Here's part 2 about growing muscle, a follow up to part 1 about getting fat: http://mattdruid.blogspot.com/2014/05/how-our-bodies-work-part-1-fat.html
Seems like everyone has their own opinion on how to grow Muscle.
I found there to be a lot of unproven, wrong scientific theories and miss-information out there about how to train so you can build muscle and get stronger.
It took a while to read a number of books and studies on the topic to weed thru the noise and boil it down to the facts.
In summary - to build muscle there are 3 things to do:
1) Weight Train.
By "weight train" - I mean - after some light warm-up sets, train with HEAVY weights to overload your muscles. If you can do 10 reps with perfect form, the weight is too light. You should train with a weight that you can't do 10 reps of. You shouldn't be able to complete more then 8 reps, better yet is 4-6. Do at least 3 or 4 sets of heavy reps - the more the better - up to 10 sets. Up your weight over time as you get stronger. Spend most of your time training on Compound Exercises that target multiple muscle groups, such as Squats, Bench Press, Chin-up, Shoulder Press, Bent-over Rows, etc.
Weight Training like this will cause micro-tears in your muscle cells - and your body will rebuild them and in the process make them larger.
2) Eat Protein
Meat, Chicken, Fish, Eggs, etc. Your body needs the protein and the nitrogen from these kinds of food to build new muscle after weight training. In fact, these are the healthiest kinds of food you can eat. A good Whey Protein shake/supplement after a good workout will help this repair/grow process. The reason Steroids cause muscles to grow so quickly, is because it enhances the chemical process taking part here.
3) Sleep/Rest
You don't grow in the gym, you grow mostly while you sleep. Get rest and let your body repair itself. Some athletes take a pre-sleep protein meal or supplement just before bed to try and help this process. I don't suggest you do that unless you are really training hard for some special event. Rest, sleep - and get back to the gym the next day. Also, you have to give yourself a nice couple weeks off training every few months.
That's it.
Some References:
Friday, October 30, 2015
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