THE FASTLANE TO HYPERTROPHY

Los Angeles-based trainer Eric Fleishman knows that people can hamper their efforts for a better body by overcomplicating things. Exercise selection, intensity, weight load, frequency, diet — it's a lot of things to think about. By boiling it down to a few simple rules, he says, anyone can start experiencing new gains in muscle size and strength. Here are his top five rules for hypertrophy.

Don't get off the train
The first step to insure size is the commitment to train on a regular basis. Despite you size and genetics, an extended layoff causes a decrease in size and strength. Atrophy can take hold in less than 72 hours. So to preserve hard-won muscular development, hit it hard and hit it often, hitting every bodypart at least once per week. Eight-time Mr. Olympia (1984-1991) Lee Haney recommends hitting each bodypart at least twice per week, although this may be a bit much for a great deal of us mere mortals.

Master the dead
To make serious muscular gains, you must challenge your body to seek its growth potential. By mastering the deadlift, you put your body in a position to be challenged beyond the norm, which spurs on incredible growth. When executing a deadlift, make sure to keep your head in a neutral position and your back flat. This will allow the glutes, leg muscles, and lower back to drive the weight upward through your heels with maximum force. This move recruits nearly every major muscle group.

Bring on the bricks
If brick are to chimneys what protein is to muscle, it's time to be a body mason and construct a wall of solid perfection. Make sure you have 20 grams of fast-digesting whey protein pre-workout and 40-60 grams of a protein blend (whey, casein and soy) immediately after your gym blasting sessions. This feeds the muscle, protects your previous gains and provides the raw material for future expansion. Remember, you can't build without the proper materials.

No rest for the wicked
To get bigger, you need to push yourself beyond your comfort zone. Muscle responds to stress and adjusts itself accordingly during a workout and after. So to keep the physical landscape of your body ever-expanding, keep rest to 60 seconds or less during the workout. This will not allow the full recovery of muscle groups, thus causing the muscle to utilize deeper fibers to deal with the weight load. It may also eliminate time-wasting activities in the gym, making your workouts more efficient. Lastly, it insures a constant pump in the targeted muscle group, allowing proper expansion — and eventually, repair — in the right places.

It's all about the pros and cons
Even the strongest guys in the gym often neglect one of the biggest secrets known to bodybuilding: gaining benefits from the negative aspect of a movement and contracting at the peak of the movement. As three-time Mr. O (1977-1979) Frank Zane instructs, "Always be sure the negative motion is slower than the positive. By putting more focus on a slower negative, amazing gains can be realized." Also to bring on growth and put height on your muscularity, contract hard at the peak of the movement. This delivers dimension to your muscles and sends a message into the muscle that spurs further growth. So squeeze hard at the top, and release nice and slow.

For more of Eric Fleishman's training tips, visit www.ericthetrainer.com.