Sun's Out Guns Out

So the sun has finally made an appearance and those vest and muscle tops are being pulled out of the wardrobe for a summer airing but wait a moment, over the winter your arms have turned to match sticks!

Don't panic help is at hand. Here's my top 5 tips to getting those arms looking fuller and meaner in next to no time.

1.) Don't just concentrate on the biceps- remember the triceps make up a large part of the arm and so when training ensure you don't neglect this important part of the arm.  Well developed triceps will make the arms look fuller and bigger.

2.) Mix it up- if you've always done standing bicep curls, followed by hammer curls, followed by incline seated curls then STOP.  The body adapts very quickly and so in order to stress the muscles out and encourage them to grow, you need to keep changing it up.  Change the order of the exercises, reps, sets, try a completely new exercise in order to 'keep the body guessing' and keeping them in a state of perpetual growth.

3.) Allow 48 hours rest between arm workouts- allow at least 48 hours to elapse before working those same muscles again, as it will take this long for the muscles to rebuild and recover.  If you do it before this you're only making them smaller!

4.) Have the right nutrition- it's no good working hard in the gym and then going home and eating a Big Mac with large fries.  Nutrition is so important and if you're not getting this right you can kiss those guns good-bye.  Aim to eat every 2-4 hours in order to keep your metabolism revved up and burning body fat and giving the nutrients the body needs to pack on the muscle.  Eat plenty of protein rich foods such as fish, chicken, beef , pulses and tofu along with some carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, potatoes and wholemeal bread and an array of colourful vegetables to get plenty of micronutrients that the body will need to help grow and repair.  It's important to have some protein after a workout as the muscles need it to help grow bigger.  The quicker you can get it into the muscles the better as less of the protein will be able to be absorbed by the muscles as time goes by. The best form of protein is whey, as it's the preferred form of protein the body needs, so choose a protein shake that has whey protein in it.  Herbalife's Rebuild Strength is perfect as it contains this important protein and can be easily mixed with water when needed after a workout.

5.) Get plenty of rest and sleep- you've only got enough energy stored in your muscles and liver for about 1-1.5 hours.  Unless you take on more nutrients then the body will quickly use up its reserves and will start stripping down muscle for an energy source instead.  So instead of building muscles you'll be tearing them down. During sleep the body repairs the muscles that have been broken down during the training session and  hormones responsible for growth such as testosterone and HGH are released during sleep and so if you're not sleeping for between 6-8 hours you'll be missing out.

So follow these top tips and you'll be putting that muscle top on in next to no time!