soft muscles, how to harden it?

I've been training for almost a year now and i considered my self a good gainer due to the fact that I increased my weight from 75kg to 90kg now. Most of my gains are lean muscles though I did put on 1" on my waistline but that's acceptable. My height is about 178cm and I'm 28yrs old. I'm a Chinese.

My initial supplementary diet was Nitrotech + Creatine + Amino Fuel. And now I'm sticking to Nitrotech + Power System's Super L-Glutamine(Nitro-after workout and L-Glutamine-3 times a day).

I train 1 muscle group a day, five times a week and my schedule is Monday-Back, Tuesday-Chest, Wednesday-Shoulders, Thursday-Biceps & Friday-Triceps. I dont train my legs as they're very well developed due to my previous involvement in sports and I think they're too big for my liking(also the main reason that i took up bodybuilding was to balance up my body's proportions as my legs were too big for my upper body).

Ok, now. I've a problem. Though I built muscles, but they're soft. I mean when I compared my friend's muscles with mine, my muscles are very soft. But when I work out, the muscles are hard but after the workout, it gets soft again. I do not intend to use steroids as my past experiences with it was uncomfortale(I got high fever using Testoviron and also Sustanon).

Any advices on how to increase the hardness of my muscles? Its a bit embarassing when my friends praised me of my new physique but when they squezzed my muscles(especially the girls), they're like "how come your muscles are soft?". And I've gone all red on my face.

Guys, pls help me.

hmm...are your muscles soft when you're flexxing too, or just when you're relaxed?

how much water do you normally drink per day?

and also, what does your diet look like? (protein/fat/carbs)

If you want to harden your muscles then use lower weight and do more reps.

Just drop bodyfat.

Either reduce fat, or it could just be your body type, i.e you may just hold lots of water, of course creatine doesn't help this cause. Or your friends have been working out for several years unlike you so they have more muscle maturity.

Hmmm, my diet consists of 50% carbs 50% protein during breakfast & lunch, and for dinner it consists of 85% protein & 15% carbs. I drink about 2+ litres of water daily. My muscles are soft compared to my friends when relaxed, not flexed, even flexed, i still lose out on hardness.

Ummmm, the friends that I compared has been working out for 6+ years and another who has been working out for 10+ years. But does this matter? We have almost the same built now cos I improved quite quickly, but I still loses out on hardness. I have veins all over my arms, and I dont think the softness has anything to do with my body fat which I think is decently low. My waistline is 32.5".

I stop taking creatine 1/2 year ago. So I don't think creatine is the problem.

Any opinions guys?

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Originally Posted by PopeyeSmokesPot

Hmmm, my diet consists of 50% carbs 50% protein during breakfast & lunch, and for dinner it consists of 85% protein & 15% carbs. I drink about 2+ litres of water daily. My muscles are soft compared to my friends when relaxed, not flexed, even flexed, i still lose out on hardness.

Ummmm, the friends that I compared has been working out for 6+ years and another who has been working out for 10+ years. But does this matter? We have almost the same built now cos I improved quite quickly, but I still loses out on hardness. I have veins all over my arms, and I dont think the softness has anything to do with my body fat which I think is decently low. My waistline is 32.5".

I stop taking creatine 1/2 year ago. So I don't think creatine is the problem.

Any opinions guys?

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Then why did you say you were taking creatine in the initial post? NM it doesn't really matter.

Look I'll be straight to the point, your water intake is low, you need to up it and it'll help shed some water.

Your diet sucks, but thats not really the problem.

So you wanna know what? I was actually right when I said it could be that they have muscle maturity and you don't, but thanks for listening.

I'm coming off very negative only because you were so arrogant to so quickly disregard the info above without even knowing what it was.

Dr. D "You can only help the people who want to be helped"

I actually said i took creatine in my early diet plan, but now i'm sticking to nitrotech and l-glutamine.

I apologize if i sounded arrogant and i dont mean it.

Drink more water to lose water? i dont understand...

So u mean in time, i'll gain muscle hardness?

Well probably being the older guy here this is something I've observed over the years, hard muscle's come with maturity. There's nothing can subsitute for years of blood, sweat and tears kissing iron. Regardless of cycles, diet and routines, nothing compares to muscle which has been built through years of hardcore lifting iron, pure and simple.
I'm sure anyone here who's had the pleasure of seeing mature muscle will agree with me. Its a hardness and thickness which a diet, cycle or routine just will not bring you in a short time.

work on improving mitochondrial density.

And that key is to force a muscle fiber to adapt to a higher supply of ATP. The most traditional way to increase density is through cardiovascular type training

By Increasing each muscle fibers energy producing density, you will strengthen their respective energy systems, i.e. ( 3 energy systems ) PC, AR, and Glycolytic system.

Fast Twitch IIB " Glycolytic Fibers " - 10 minutes of fast running (at close to 100% VO2max ) ( simply means running as quickly as possible for 10 minutes ) produced the absolute greatest results in these muscle fibers as far as mitochondrial density is concerned.

Fast Twitch IIA " Oxidative Fibers " - 10 minute all out cardio did the same thing for IIA fibers!

Slow Twitch I " Oxidative Fibers " - Slow twitch were another story however. 10 minute runs did increase slow twitch. But optimal results were found in the 27 minute range at at 85% VO2max. In other words a very brisk half hour session of cardio. Increases were actually more in the 60 minute range with easy going intensity, but comparatively speaking 27 minutes was essentially just as effective! And gave you more bang for your buck!

When dieting, this shows that it would prove very useful to get a few high intensity 10 minute runs in, and one or two 25 minute ones as well. Even if you do not like cardio, doing one high intensity 10 minute run and one intense half an hour run a week would not amount to much work, but would go a long way in increasing mitochondrial density. If you could alternate and do it up to 4 times a week, that would be all the better.

note: In addition, cardio would increase insulin sensitivity and vascularity.

The other way to increase density in this area is through weight training. Essentially you would need to have your muscles adapt to higher endurance activities. As far as a repetition range is concerned, I would suggest the following:

Fast Twitch IIB " Glycolytic Fibers " - These are our power fibers, so working out in the 8-15 repetition range will most certainly develop mitochondrial density here.

Fast Twitch IIA " Oxidative Fibers " - Working out in the 12-25 repetition range will work for these.

Slow Twitch I " Density is best accomplished in the 50 and up range. I would not recommend going past 100 reps.

Shocking Methods - Anything that doubles the duration of a set will increase density. Therefore you should be inclined to use strip sets and especially supersets! I feel that supersets are by far the most productive method of increasing mitochondrial density! And tri-sets can even increase it further! Here is a trick! Try supersetting opposite parts and immediately after the second exercise go back to the first exercise, this will have allowed some of the fibers to recover and force them to develop more mitochondrial density. Lets say I am supersetting back and chest. I would start out with dumbbell bench presses, go to lat pull downs without rest, then immediately go back to the dumbbell bench followed by pull downs! I guarantee your density will double in no time!

Rest Time - Remember, your body replaces its energy stores between sets. By occasionally cutting down on rest time you will force your body to become more efficient at producing ATP! Normally I recommend the following rest times, for optimal recovery.

3-5 reps = 3-5 minutes
6-8 reps - 3 minutes
9-12 reps - 1-3 minutes
13-15 reps - 1 minute
15 -25 - 30 seconds to 1 minute
everything above is the same

To sum it all up:

1. Higher repetitions increase mitochondrial density
2. Shocking Methods that force the muscle fibers to continue their sets causes the need for a greater energy source.
3. Intense Cardio Work Dramatically improves this aspect of bodybuilding as well.
4. And finally manipulate your resting periods. This will also cause an increase in contractile protein hypertrophy!

Wow, thats a lot of info. Thanks, i cant wait to try it out later this afternoon when i hit the gym. Thanks again bro!

Good info and Popeye, take it all onboard. Advice here is free, use it. But remember, don't go making something simple into a science. If you want to get big and hard, nothing, but nothing compares to years of good, hardcore training.
Enjoy your sport.

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Originally Posted by PopeyeSmokesPot

Drink more water to lose water? i dont understand...?

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Sodium is one of the main things that make you hold water. The more water you drink-the more sodium you flush out of your body.

What is the amount of water shall i drink daily to flush the sodium out of my system? Can you tell me in litre terms?

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Originally Posted by PopeyeSmokesPot

What is the amount of water shall i drink daily to flush the sodium out of my system? Can you tell me in litre terms?

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6 Liters should work, thats a fairly normal amout, wouldn't hurt to up it to 8 though if you want.

6 litres?????!!!! my god, how on earth can i gulp down 6 litres of water a day????

i say go get some test :D

Me too. It's all a bf% thing.