Muscle Building

[fnkngrv]

One thing that you need to make sure of K is that you don't take breaks, as in a week here or there. Your body needs to keep a minimum muscle memory otherwise you will always plateau and not reach your true potential. Case in point. I began working out again when I got here to Afghanistan. I weighed in at 248 when I arrived in October and was benching a measly 45lb bar with a pair of 25s (95lbs) at 3 sets of 10 reps...terrible! I have also not weight trained for 8 years. After the first 2 months I was up to the 45lb bar with a pair of 45s and 25s (185lbs) 4 sets of 20 reps. When I got promoted at the end of the 2 months and moved from Sharana to Bagram I began to travel a lot due to the job requirements. My workout routine became more sporadic and since I was not on a regualr schedule my performance as well as building capabilities have changed drastically. I am still working out whenever I can, but I am hovering at the 45lb bar with the pair of 45s (135lbs) right now at 3 sets of 15-20 reps. I can occasionally throw up the 185 again, but not as consistent as when having a regular program. I weighed in 2 weeks ago which was my 5 month mark and I had dropped down to 230 with much larger muscles and a noticeable better mod section. This is great for me because my goal is to be around 220, but solid with decent definition, but I know for a fact that if I had been able to stay at the regular training intervals I would have much better results. The biggest hurdle to overcome is the mental aspect. When I was a teenager and then in college I was a string bean. I would work out like mad, but always never gained in mass. I beat myself up about it all the time. When I joined the military at the age of 21 I was 6' 2" and weighted in at 145! Through basic and AIT for the Army I bumped up to 180 in the 5 months becoming pretty solid. Sure the military changed my diet, but not by much. I truly think that the biggest thing was the mental aspects. Having people to work out with and to keep you mentally motivated is a big key I think that many miss out on. It is the simple philosophy of mind over matter. Just like those last 3 reps that you swear you can't do, but you push through them (even if sometimes your buddy gives you a small finger lift at the top of the rep). Those last few reps each set are critical as well. That is when you feel the most burn. You need to tear your muscles (in a good way without over extending yourself) so that the tissue can fill in the torn gaps during recovery. What someone said earlier is true about protein...your body can only process roughly 30mg of it per day. I would stay away from the sports bars/snacks that only provide around 7-10mg per serving after your workouts because your body will just process it as normal intake and not actually use it for muscle recovery and growth. Skinless chicken as mentioned as well is an excellent way to go. Eat lots of it. Do not eat less than 3 hours before bed and if you workout late in the evening eat an apple or two after your workout rather than taking a supplement or shake. When your body is close to static recovery, AKA sleeping, your body will turn those supplements into insulin which will be counter productive to what you are trying to accomplish, hence the apples...it provides simple, natural sugars and carbs to jump start the processes you need for growth during your sleep intervals. The last thing I will share is that supplement stacks are all different for different people, lifestyles, and metabolisms. It takes a lot of research as well as trial/error to find what fits your biological make up.

[SeaYa]

Kaotic,

Browsing through some of your questions....

-do muscles really take that long to heal/recover...at least 36 hours with proper nutrition and hydration.

-you mentioned wanting to slow your metabolism at one point... you don't want that. More muscles will burn more calories, so you just have to keep eating more, and more often. Don't leave out the fruits and veggies either (veggies have many of the essential amino acids that you need for protien synthesis).

-as for protien supplements...if you eat right, you really don't need them (yes, they may be easier than eating the right foods in the proper quantity at the right frequency) The body can only process so much protien into muscle in a given day, the rest it will convert to fat and store (see other's comments about so many grams of protien/lb body weight).

-also, +1 to fnkngrv for continual stress, just don't up the weight you are lifting too fast. Stay at one level of stress (# reps and weight) for at least 2 weeks before making a major addition. Also, give yourself at least one day off a week. You get stronger when you recover from lifting/exercising, not when you lift.

I've got some neat tools I use for diet / calorie balance that I use for my 5000m training, so you can PM me if you want the Excel files. Good luck man!

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Originally Posted by SeaYa

Kaotic,

Browsing through some of your questions....

-do muscles really take that long to heal/recover...at least 36 hours with proper nutrition and hydration.

-you mentioned wanting to slow your metabolism at one point... you don't want that. More muscles will burn more calories, so you just have to keep eating more, and more often. Don't leave out the fruits and veggies either (veggies have many of the essential amino acids that you need for protien synthesis).

-as for protien supplements...if you eat right, you really don't need them (yes, they may be easier than eating the right foods in the proper quantity at the right frequency) The body can only process so much protien into muscle in a given day, the rest it will convert to fat and store (see other's comments about so many grams of protien/lb body weight).

-also, +1 to fnkngrv for continual stress, just don't up the weight you are lifting too fast. Stay at one level of stress (# reps and weight) for at least 2 weeks before making a major addition. Also, give yourself at least one day off a week. You get stronger when you recover from lifting/exercising, not when you lift.

I've got some neat tools I use for diet / calorie balance that I use for my 5000m training, so you can PM me if you want the Excel files. Good luck man!

I'll make Sundays my rest days. hahaha, I take my protein shakes in addition to my meals, so I'm really adding another meal rather than replacing them. Not really sure how those count as meal replacements, I'm still hungry after drinking one of them

I'll try to eat more fruits, but I'm slightly allergic. For example, I ate some watermelon in one of our camping trips (I knew I shouldn't have, but I couldn't resist ), and my lip really did explode. It was bleeding a swollen for a few days. The rest of the fruits will cause me to have swollen lips and itchy ears. I'm also lactose intolerant. Sucks big time.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Originally Posted by fnkngrv

One thing that you need to make sure of K is that you don't take breaks, as in a week here or there. Your body needs to keep a minimum muscle memory otherwise you will always plateau and not reach your true potential. Case in point. I began working out again when I got here to Afghanistan. I weighed in at 248 when I arrived in October and was benching a measly 45lb bar with a pair of 25s (95lbs) at 3 sets of 10 reps...terrible! I have also not weight trained for 8 years. After the first 2 months I was up to the 45lb bar with a pair of 45s and 25s (185lbs) 4 sets of 20 reps. When I got promoted at the end of the 2 months and moved from Sharana to Bagram I began to travel a lot due to the job requirements. My workout routine became more sporadic and since I was not on a regualr schedule my performance as well as building capabilities have changed drastically. I am still working out whenever I can, but I am hovering at the 45lb bar with the pair of 45s (135lbs) right now at 3 sets of 15-20 reps. I can occasionally throw up the 185 again, but not as consistent as when having a regular program. I weighed in 2 weeks ago which was my 5 month mark and I had dropped down to 230 with much larger muscles and a noticeable better mod section. This is great for me because my goal is to be around 220, but solid with decent definition, but I know for a fact that if I had been able to stay at the regular training intervals I would have much better results. The biggest hurdle to overcome is the mental aspect. When I was a teenager and then in college I was a string bean. I would work out like mad, but always never gained in mass. I beat myself up about it all the time. When I joined the military at the age of 21 I was 6' 2" and weighted in at 145! Through basic and AIT for the Army I bumped up to 180 in the 5 months becoming pretty solid. Sure the military changed my diet, but not by much. I truly think that the biggest thing was the mental aspects. Having people to work out with and to keep you mentally motivated is a big key I think that many miss out on. It is the simple philosophy of mind over matter. Just like those last 3 reps that you swear you can't do, but you push through them (even if sometimes your buddy gives you a small finger lift at the top of the rep). Those last few reps each set are critical as well. That is when you feel the most burn. You need to tear your muscles (in a good way without over extending yourself) so that the tissue can fill in the torn gaps during recovery. What someone said earlier is true about protein...your body can only process roughly 30mg of it per day. I would stay away from the sports bars/snacks that only provide around 7-10mg per serving after your workouts because your body will just process it as normal intake and not actually use it for muscle recovery and growth. Skinless chicken as mentioned as well is an excellent way to go. Eat lots of it. Do not eat less than 3 hours before bed and if you workout late in the evening eat an apple or two after your workout rather than taking a supplement or shake. When your body is close to static recovery, AKA sleeping, your body will turn those supplements into insulin which will be counter productive to what you are trying to accomplish, hence the apples...it provides simple, natural sugars and carbs to jump start the processes you need for growth during your sleep intervals. The last thing I will share is that supplement stacks are all different for different people, lifestyles, and metabolisms. It takes a lot of research as well as trial/error to find what fits your biological make up.

Thanks for the info. Most of the time, I work out alone, so no spotters Ah, good thing I changed my work out time to mid-day. No more week breaks for me. My workout prior to last week was extremely sporadic, mainly due to a heavier school load (school has to come first), but it's lightened up a bit, and I've been able to go everyday since then.