Best Strategies For Maximum Muscle Gains

There is so much conflicting information out there when it comes to the topic of building muscle, and sometimes it can be very difficult to know where to start. If you’re an average beginner looking for some basic guidelines to follow in the gym, the following 8 points will start you off on the right track.




1) Train With Weights and Focus On Compound, Free Weight Movements. 

If you want to make solid, noteworthy gains in muscle size and strength, you absolutely must train with free weights and focus on basic, compound exercises. A compound exercise is any lift that stimulates more than one muscle group at a time. Examples of these lifts are the squat, dead lift, bench press, chin up, barbell row, overhead press, dip and lunge. Compound movements allow you to handle the most weight and will stimulate the greatest amount of total muscle fibers.

2) Be Prepared To Train Hard. 

One of the biggest factors that separates those who make modest gains from those who make serious gains is their level of training intensity. In order to stimulate your muscle fibers to their utmost potential, you must be willing to take every set you perform in the gym to the point of muscular failure.

Muscular Failure: The point at which no further repetitions can be completed using proper form.

Sub-maximal training intensity will leave you with sub-maximal results, plain and simple.

3) Track Your Progress In The Gym From Week To Week. 

Our bodies build muscle because of an adaptive response to the environment. When you go to the gym, you break down your muscle fibers by training with weights. Your body senses this as a potential threat to its survival and will react accordingly by rebuilding the damaged fibers larger and stronger in order to protect against any possible future threat. Therefore, in order to make continual gains in muscle size and strength, you must always focus on progressing in the gym from week to week. This could mean performing 1 or 2 more reps for each exercise or adding more weight to the bar. Keep a detailed training log to track your progress as your strength increases over time.

4) Avoid Over training. 

Over training is your number one enemy when it comes to building muscle size and strength. When most people begin a workout program, they are stuck with the misguided notion that more is better. They naturally assume that the more time they spend in the gym, the better results they will achieve. When it comes to building muscle, nothing could be farther from the truth! If you spend too much time in the gym, you will actually take yourself farther away from your goals rather than closer to them. Remember, your muscles do not grow in the gym; they grow out of the gym, while you are resting and eating. Recovery is absolutely vital to the muscle growth process. If you don't provide your body with the proper recovery time in between workouts, your muscles will never have a chance to grow.

5) Eat More Frequently. 

The main area where most people fail miserably on their muscle-building mission is on the all-too important task of proper nutrition. Training with weights is only half of the equation! You break down your muscle fibers in the gym, but if you don't provide your body with the proper nutrients at the proper times, the muscle growth process will be next to impossible. You should be eating anywhere from 5-7 meals per day, spaced every 2-3 hours in order to keep your body in an anabolic, muscle-building state at all times. Each meal should consist of high quality protein and complex carbohydrates.

6) Increase Your Protein Intake. 

Of the 3 major nutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fats) protein is without a doubt the most important for those who are looking to gain muscle size and strength. Protein is found in literally every single one of the 30 trillion cells that your body is made up of and its main role is to build and repair body tissues. Without sufficient protein intake, it will be physically impossible for your body to synthesize a significant amount of lean muscle mass. If your body were a house, think of protein as the bricks. A general guideline is to consume 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day from high quality sources such as fish, poultry, eggs, beef, milk, peanut butter and cottage cheese.

7) Increase Your Water Intake. 

If you want a simple, easy and highly effective way to maximize your muscle gains, drinking more water is it. Water plays so many vital roles in the body and its importance cannot be overstated. In fact, your muscles alone are made up of 70% water! Not only will drinking more water cause your muscles to appear fuller and more vascular, but it will also increase your strength as well. Research has shown that merely a 3-4% drop in your body's water levels can impact muscle contractions by 10-20%! Aim to consume 0.6 ounces for every pound of body-weight each day for optimal gains.

8) Be Consistent! 

Consistency is everything. Those who make the greatest gains in muscular size and strength are the ones who are able to implement the proper techniques on a highly consistent basis. Simply knowing is not enough, you must apply!

Building muscle is a result of the cumulative effect of small steps. Sure, performing 1 extra rep on your bench press will not make a huge difference to your overall results, and neither will consuming a single meal. However, over the long haul, all of those extra reps you perform and all of those small meals you consume will decide your overall success. If you work hard and complete all of your muscle-building tasks in a consistent fashion, all of those individual steps will equate to massive gains in overall size and strength.

Do you even lift WOMEN please read

Do you even lift 

Do you head straight for the treadmill to pound away at a constant pace for 40 minutes or so? Then, do you lift  a few rounds of lightweights? Finally, do you head to the mat to do a million sit ups?

Like most women you probably answered yes here. I understand, i’m a woman, I once thought this was the way to the perfect body. Sadly this failed miserably and I ended up 3 stone overweight!!

 most of us want to live in capable bodies and feel good while going about our day. In our workouts, we want to see results for our efforts. A prominent “celebrity trainer” insists that women should never lift more than 3 pounds (I WON’T GO INTO THIS BECAUSE SHE ANNOYS ME), which is like telling every mother never to carry their kids—ridiculous or what??   Many women are often terrified of looking manly that they are living in an unfit,weak body.

Its time time to change your ways! The type of training above  illustrates most women’s workout programs. They don’t want to get big and “bulky,” so they stick with  exercises they think burn the most calories and “tone” their muscles

If you’re reaching for a 1-2kg dumbell, it better be your warm-up.

Lift, Ladies!

This training regime may burn a few hundred calories during the cardio workout, and possibly a hundred more in the weights bit, but they won’t reshape how your bodies look. A complete body transformation cannot take place when you’re following the same old tired,dated training plan.

If you want that complete body transformation, you need to take action and start lifting heavy weights. You want to look good in that strapless pretty wedding dress, right?!?!?!

“But won’t I get bulky Claire?!?!

No! Heres some science stuff to explain.

Females dont have the testosterone levels to build mass.

Men have higher testosterone levels than women; women have higher estrogen levels than men. Compare testosterone levels in a man to the amount in a woman and you find a large gap. Why? Simply put, women don’t have testicles. The lion’s share of male testosterone comes from the testes.

Women do produce the hormone, but it comes from your ovaries and adrenal glands in smaller doses.

Testosterone is the primary muscle-building hormone in the body. Since women have significantly less of this hormone they cannot put on muscle mass as easily as men.

Stop worrying and start lifting, you will thank me later.

If you’re worried about bulking up, remember you don’t have enough testosterone.

Now that we’ve established that you’re not going to gain mass,  lets discuss some of the benefits of weight training.

Heavier weight offers women a higher metabolic rate. Since you work against a high degree of resistance with heavy weights, you create tiny muscular tears throughout the body. You will expend a greater number of calories post-workout to repair those tiny tears, thus increasing your overall calorie requirements.

Doesn’t a high metabolism sound like something that might help you achieve that goal?

If you’re looking to get lean, lifting weights expends considerably more calories than cardio.

The next benefit to lifting heavier weights is that you’ll see greater overall muscle definition. When you lift such a light weight as most women do, the muscles are barely worked.

Push yourself harder and take the weight up to the next level – that’s when you see muscle definition . Provided you also follow the correct nutrition for fat loss, heavy weights will create the greatest change to how your body looks.

One universal truth of the human body that helps explain many physical phenomena is that our biology is adaptive. Muscle makes your body more capable, and feeling more capable allows you to do more things in everyday life and in your workouts. Bringing a challenge to your physical self makes your body build itself stronger to meet the demand of whatever the next challenge might be. This adaption eventually delivers a feeling of confident movement that is like no other.

But we have to ask for it. And heavier weights are the answer!!!

Fuel Your Body Effectively Pre/Post and During Your Running Program

Our bodies are constantly on the go and we know the importance of what we fuel ourselves with has a direct correlation on the performance of what we can get out of it. Every fitness program emphasizes certain nutritional guidelines, whether you are looking to bulk up, lose weight, or sustain your energy levels throughout your day. Running is no different and requires specific nutritional guidelines in order to sustain pace, increase distances and derive marked improvements in speed/time. Below, we will emphasize a few critical nutritional components towards improving your “Running” program:

Before You Exercise:

Stay away from the snack if you are running for less than an hour. When needing a boost, have 100 calories of mostly carbs, like a couple of handfuls of whole-grain crackers. If you do not have time for a quick snack, drink 8 to 12 ounces of water or a low-cal sports drink such as a Gatorade G2 and get to your run. If running longer, (over 3 miles) eat a combo of protein and carbs, like peanut butter with a banana or apple and multi-grain toast (200 to 300 calories), about an hour beforehand.

During Your Run:

Consume 6 to 8 ounces of H2O or other fluids every 15 minutes to stay hydrated or every mile and a half. When running over an hour, your body will want more than water. Sports drinks give you the electrolytes, fluids, and sugar-filled carbs you need. Recommendations for sports drinks include: Coconut Water, Emergen-C Electro Mix formula. Energy gels are also potential alternatives.

When You Are Done:

Emphasize the need to refuel effectively by eating within 30 minutes post-workout.   This is when your muscles replace their power supply fastest. For example, grab an 8- to 12-ounce glass of chocolate almond milk or a combo of mostly carbs being rice cakes or pretzels, and a combination of fruits. Target your carbohydrate consumption to (75 to 80 percent) with some protein (20 to 25 percent).

Recent Studies Confirm Vitamin D's Importance for Cancer Prevention

As for cancer, there are well over 800 references in the medical literature showing vitamin D's effectiveness—both for the prevention and treatment of cancer.

Vitamin D has a number of potent anticancer effects, including the promotion of cancer cell death, known as apoptosis, and the inhibition of angiogenesis (the growth of blood vessels that feed a tumor).

Carole Baggerly, founder of the vitamin D research group GrassrootsHealth, believes that as much as 90 percent of ordinary breast cancer may in fact be related to vitamin D deficiency.

According to a meta-analysis published in the March 2014 issue of Anticancer Research,3 patients diagnosed with breast cancer who had high vitamin D levels were twice as likely to survive compared to women with low levels.4, 5, 6

The high serum group had an average vitamin D level of 30 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml). Women in the low serum group averaged 17 ng/ml, which is in fact the average vitamin D level found in American breast cancer patients.7

These findings indicate you need at least 30 ng/ml of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) to prevent cancer from spreading. Other research suggests you'd be better off with levels as high as 80 ng/ml.

An even more recent study,8, 9 published in the British Medical Journal on June 17, links vitamin D optimization to improved cancer prognosis among those with a family history of cancer—regardless of the type of cancer involved—and a reduced risk of death from any cause, courtesy of its multi-varied influence on your health.

Here, data from eight population-based studies were analyzed. All in all, the studies followed more than 26,000 Europeans and Americans, aged 50 to 79, over the course of a 16-year period.

The data showed a clear pattern: those with consistently lower vitamin D levels were more likely to die from various health problems, including cancer, compared to those with higher levels. According to the authors:

"Despite levels of 25(OH)D strongly varying with country, sex, and season, the association between 25(OH)D level and all-cause and cause-specific mortality was remarkably consistent."

Optimizing Your Vitamin D Also Reduces Your Risk of Diabetes, New Study Suggests

In related news, an Indian study found that vitamin D and calcium supplementation in combination with exercise can aid prediabetic individuals by preventing the progression into full blown diabetes. Since exercise is one of the most effective ways to improve your insulin and leptin sensitivity, this certainly makes sense. As noted by Nephrology News:10

"Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to prediabetes, which is a blood glucose, or sugar, level that is too high but not high enough to be considered diabetes. It is unclear, however, if bringing low vitamin D blood levels to normal through supplementation will affect progression to diabetes.

In the new study, every unit increase in vitamin D level after supplementation of the vitamin decreased the risk of progression to diabetes by eight percent...

'Without healthy lifestyle changes, nothing works to prevent diabetes in at-risk individuals,' said the lead author, Deep Dutta, MD, DM... 'However, our results are encouraging because the addition of vitamin D and calcium supplements is easy and low in cost.'"

Here, a vitamin D level below 30 ng/ml was considered insufficient. All participants in the study were prediabetic.

The treatment group received a once-weekly dose of 60,000 IUs of vitamin D3, along with 1,250 milligrams (mg) of calcium carbonate daily, for eight weeks. A second group received only the calcium supplement. Both groups were advised to get 30 minutes of daily exercise. More than two years' worth of follow-up revealed that:

• Just under 11 percent of those receiving both vitamin D3 and calcium became diabetic, while 26.5 percent of the calcium-only group developed diabetes
• Blood sugar levels normalized in over twice as many of those in the vitamin D/calcium group, compared to the calcium-only group (41.8 percent versus 20.4 percent respectively)

Calcium/Vitamin D Supplementation Also Helpful for Gestational Diabetes

Similar results11 were found in another recent randomized placebo-controlled trial12 investigating the effect of calcium and vitamin D supplementation on the metabolic status of pregnant women with gestational diabetes (GDM).  The test group received 1,000 mg calcium daily. They also received 50,000 IUs of vitamin D3 at the outset of the study, and another 50,000 IUs three weeks later. The control group received placebos. After six weeks, the treatment group had "significant reductions" in fasting plasma glucose, insulin, and LDL cholesterol compared to the placebo group. The treatment group also showed improved insulin sensitivity, and had higher HDL cholesterol. According to the authors:

"Calcium plus vitamin D supplementation in GDM women had beneficial effects on metabolic profile... This is important because elevated circulating levels of inflammatory markers and impaired insulin metabolism in GDM can predict the progression to type 2 diabetes later in life and neonatal complications... In addition, increased inflammatory markers in GDM might predict the future development of both metabolic and cardiovascular disease."

The Importance of Optimizing Your Vitamin D Level During Pregnancy Cannot Be Overstated

Optimizing your vitamin D levels prior to, or at the very least during, pregnancy is important for other reasons besides protecting against gestational diabetes. Previous research has shown that your levels need to be above 50 ng/ml to protect you and your baby from even more serious complications such as premature delivery and preeclampsia. So please, if you're pregnant, make sure to get your 25 hydroxy D levels checked.

Previous research by Drs. Hollis and Wagner reveals even more reasons for addressing any vitamin D insufficiency during pregnancy. Their preliminary findings were discussed at a 2009 international vitamin D research conference in Brugge, Belgium,13 and included the following (the study was eventually published in 201114):

Mothers who took 4,000 IUs (10 times the RDA of 400 IU) of vitamin D during pregnancy had their risk of premature birth reduced by half	Women taking high doses of vitamin D had a 25 percent reduction in infections, particularly respiratory infections such as colds and flu, as well as fewer infections of the vagina and the gums
Premature babies born to women taking high doses of vitamin D were reduced by half at both 32 and 37 weeks	The "core morbidities of pregnancy" were reduced by 30 percent in the women who took the high-dose vitamin D. (Including diabetes, high blood pressure, and preeclampsia -- a potentially deadly increase in blood pressure and fluid accompanied by low platelets)
Fewer babies were born "small for dates"	Babies getting the highest amounts of vitamin D after birth had fewer colds and less eczema

According to Dr. Hollis: "I'm telling every pregnant mother I see to take 4,000 IUs and every nursing mother to take 6,400 IUs of vitamin D a day. I think it is medical malpractice for obstetricians not to know what the vitamin D level of their patients is. This study will put them on notice."

How to Optimize Your Vitamin D Level

When it comes to vitamin D, you don't want to be in the "average" or "normal" range, you want to be in the "optimal" range. Based on the evaluation of healthy populations that get plenty of natural sun exposure, the optimal range for general health appears to be somewhere between 50 and 70 ng/ml. 

Sources

As for HOW to optimize your vitamin D levels, I firmly believe that appropriate sun exposure is the best way. In fact, I personally have not taken a vitamin D supplement for over four years, yet my levels are in the 70 ng/ml range. There's a handy smartphone app called DMinder (dminder.info) that will tell you how much UV radiation you're getting and how many IUs of vitamin D you're making based on your local weather conditions (reported from the weather service) and other individual parameters such as your skin tone and age. It will also tell you when to get out of the sun, to protect yourself from sunburn.

If you can't get enough sunshine, then a safe tanning bed would be your next best option. Most tanning equipment use magnetic ballasts to generate light. These magnetic ballasts are well known sources of EMF fields that can contribute to cancer. If you hear a loud buzzing noise while in a tanning bed, it has a magnetic ballast system. I strongly recommend you avoid these types of beds and restrict your use of tanning beds to those that use electronic ballasts.

If your circumstances don't allow you to access the sun or a safe tanning bed, then you really only have one option if you want to raise your vitamin D, and that is to take a vitamin D supplement. GrassrootsHealth has a helpful chart showing the average adult dose required to reach healthy vitamin D levels based upon your measured starting point. Many experts agree that 35 IUs of vitamin D per pound of body weight could be used as an estimate for your ideal dose.

If You Opt for Oral Vitamin D, Remember Vitamin K2

Keep in mind that if you opt for a vitamin D supplement, you also need to take vitamin K2. The biological role of vitamin K2 is to help move calcium into the proper areas in your body, such as your bones and teeth. It also helps remove calcium from areas where it shouldn't be, such as in your arteries and soft tissues.

Vitamin K2 deficiency is actually what produces the consequences similar to vitamin D toxicity, which includes inappropriate calcification that can lead to hardening of your arteries. The reason for this is because when you take vitamin D, your body creates more vitamin K2-dependent proteins that move calcium around in your body. Without vitamin K2, those proteins remain inactivated, so the benefits of those proteins remain unrealized. So remember, if you take supplemental vitamin D, you're creating an increased demand for K2. Together, these two nutrients help strengthen your bones and improve your heart health.

Test Your Levels at Least Once a Year—Even if You're Healthy

While the US Preventive Services Task Force may be unclear on whether otherwise healthy people need to test their vitamin D levels, I believe the evidence is overwhelmingly clear: if your levels are consistently low, you will eventually suffer some kind of consequence. And when you consider how inexpensive vitamin D testing is becoming, there's little financial disincentive to get tested at least once a year, in the middle of the winter when your level would be at its lowest.

This will at least give you an idea of the extent of your insufficiency. Ideally, I recommend getting your level tested several times a year, at regular intervals, to ensure you're continuously staying within the ideal range. Once you know your pattern and can comfortably predict that you will not fall below 60 ng/ml, then it would be fine to shift to annual testing.

A Wired15 article published earlier this year discusses the revolutionary work of Elizabeth Holmes, a woman who invented a way to run 30 different lab tests on a single drop of blood. The pricing of these tests are as groundbreaking as the technology itself. For example, a cholesterol test costs less than $3. Her company, Theranos, rolled out its blood testing service in a Walgreens pharmacy in Palo Alto, California in the fall of last year. As reported by Wired:

"Theranos requires only a pinprick and a drop of blood. With that they can perform hundreds of tests, from standard cholesterol checks to sophisticated genetic analyses. The results are faster, more accurate, and far cheaper than conventional methods. The implications are mind-blowing. With inexpensive and easy access to the infor­mation running through their veins, people will have an unprecedented window on their own health. And a new generation of diagnostic tests could allow them to head off serious afflictions..."

I believe vitamin D testing should be at the top of virtually everyone's list—but especially pregnant women and cancer patients. It's important to remember that optimal vitamin D levels appear to offer powerful PREVENTION of a whole host of chronic diseases, so please, do not wait for a problem to appear before addressing your vitamin D status.

How Vitamin D Performance Testing Can Help Optimize Your Health

A robust and growing body of research clearly shows that vitamin D is absolutely critical for good health and disease prevention. Vitamin D affects your DNA through vitamin D receptors (VDRs), which bind to specific locations of the human genome. Scientists have identified nearly 3,000 genes that are influenced by vitamin D levels, and vitamin D receptors have been found throughout the human body.

Is it any wonder then that no matter what disease or condition is investigated, vitamin D appears to play a crucial role? This is why I am so excited about the D*Action Project by GrassrootsHealth. It is showing how you can take action today on known science with a consensus of experts without waiting for institutional lethargy. It has shown how by combining the science of measurement (of vitamin D levels) with the personal choice of taking action and, the value of education about individual measures that one can truly be in charge of their own health.

In order to spread this health movement to more communities, the project needs your involvement. This was an ongoing campaign during the month of February, and will become an annual event.

To participate, simply purchase the D*Action Measurement Kit and follow the registration instructions included. (Please note that 100 percent of the proceeds from the kits go to fund the research project. I do not charge a single dime as a distributor of the test kits.)

As a participant, you agree to test your vitamin D levels twice a year during a five-year study, and share your health status to demonstrate the public health impact of this nutrient. There is a $65 fee every six months for your sponsorship of this research project, which includes a test kit to be used at home, and electronic reports on your ongoing progress. You will get a follow up email every six months reminding you "it's time for your next test and health survey."

Vitamin D keeps endurance athletes healthy

Athletes hate getting colds, but even when training outdoors, don’t get enough health-protecting sunlight in winter. In this study, researchers measured levels of vitamin D and an immune antimicrobial protein called cathelicidin in 225 athletes at the start and end of a 16-week winter training session.

Levels of cathelicidin and infection-fighting capacity were highest in those with optimal vitamin D levels. About half the athletes were low or deficient in vitamin D throughout the study, and developed more upper respiratory tract symptoms compared to those with optimal levels; 20 to 60 nanograms of vitamin D per milliliter of blood. 

 

Reference: Exercise Immunology Review; 2013, Vol. 19, 86-101

 

Nutrients Improve Athletic Performance and Endurance

Nutrients help athletes perform better, recover faster

 

Pycnogenol aids training and recovery

In the first study to test Pycnogenol® in high-stress sports training, 147 men and women prepared for a triathlon while taking 100 mg of Pycnogenol per day or a placebo. After eight weeks, all participants improved two-mile run times, with the men and women taking Pycnogenol improving more than placebo. Oxidative stress decreased in all groups, with results significantly better for Pycnogenol. Also, the Pycnogenol group was able to perform more push-ups and sit-ups.

In the second study phase, 54 men took 150 mg of Pycnogenol per day or a placebo and completed triathlon training, improving more than placebo in cycling and running scores. Total triathlon time was about 90 minutes for Pycnogenol and 96 minutes for placebo, with the Pycnogenol group cutting twice as many minutes off their time as placebo. Cramps and post-running pain were much less for Pycnogenol but unchanged for placebo. 

 

Reference: Journal of Sports Medicine & Physical Fitness; 2013, Vol. 53, No. 6, 644-54

60% vs. 40% - Carb Restricted Diets

Just about every bodybuilder getting ready for a contest starts cutting back on carbs to lose weight. Some people follow the Zone Diet approach that advocates a moderate restriction in carbs to enhance weight loss, while others advocate more extreme reductions in carbohydrates. Researchers took 30 obese subjects and randomly assigned them to consume either a calorierestricted high-carbohydrate diet (60–65% of energy from carbohydrates and 20–25% from fats) or a calorie-restricted moderately restricted carbohydrate diet (43– 47% of total calories as carbohydrate and 36–40% as dietary fats) for six weeks. Protein contents of both diets were 15–17% of total energy. A two-week washout period was applied, following which participants were crossed over to the alternate treatment arm for an additional six weeks. Anthropometric, blood pressure, and biochemical measurements were performed before and after each phase of intervention.

At the end of the study, both groups lost almost exactly the same amount of body weight; they also gained the same ~800g of lean mass and lost 1.3kg of body fat.

In sum, the 40% reduction in carbs, compared with the 60% reduction in carbohydrate intake, didn’t result in a difference in overall weight loss, but there was a trend toward greater reduction in waist circumference in the 40% restricted group. The 40% carbohydrate group wasn’t associated with different changes in fasting plasma glucose, insulin, or cardiovascular risk profiles. However, it resulted in decreased diastolic blood pressure and lower prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (i.e., the group of risk factors that raises your risk for heart disease and other health problems, such as diabetes and stroke). So if you’re dieting, it looks like a moderate replacement carb diet isn’t going to make a difference—you’re going to have to at least drop carbs more than 35% to make a noticeable difference in weight loss. - FLEX