How much time are you spending lifting weights at the gym? Weightlifting is so much more than just a great way to lose weight; it also helps you to pack on the muscle. Sadly, many people spend their gym time lifting weights and don't see serious results for their efforts.

Don't let that be you!

Try these two killer secrets to pack on the pounds of muscle and seriously bulk up:

Secret #1: Strip-Setting

Strip-setting is simple:

• Start with your regular set. Let's say you Bench Press 150 pounds. Perform 1 set of 10, using 150 pounds.
• Strip 10 pounds off each side of the barbell (dropping the weight to 130 pounds), and perform another set of 10 reps without pause.
• Strip another 10 pounds off each side (dropping the weight to 110 pounds), and perform a third set of 10 reps without pause.
• Strip another 10 pounds off each side (dropping the weight to 90 pounds), and perform the final set of 10 reps.

Congratulations, you finished ONE strip-set!

The more consecutive sets of reps you do (with less and less weight), the deeper into your muscle fibers you dig. This type of weight training places a very high demand on your muscles, and you'll hit all the red and white fast and slow twitch muscle fibers. This workout works your stamina and endurance, and will yield some awesome progress in terms of muscle growth.

Be warned: You need extra rest between these sets. For maximum results, rest at least 2-3 minutes between strip-sets.

For beginners, stop after 2 or 3 strip-sets. For more advanced athletes, try to hit at least 5 or 6. With just a few strip-sets, you'll give your muscles all the exercise they need and you can move on to the next muscle group.

Secret #2: Rest-Pause

When you finish a set, you feel the burn in your muscles and you're only too glad to put the weight back on the rack to take a break.

With the "rest-pause" trick, you only rest for a few seconds (2-5) before lifting the weight from the rack and performing as many reps as possible until failure.

For example:

• Perform your regular set of 10 bench presses
• Rack the weight and rest for 2-5 seconds
• Lift the weight and perform as many bench presses as possible until muscular failure

Failure training is NOT easy, and can be incredibly demanding on your muscles. Yet that high demand leads to better results in terms of increased strength and size. Try to start slipping this into your workouts, and you'll see serious growth.

Be warned: Take an extra-long rest after completing a "rest-pause" set--at least 2-3 minutes.

Both of these secrets to pack on the muscle will yield impressive growth, but they're very hard on your body. If you notice the typical symptoms of overtraining (lethargy, excessive soreness, cold or flu-like symptoms, etc.), back off and return your normal training for a few weeks. Once you recover, you can slowly add the strip-sets and rest-pause workouts back into your regular training program.