that it is the muscles on the outside of your “Six pack muscles” that forms the outside of your core muscles.

The Rectus Abdominis
The main reason people wish to train their core; these muscles are what are colloquially referred to as the “Six pack”. These muscles are paired muscles that run vertically from just under the rib cage down to the pelvic area. The muscles are situated in the centre of the front of the human body.

As you can see when training the core you are training more than simple the six pack abs that everyone dreams of. The core muscles are very important as they are the trunk of the body and near enough support all exercises you carry out whilst also protecting your core area. The core muscles also play an important role in posture and other functions.

Building Muscle in Older Age

Building muscle is relatively when in your younger years if you know how to do it correctly, but as you grow older building muscle in older age becomes alot more difficult.

It seems that as men and women age they find it increasingly difficult to retain their muscle mass even when training, what is it that causes this?

A team of researchers in Nottingham, England have been looking into the issue of building and retaining muscle as people age and have come up with a scientific reason as to why it gets harder the older you become.

The results show two reasons why building muscle in older age becomes harder, although one reason has a bigger impact than the other.

The first reason, and the one which has less of an impact is that the blood flow to the muscles reduces in age, especially as someone ages over sixty.

The second reason is that as people age their body reduces the use of insulin to stop the muscle breakdown that occurs between meals.

This means two things, the first is that the body of an older person finds it harder to build muscle in the first place and also finds it hard to retain muscle mass once it has got it.

The Science

As we eat our body releases insulin that stops the muscle breakdown that occurs at periods of time between eating and when sleeping. As we age our body is unable to use its insulin hormone so well and is not able stop the muscle breakdown occuring in the body as much.

This information relates mainly to those who are wishing to build muscle in more senior years of around sixty years plus.

Grip and Wrist Strength

As your body gets stronger there is one part of your body that gets neglected that you will start to notice, this is your hands and wrists.

As you gain strength and start to go heavy on exercises like the shoulder shrugs or the deadlift you may start to find your grip on the bar failing you. Its annoying when this happens because you know your body has the strength to carry out many reps but you just dont have the strength in your grip to hold the bar!

Another issue is your wrists, many people feel pains in their wrists from biceps and triceps training, they feel they have an injury but the truth is its your wrists being weak and not having the strength for the weight your lifting.

Now we come to the part where I mention the importance of training your grip and wrists. To improve your grip simply grab a barbell with heavy weights and hold it as you would at the top of a deadlift for as long as possible. Another method is to get up on a chin up bar and hang at arms length for as long as possible.

To improve your wrist strength try holding a weight plate or dumbbell in your hand with your forearm resting on your leg (hand inside your leg) and bringing your wrist up towards your forearm before returning to its normal position and repeating.

For some this may seem like a trivial post but for others it will help improve your overall weightlifting greatly as a result of something as simple as improving your write and wrist strength.

Triceps brachii muscle

The Triceps brachii muscle, more commonly referred to as the Triceps is a large muscle located on the rear of the upper arm between the elbow and the shoulder.

The function of the Triceps are the extension of the elbow joint, this means that they straighten the arm. This means the Triceps complete the opposite function to the Biceps.

The word Triceps means three headed muscle (Tri meaning three). These three heads are:

• The long head running from the shoulder blade (Scapula at the infraglenoid tubercle)
  
• The lateral head runs down the posterior shaft of the humerus, lateral and superior to the radial (spiral) groove (finishing half way down the upper arm).
  
• The medial head runs down the posterior shaft of the humerus, medial and inferior to the radial (spiral) groove (finishes at the elbow).
  

The Triceps account for about sixty percent of the muscle mass in the upper arm. Because of this you will find many bodybuilders working the Triceps just as much, if not more than the Biceps to add size and width to the arm.

neuromuscular facilitation

Neuromuscular facilitation, also known as muscle memory, is where your body remembers the motor skills you perform.

the normal context of muscle memory would be your body refining your movements that it is used to carrying out daily such as cleaning your teeth. Your body knows straight away without thinking how to hold the brush, how to move the brush and how much pressure to apply without thinking.

In the weight lifting world the meaning of muscle memory is where you may take a break from training and find your body lose some mass, but when you start training again the body remembers the movement from previous training. This means that the muscle memory gets the body to regain its previous mass very quickly so the hard training needed to gain the muscle mass in the first place is not required.

There is debate whether this is true or not but I can say that I myself have had this happen to me. I stopped training for three months and lost 7 kg in mass. When i started again I found my body only needed 6 to 8 weeks to return close to the size I was previously.

If you have trained in the gym before and are thinking of starting again then you may have the luck to have Neuromuscular facilitation (muscle memory) on your side so you return to peak fitness quite quickly.

Calf Muscles

The calf has the real name of gastroc-soleus and is named this because it is made up of two different muscles, the gastrocnemius and the soleus.

The calf muscle is found at the rear of the lower part of the leg, running from the back of the knee to the rear of the ankle where the achillies tendon is found.


Gastrocnemius

The Gastrocnemius is very powerful yet a superficial msucle that has two heads, both running from the knee to the achillies tendon.

The Gastrocnemius is used for walking, running, standing, jumping and many other activities that require leg and foot movement.

Soleus

The Soleus is very closely related to the Gastrocnemius and soem believe it to be one and the same muscle. The Soleus gets its name from its shape as it is the same shape as the solefish.

Like the Gastrocnemius, the Soleus is used for walking, standing, jumping and other activites. Without the Soleus a human could not stand as the Soleus manages the planterflexion of the foot (this means pushing the foot down away from the leg) without the Soleus we would fall forward flat on our face.

Calf Muscles

Both calf muscles are extremely strong and are different to most muscles in the body as they do not require low reps and heavy weight to increase in size. The calf muscles responds best to higher reps (15 - 20) and lower weight.

The Deltoid Muscles

The Deltoid muscles, otherwise known as the deltoids, make up the muscles of the shoulder. The three deltoid muscles are the lateral (side), posterior (rear) and Anterior (front).

Overall the primary function of the deltoid muscles is to move the arm away from the body, the Anterior deltoid help raise your arm in front of you, the Lateral deltoid moves your arm up from your side and the Posterior deltoid moves the arm backwards towards your back.

When carrying out many different exercises in your workout from chest exercises to back exercises you can be working different deltoid muscles as a secondary muscle due to the movements the deltoid muscles support.


A good shoulder workout is important to not only increase your strength in the shoulders but also support your bench press and back exercises such as the barbell row or seated row.

Even though the deltoid muscles give alot of support to other muscles when carrying out exercises they are not actually a very strong muscle group due to the size of each muscle. When carrying out isolated weight exercises on the deltoids you will find that lower weights with good form is the best way to increase size and strength.

The Biceps

The biceps brachii, known as the biceps or by its nickname "The guns", are muscles found in the upper arms. Primarily the biceps are used to flex the arm and to also rotate the forearm (located below the elbow).

Many people from bodybuilders to the average man on the street like the biceps because they are a muscle that can be seen quite well even if a person does not train the muscle. Due to this the biceps are known as the vanity muscle because people flex them in a vain manor to attract attention.

A common fault among people is to call the biceps in a single manor "bicep" which is a mistake as the biceps are made of two muscles and biceps brachii is latin and literally translates as "two headed muscle of the arm".

The Science Bit

The two muscles of the biceps are called the short head and the long head. The short head starts at the coracoid process found at the scapula and attaches to the radial tuberosity (located beneath the start of the Radius bone near the elbow). The long head of the biceps is found in the joint capsule at the top of the humerus where it attaches to the supraglenoid tubercle at the scapula.

Rest For Muscle Gain

As well as nutrition and pounding the weights in the gym resting your muscles is extremely important, if you do not rest your body enough you can cause a negative impact on your training regime.

Why does rest make such a difference?

After training you will have caused tiny tears in your muscle fibres, to repair these and get your body to build your muscles stronger you need rest so your body can concentrate on the muscle building process.

How do I get my rest?

The main part of getting your rest is sleep, when you are sleeping your muscle building hormones start to party in your body. They normally start their party about one hour in to hitting your deep sleep.

The optimum number of hours sleep required in a night is eight hours, yes eight hours. I know many of you have busy lifestyles that mean eight hours is not achievable but not getting the required sleep can halt your muscle gains.

On top of your sleep patterns there are other ways to make sure your body is rested enough to get the biggest muscle gains possible.

Firstly you should only train each muscle group no more than one to two times a week with 24 to 48 hours rest in between training the same muscle group. This is important as over training can cause you to not gain any improvements at all!

Secondly only train up to five times a week, spending every day in the gym may feel like you are training well but the truth is your body just doesn't have time to recuperate.

Thirdly, and this is one that no one ever follows, have a one week rest every eight weeks or so. If you have this one week off you will be shocked at the gains you can make, I have a week off every 6 to 8 weeks and see a huge benefit from it.

Lastly don't spend every waking hour in the gym on training days, try to keep your session to about an hour. Your body will thank you with great gains if you max out your muscles within an hour when your in the gym.

Measure Your Gains

One thing that many people fail at when training is understanding the changes to their body. You find that many people monitor their diet yet dont get the gains they wish for as they are wary of standing on the scales and seeing their weight go up so eat less.

You have to think that when someone sees a weight gain they think that it means they have put on fat, the truth is that this could be muscle.

To measure your gains the last thing you need to do is stand on the scales! There are two ways to measure your gains, the first is to watch your strength increase as you start lifting heavier weights and the second is to measure yourself.

Measure your gains with a tape?

Yes, the best way to see your gains is to measure your body on a monthly basis, below is a guide to checking the measurements for different parts of your body.

Biceps - Measure from your shoulder to your elbow, at exactly the halfway point (example if the length from your shoulder to your elbow is 30 centimetres then this is at the 15 centimetres mark). At the halfway point measure the circumference of your arm.

Chest - Measure around your chest just under your nipples.

Waist - Measure around your waist (just above your belly button).

Leg - Measure from your hip to your knee and then measure the circumference at the halfway point.

What you should see, if your making the correct progress, is that all parts of your body get bigger while your waist reduces in size. This will not happen overnight but by measuring your gains every month over a 12 week period you should see a huge difference in your body.

I check on my size on a monthly basis and use it as a guide to understanding what my body is doing.

The Back Muscles

Many people train their shoulders, chest and biceps as these are the vanity muscles that really look good when on the beach during those summer month but having a large back makes all the difference when your trying to look big!

When training the back their are three main muscles you will be working on, these muscles are the Latissimus Dorsi, Erector Spinae and Trapezius.

So what are these back muscles?

Trapezius

The Trapezius are two muscles that sit at the top of your back and run from your neck at the back of the head to the middle of the back and come out to the shoulder as shown below...


sometimes these muscles are known by the nickname the "Traps" by weight lifters and they are called the Trapezius due to their shape making them look like a Trapezium.

The Trapezius works while lifting weights when you are moving your shoulders in a shrugging motion.

Latissimus Dorsi

The Latissimus Dorsi is situated in the lower part of the thoracic region of the back and is triangular in shape as shown below...


The Latissimus Dorsi are known by the nickname the "Lats" and work during the motion of pulling down somethnig that is above your head or pulling something toward you that is situated in front of you.

Erector Spinae

The Erector Spinae is a muscle that many people in the gym neglect, but is very important. The Erector Spinae, commonly known as the lower back, is a muscle that is triangular in shape and runs from the spine just below the Latissimus Dorsi to the top of the Gluteus maximus (thats the bum to you and me) in what is known as the lumbar region....

This muscle supports your spine and helps to carry your weight!

Weight Lifting - Understanding Somatotypes

An understanding of human biology is key to success in muscle gains as it helps a weight lifter appreciate exactly what their body does and how they can gain the most from it. One of the first things a weight lifter needs to understand is their own body type so they can set their own realistic goals and work with what they have.

Body Types

A quick way to gain an understanding of your own body is to look at the three somatotypes; these are basic classifications of different body types that explain in a simplistic fashion how a person of each classification is genetically made. The three somatotypes are Endomorphic, Ectomorphic and Mesomorphic, below is a detail of what each classification means.

Endomorphic – Those who are endomorphic have an increased amount of fat storage, have a larger waist, large bone structure and tend to put muscle and fat on one particular half of the body. Those who are endomorphic can be split in to two categories:

Apple – Those who have a larger amount of muscle and fat on the upper half of the body.

Pear – Those who have a larger amount of muscle and fat on the lower half of the body.

People who are endomorphic will find it fairly easy to build muscle naturally but will find getting definition from their muscle gains the most difficult of the three categories.

Ectomorphic – A person who is Ectomorphic normally has long limbs, narrow shoulders and a short upper body. Generally the Ectomorphic body type has long lean muscle and very low fat storage giving a very tall and slim appearance.

People who are ectomorphic will find it the most difficult to build muscle naturally but will find getting definition from their muscle gains quite easy.

Mesomorphic – Those who are mesomorphic enjoy the ability of gaining muscle quickly, have large bones, wide shoulders and a narrow waist. Those who are mesomorphic also tend to have low fat storage.

People who are mesomorphic will find it the easiest to build muscle naturally.

You may look at these three clasifications and feel that you fit in to more than one by the description and this could be true. You have to remember that everyone in the world is made differently so its difficult to put everyone in to three categories, but these will help you gain an understanding of how easy it will be for you to gain muscle.