Muscle building and fat loss can be achieved with no frills, basic principles. So, if you have ever wondered, “How can I build muscle and lose fat?”, here are some tips that I’ve applied back in my younger days to pack on about 20 pounds of lean muscle (with age, I’ve been slacking on the eating part and it shows, so I know eating right plays a HUGE role in achieving your goal).
These time tested principles work folks, so DO IT!
First, I will give you some SOLID BASIC muscle building tips that’s been proven to work OVER AND OVER, YEAR AFTER YEAR. Building muscle is very important because it also helps in your quest to lose fat (hint: the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn when you are just sitting around! – they call it a high resting metabolic rate). Sorry, I couldn’t help slipping in that tip in the intro.
FREQUENCY: Usually when you’re beginning, motivation is high and you want to lift every day to get big fast. What’s deceiving is that you will see results because your body is adapting to the external stress. Eventually you will experience over training and you will stop seeing growth.
Lifting 6 times a week is TOO MUCH, especially if you lift intensely. Even though you are working different body parts throughout the week, your body undergoes more stress than you think, which hampers recovery. And as you probably know, you lift ONLY to stimulate your muscles but all the growing occurs OUTSIDE THE GYM, RESTING and RECOVERING.
If you are lifting intensely, working your whole body within 3 non-consecutive days can produce great results. You can add a 4th day if you’re having a hard time completing your whole body within 1 hour, which leads me to the next tip.
DURATION: Keep your workouts in the 45-60 minute range. Studies have shown that after about 45 minutes of INTENSE lifting (not warm-ups), your body starts releasing cortisol, a stress hormone that you DO NOT want if you’re trying to build muscle.
PERFORM BASIC MASS BUILDING EXERCISES: Incorporate compound exercises in your workouts, i.e. two joint movements like barbell bench press, military presses, barbell bent over rows.. and ESPECIALLY the DEADLIFT and barbell SQUAT squat. These two are awesome mass building exercises because they really release testosterone!!
You’ll know when you are flooded with testosterone when, for example, you have a feeling of invisibility, you can stand pain, you can talk to anyone with utmost confidence, and you are decisive. Testosterone also aids in fat loss so do those compound exercises. It’s an awesome feeling!
Sean suggest the 5-7 rep range in his program “The Truth About Building Muscle” but I have found a higher rep range of about 8-10 works best for me. We all respond differently so pay attention to your body to fine tweak a program.
Now, be sure to read one of the most critical tips to building lean muscles below.
The Most Neglected Tip To Building Muscles
Eat Right And You’ll Build a LEAN Body. Don’t, And You Won’t.
You MUST eat to grow muscles, but eating the right foods is key to building a LEAN body.
Tip 4: EATING: Just as important (if not more) if you want to build mass is what you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat.
As for what you eat, you probably already know the “lean protein, complex (low-glycemic) carbs, and healthy fats” speech already.
As for how much you eat, all I can say is eat, eat, and eat. Every 3 hours is a good pace to shoot for, 2 hours if you can. But remember, it’s what you eat that will determine the look you get.
You may not be that hungry but if you want to grow, you must do what the other guys don’t do.
As for when, the 4 most critical times is:
1. When you wake up
2. Before your workout
3. After your workout
4. Before bedtime.
WHEN YOU WAKE: Eat some eggs (or whey protein is another good protein source) with cereal, toast, or some other medium to high glycemic carbs WITHIN 30-45 minutes upon waking. You were fasting for about 8 hours so you must get out of the catabolic state quickly (this is why eating high glycemic carbs are acceptable b/c the insulin spike helps shuttle the nutrients to your muscles faster).
BEFORE YOU WORKOUT: Your pre-workout meal should be small and consist some branch chain amino acids (BCAA) coupled with some slow digesting protein (a mixture of whey protein and milk fulfills this requirement). This BCAA is there so your body can tap into that instead of your muscles if it needs the fuel. You also want some SLOW released carbs for energy such as oat bran, brown rice, whole grains, greener bananas, an apple, etc.
AFTER YOU WORKOUT: Your first post-workout meal should be taken w/in 30 minutes of completing your workout. This post-workout time is called the “window of opportunity.” Your body (muscles and glycogen stores particularly) is STARVING for nutrients and will absorb it like a sponge. For fastest absorption, take it in the form of a drink. The optimum mixture would be to mix about 30-40 grams of whey protein, 5 grams of creatine, and 5 grams of glutamine with some simple sugars juice. You should also take this with a high-potency multi vitamin consiting of Vitamin E and C to offset free radicals and replenish minerals. This will quickly reverse the catabolic state your body is in.
To avoid an insulin crash, about 30-60 minutes after your shake eat a solid meal consisting of quality protein, i.e. chicken breast, tuna, etc. with some fast digesting carbs, i.e. white rice, potatoes, or any other starchy foods. High glycemic carbs is recommended b/c it is digested and released into the blood stream faster, replenishing the nutrients back into your cells faster.
This “window of opportunity” last for about 3 hours so if you can take in another meal like above, do so. Keep your fat intake down during this window b/c it slows down digestion.
This post-workout window is the only time high glycemic carbs are recommended because of the need to shuttle nutrients back into your body as fast as possible. Breakfast is more on the medium – high scale of the glycemic index.
BEFORE BEDTIME: You will be without food for about 8 hours so you want to keep your body in an anabolic state as long as possible. To do this, consume a small “slow release” meal of protein, carbs, and fats.
The protein part should consist of amino acids but slowly released. You can accomplish this by mixing whey protein with about 1 – 1 1/2 cup of milk.
The carbohydrate part should be of the complex for like a whole grain toast or some oatmeal. You want something that will be released slowly into the bloodstream to keep your glycogen levels up as long as possible.
Add some kind of healthy fat like natural peanut butter or Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This will slow down the digestive process even more so nutrients are released slowly into your bloodstream.
HEED THESE TIPS AND YOU WILL PACK ON MASS!
OK, here are some things you could do to help reduce body fat is:
1. Reduce how much carbs you take in (BUT, reduce too much and your body will utilize protein for energy, which is not a very efficient fuel source. PLUS, you want to keep that protein for what it does best, build and repair your muscles (remember, you DO want muscles to aid fat loss).
2. Graze throughout the day to keep your fat burning metabolism up.
3. You want to eat low-glycemic carbs to keep your blood sugar levels constant. Insulin promotes body fat storage.
4. Keep alcohol consumption to a minimum at most. At 7 EMPTY calories per gram, you are sure to increase your body fat. It also affects protein synthesis and testosterone production, both important if you want to pack on muscle.
5. Do higher intensity cardio but at a SHORTER duration, i.e. 15 minutes, 3-5 times per week. This will maximize fat loss with minimal muscle loss.
Tips for Quick Muscle Building
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