Building muscle is your key to longevity and health. But don't...

Hannah - Apex Fitness Advisory@hannahapexfit

54 views Sep 19, 2025 ~4 min read

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Building muscle is your key to longevity and health.

But don't waste years trying to figure out what works.

After 8 years as a Professional Athlete...

These are the 7 most important training tips I wish I knew when I first started:

= Thread =

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Muscle is one of the biggest indicators for longevity.

And it's how you lift that matters.

You need "mechanical tension"

The force/tension exerted on muscle fibers during a lift.

The more tension you generate, the more fibers you recruit and stimulate, leading to growth.

But

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Most people completely ignore this when they workout.

▫️ Terrible exercise selection
▫️ A lack of intensity
▫️ Terrible form

How you lift and execute matters big time.

Stop spinning your wheels with basic errors...

This is what you need to do to add muscle and live longer...

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1. High Intensity (reps in reserve):

Vital for building muscle.

It takes time, but is extremely common for people to not take working sets to the necessary intenisty.

You need to learn how to push sets close to failure to challenge your body to adapt.

Use reps in reserve...

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To hit the intensity to elicit muscle growth each working set needs to hit 0-2 RIR (reps in reserve)

This means at the end of the set you could not perform more than 0-2 reps with perfect form if your life depended on it.

Your last reps should be involuntairly slow like this...

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2. Use Machines

Huge ROI for building muscle.

Why?

Machine-based exercises allow an increased loading on the target muscle.

Machines create greater external stability and an improved range of motion throughout the movement.

Thus more mechanical tension = more muscle stimulus

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3. Use good form

Mechanical tension and growth is all about stimulus

Bad form takes the load off the target muscle and muscle fibers leading to a decreased mechanical tension and training stimulus

Leave your ego at the door and make sure the mechanics are the same every rep

4. Control the eccentric phase:

The eccentric phase of an exercise, when you're lowering the weight, can generate more tension than the concentric phase.

So, focus on controlling the weight during this phase to maximize tension.

Aim for 2-3 second eccentrics for the gains

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5. Slow down your reps:

Slowing down your reps will improve the way you execute, decrased injury risk and generally leads to greater mechanical tension and muscle growth.

Keep those target fibers under load through the desired range of motion

Suddenly your progress will boom

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6. Maximize the range of motion:

A greater range of motion creates a greater stretch on the target muscle fibers

This increases both the active and passive tension on the muscle fibers

Increased tension is our goal so make sure to maximize range of motion (ROM) in the gym

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7. Progressive Overload

Often thought of as the key driver for hypertrophy (wrong dude its definitely mechanical tension), however, overload is imperative as it allows for an INCREASE in mechanical tension over time

Please make sure to track your workouts

A pen and paper works

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This is key to gradually increase the reps and then the weight for each exercise you perform

* But the double-edged sword is ensure your form does not suffer to get that 'extra rep'

Quality > Quantity always

If you can increase mechanical tension over time you will grow

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And there you have it - some simple ways to maximize mechanical tension and muscle growth

1. High Intensity
2. Use machine-based compound exercises
3. Form
4. Control the eccentric phase
5. Slow down your reps
6. Maximize range of motion
7. Progressive Overload

If you get stronger and improve form in key lifts over time you will build muscle.

Make sure your nutrition and recovery is also on point.

Are you interested in...

Optimizing your health and performance:

• Shred 25-45lbs of stubborn fat
• Develop bulletproof confidence
• Change the Trajectory of Your life

And get in the best shape of your life...

Results guaranteed ⬇️⬇️⬇️

PS.

Want access to a 1:1 VIP system with a 15 year track record with zero guesswork?

▫️ Torch fat
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Results guaranteed.

DM me APEX for more info and let's chat.
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