In life there is one principle that holds true.
No matter how much knowledge you get, you can't really get that knowledge to work for you unless you have a basic understanding of how or why it works.
Our principle purpose for having muscle is for locomotion and everybody knows that, but do you understand how and why muscles grow? Muscles grow because of the stressors that we put on them (exercise or daily activity) With intense exercise you have damage occurring to individual muscle fibers and in trying to create homeostasis the body repairs the damaged muscle fibers and fortify them so that it will not experience the same level of damage if exposed to the same stressors again.
How? Muscle repair is dependent on four major factors.
1.
Nutrition Type: Everyone knows that protein after a workout is important but that's not the only thing that is required for your body to repair itself.
The body is complex and certain types of foods play different roles in your muscle repair.
Hormones synthesis and immune system optimization are just a couple of areas that are affected by the food we eat and they are integral in the repair process.
Any deficiencies in nutrition will cause your body to not work at its optimal levels.
2.
Nutrition Amount: Just as important as type of nutrition is the amount.
Your metabolism is a big factor in determining the amount of nutrition that you need.
If you are a hard gainer (someone who finds it difficult to put on weight of any kind, be it muscle or fat), this is an area where you might be missing it.
The first step is calculating your resting metabolic rate.
From there you will be able to figure out if you need to make an adjustment to your caloric intake.
3.
Nutrition timing: This is a major key to not wasting a great work out.
You have probably heard that the first 30 min after a workout you should have protein.
If you know it, why aren't you doing it? Simply put, your muscles are still receiving a large amount of blood flow at this point.
If you understand that blood is the vehicle in which the body brings nutrition, repair agents, and oxygen to your muscles, then why would you not put into your blood all the things that will give your muscles the best chance to grow? OK, look at it this way.
The doors to the repair shop will only be open for a short period of time.
Once the repairs start the doors will shut and your muscles can only use what has already been brought into the shop.
4.
Recovery Time: This is the area where people sabotage their workout and then have the nerve to get impatient and say stuff like "I just can't gain muscle.
" If you work out with any kind of intensity, you need to give your muscles time to heal.
The reason you feel soreness after a workout is because you actual broke muscle fibers and that was the intention.
Well where else in life do you break something, start to repair it and then begin to use it again before it is completely repaired.
If you broke a leg you wouldn't do it, even if you broke a mug you wouldn't do it, so why would you treat your muscles any differently? Take time to recover.
Please understand this, if you don't have a plan, you plan to fail.
There is a lot of information out there -- some good, some great, but a whole lot of it is bad.
Workout routines to build muscle are out there, but every routine is not suitable for every person.
Decide what you want out of your workout.
Pick a plan and stick with it.
Building muscle is simple but it takes hard work and consistency, so avoid any routine that claims you don't have to put in the work.
If you don't work, it is not a workout.