The pump, the growth - Building Lean Mass

The main criteria for increasing muslce mass are:

• a sound training regime
• a diet that supplies the caloric level and right macro/micronutrients for anabolic growth
• recovery & rest.

Gaining appreciable muscle mass and dropping body fat at the same time is not optimal. One needs to concentrate on one or the other. The laws of thermodynamics demonstrate it is simply not possible, unless one is a very beginner. Trainees (myself) have to accept some loss in muscle mass when along for the ride to lose bodyfat and vice versa, you will gain some body fat when increasing muscle mass.

Generally, women, more than men, tend to overtrain and not eat enough. Most women bodybuilders spend hours doing cardio in addition to weight training - 2 hours, 4-6 days a week. On top most women do not eat enough for muscle growth for the fear of gaining body fat!

There is no such thing like 'if it works for her, it must work for me the same way'! There is a lot of information around on the subject building muscle and getting lean. These articles are always telling us how hard it is for women to gain some muscle mass due to our hormonal setup. I am reading articles left right and centre on how I can reach my long term fitness goal and they all come back to the same principles - Discipline, motivation, patience and perserverance! Saying 'practice makes perfect'.

Here are some short term goals I am going to follow over the next 6-8 weeks.

1. Train with heavy weights - this I do already 95% of the time but now it is time to stimulate growth by working within a power zone of 3-6 reps ie only be able to lift max 6 reps! The kind of muscle fibres that yield the greatest power are also those who grow the most. If your muscles could handle the load of the whole set, your body starts to think 'ok we managed that one, there's no need to improve and recruit more muscle mass - we can handle it'. by asking for more ie by not having the ability to finish the full set, you are forcing your body to adapt.
2. Do Cardio separately from your weight training- too much cardiovascular training eats into muscle. Interestingly, I came across an article telling you not to do carido immediately after weight training. It went on to say that weight training is mere a stimulus for the muscles to grow and if you break them down too long (more than 45 mins) they will never recuperate and rebuild. When adding cardio afterwards, your body is so demolished and this destruction continues until you have a protein and carb intake. The sooner you replenish your muscles with some energy, the faster it will get back. Now my question is if it takes approximately 20-30 mins for you to start absorbing a macro/micronutrient, and taking the nutrient before you start, surely it is kicking in by the time you start your cardio, so ineffect you are feeding your system right at the time you need to being doing so. Hmmmmm something for more research??
3. Have many small snacks - LOL my husbands seems to think I appear to be eating all the time and 'there is no way you will lose body fat if you keep eating - you need to stop eating' What a mentality! I tell him he is full of S*%# and doesn't know what he is talking about and that is exactly what got me where I today. As my blood test previously showed, I have a higher glucose level and I don't eat anything sweet. I really need to feed regularly and far more regularly than I have been inorder to keep that blood sugar level steady and not produce insulance spikes, which in turn will help me lose some more body fat.
4. Eat the right stuff at the right time! - Did you know it takes a lot of energy for system to digest veggis and that makes you full. Try to eat too many starches and I get really sleepy and lethargic! Protein is my absolute priority and I ensure I have a serve of protein with every meal. Another article states that protein sources like chicken, turkey breasts, tuna, egg whites and whey powders, help build muscle and are least likely macrnutrients to be converted to body fat since they are the most metabolically costly for our bodies to process. Fats besides being necessary for healthy skin and hair, fat is invovled in the production of many hormones, including testosterone. That's why it's almost impossible to build muscle mass when on an extremely low fat diet. Fat also lowers the glycemic index of many high carb foods, so we don't get the huge fat producing insulin surge commonly associated with eating fat-free goodies by themselves. In short, we need a certain amount of fat to process body fat metabolism - Good fats that is. In other words, eating too little fat makes it harder for us to burn unwanted fat! What the!!!!

So I have listed 4 main areas to concentrate.

On a personal note, training is going great, doing some slower, heavier moves, producing some unbelievable DOMS! My butt was sore for 4 days, did the same exercise that usually produces that soreness but with a slight change - slower and heavier! Had some good steady cardio sessions as well, including getting 2 great powerwalks this weekend, one this morning before I got to work. Food has been good and clean, though I had 3 glasses of red wine on Friday night, I allowed for it. Went out to a party last night, tried to drink a glass of red and it burnt all the way down, so I stuck to water all night - LOL I think I drank about 4 litres!!!!! Lots of toilet trips hehehe. I baked myself a nice chicken mince loaf for my meals during the week, adding in lots of green veges into it. Then slice it up, all measured and put into individual bags, ready to grab the right quantity out of the freezer for the cooler bag to work. Did the same with salad protions and vege portions, just makes the week a no brainer.

Well I had better go and get into some work.

Ciao!

X:D)

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