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- WORKOUT HUMOR
I was a basketball player when I was younger. I had two basketball workouts a day and a weight workout in-between. I didn’t eat regularly because I had no clear idea on how to structure my diet. A couple of times I basically passed out because I was too tired and I didn’t recover properly.
As an ectomorph I was naturally pretty lean and I also did a lot of aerobic exercises during the day, so I couldn’t gain muscle mass back then.
After I stopped playing professional basketball I spent a year in the army. I got out of shape and it was very hard for me to decide in which direction I should go with my life.
Since fitness was my second passion behind basketball, I decided to put all my effort into it and that was the turning point for me.
It was tough for me when I wasn’t very well off financially and I had to work two jobs in order to make enough money to keep going in the direction that I wanted. I worked as a personal trainer during the day and as a security guard at night.
It was hard because I didn’t get enough rest, but it was worth it. When you really, really want something, nothing can stop you from achieving it.
Most people believe that once you have achieved the body that you always wanted, everything else comes easy after that. Well actually the hardest part is maintaining your physique over a long period of time. It costs me as much effort to stay in this shape as it cost me to achieve it. I have to give 100% all the time and if I start living like most people do I quickly get out of shape. A lot of people think that they give it their all, but they are actually far from that; they say they do everything at 100%, but things still don’t work out for them.
Only after they have seen how a single day of my life goes, they find out that the effort that they put in is about half of what is actually needed.
My motivation comes from my fans, who support me all the time and my clients, who I helped transform their lifestyle and bodies.
My goal is to promote fitness as much as possible around the word. I will strive to make the fitness model physique become the standard for a male body.
I have a lot of projects in my head that require time and due to my job I never have enough of that.
I always liked heavy workouts, so I still continue to lift heavy. Regardless of whether I’m bulking or cutting, I still lift heavy. If you’re a natural athlete with an ectomorph body type (my body type is actually a mix between ectomorph and mesomorph) you should use heavier weights to maintain good muscle density. I train one muscle group per day, because I train often, about 6 times a week.
I don’t pay attention to the particular days of the week and I only rest when I really feel I need rest. Most of the exercises that I do are different every time. Only the basic exercises such as squat, bench press and deadlift are always present, but I also try to do them in a different way every time.
I have noticed that a lot of personal trainers and professional fitness models are always trying to change things up in order to stress the muscles. They use different techniques, which sometimes take them away from the basic principles, which are that the range between 5 and 8 repetitions is the best for achieving muscle hypertrophy and that increasing the weight in a certain exercise also stresses the muscle. So I try to make small changes, while sticking to the basic principles of bodybuilding at the same time.
Current Routine:
I prefer regular cardio or sprints. I don’t like doing that in the gym though; I just don’t have the mood for that. I like cardio in the park, even when it’s cold outside.
I run pretty much the same distance every cardio session and I try to finish faster than the previous time I ran the same distance. Next time I would sprint for 100 meters, followed by 1 minute of walking, then sprinting again and switching between the two paces for a certain period of time. I don’t do cardio for a long period of time because that causes me to lose a lot of muscle mass. Also I try to avoid some types of HIIT, which have more arm movements, because that also causes me to lose muscle mass.
Basically I never do cardio for more than 20 minutes and I suggest other ectomorphs stick to that duration as well.
I bulk when I’m trying to look bigger but also to increase my strength. So I bulk during the winter, when my body fat % goes to about 10-12% and I lift very heavy in order to be able to gain at least a couple of pounds of clean muscle mass. Right now I am almost at the maximum of my potential, but since strength parameters are increasing, that means I can increase my muscle mass as well, so every year I try to increase a little bit of quality muscle mass. When a person has reached his genetic potential, it is very hard to gain more muscle mass; without using anabolic steroids of course. Beginners put on muscle mass very fast, because their muscles take any type of pressure on them as a type of stress.
Only after a certain period of time they adapt and the strategy for each person should be changed in order to keep progressing.
The difference in my bulking diet compared to the ones I used in the past is that now I add more fat to my menu; both saturated and unsaturated. The reason for that is that it helps me maintain higher levels of testosterone, which actually has a very positive effect on my strength and my muscle mass gains. As far as my cutting diet, nowadays I go for longer periods on a low carb diet, instead of going on a ketogenic diet. Keto diets cause me to lose a lot of muscle mass. Most of the time I would be on low carb or carb cycling diets, but mainly low carb, because I’m able to maintain strength and muscle density. On the other hand, being on low carb diets do not allow me to burn fat very quickly.
Current Diet:
The fact that I do what I like and I also motivate people to work out. This is what is important to me. My sponsorship contracts with Mutated Nation and Nike are also achievements of some kind for me. Some websites nominated me for the most aesthetic physique and for the best fitness model of 2012, so that also gives me a lot of confidence as well. Very soon an interview with me should be coming out in Men’s Health magazine in Bulgaria, which is also an achievement for me, given the fact that Men’s Health is one of the most popular magazines worldwide.
But the main thing for me remains motivating people and helping them transform their bodies. This is what I live for.
To achieve what others won’t, you have to do what others don’t!
Bodyspace: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/LazarAngelov/
Website: http://lazarangelov.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LazarAngelovFitness
*Source: http://www.simplyshredded.com/lazar-angelov.html
These days cardio machines are everyone’s choice of conditioning. Why? Probably because you hardly break a sweat, feel no pain, and you’re able to read the latest Gossip Magazine or text message while you’re at it. Yet as much as I do advocate using cardio machines, the correct way that is, there are other effective conditioning workouts out there.
As I discussed the science and the whole 9 yards regarding HIIT cardio in my last article, I wanted to present to you 6 HIIT cardio workouts that will be fun, exhausting, a true test of mental toughness, and most importantly beneficial to your health and body compositional changes.
Before we pop the bottles of champagne, I want to educate you on some of the energy systems that are going to be used during these workouts. There are three energy systems that you will use.
The first being the high energy phosphate system which provides energy for muscles in the initial 1 to 15 seconds of high intensity activity (1). ATP (quick burst of energy) will be activated during this system, which is great because that’s what causes the body to make metabolic changes.
The second being the Anaerobic Glycolytic System which the body relies primarily on anaerobic metabolism for the energy required to perform intensive exercise of greater than 12-15 seconds and less than 3 minutes duration (2). This system will be another way to overload your muscles, as you will be firing those muscle fibers so fast, you are going to recruit the fast twitch fibers and evidently you’re going to cause muscle damage (a good thing).
The third system being the Aerobic Oxidative System which consists primarily of exercises that are performed at an intensity lower than that of the anaerobic threshold (3). Meaning that you will not get any lactic acid (burning sensation) production when you’re in this system and it will be mainly a brisk to fast pace walk or light jogs to keep your heart rate elevated.
So as you can see with all three of the energy systems above, they will all be used in these 6 workouts. Alright, enough with all this science mumbo jumbo, let’s HIIT it!
Yes you heard me… Car pushes! If you have never tried car pushes then you are missing out on one of the best HIIT cardio workouts around. This is one of the best ways to improve cardio conditioning, leg drive and power, some upper body pressing power and build a great physique. I’ve found that my squats and leg pressing power have improved since doing these because of the overload the car puts on your legs and you have to use a tremendous amount of lower body strength, as well as upper body strength to move the car. Car pushing is very underrated for strength training and power in my opinion. The cool thing about car pushing is that there are literally hundreds of yards of empty space around somewhere near you, so all you have to do is put it in neutral, drop your head down, arms straight, get low and push with all you’ve got for 10-30 seconds.
Now depending on if you’re a newbie or advanced trainee, choose the car you push wisely. If you weigh 100 pounds you probably don’t want to push a Hummer. If you’re 200 plus, you probably don’t want to push a slug bug. You get the point!
I’m sure some of you are saying what the hell are sled drags? Sled drags are very effective for the athlete, power lifter, or down-right bad ass that wants to get in tip top shape. Dragging a weighted sled by using a harness tied to your waist allows you to activate the core to work harder as well as your glutes and hams. The harness also forces you to keep a straight, stiff spine throughout the exercise, regardless of how tired you get. Rounding the back at anytime will immediately look and feel very awkward, giving instant feedback to straighten out or stop and rest. The great thing about sled dragging is it can have a carryover effect to many things, such as: Football, athletes learning how to explode when moving. Powerlifting, sled dragging strengthens your posterior chain and that can help with deadlifting. Track and field, overloading your waist and sprinting with weights can lead to more explosive movements when you train without them. If you aren’t sled dragging, then you are missing out on superior strength gains and conditioning.
If you decide to sled drag, a good rule of thumb is “you’ve got too much weight when you’re walking like you’re drunk.”-Louie Simmons
Heavy rope training was originally developed for specific combat sports such as Football and Mixed Martial Arts; it is now becoming very popular for conditioning work and HIIT cardio. If you’re looking for a new twist to your fitness routine or if you’re one of those that complain about other HIIT cardio workouts being too demanding on your legs the day after a leg session, then this is what you’re looking for. Along with increasing your strength, power, and endurance, the constant motion of rope battling will give you a hell of a workout. Some common movements include waves, slams, throws, spirals, and whips. These all involve swinging your arms up and down (or side to side) for timed intervals. With each of these exercises, you want to create a solid base by planting your feet in a shoulder width stance and stabilizing your core, think of an athletic stance.
You’ll quickly discover that these exercises engage not just your arms and shoulders, but your whole body.
Believe it or not but kettlebells are starting to be increasingly popular. Specifically kettlebell swings have become a great HIIT cardio workout to activate your glutes and hamstrings. A study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning found as the movement progressed from the bottom of the swing to the top of the swing, back muscle activation peaked first at around 50% of MVC (maximal voluntary contraction), followed by abdominal/oblique activation at around 20-30% of MVC, followed by gluteal muscle activation at around 75% of MVC (4). As you can see kettlebell swings stimulate your glutes, strengthen your back muscles, engage your core muscles and help strengthen the hip and knees. Muscle activation ramps up during a half-second interval in the concentric phase (top of the swing) and then transitions to almost complete relaxation during much of the eccentric phase (coming down with the swing) (5). So every time you are swinging that kettlebell you are firing muscle fibers and this could lead to overall muscle growth. If you’ve never tried kettlebells for HIIT then your booty and hamies are in for a long day!
Make sure to be wise when you choose the weight, you aren’t going for a 1 rep max, pick a comfortable weight that you can swing and use good form to really activate all the muscles.
Here’s a HIIT workout you can do after your boss was on your ass all day or if you have one of those days when you feel a big weight on your shoulders…Hit the heavy bag! Hitting a punching bag is a great upper body workout and tailors well for those that have lower body injuries or limitations. One recommendation I will make is to not do a heavy upper body workout following this workout or the day after. Make sure to have an off day or lower body day. Your shoulders and arms will feel like you got in a bar fight with Mike Tyson after this workout.
Julien Greaux – Alex Ardenti Photography
Last but not least how can I leave out good old sprints that have been tried and true for the longest time. Just look at sprinters legs compared to a long distance runners legs. Obviously the sprinter has more muscle mass on their legs because they’re activating fast twitch muscle fibers and creating muscle damage which leads to muscle growth. If you don’t believe me, go do sprints and you’ll see how sore you are the next day, it’ll feel almost the same as if you did an intense leg workout and that’s because you activated and broke down those muscle fibers. A recent study by Metcalfe et al. shows if you perform what Metcalfe and colleagues call the “minimal amount of exercise for improving metabolic health” a 3x per week 10min exercise regimen with no more than two (yes, I said it only 2 times!) all-out sprints, everything you’ve got, you will make changes to your metabolic rate (6). This 6 week exercise program was compared to the results of a 10 month intervention program in subjects who exercised 3x a week for 40min (steady state).
Metcalfe’s study goes to show that it’s a more efficient way to burn fat by doing 3x per week for 10 min with only 2 all out sprint intervals because the steady state endurance study was not only four times more time-consuming, but it also failed to improve the glucose tolerance test and produced no improvements in insulin sensitivity.
Now don’t get all bent out of shape after this, but you must understand the pros and cons of doing HIIT cardio workouts. They should be used as a tool and not be overused. I wouldn’t recommend more than 3-4 HIIT cardio workouts a week and I would definitely not do them after a high intensity leg workout day. Also, you’re probably wondering why I keep saying 10-30 seconds of intervals and that’s because everyone’s AT (anaerobic threshold) is different. You have to build your tolerance and get conditioned for these types of workouts and the more you do it and push yourselves, the more your AT will improve. With that in mind, we are all different and respond differently to certain things. So experiment yourself and see what you like best and what works best for you. Start with 10 second intervals and see if you can eventually get to 30 seconds.
Just don’t overdo it or take that risk of injuring yourself. Now that you have these 6 workouts in your gym bag of tricks… go HIIT it!
Author: Chris Martinez
(1) Hultman E, Bergstrom J, Anderson NM. Breakdown and resynthesis of phosphorylcreatine and adenosine triphosphate in connection with muscular work in man. Scand J Clin lab Invest. 1967.
(2) Wilmore JH, Costill DL (eds). Physiology of sport and exercise 3rd edition. : Human Kinetics
(3) Wells GD, Selvadurai H, Tein I. Bioenergetic provision of energy for muscular activity. Paediatric Respitory reviews. 2009.
(4) McGill, SM. Marshall, LW. Kettlebell swing, snatch, and bottoms-up carry: back and hip muscle activation, motion, and low back loads. J strength Cond Res. 2012. Jan 26
(5) Contreras, Brett
(6) Metcalfe et al. Towards the minimal amount of exercise for improving metabolic health: beneficial effects of reduced-exertion high-intensity interval training. European J applied Physio. 2011.
During off-season dieting, we’re almost 100% certain that you have been down multiple avenues looking for the most efficient way to build muscle mass while trying to avoid excess fat gain.
A lot of us have made mistakes, some of us have gotten results out of spite, not because what we did was optimal, some of us have just flat out tried everything and are still scratching our heads in confusion.
Then there’s those who really don’t give a damn and just eat whatever the hell they want and will literally think they’re building pure muscle mass, but not realize they also have a huge Good Year tire around their waist. If you are really looking to gain muscle mass with minimal excess fat gains, then you really need to have a strategic plan for your off-season diet. You should plan on being patient, consistent day in and day out with your nutrition program and work your ass off in the gym.
If any of these are lacking in your plan, no amount of work ‘in-season’ can undo a lazy offseason. With all that said, let’s get into how you can gain lean body mass without the Good Year tire.
When we say slow bulking, in other words we are saying be patient while in a caloric surplus. As we should all know, results do not happen overnight with anything and while in a caloric surplus it’s no different. It is also no different than when one is in a caloric deficit, you have to slowly take out calories from your macronutrient numbers each week if you do not lose weight. The goal is to preserve as much muscle as possible while doing that. Vice versa when in a caloric surplus you want to slowly add calories in from your macronutrient numbers each week while not putting on excess fat whilst gaining muscle mass.
If you are not patient and tend to jump the gun and add in too many calories, well you’re setting yourself up to gain excessive adipose tissue.
Many of us want to put on muscle as fast as possible and fill out our shirts. Most likely if you are just eating everything in sight you are going to put on a significant amount of body fat, unless you are genetically gifted or have an ectomorphic body type and can get away with it. The smartest approach when in a caloric surplus (bulking) is to gain 0.5-1.5 lbs a week. That way you know you are putting on mainly muscle mass and not excess fat. But, keep in mind that eventually you will put on some fat throughout your off-season, but wouldn’t it be better to put the least amount of fat on as possible? Especially if you have an endomorphic body type and tend to put on fat faster than the average Joe.
With that said, play it safe and give yourself a larger time frame when in a caloric surplus; It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
“Dude you’re never gonna get jacked if you try to stay lean all year round. You have to eat everything in sight bro!”
Please tell us you’ve heard someone at your gym or local gurus say this? Typically the people that say this, are the ones that don’t care about putting on excess fat during the off-season and that’s completely fine, but we know that we and most of you like to look like bodybuilders year round. With that said, adding a bunch of excess body fat will mean that you have to diet longer and harder to get rid of it come pre-contest, leading to more muscle loss during your diet, dealing with loose skin, and reversing whatever extra muscle you might have gained by eating like an offensive lineman. Excess body fat can also have negative metabolic effects. Research is showing that adipose tissue (fat) is not just an inert storage tissue. Adipose secretes its own hormones and cytokines (called adipokines) which can have numerous metabolic effects.
Several adipokines secreted from adipose like TNF-? can reduce insulin sensitivity in other tissues like muscle. Not only is this going to make it easier for body fat to accumulate but it may hamper your ability to benefit from the anabolic and anti-catabolic effects of insulin.
So it’s pretty safe to say that eating everything in sight type of approach isn’t the ideal strategy you want to use. Over the past years we have found Dr. Layne Norton’s cyclical bulking method to be very effective at increasing lean body mass while limiting fat gain. Essentially, cyclical bulking consists of anywhere from 4-8 months of bulking mixed with 6-18 week bouts of cutting. Now, please keep in mind that these are just general time frames and this will all depend on the individual. It all depends on how fast your body starts putting on excess fat during the bulk phase and how much excess adipose tissue you want to lose during the cut phase. Now, you are probably reading this and saying why the hell would I even try that? By cycling your bulking and cutting protocols you can take advantage of various metabolic swings that occur in response to bulking and cutting and optimize your body’s response to each. When you first begin cutting after a bulk you are in a prime position to drop body fat as there are several factors working in your favor. Your metabolic rate is elevated from being in a caloric surplus as your levels of T3, leptin, and other hormones that deal with metabolic rate and fat oxidation are all elevated in response to a caloric surplus in order to deal with disposal of all the calories you’ve been eating. When you start dropping calories during a cut, you rapidly drop fat because all these factors are still elevated and your metabolic rate is through the roof and burning calories like no other!
But, after a few months the body will begin adapting to the reduction in calories by reducing T3, leptin and other factors which will in turn cause the metabolic rate to plummet. Also, fat loss grinds to a halt and that’s usually a good indication that it’s time to start bulking again.
New research by Van Loon et al. has proven that overnight protein administration stimulates muscle protein synthesis. There were two studies done, the first being in elderly men and the second being done in recreationally active young males and they both showed that protein ingestion prior to sleep stimulated muscle protein synthesis overnight. As it has been shown time and time again that 20-30g of protein (~10-15g EAA) is enough to fully max out MPS. Paddon-Jones et al. compared 30g of high quality protein to 90g of the same source and showed that 90g had no further benefit over the 30g dose.
So the point being that you wouldn’t need more than 20-30g of a high quality protein before bed to maximally stimulate muscle protein synthesis. But, again not so black and white, this 20-30g dosage will also depend on the size of the individual and their overall total daily macros.
Even though there are basically only two studies for this, it shows that protein ingested immediately prior to sleep or during sleep is effectively digested and absorbed, therefore stimulating muscle protein synthesis overnight. It’s very fascinating and promising research so we highly recommend some sort of high quality protein source before bed or during the middle of the night. Yes! During the middle of the night, you do go to the bathroom don’t you? Just think about it, your body will be entering a 6-9 hour fast and why not have a steady stream of amino acids flowing in the bloodstream overnight and keeping anabolism elevated. Another suggestion we advocate is for those that have their calories at very high levels during bulking and are having trouble consuming all of their macros through their meals during the day.
You can simply have a shake in the middle of the night that contains protein, carbs, and fats and this will be an easy way to ingest some of your daily calories.
Athlete: Erik Fankhouser
The diet that one follows for their off-season will play a huge role in determining their muscle mass gains. A person can lift 7 days a week and have the sexiest training protocol but if they don’t have a proper nutrition plan to follow then they’re not going to fully maximize the potential results they can attain. To design a proper nutrition protocol you should give yourself adequate time to slowly gain the necessary muscle mass to achieve that aforementioned lean muscular look. If you’re not realistic with the adequate time you’re giving yourself you are likely going to put on more fat than muscle.
So what kind of nutrition plan should you follow you’re asking?
When the body is in a caloric surplus (bulking state), it is very easy to put on body fat although a calorie surplus is needed to gain muscle mass. When in a calorie surplus, it needs to be controlled through adding calories each week slowly (slow bulking) to avoid extra fat accumulation. Also, spacing and timing your meals correctly are imperative to your success in gaining muscle mass.
Before getting into more details about the proper nutrition program, it’s important to discuss the three macronutrients and their roles.
Protein will be a very dynamic macronutrient in your diet, it’s so powerful that when consumed, it will activate muscle protein synthesis (percentage of muscle tissue protein renewed each day) from leucine content. The majority of energy used to provide ATP for muscle protein turnover comes from the oxidation of fat, as this is the preferred energy substrate of muscle at rest.
Therefore, a focus on maximizing the muscle synthetic response with ~10g of EAA may decrease a person’s body fat by increasing their resting energy expenditure from the increased lean mass.
The best way to get elevated levels of MPS is through the essential amino acid (EAA) “Leucine.” You can only get EAA’s through diet or supplementation, your body does not produce these amino acids. There have been countless studies showing that leucine is the key stimulator for MPS. You’re better off eating animal sources of protein because of the high leucine content. But, before you go buy a bucket of leucine powder and sprinkle it on your meats, please keep in mind that leucine is just a small piece of the puzzle, if you don’t have the other essential amino acids you will not build a protein. Leucine is actually a strong indicator of the quality of the protein you’re consuming as it relates to its ability to raise muscle anabolism. When you raise muscle anabolism, your body is in a great position to induce muscle tissue.
The more muscle tissue one has, the higher their metabolic rate is going to be and this will keep fat to a minimum.
Aim for protein sources high in leucine to build muscle mass which we will discuss in the latter part of this article.
The way you will distribute protein throughout the day will play a key role to enhancing muscle mass. A study done by Norton et al. Shows that an even distribution of protein (30g per meal at breakfast, lunch, and dinner) caused greater muscle gains over an 11-week period than the same total amount of protein distributed unevenly (10g at breakfast, 20g at lunch, and 60g at dinner). The conclusion showed that protein distribution is a critical factor in determining the efficiency of protein use for muscle anabolism. So, when you set up your protein distribution throughout the day we highly suggest keeping protein feedings consistent throughout each meal. An example would look like 200g protein a day through 4 meals is 50g at each meal.
The main purpose of carbohydrates is to provide energy and fuel for the body. Some people are very “carb happy,” meaning they can burn through carbohydrates and not gain a pound of fat and then there’s those that are “carb sensitive,” meaning their body has a hard time burning carbs and thus leading to fat storage. Carbs are very important for providing the body with energy and essential for gaining muscle mass. Carbohydrates have probably gotten the worst reputation of the macronutrients due to eating excessive amounts leading to excess adipose tissue. Some of this is true, but when in a caloric surplus we feel that carbohydrates need to be as high as possible without excess fat gain and insulin sensitivity needs to be taken advantage of at the right times. Carbs are going to be very variable depending upon total calorie intake and insulin sensitivity.
Some individuals will be able to tolerate carbs better than others, so it really depends on how healthy your metabolism is. If you damage your metabolism severely then it doesn’t matter about your body type.
Insulin sensitivity refers to how much insulin it takes to clear a certain amount of glucose (carbs). During a caloric surplus, it’s imperative that you take advantage of insulin sensitivity in the a.m at breakfast, pre workout and post workout. These are the times that your body is most insulin sensitive and can best tolerate carbs. For example, we recommend breakfast because the majority of the population goes through a 6-8 hour fast during their sleep, so their bodies are desperately craving nutrients in the a.m. Pre and post workout; your body can best assimilate a high amount of carbs into your muscle tissues because your body is most insulin sensitive at these times. What does the increased insulin do you ask? Well, increased insulin will serve to shuttle all of the nutrients required by the body while also stimulating the release of insulin growth factors because your muscle cells are volatized and need nutrients to repair. Also, when you are working out, you cause an acute catabolic situation and your muscle does not become anabolic again until you consume sufficient nutrients.
You also get an increase in insulin sensitivity by working out so you can more effectively tolerate and utilize carbohydrates post workout so it also makes sense to put more carbs post workout as compared to other times of the day.
Partition the majority of your daily carbs at breakfast and at pre and post workout to utilize insulin sensitivity best.
Fats are the most energy-dense macronutrient (9 kcals/gram) and they provide many of the body’s tissues and organs with most of their energy. Fat is the most critical macronutrient to optimize hormonal functions (i.e., testosterone, libido, etc). Fats are also essential for building muscle, reducing cortisol levels, providing energy and assisting the body in functioning properly. The main hormone that we are interested in elevating through fat consumption is testosterone.
It is vital that you aren’t deficient in dietary fat or it will impair hormone production.
Since fat is responsible for optimizing hormonal functions, such as testosterone, this doesn’t mean to go down to Costco or Sam’s and purchase a tub of Crisco and go to town on it every day. Remember that fats are the most energy dense macronutrient (9 kcals/gram) and they can be easily stored as adipose tissue (body fat). So you must be aware of what your body metabolizes better through carbohydrates or fats because it will be up to you to play the trial and error game. Several studies concluded that diets low in fat (under 15% of total calories) significantly decreased testosterone levels while diets higher in fat (above 30% of total calories) increased serum testosterone levels. To make things easier for you, it seems that one should not lower fat below 15% of daily calories unless they would like to see their testosterone levels plummet. On the contrary, you should not increase fat to over 40% in order to increase testosterone. But again, this is just a rough estimation and you have to try things out for your body. You might be able to go over 40% and make solid gains or you might start adding fat. Although fat increases testosterone to a degree, it is important to remember that testosterone is only a small piece of the larger pie. There are many other hormones and factors involved in building muscle other than just testosterone.
By increasing fat to extremely high levels, there will be less “space” for carbohydrates and protein, both of which are very important for building muscle mass. Just be sure not to look at consuming fat in a linear fashion, as moderation is the key to everything in life.
Athlete: Noemi Olah
Fiber is a complex carbohydrate made up of non-starch polysaccharides, resistant starches, and cellulose. Fiber tends to sit longer in your GI (Gastrointestinal) which pulls fluids into the area. That’s normally a good thing because it makes you feel fuller. A carbohydrate with less fiber will be digested more rapidly and not pull water in your GI like something heavier would with a lot of fiber.
Fiber also helps with digestive health, increases thermogenesis and thus helps with fat loss and it produces short chain fatty acids through fermentation in the colon and these have several beneficial metabolic effects.
So how much fiber should one consume a day? With fiber being such an important part of the diet, ISSN (International Society of Sports Nutrition) suggests a minimum of 25g per day for women and 38g per day for men. But, it’s not so simple to just say “Okay, so if ISSN recommends this amount, then that’s all I need to get for the day right?” Things are never black and white when it comes to nutrition and metabolism, there’s always a grey scale. So, our point being about daily fiber intake depends on a lot of factors. For example, the greater amount of fat you want to lose and the slower your metabolism is the more fiber should be raised as it has a thermogenic effect. And obviously a bigger person will need more fiber than a smaller person.
So, again, there is no set calculation, but the ISSN recommendations are a good starting point.
Not so fast, by consuming too much fiber it potentially reduces absorption of vitamins and minerals and may also cause diarrhea, cramping, and bloating. If you are fairly new to having fiber in your diet then you will tend to get fairly bloated because your digestive tract is not used to the high fiber content (cramps, bloating, and a lot of pooping could be symptoms). Eventually your body will adapt to it, so don’t panic.
Nutrient timing is a crucial aspect during a caloric surplus. Every calorie counts each and every day and nutrient timing takes consistency. One must consistently spread their macronutrients out and get a good balance of them in each meal or as we said earlier, hit your daily numbers as accurate as possible. Pre and post workout meals are going to be your money makers. While in a caloric surplus it’s best to get the majority of your daily carbs around your pre and post workout meals. Why? You want more carbs for energy during an intense training bout, also carbs are protein and muscle sparing during exercise and because they are a cause of insulin release. We all know insulin happens to be one of the most anabolic and anti-catabolic hormones in the human body. Post workout you want more carbs as well because you want to replenish all of the glycogen you depleted during your workout and for proper recovery and to maximize muscle protein synthesis (muscle growth). Cribbs et al. says it has been suggested that the consumption of a protein-carbohydrate supplement immediately before and after resistance exercise may provide the ideal anabolic conditions for muscle growth. Also, Campbell et al. Indicates that timed ingestion of protein/essential amino acids, and carbohydrates are best for replenishing skeletal muscle glycogen, reducing muscle soreness, and rates of protein degradation, inducing a positive net protein balance and amplifying strength and muscle mass gains.
Therefore it is critical that one consumes protein and carbs post workout in order to induce muscle mass, but we’re not saying that you have to bring your post workout meal with you to the gym and eat it immediately after your last rep. Just keep in mind that you need to have protein and carbs at some point post workout.
Athlete: Lazar Angelov
When it comes to meal frequency we are well aware of the fact that there are many arguments floating around and everyone has their own biased opinion on how many meals and how often one should eat. Research shows if you eat too frequently, it could be counterproductive for overall anabolism. Studies also show that muscle protein synthesis after a meal lasts up to 3 hours and amino acid levels stay elevated up to 5 hours. So, you are better off waiting longer between meals and having bigger doses of protein. This seems to be better for muscle protein synthesis. When you constantly try and elevate amino acids through meal frequency, (having 6-8 meals a day) overtime your body becomes less sensitive to the anabolic effects of amino acids.
Where if you do larger protein doses and separate apart your meals longer (4-5 hours), when the next dose of protein comes, then your body will be more sensitive to the amino acids thus leading to greater anabolic effects. Also, when you constantly eat every 2-3 hours your body is depending on a glucose spike.
This could lead to glucose sensitivity being low because of the constant meal frequency. It is much better to eat every 4-5 hours because your glucose levels will be more sensitive. It takes at least 3-4 days of fairly strict dieting to impact on metabolic rate (and some work on fasting shows that metabolic rate goes up acutely during the first 72 hours of fasting); a single meal means nothing. You will not go into ‘starvation mode’ because you went more than 3 hours without a meal. Nor will your muscles fall off as an average sized food meal takes 4-6 hours to fully digest (still releasing nutrients into the bloodstream). Like many areas of nutritional science, there is no universal consensus regarding the effects of meal frequency on body composition, body weight, markers of health and metabolism, nitrogen retention, and satiety.
Do what you feel is right and what works for your body. Trial and error will be your best bet.
We hear so many excuses each and every day that by now we could have written a book on them. In a nutshell, the bottom line is how bad to you want it? What are you willing to sacrifice? If you cannot sacrifice time out of your day to prep a meal than how do you expect to achieve results. A very good method we use and we’re sure many people do this as well, is cooking in bulks. Each Sunday evening we sweat away in the kitchen cooking our meats, pasta, yams, rice, and whatever else we want to eat for the week. Why do we do this you ask? Well, for starters it beats having to cook five meals a day and instead we can just measure it out, put it in tupper wear and nuke it. It’s time consuming and this works for us, plain and simple. Cooking in bulk is especially great if you are pressed for time every day, this will be a life saver, each night you put your meals in tupper wear and boom they’re ready to go for the next day.
Try this method if you already haven’t, we promise this will make bulking season and life that much easier.
Athlete: Kelechi Opara – Photography: Jason Mathis
Before using these very general guidelines below, we highly recommend that you track your current diet for a week or so to find your caloric baseline. Once you know your caloric baseline you should distribute your calories over 4-5 meals spread out 4-5 hours. We then recommend you consume adequate protein for MPS at each meal, make sure you are consuming enough fat (20-30% of total calories), then increase carbohydrates slowly each week. We think it is imperative that you base a diet on YOUR CURRENT metabolism. Try not to fall too much into relying on your body type to determine what’s best for you.
But here are some VERY general recommendations based off body types.
- Bodyweight x 13 or 14
- Bodyweight x 16, 17 or 18
- Bodyweight x 15
Once you have your baseline total daily calories you can start figuring out your bulking and cutting macros
- Bulking Phase:
- Cutting Phase:
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- Cutting Phase:
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- Cutting Phase:
Chris Martinez – BA, CISSN, CPT
Eric Martinez – BA, CISSN, CPT
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Youtube
In the 1970s, there was no need to consult grizzled mountaineers or your dentist’s dog-eared copies of National Geographic to find the world’s most awe-inspiring peak.
Denizens of any local gym knew that impressive mountain could be found in Venice, California, where there lived and trained an Austrian-born mountain of a man bearing an equally prodigious surname. Even today, many agree that when it comes to biceps development, Arnold Schwarzenegger has never been bettered. Sporting a pair of guns that purportedly stretched the tape to a surreal 22-plus inches, the Austrian Oak shattered previous standards and created a whole new archetype one to which every generation of bodybuilders since has aspired.
So here we are, some 30 years later, and the question still begs: How did he do it; how did he carve those Matterhorns of muscle nestled between his rotator cuffs and elbows? Even more significant to you, the dedicated bodybuilding enthusiast, is the question, “Can I apply Arnold’s biceps training principles to spur new growth in my own arms?”
The answer is an emphatic yes. Although it must be noted that Schwarzenegger was uniquely qualified from a physiological standpoint to be an elite bodybuilder, the principles upon which he based his biceps-building plan visualization, dedication, intensity and consistency can be employed by anyone, from novice to professional.
To help you chart the course Schwarzenegger took to develop the world’s greatest biceps, we culled information and quotes from the extensive body of work that has appeared in Weider Publications over the years in Arnold’s name.
It’s significant (and encouraging) to note that Schwarzenegger wasn’t born with massive guns. In fact, at the time he performed his first bodybuilding workout in 1962, the 15-year-old future Austrian Oak was a mere sapling all six feet and 150 pounds of him. But, he’s quick to point out, “When I was 10 years old, I was already flexing my arms every day. By the time I started bodybuilding at age 15, biceps were the most noticeable muscle group on my body. By flexing my biceps so much, I’d learned to control them more completely.”
“This mind-link ability then translated into my bodybuilding when I began training with weights. When I did a curl, it felt special, because I could instantly sense blood rushing into the muscle.”
Many of us are aware of the mind games Schwarzenegger played in an effort to psych out his opponents come competition time (as illustrated in the film Pumping Iron). However, he didn’t reserve such tactics only for Lou Ferrigno, Franco Columbu or Sergio Oliva. In fact, the person to whom he applied his most intense psychological stratagems was himself.
“Throughout my bodybuilding career,” Schwarzenegger reflects, “I was constantly playing tricks on my mind. This is why I began to think of my biceps as mountains, instead of flesh and blood. Thinking of my biceps as mountains made my arms grow faster and bigger than if I’d seen them only as muscles.”
“When you think of biceps as merely muscles, you subconsciously have a limit in your mind, which for biceps is something in the area of 20″ or 21″. When you limit yourself to that measurement, it is very hard to get to that level and, needless to say, impossible to get past it. But when you think about mountains, there is no limit to biceps growth, and therefore you have a chance of going beyond normal mental barriers.”
That being said, Schwarzenegger makes the point that it is important to temper our zeal with a healthy dose of pragmatism. “Enthusiasm is extremely important at all levels of bodybuilding. However, a beginner must learn to be satisfied with small gains overjoyed, in fact. He must not be told that giant gains come easily, that he can get super big overnight as long as he trains like a champion.”
“His progress should be a history of small successes, and he should look forward to each gain with great anticipation.”
“Whether it’s muscle or money, you have to make it with your mind,” reminds the Oak. “I once asked a fellow whom I had seen train for four years whether he had ever thought of winning the Mr. Universe. His answer was ‘Nab, I could never do that.’ He was right. With that attitude, he could never experience serious progress.” Got your head on straight now? Good! Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.
As he did with every aspect of his life, Arnold Schwazenneger analyzed exactly what steps would be required for him to build the greatest biceps ever. Although his earliest biceps workouts consisted primarily of barbell and dumbbell curls, as he became exposed to American bodybuilding magazines, he picked up new exercises, such as the preacher curl. By the age of 19, Schwazenneger had already devised a method of training biceps unlike any other one to which his still-developing muscles couldn’t help but respond. “A typical training program would include barbell curls, dumbbell curls (seated or standing), preacher bench curls and concentration curls. Keep in mind, though, that the way I trained changed a lot of times, because I’d always try to shock the muscles,” Schwarzenegger says.
“I recall days when my training partners and I would do 20 extremely heavy sets of biceps work, with only four or five reps each set. Another day maybe only two days later we would do 10 more sets, 15 reps each, using a lighter weight.
“This shocking method was extremely important to my training. Your muscles tend to become complacent and resist growth if you are constantly doing the same workout for them. But if you try all different types of training methods, exercises, weights, set-rep combinations and training tempos, you keep the muscles off balance. They sort of say to themselves, ‘Wow, there’s a new thing here. He just did 10 sets of 20 reps, and the next workout he’ll do 20 sets of five reps. I’ll never get used to this. I can never build up a resistance to the training, so I guess I’ll have to grow!’”
And his arms did just that. They grew to 17″ when he was 17, 18″ at 18 and past 19″ by the time he was 19.
In fact, Schwarzenegger used this seemingly haphazard, yet carefully planned, system of shocking his biceps to stretch the tape measure past the 20″ mark. Interestingly, despite the great success he achieved with this program, he instinctively knew he could create even bigger and, more important, better biceps by making a few alterations to his training system.
Ever the perfectionist, the Oak decided to modify what had been a wildly successful biceps routine for him. Whereas previously his sole concern was with packing on beef, now, as a professional competitor, he realized that he’d have to become more discriminating as to how and where he placed it. To this end, he chose to break up his biceps training into two distinct routines: offseason, which comprised the nine months following the Mr. Olympia contest, and precontest, which accounted for the three months leading up to the Olympia.
The offseason routine concentrated on building quality mass, while the precontest routine focused on etching crystalline detail into his massive boulders of muscle.
When bulking up, Schwarzenegger would follow a six-day split, hitting arms twice per week. Incredibly, each arm workout would take a full two hours: 45 minutes for triceps, 45 minutes for biceps and 30 minutes for forearms, in that order. “The severity of using absolute maximum poundage for each exercise of this super-bombing routine requires three to four days of rest between arm workouts so that full recuperation and maximum growth occur,” Schwarzenegger instructs.
Breaking down curls into two main categories mass building and isolation Schwarzenegger chose two exercises from each group to ensure that he would build not just mass, but quality mass.
“The cheating barbell curl stands alone for building mass. I start the movement with the barbell at the thighs, with a shoulder-width grip, and nudge it into motion with a slight body movement. This gives me sufficient momentum to pass any sticking points as long as I keep concentrating. I go to full biceps flexion, then lower the bar slowly to the starting position.”
“Since the palms face up, I get the benefit of supination, which peaks up the outer head of the biceps during full flexion, as well as developing thickness through the central section of the muscle.”
“I lie on a 45-degree incline bench. I prefer the low incline because it permits the biceps to fully extend at the bottom of the movement and remain under this tension during the entire movement upward.” One of the rules of muscle kinetics says that the greater the initial tension on the muscle, the greater the number of contracting fibers during flexion.”
“Therefore, when you have a lot of fibers contracting all at once, you are building mass. I strive for full extension and full contraction.”
At this point, his arms engorged with oxygen-carrying blood, Schwarzenegger would move on to the isolation movements.
“This one is done in a standing bent-over position using the free arm for support.”
Form during this concentration curl movement becomes highly critical. The tendency prevails, even among the most experienced bodybuilders, to draw the elbow in toward the chest during this movement. The elbow must not move from the vertical plane of the curling movement. The upper arm must remain vertical, and the dumbbell must be curled to the shoulder. Although it seems like a restricting uncomfortable movement, it remains the secret to peak biceps development.”
Finally, with his arms screaming for mercy, Schwarzenegger would head back to the dumbbell rack for a final assault with his fourth exercise.
“As the dumbbell is curled, the hand is supinated as though trying to touch the little finger to the outer head of the biceps at the peak of the contraction.”
With this movement, you get that famous little burst of muscle that peaks up the outer biceps head and lends the ultimate touch to any kind of biceps pose. So you must remember to twist the hand as you curl, two motions in one. The biceps come into play quite strongly to supinate your hands, as well as to flex the arms. This little twist gave me separation, brachialis development and lower biceps thickness.”
Four exercises, 20-26 sets, 45 minutes a monstrous biceps workout by nearly anyone’s standards. But for Schwarzenegger, it was just enough. “If I did them right, I didn’t need more,” he offers.
“There are supplemental things I’d do between sets like stretching my biceps muscle by extending my arm and drawing it backward. I feel that stretching releases the compression of the blood vessels and lets the blood rush in to perform its functions.”
“Three months before a contest, I would change my arm routine completely,” says the Oak. “My goal now was to zoom in on chiseling in all the cuts and shape possible. I’d cut down on my sets and go to a superset style of training and try to get a maximum pump each workout.” During this period, Schwarzenegger would shift into overdrive, training each entire arm in superset fashion with little or no rest between the supersets. Being that he was now working on a six-day double split (two workouts per day, six days per week), he’d be blasting his arms with this grueling routine three times each week. And you thought his mass-building routine was a bear! But there’s more.
“When I was zeroing in for a big contest, I’d stand in front of the mirror between sets for biceps and flex my arms, holding the flex for a minute, maybe two, even three minutes. I’d do that because contest posing is hard. Having muscle is one thing, but having control over it and endurance are two others.”
A word of caution from the big fella, though: “This system has worked very well for me, but it is a severe form of advanced training that is not recommended for beginners.” So just who, besides giant Austrians, can successfully employ either of these gut-wrenching routines?
The great Boyer Coe once said, “‘Heavy duty’ is the only way to train if you’re Mike or Ray Mentzer.” Steve Michalik burned through many more partners than he could find to keep up with his “intensity or insanity” approach to training. Now, it could be argued that Arnold Schwarzenegger is at least as, if not more, physiologically gifted than any pro ever. His recuperative powers are almost otherworldly and his threshold for pain legendary. So trying to emulate either of these two workouts may not be advisable, or feasible, for even an experienced bodybuilder. But, gifted or not, Schwarzenegger can also be credited with being history’s hardest thinking bodybuilder. Nothing he ever did throughout his bodybuilding career was accidental or haphazard, which means his programs can serve as tried-and-true templates for your own bodybuilding success, regardless of your experience level or development.
“For beginners, I’d simply advise doing five sets of barbell curls and five sets of dumbbell curls 10 total sets of eight to 12 repetitions,” Schwarzenegger says. “Concentrate on a strict movement, and try to gain some strength. Experiment with different curling arcs until you find the one that puts maximum resistance on your biceps.”
After training for a year or so, a bodybuilder is considered to be at the intermediate level, at which point Schwarzenegger advises, “I’d look at your biceps development and determine where you have weak points. Then I’d give you a tailored program to bring these weaker areas of your biceps up to par.
“If you lack biceps fullness,” he continues, “do heavy dumbbell curls. If you lack peak, do everything with dumbbells. Do plenty of concentration curls and dumbbell curls lying back on a high bench, like Reg Park used to do them.” Schwarzenegger says 12 sets total for biceps should serve the intermediate bodybuilder nicely.
Finally, Schwarzenegger reserves his most surprising bit of advice for advanced trainers. “The biggest post-intermediate-level mistake is to burn the biceps out. Biceps are basically a small muscle group, and you can’t do too much for them without overtraining,” instructs the Terminator of training. So, what constitutes overtraining? “I’d say the upper limit for biceps would be 15 sets in a hard workout, but I see all kinds of bodybuilders doing 25 to 30 sets on a regular basis.”
Not that there would be anything wrong with hitting the biceps with 25 to 30 sets per workout if your name happened to be Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger spilled the beans and gave readers his advice for building massive biceps; now it’s your turn to put his wisdom to use. Put this magazine down, get to the gym and start bombing! Before you do, let the Oak offer you one last bit of wisdom, an axiom regarding muscle growth that spurred him through every workout to ultimate success: “It’s a case of mind over matter. If you’ve got the mind for it, only one thing matters reaching your goal. And you will!”
Arnold Schwarzenneger’s five rules for biceps
We feel it’s our solemn duty to let you, our astute readers, know that Arnold Schwarzenegger is a one-in-a-million kind of guy, if not a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon. “No kidding,” you say. “Why are you telling us something we’ve known since we had muscles worth flexing?” By overstating the painfully obvious, we hope to make the point that as a uniquely gifted athlete, Arnold was capable of doing things in a gym that most mere mortals might find overtaxing if not damn near impossible. Even in advanced athletes, symptoms of overtraining, including chronic fatigue and injury, can result from trying to follow Arnold’s workouts to a T or a T3. That being said, we believe that all bodybuilders young and old, novice and pro can benefit by following the principles presented by Arnold in this article.
Because bodybuilding is such an individual activity, it only makes sense that you should tailor every routine to your personal capabilities and goals anyway.
Unless you’re at an advanced level, we advise you not to try to emulate the volume of work Arnold did for biceps.
If you’re a beginner or an intermediate, perform two or three sets per exercise from his offseason routine, and see how it goes. If you’re an advanced competitive bodybuilder, we recommend that you confine yourself to performing three of the five precontest supersets.
In structuring your workload, remember what Arnold considers to be one of the greatest keys to bodybuilding success: Understand your own body.
Author: Shawn Perine
References:
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/
http://www.flexonline.com/
COPYRIGHT 2010 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2010 Gale Group
COPY RIGHT : http://www.simplyshredded.com/austrian-alps-arnolds-secret-arm-routine-revealed.html
Age: 18
Height: 6’0 – 183 cm
Weight: 185 lbs. 84 kgs
Well pretty much I started training when I was 12 years old. I can remember I asked my parents for a weight set for my 12th birthday. They gave me a bench press, pair of dumbbells, 50 pounds of weights, a 30 pound barbell and my first training book, “Weight Lifting For Dummies”. I still have the exact book actually to this very day! The reason why I began was to impress girls with a killer body. I mean I was a 12 year old kid! What else would I want? But my desire has evolved to such greater heights since then. Training is a lifestyle now. I can’t imagine life without it. Working out is as much a part of me as my own skin and bones.
I plan on continuing this lifestyle for my entire life and I can’t imagine living any other way.
To be honest my motivation comes from a desire deep, deep down to want to achieve the most out of my life. I try to live without regrets so I try to take chances at things that I know I would regret not doing when I’m older. I am so lucky to have gotten such an early start in the fitness industry. Simply said the only real motivator in my life is myself.
I am always trying to be the best version of myself that I can possibly be and It’s a pretty good motivator for me.
Well pretty much it was my first football game of my senior year. I was going into that year expecting a full ride scholarship for sports and continuing my sports career into college. I had done numerous football combines that summer and was talking to multiple D-1 schools for offers and such. Also being an All-American in wrestling helped for wrestling prospects as well. Well pretty much I tore my ACL in my first football game of senior year, and everything kind of fell to waste. I had surgery on my knee and I didn’t know what to do with myself. My entire school career I had naively based myself on getting a scholarship and going on to the next level of sports. I never thought something like this could happen to me. Anyways I found out about the fitness industry and discovered a new bodybuilding category, Men’s Physique. At first it was very devastating for me and not going to lie, I was depressed for a short period of time after the surgery. But I knew just dwelling on it wasn’t going to do any good for me, so I just told myself shit happens and planned a new future for myself. I actually tore my ACL again (2nd time) 3 months after the first surgery. I waited to have surgery though so that I could do a couple bodybuilding competitions and get myself started with the fitness industry. I had surgery 2 months ago (May 2nd) and I am currently preparing myself to compete for my IFBB Pro card in Las Vegas on July 28th. The competition is called USA’s.
So with all the obstacles that were put in my way I managed to overcome them. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.
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HIIT all the way! I do ten minutes of HIIT every other day. I jump on the bike, keep my RPM over 120 for 30 seconds on level 15, then bump down to level 5 for 30 seconds at a comfortable rate. I do this for 10 minutes straight.
“The individual who know the score about life sees difficulties as opportunities.” Norman Vincent Peale
Bodyspace: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/JeffSeid/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/officialjeffseid
References: http://www.simplyshredded.com/jeff-seid.html
I don’t usually like to write whole articles about supplements because I believe diet and training to be far more important than any combination of supplements. However there are a few supplements that work, creatine being the most notable of all of them.
It is the best selling supplement ever, period. Creatine sales totaled over 100 million dollars in last year alone! These sales were to everyone from middle scholars to the elderly. With this recent rush of creatine madness there has also been a wave of misinformation. I cannot believe the things I hear people say about creatine’s effectiveness, about how it works, and about it’s safety. There is some information floating around out there that is just untrue, well never fear, I am here to combat misinformation so here it goes.
Creatine is a combination of three different amino acids, glycine, arginine, and methionine. That’s it, it is nothing more than a combination of amino acids. I don’t know how many people I hear talk about creatine and call it a steroid! I almost flip my lid when I hear it. Steroid? If that were the case it there would be a lot more 200+ pound people out there. No creatine is not a steroid, it is totally different and works in a different manner.
Creatine is also produced by the body and found in high protein sources of meat such as fish and red meat. It is NOT a lab synthesized compound, it is natural.
After creatine enters the body (or after it is produced by the body) it firsts binds with a phosphate molecule to form Creatine phosphate. Now here is where I’m going to lay a bit of biochemistry on you so I’ll do my best to keep it simple. ATP (Adenine Tri-Phosphate) IS the body’s energy source. When your body oxidizes carbs, protein, or fat it is doing this process in order to produce ATP. ATP is responsible for driving almost every body process there is. Hell ATP is even involved in creating ATP. ATP works like this… Energy is needed to drive bodily process. ATP provides this energy by hydrolyzing a phosphate group.
When a phosphate group is hydrolyzed, energy in the form of heat is given off and this energy is used to drive whatever process is being performed, for example muscle contraction. Because one phosphate has been lost from the ATP it is now called ADP (adenine Di-phosphate). The reaction is as follows ATP (hydrolysis)=ADP + Energy. Now you have free ADP as a product from the ATP hydrolysis. ADP is pretty much useless in the body unless it is converted back into ATP. Now this is where creatine comes into play. The phosphate bound creatine donates it’s phosphate group to the ADP to re-form ATP! I assume you see where this is going now.
By allowing you to return ADP to ATP creatine will increase your ATP stores, thus allowing you to train harder and longer.Creatine is a combination of three different amino acids, glycine, arginine, and methionine.
Another benefit of creatine is that creatine itself is a fuel source. In fact your body’s first choice of energy when performing anaerobic activity (such as weightlifting) is your creatine phosphate stores. By supplementing with creatine phosphate you will increase these stores, thus giving you more energy for your workouts. There is another anabolic property that creatine holds and this is it’s ability to hydrate muscle cells. When muscle cells are hydrated a few things happen. The most notable being an increase in protein synthesis. The second being an increase of ions into the cell. Since the cell is holding more water, it can also hold more ions since the ions will follow water into the cell in order to keep the concentration the same.
When more ions are present in muscle cells (the most important being nitrogen) muscle protein synthesis also increases.
Since creatine has only been recently introduced to the market it is hard to determine whether or not there will be long term health effects from it’s use. However it must be noted that to date there is not one, I repeat not one reputable study that shows creatine has any dangerous side-effects. After eight years with no severe side effects I believe that one can begin to assume that creatine is relatively safe.
I find it funny that most people I meet that are concerned about creatine’s safety are also people who like to go out and drink and smoke on weekends… try to find the irony in that.
No it is not necessary to load but it can help you see results faster. You see to get the full benefit of creating you must saturate your muscle cells with it. Using a small dose (5g), this will take up to thirty days depending on the individual’s lean body mass.
However using a loading dosage of 15-25g per day for 5 days, one can quickly saturate the muscle cells in this time period and then use a maintenance dosage (3-5g) for the remainder of their time taking creatine.
Once again it is not necessary to do so but it can help. Your body has an internal equilibrium which you can swing in your favor for a duration of time, but over time that equilibrium will eventually swing back. Meaning taking excess creatine for a short period of time (4-8 weeks) may temporarily increase your creatine phosphate stores but after awhile your body’s feedback mechanisms will likely place some time of control on creatine phosphate storage to bring the levels back down to normal. This mechanism may be to decrease your body’s own production of creatine or to downgrade the number receptors that admit creatine into the cell. Taking time off from creatine can help bring your body’s equilibrium back into a state where in taking excess creatine will be beneficial again.
I would like to make clear at this point that I know of no studies to back this theory up with, it could be right or wrong, I am just merely applying my knowledge of biochemistry to a frequently asked question to which there is no good answer to yet.
There has been much discussion on this but I believe taking creatine post workout is the most beneficial time for several reasons.
No, not exactly. Once again for creatine to work your muscle cells must be saturated with it. This takes at least a week to do, so doing it once before a workout will not make a difference. Now if your cells are already saturated with creatine then it will still not make a difference if you take it before you workout. Your body must process it first and that takes time. The creatine your body will use in the upcoming workout will come from the creatine phosphate stores already in the cells, not from the creatine you just ingested.
Most certainly not. Creatine degrades over time in water into it’s waste product creatinine which is useless in the body and will simply be excreted. Companies who claim that they have stabilized creatine in a liquid are flat out lying to you. One of these companies (I believe Muscle Marketing USA) had a lab assay done on their liquid creatine and the assay found that it only contained 15% of the creatine on the label claim. I would like to further de-credify these companies by noting that one of the reasons they claim their product is so good is because their creatine does not make your retain water.
WHAT? As I have stated earlier, this is one of the biggest benefits of creatine, this clearly shows their eagerness to prey upon the ignorance of the public.
Well if you want the most bang for your buck do not buy the creatine transports! These are enormously overpriced and you can make them yourself at half the price by buying your own dextrose online! A little tip… a mix of 50g whey protein and 50g dextrose has been shown to elicit the same insulin spike as a serving of Cell-Tech, and it is much cheaper I might add.
Author: Layne Norton
References:
http://www.biolayne.com/
How can you get all the protein you need on your bodybuilding diet without getting sick of the three Cs: chicken, cooking and chewing? Many bodybuilders cook up to a dozen chicken breasts at a time, choking them down over a period of days.
They repeat that process endlessly, making mealtime one of the least pleasant parts of being a bodybuilder. It may be unpleasant, but it’s also necessary there simply is no substitute for the anabolic drive obtained from a whole-food meal that’s high in protein and consumed at the right time. Protein shakes also play an important role in helping a trainer get all the protein he needs every day (at least a gram per pound of bodyweight daily), because they make it easier to do this.
So, how do you meet your nutritional needs without making mealtime a misery? We offer the following suggestions.
Try to do as much of your food shopping as you can at once. By shopping only once a week (or even less frequently), you can greatly reduce the amount of time you spend foraging. Removing these daily errands from your schedule allows you to spend more time on what’s important for growth: training, eating and recovering from your workouts.
The annual fee (usually 50 bucks or less) is well worth the savings you’ll accrue by regularly shopping at a discount warehouse. You’ll find almost all the foods on your menu at a club store, simplifying your weekly shopping trip.
Whether you shop at a discount-style store or a regular grocery store, you can often save as much as 50% by buying in bulk. Whatever your favorite types of meat boned chicken breast, lean cuts of beef or even pork buy large discounted packages. Divide them into individual portions.
Freeze most of them (make certain they’re properly wrapped so they don’t spoil or get freezer burn), and put those that you’ll be using within a day or two in the refrigerator.
Bodybuilders overlook a lot of bodybuilding-friendly foods because they get so focused on chicken breasts and rice. In addition to the basics, buy canned fish (sardines, salmon and tuna) and meat. Buy high-protein canned chili. These have long shelf lives and they’re convenient.
Cheese, nuts and egg yolks are great high-protein foods (and nuts and cheese, if properly stored, also stay fresh for a long time). They contain fats, making them satisfying snacks to curb junk-food or carb cravings. Reduced-fat cheese is probably the best option, but don’t fear the real thing, either. Great snack choices include boiled eggs, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, cashews, mixed nuts, cottage cheese and white cheeses, such as mozzarella and Swiss.
Milk usually stays fresh for a week or two after purchase. For those times when you don’t even have what it takes to mix up a protein shake, you can just pull milk out of the refrigerator. Consume 32 ounces, and you get 36 grams (g) of protein with only about 360 calories.
To boost your recovery and anabolic drive, add fat-free or low-fat milk to your protein shake for an infusion of carbs.
Doing most of your food prep once a week provides a solution to one of the most difficult bodybuilding-nutrition issues: time management. Devote a couple of hours to cooking once a week, and the rest of the week you will be able to make bodybuilding meals in a modicum of time.
The goal is to prepare as much food as you can without spending all your time in the kitchen.
Move meat from the freezer to the refrigerator a day before it will be cooked. It takes longer to defrost meat this way, but it will add storage life after it’s been cooked (and help you avoid food poisoning). Put only as much meat in the refrigerator as you plan to cook the next day.
Once you’ve cooked several portions of meat, package it so it’s safe and convenient to eat. Place servings into individual containers that are safe to use in a microwave oven. (Some plastic containers are not microwavable and should be avoided.) As an alternative, place what you’ve cooked into one large container and parcel out your meals on a daily basis (cooked meat should safely last in a fridge for three or four days).
Here’s a kick-ass way to get down two or three more chicken breasts per meal with fewer hassles: Grind the meat. It makes it easier to chew, easier to swallow and ultimately easier to get sufficient protein for best-case-scenario growth (it speeds up absorption, helping to increase the efficiency of the protein consumed and the speed at which the amino acids arrive at the muscle cells). Cooked ground chicken makes an ideal postexercise meal (eaten about an hour after a postworkout whey shake). An electric meat grinder may cost $100 or more. You can also ask a butcher to grind your meat for you.
Keep in mind that once meat has been ground, it spoils more quickly, so you need to cook it soon after (the same day is the best option).
If grinding isn’t your bag, broil chicken breasts as usual, let them cool in the fridge for a day, then cut them into strips and put them into a food processor. Add flavorings whatever floats your boat (light mayo, pepper, balsamic vinegar, a bit of mustard) and mix. You’ll have a chicken-salad-type paste that delivers protein, taste and digestibility. Baked or broiled chicken breast that’s been chopped or ground has about 30 g of protein per 100 g (about four ounces) of meat.
For an ultimate on-the-go meat source, try pouch tuna rather than canned. Clip the corner off the package and squeeze a tablespoon or two of mustard into it. Massage gently to mix and, bingo, you have a dose of high-protein tuna that’s ready to go.
Whole foods are best for most meals, but protein shakes are preferred for a couple of your daily meals. These include pre- and postworkout meals, which are ideal times for a protein shake with simple carbs (about 40 g of protein with 50-100 g of carbs); late-night low-calorie high-protein meals; and when you’re in a crunch and can’t spend time preparing or eating solid food. Protein shakes should have a part in your total bodybuilding nutrition picture, but learn to use them appropriately.
If you’re sick of the taste of your protein shake, consider adding light chocolate syrup that’s low in carb calories. You won’t blow your diet by adding a little bit of flavoring. If you don’t want even that small amount of calories, look for a sugarless (sweetened with sucralose) version in your favorite flavor.
Feel free to throw in some frozen fruit if you’re blending your shake (blueberries and strawberries are two great options they add flavor, few calories and plenty of beneficial nutrients).
Pudding is an old standby for bodybuilders. Instant sugarless pudding mixes added to your favorite whey protein makes a damn good dessert that’s still allowed on most diets. Mix powdered whey with pudding and whip it until it has a nice texture. You can also put pudding in a blender with your shake to make a thicker drinkable version.
You can save a lot of cash if you buy unflavored whey protein in bulk. A 50-pound bag of whey protein isolate will keep you in protein for months. All you have to do is add flavor to create your own variety of shakes whenever you want. Browse the Web for bulk deals.
Poor nutrition is the number-one reason bodybuilders don’t get the results they want from their training. When you follow good nutritional habits, your training gets better. When your training gets better, your gains improve. Use the suggestions we’ve given you here, stay focused on your nutrition and watch your muscles expand.
Author: Jeff Feliciano
References:
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/
http://www.flexonline.com/
COPYRIGHT 2010 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2010 Gale Group
Trends and fads in bodybuilding nutrition come and go with the release of the newest batch of cutting-edge supplements or the latest diet craze. There’s always something new, different and exciting to make you bigger and better.
Yeah, right.
I’m not going to look down my nose at alternative approaches to size building, but in searching for a mass-yielding magic bullet, many athletes forget the tried-and-true strategies that have packed on the beef for decades. In tribute to T.E. Lawrence. I refer to my core foundations of mass building as “Seven Pillars of Nutritional Wisdom.”
If Lawrence of Arabia could work wonders with the resources at his disposal in the desert, there’s no reason why you can’t build a better body by sticking with this time-tested blueprint for success.
In order to build muscle mass, you must take in more calories than you need each day. To meet that goal, use protein drinks to supplement your daily meals, especially when you don’t have the time to sit down and enjoy a healthy lunch or mid afternoon snack.
You will not build muscle, though, if you load up on low-calorie protein drinks but don’t take in enough total solid-food calories.
You can eat plenty of protein every day and still end up wanting for substantive gains in muscularity. You need carbs to stimulate an anabolic (growth enhancing) environment by elevating insulin levels, as insulin promotes increases in muscle mass and prevents the breakdown of muscle tissue.
On a daily basis, take in at least 2.5 grams (g) of carbs per pound of bodyweight.
My apologies to certain diet doctors who treat carbs like the plague, but any mass-building diet should include more carbohydrates than protein at least 2.5 g of carbs and 1 g of protein per pound of bodyweight. If you decide to ignore this sage advice and experiment with a meal plan that’s higher in protein than carbs, then expect to stay small.
That will be your lot for the duration, unless you clean up your act and increase your carb intake.
Dietary fat has its place in the mass-building process, but do not embrace high-fat diets based on eschewing carbs in favor of loads of fat in pursuit of mass gains. Dietary fat supports the production of hormones such as testosterone and, to a lesser extent, growth hormone. You should derive all the fat you need as a byproduct of eating red meat, whole eggs, salmon and peanut butter.
Bodybuilders who hope to stay ripped as they get bigger are in for a rude awakening. These misinformed muscle seekers tend to skimp on carbs and calories in favor of more protein. Be realistic. It is OK to lose some definition while you pack on mass. The cuts will come when you tear it up later, whether in preparation for a contest or for looking good on the beach.
Fix protein intake at 1 g per pound of bodyweight and bump your carbs to 3 g per pound of bodyweight. Try this ratio for two weeks; if you don’t see improvement in your physique, increase your carb intake to 3.5 g per pound of bodyweight. Remember to eat five or six meals daily, and make your post-training chow session the biggest carb blast of the day.
To gain muscle, expect to gain weight. Shoot for adding to 1 pound per week while in growth mode. If you gain less than that, tweak your carb intake as described in Pillar #6. If the scale is moving up as planned, stay the course until you have all the mass you want and need.
Then sit back, enjoy your success, and prepare to dial in the cuts and conditioning that will put the icing on the cake of your body of work.
Author: Chris Aceto
Websites: Procardnutrition.com & Flexonline.com
COPYRIGHT Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT Gale, Cengage Learning