Low reps

Low reps of 1-5, combined with explosive movements and longer rest periods of 3-5 minutes are good for building muscle strength and power. These use heavier weights than high reps.

High reps

Higher reps of 8-12 are good for building muscle size. Combined with a fast paced training regime and shorter rest periods of up to a minute and a half, these can boost muscle growth.

However many reps you’re doing, make sure to use a weight that allows you to reach your limit. This could be heavier for low reps and lower for high reps, but make sure to get the balance right.

Other Factors

If you’re looking for muscle growth, there are other factors to consider. Nutrition, rest time and the volume of work you’re doing to your muscles are all key.

Volume of work is calculated by the total number of reps multiplied by the total number of sets completed. If you’re looking for muscle gain, then a high volume work out is essential for boosting growth.

If you hit a wall with your work out and can’t seem to make any more gains, chances are that you’ve been doing the same exercises which have become stale. Your muscles might have adapted to the routine – they need to be ‘shocked’ out of their comfort zone with different volumes and intensity of exercise.

Muscles are made of different fibre types that respond differently to different levels of intensity and stimulation. So, if you’re looking to define muscles and increase strength, changing it up is essential to an efficient work out – however many reps you’re doing.

The main source of energy for athletes is carbohydrates. This is stored in the muscles as glycogen - and it takes a while to full these stores adequately. What you eat before and after exercise can help this process, but equally it can hinder it.

Exercising on a full stomach can lead to cramping and stitches, and is definitely not ideal. This means that foods that are easy to digest are ideal, as foods that remain in your stomach for a long time - such as foods with lots of fat and fibre. These will pull blood into your stomach area to help with digestions, which causes cramping and discomfort.

Digestion generally takes between 1 to 4 hours, depending on what you've eaten. This can often dictate your work out schedule, depending on what you eat.

If you want to exercise early, it's worth getting up in time for a pre-workout meal of something easy to digest. High energy foods such as bars, drinks, gels and other easily digestible carbohydrates are good pre-workout foods. These can fuel your work out while not letting you get hungry again too quickly.

Good pre exercise meals should contain foods that are high in carbs and that are easy to digest. Pasta, fruits, and high energy foods such as bars and gels are ideal.

For competitions or if you're dedicated to getting the best nutrition possible pre-workout, you can only establish your nutrition plan  through experience. However, a good rule of thumb is:

- 4 hours before: solid meal

- 2-3 hours before: snack or high energy carbohydrate drink

- 1 hour before: fluid replacement drink

This will all make sure you're fuelling your body well, and not getting those dreaded cramps and stitches.

Running is an advanced activity, using all the muscles in your body and working them hard. Therefore, before you start running, it’s worth strengthening your muscles and improving your general fitness. Having a good strength to body weight ratio is essential for running, and can help you to avoid injury as well.

While running, every step you take is the same as doing a hop on one leg. This is a plyometric exercise – these are specialised, high intensity techniques that are often used by athletes to improve their performance and the explosiveness of their movements.

Given that during a mile run, you’d be performing around 1500 hops, this shows that running is a high intensity exercise that you might need to prepare for. Plyometrics shouldn’t be attempted straight off, and you need an established base of strength in order to complete them.

Attempting plyometric exercises without this foundational fitness can be a quick route to injury. Therefore, before you go running or start training for that marathon, make sure your body is prepared.

True, there might be some people who have successfully shifted that weight through running alone, but there are many more that have developed injuries that have set their fitness plans right back.

Achieving peak fitness should always be your goal – and taking an introduction to fitness in the gym could be the way to go. Once you’ve strengthened your muscles, they will be able to cope with the demands of running, and you’ll soon be on the way to happy and healthy jogging.

As you would expect, if an injury hurts so badly that you can’t put weight on it, don’t try to run on it. However, you can learn the signs of your own body, such as with lactic acid build up. This tends to come on gradually, so you will know you can run through it.

For some training injuries, all you need to do is stop and stretch, run on a different surface or run on the other side of the road. Swopping sides of the road changes the camber that you’re running on, and could help with injuries from muscle imbalance. You could also change your pace up or down for a few minutes.

After you’ve arrived back at home, taking care of any suspected injuries can help to minimise the damage. Rest, ice, compression and elevation can be beneficial for almost any injury.

If the pain hasn’t dispersed by the following day, don’t try to run through the pain. Often the only time this will help is during rehabilitation after an injury, where you might need to work through some stiffness in order to get back to full flexibility.

Leaving a niggling injury and training more through the pain can make it much worse, and could contribute to a chronic problem that’s much harder to solve. So, if you’re still in pain in the days after an injury, it’s worth getting some medical advice. This is especially true if you can’t put weight on a joint or muscle – if this is true, chances are it’s a serious injury.

Treating injuries right is important for anyone looking to train effectively.

Testosterone supplements are often made up of combinations of herbs that give a ‘natural’ boost to muscle mass and strength. Using herbal remedies in this way has a long history, and they have been used for centuries to boost stamina.

Testosterone boosters can maintain levels of the hormone while undergoing extensive training. Whilst you work out, testosterone levels normally rise after around 30 minutes of resistance exercise.

Competitive and heavy endurance training on a long term basis, however, can reduce testosterone levels as the body adapts to these changes in testosterone. Over time, this can slow the muscle building process. Using testosterone boosters can help to maintain these peak testosterone levels.

How should you take testosterone boosters?

Normally, they will be in capsule form and should be taken several times per day. Every product has a different dosage strength, and you should always follow the instructions.

Testosterone boosters should always be taken in cycles, allowing for a break every four to eight weeks. Of course, this varies by product.

These supplements may not be suitable for everyone. Teenagers and those below 25 will already have peak testosterone levels, so they may not be ideal for everyone. Though there are little to no side effects, it could be worth getting medical advice before taking them – anything that changes hormone levels should be used with care.

However, if you do take testosterone boosters, you really can get visible muscle gain, safely and quickly.

Mass Gainer or Protein Powder?

There are different ingredients in all types of protein powders. Mass gainers contain fats and carbs as well as protein, so if you’re just looking to up your protein intake, make sure to read the fine print. While all these nutrients are needed in your diet, using a mass gainer without realising it also contains fats could lead to excess weight gain.

A good, pure protein powder should contain low fat and low carbs (between about 1-5g is fine) and high protein, about 20-30g per serving.

Well Known Products

While going for the cheapest option could be attractive, a top tip is to only go for companies that have been around a while and have had some good press. Powders that don’t work won’t be around long, and if you’re taking one that’s been tried and tested then you’re more likely to be taking a good quality supplement.

Pure Powders

When it comes to protein, quality is more important than quantity. Anything with more than about ten ingredients should be avoided. Also, if you have trouble pronouncing the names of those ingredients, again it’s time to look elsewhere. Natural ingredients are good, chemicals are bad.

Concentrate vs. Isolate vs. Casein

These are three different types of protein, each with their own strengths:

- Concentrate is absorbed at a moderate pace, and works well when taken between meals.

- Isolate protein is absorbed more rapidly, and is therefore good immediately after your work out to help hungry muscles.

- Casein protein is slowly absorbed, and can be taken just before bed to stop muscle catabolism overnight.

So, if you bear all this in mind and don’t get swayed by the hype, you’ll be able to find your way through the supplement maze and find a protein that works for you.

Training

Training calves effectively means going from all the way up on your tip toes and bending your knees down as far as you can. It’s necessary to do this on every single rep in order to get the most effective results. When using weights, it’s not true that heavier weights mean you can do less reps. A 15-20 rep set is a good number to aim for, and you shouldn’t let yourself dip below this just because you’re starting to push yourself. Always try to build up weight to the most you can safely manage in order to push your calves into muscle growth. Make sure to stretch your calves out for 2-3 minutes post work out as well as after a gentle warm up. This is an essential part of any fitness regime, but again calves are often neglected.

Toes are Important

The position of your toes can play a big part. With toes pointed forward, muscle movement will target the whole of the calf. Pointing your toes outwards hits the inner part of the muscle, which helps with calf width. With toes pointed in, you’ll be working on the outer part of your calf. There are a range of exercises out there for calves, so by bearing in mind these tips you can be sure to make the most of them. You’ll be well on the way to defined and enviable calves in no time.

Chilli Technology have come up with bone-conduction headphones that let you hear your music whilst still being able to be aware of the sounds around you.

While normal headphones funnel sound directly into your ears by pressure waves, these headphones still outside your ears and conduct sounds via your bones. They rest just below your temples, at the back of your cheekbones, and transfer sounds to your ear through bone conduction. Your ears are completely uncovered, so hearing is otherwise unaffected.

A couple of us in the Mammoth office have given them a try, and it’s surprising how clearly you can hear what’s going on around you. Even on quiet streets you’ll be able to hear passers-by. On the flip side, music is audible on all but the busiest junctions – though if you’re negotiating a road where you can’t hear your tunes, chances are you’ll need to have all your wits about you anyway.

If you want a way to listen safely to background music as you cycle, these are a definite option. Though the bass of the headphones isn’t spectacular, they’re reliable and it’s easy to hear both music and traffic. Interestingly, yawning will momentarily mute the sound, we’re not sure why!

Keeping safe when exercising on the roads is essential, and with all the recent buzz about cycling safely, these headphones could be a worthy investment.

Antioxidants

When you're running long distances, your body will be producing free radicals due to the length of the strenuous exercise you're doing. These can cause cell breakdown in your body, and need to be neutralised. Antioxidants such as vitamin E and C, Selenium and carotenoids can help with this. To take these most effectively, be sure to start taking them a few weeks prior to your race, so they can start working properly.

Joint Supplements

Running intensely on concrete puts strain on your joints, so helping your body to repair and maintain these areas is essential. Glucosamine, MSM and Chrondroitin are ingredients to look out for. Amongst other things, Glucosamine will help to prevent inflammation, chrondroitin helps your cartilage, and MSM helps with healing.

Protein

Protein is an essential supplement, as it will boost muscle growth and repair essential for running as well as most forms of work outs. This is a vital supplement for all sorts of athletes, and should always be taken when you're undertaking serious training.

Fatty Acids

These provide lubrication for joints, and help to relieve stiffness and pain caused by running long distances. They help to limit ongoing wear and tear, ultimately boosting your performance over long distances.

Glutamine

This amino acid supplement helps with recovery, and will boost your immune system as well. Good levels of glutamine make recovery easier and shorter, as well as helping your skeletal muscles remain healthy.

Multivitamins

These are important for any athlete. They ensure good all round fitness and health, and will boost the efficiency of your body when training as well as for every day.

So, if you're looking to run either a marathon or a long distance, taking the right supplements is essential for getting the most out of your training.

While you can build muscle without supplements, it could take longer and be a lot slower. Supplements can boost muscle mass as well as energy, but don’t expect them to have instant, miracle results.

So long as you’ve got a good fitness routine of regular work outs, a healthy diet, and get plenty of sleep, muscle building supplements can be helpful in giving you a leg up on better results.

With so many brands and products around, it can be difficult to know what’s best.

Creatine is one of the most popular supplements used by all types of people looking to gain muscle. It acts as a fuel source for quick muscle movements, and is good for bursts of high intensity activity. It’s popular amongst athletes for this reason, as it can make explosive movements more powerful.

Paring Creatine and carbohydrate supplements around 45 minutes before a work out is a popular trick amongst amateur athletes. The carbs will help your body to absorb the creatine.

Whey protein is another popular option, and is one of the best sources of protein around. It helps to maintain and repair muscles – taking it within about half an hour of the end of your work out can help your muscles to recover better.

Building your supplement routine is a tricky process, so always try to adapt to what suits your body best. Results won’t be overnight, but first time supplement users can boost their results and increase muscle gain with just a few simple additions.