Here is the second in the series of bodybuilding techniques to gain muscle fast. In the first article I gave you 2 tips to maximize muscle growth. The first tip was train with maximum intensity. Big shocker huh, well not everyone knows what that truly is or how to get there so today I'm gonna focus on a way to do that.

If you've ever done shoulder shrugs you already know you can load up a ton of weight and really blast your traps like no other exercise can. But did you know you can apply this body building technique to other groups as well.

Instead of doing rows in full range of motion grab the weight and shrug your shoulders straight back, instead of up toward your ears, squeezing your shoulder blades together. This works best when you can brace your chest on a padded stop like the machines often have built in. The chest pad will keep you from cheating and force the work on the target muscle. You'll need to increase the weight you'd normally use for rows by about 50-100%.

This exercise is great as a standalone but of course it isn't a full range of motion movement. Which means it won't work the muscles of your arms as effectively but hey that's what makes this such a valuable workout tool. For instance some days your arms may be fatigued from your last workout in that case do shrugs to target your back muscles more precisely. Or may get finished with a workout and find you didn't get the burn you were after. Just add a set or two of shrugs and viola.

Can you apply this technique with pressing exercises like the bench press or shoulder press? Yes, but obviously they aren't called shrugs, in fact, I'm really not sure what to call them. For bench presses try this, place a bench at a squat rack or smith press, set up a stop at 3/4 of your full range. Put a barbell on, load it up with iron and bench press the weight using just the range of motion from the stop to full extension (about 1/4- 1/2 of your full range).

As was already stated these body building techniques can be done all by themselves but they really shine when used as a supplement to full range movements. Give it try and as always use this technique sparingly at first until you get a feel for how it affects your recovery time.