Training with Weights is only Part of It...

Training with Weights is only Part of It...

Many weightlifters in the gym appear the same month after month. They keep adding new exercises and more sets hoping to find that "magic" balance to kickstart their gains. In reality they are defeating their purpose. All this does is scatter their focus and they lose intensity. It also leads to overtraining. The body never recuperates before it is subjected to another session in the gym.

Knowledgeable trainers realize you must hit the muscles hard for a short duration of time. Get in the gym, work your muscles to momentary muscle failure and then get out. Rest the muscles, drink plenty of water and feed your body optimally to maximize your strength and size gains. You grow when you are resting, not working out. A muscle will by definition have to get bigger to get stronger.

Nutrition plays a major role in the bodybuilding process. If you want to gain size you will have to increase your daily caloric intake. If your maintenance caloric intake is 2200 calories then you will need to bump it closer to 3000 to promote muscle growth.

You need a variety of proteins to insure getting both essential and nonessential amino acids. The nine essential amino acids are those that can't be synthesized by humans and must be obtained from the diet. They are: histidine, isolucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, trytophan and valine. Leucine, isolucine and valine are the branch chained amino acids. The eleven amino acids which are non-essential and are required for protein synthesis can be synthesized by the body.

Eating some form of protein every few hours will keep the body in an anabolic state. This is where you need to remain to insure growth. When we get in a catabolic state (the opposite of anabolic) we burn our muscle building protein for energy instead of the much more desired stored fat. The destructive metabolic process converts substances (protein) to secreted compounds.

If your desire is to gain muscle weight you should plan on eating every few hours. Include a variety of proteins, e.g. poultry, lean red meats, eggs, fish, milk, whey protein and cottage cheese. Stick with carbohydrates that fall in the low glycemic category. This means they digest slower and release insulin into the blood stream slowly. High glycemic carbohydrates will cause a spike in insulin secretion followed by a quick letdown. Oatmeal, yams, whole grain breads and cereals, lentils and brown rice are some examples of  low glycemic carbohydrates.

Fats are a key component to your overall strategy. They are high in calories (9 calories per gram) so you must be careful but they are the most dense energy source of all. The two types of fat to be concerned with are saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fats are solid at room temperature while unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. Unsaturated fats are derived from plant sources whereas saturated fats come from animal meats.

There are plenty of other articles and resources available at our site. We are currently one month into Sean Nalewanyj's The Truth About Building Muscle program. You can view both the male and female perspectives on the workout at our blogs on the site. There are also free ebooks available.

Here's to a leaner, healthier YOU!