Training
Your head should not be bent backwards so that you are looking at the ceiling, nor should you be looking downwards while performing squats. The ideal position is with your head slightly bent back and your chin slightly pulled back. And slightly does not mean excessively.
Sure, many trainers will tell you to look up. Why? Because they don't do heavy squats themselves and don't expect you to. Do you know what's worse than suffering a herniated disc in your lower back? A herniated disc in the cervical spine that prevents you from speaking, eating and doing anything in life.
You can look up without bending your neck backwards. Where you look is not so important. Some look upwards, some look straight ahead, others look downwards. However, it is important that you keep your cervical spine in a neutral position regardless of where you are looking.
Tip: Use descending sets to get better at pull-ups
Are you bad at pull-ups? Here's a way to get stronger and add enough volume to build muscle.
By Nick Tumminello
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-use-drop-sets-to-get-better-at-pull-ups
We are much stronger when we perform pull-ups with a narrower underhand grip than when we use a wider overhand grip, as we have a mechanical advantage in the position of the arms in the first variation. With this information in mind, we can combine both versions of this exercise in a descending set, starting with the most difficult version and working our way up to the easiest version. As you fatigue, the exercise becomes easier, allowing you to perform more quality repetitions.
Descending sets of pull-ups:
- First perform as many pull-ups as possible with a wide overhand grip and good form.
- Without pausing, move on to pull-ups with a narrower underhand grip and perform as many repetitions as possible again.
- If you want even more volume, you can extend this to a triple descending set by performing as many band-assisted pull-ups as possible.
Tip: Combine kettlebell swings with planks
Not only will this melt your fat, but it will also teach you to breathe correctly when you're exhausted.
By Eric Johnson, Ryan Johnson
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-pair-kettlebell-swings-with-planks
Set your lungs on fire
Developing the ability to control your breathing will allow you to deliver more oxygen-rich blood to your muscles, lower your heart rate and blood pressure, maintain optimal conditions on a biochemical level and perform better. This combination of exercises is designed to optimize your breathing in a state of stress.
Swings and Planks
This finisher for your workout pairs an explosive exercise with planks. The kettlebell swing is the perfect choice for strength and endurance-based sets. When performed correctly, your heart rate and oxygen requirements will increase.
This exercise is paired with planks, as weakness in the abdominal area provokes a poor breathing pattern and diaphragmatic dysfunction. This combination will allow us to train the contraction of the abdominal muscles while optimizing breathing. The planks will force the muscles responsible for breathing to work simultaneously with the diagonal abdominal muscles, the external and internal lateral oblique abdominal muscles and the rectus abdominis. Instead of holding planks for time, count each inhale and exhale as one repetition.
Perform 20 kettlebell swings and transition to a plank position without pausing. Perform hard-style planks with 10 deep breaths. Repeat for 5 to 10 repetitions.
How to perform hard-style planks
- Assume a plank position with your spine in a neutral position and your body resting on your elbows and toes. Look down and keep your neck in a neutral position.
- Contract your quadriceps. Don't just stretch your knees. Instead, try to pull your kneecaps towards your hips.
- Tilt your pelvis back and contract your gluteus hard.
- Engage the latissimus by pulling the elbows towards the pelvis. Do not allow your elbows to move. Instead, pull the shoulder blades down
- Breathe. Your body will automatically stiffen in this position. Learn how to breathe behind the contraction of the abdominal muscles by allowing your chest to expand sideways and your belly button to move down and out.
Tip: perform plate raises with high reps for your trapezius
This will burn hard, but you'll love the results.
By Paul Carter
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-high-rep-plate-raises-for-traps
Are you a member of "Team no trapezius"? Then add this exercise to your trapezius training program. Many exercisers use plate raises(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePK_-52OOKM) but don't get results with this exercise. The first mistake they make is to lift a very heavy weight plate only to eye level. In the version presented here, you use a lighter plate and lift it all the way up above your head. Moving the plate all the way up over your head will engage the trapezius and upper back. This exercise variation will intensely work the upper trapezius and rhomboid muscles.
Perform 100 repetitions without rest. While I normally use a 20 kilo plate for the heavier version, I only use a 10 kilo plate for this variation. If you fatigue by using a 20 kilo plate, you will bend your arms too much. Make sure you only bend your elbows slightly and don't do hammer curls to move the plate upwards.
Choose a weight that allows you to do 100 repetitions. If this exercise is used as a finisher after your shoulder lift or row, you may well need no more than a 5 kilo plate. However, the results are more than worth the temporary shame.
Tip: Try out the deadlift walk
Improve your fitness and see what you're capable of.
By Chad Waterbury
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-try-the-deadlift-walk
This is an excellent exercise for total body conditioning, performed as follows:
- Go to a power rack and place the rack pin on the front slightly lower than knee height.
- Load a barbell bar with about 65% of your 1 RM deadlift weight. Place the bar about 2 steps away from the rack pins on the floor in front of the rack.
- Take a shoulder-width stance and grip the bar to the right and left of your legs. Use a symmetrical overhand grip.
- Move the weight up in a deadlift motion. Once you have reached the top position of the movement, take two steps forward and place the weight on the rack pins.
- As soon as your muscle tension decreases, move the weight back up, take two steps back, pause, correct your stance and lower the weight to the floor. That was the first repetition.
- Then perform the next repetition without pausing until you have completed the specified number of repetitions.
Parameters:
- Weight: 65% of your 1RM weight for deadlifts
- Sets: 2 to 3
- Repetitions: 15
- Rest: 60 seconds.
Perform this exercise once a week as part of your conditioning training. Keep the weight constant as you progress from week to week and instead reduce the pauses between sets by 5 seconds.
Note: If you don't have a power rack available, you can also place the bar on a bench.
Tip: Perform Spoto Presses to improve your bench press performance
Do you get stuck at the bottom of the movement when attempting maximum bench presses? Then this exercise can help.
By John Gaglione
https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-spoto-presses-to-boost-your-bench-press
For advanced trainees, it's important to get stronger in every area of the bench press. Board presses typically work well for the upper range of motion, but performing board presses without boards can help you kick your strength gains up a notch.
"Board presses with invisible planks are much more challenging because you can't put the weight on the planks. You have to rely on your muscles to stabilize the weight (yes, this looks like a beginner trying to do partial reps, but it's a technique used by very advanced powerlifters). This technique will build a lot of strength in the range of motion reversal, as it takes a lot of effort to bring the weight to a complete stop and let it hover in the air before you push it back up.
Spoto Bench Press(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggw9I2_eWGc)
Eric Spoto, one of the best bench pressers of all time, who pressed raw 328 kilos, gave this exercise its name.
You can pause at different heights depending on where your weak points are. I like Spoto bench presses, for example, to strengthen the middle range of motion. Remember that whenever you perform isometric training, you are also strengthening the area a few degrees before and after this position. For this reason, the Spoto bench press works in both the lower and middle range of motion.
However, you should use different heights in this exercise to build strength in all areas. The area just before the chest and about 10 centimeters higher are good areas to start with. You can perform this exercise with a heavy weight for a few repetitions or with a lighter weight and high repetitions.
Tip: Do more direct training for your gluteus
Many people need more than squats and deadlifts to fully train their gluteus. Here's why you might need more training for your glutes.
By Dr. John Rusin
https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-more-direct-glute-training
To reap all the benefits of strength training, you need to perform exercises that target your gluteus. Poorly executed squats, lunges and machine exercises are not enough. None of these exercises really target the gluteus and none of these exercises will stimulate or exhaust these muscle fibers enough for significant benefits.
Not everyone can target the gluteus with excellent squat mechanics or will feel confident using weights on variations of the deadlift that are sufficiently heavy to really stimulate the posterior chain of muscles. But these training deficiencies are no excuse to forgo the many benefits of gluteus training, which include maintaining a healthy lower back and burning extra calories.
Simple exercises such as glute bridges, hip thrusts and their many variations have a steep learning curve and are safe and effective exercises for building a strong back.
Performing direct gluteus training several times a week can revolutionize any training program - and, of course, the development of your glutes. The gluteus is one of the strongest muscle groups in the body and consists of three separate but synergistically working muscles that are primarily hip extensors, support external rotation and abduction of the hip and even stabilize the entire posterior muscle chain when functioning correctly.
The gluteus maximus is also the thickest and strongest muscle in the body, capable of burning extra calories and boosting your metabolism. If you want to burn fat at an exponential rate for hours after a workout, then focusing on training the gluteus directly could be the most effective way to achieve this.
It's one thing to activate the gluteus, as preached by every functional training guru, but it's quite another to exhaust these muscles to the point where remodeling of the locally active tissue becomes necessary. While activation is a step in the right direction, an intelligently designed program that targets strength, hypertrophy and metabolic conditioning of the gluteus has the ability to take your training and fat loss to a whole new level.
Tip: Master super-slow pull-ups
Build your biceps, forearms and grip strength with these challenging sets consisting of just one pull-up
By Ben Bruno
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-master-the-super-slow-chin-up
The explanation of this exercise is easy, but the execution is not. Perform a pull-up with a close underhand grip as slowly as you can. Aim for 20 to 30 seconds for the concentric part of the movement (upward movement) and 30 to 40 seconds for the eccentric part of the movement (downward movement). Once you have achieved this, use additional weights. If this is too much for you, then perform the movement as slowly as you can. Add static holds at the top of the movement if you are really hardcore.
Pull-ups with only one repetition
Use an underhand grip (palms facing the body) to emphasize your biceps or use a neutral grip (palms facing each other) to target the brachialis. Both variations will also work your forearms and build tremendous grip strength.
Save this exercise for the end of your training session and only perform one painful repetition. If you do everything right, that's all you'll be able to do.
https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-dont-look-up-when-you-squat
By Paul Carter
In the first two parts of this article series, we looked at what exactly beginner gains are. I then presented three models that can be used to make a relatively good prediction of potential gains during the first year of training (and beyond) and looked at the reasons why many exercisers report larger gains during their beginner phase. Finally, we looked at why rapid beginner gains end after about a year. In this final part of this article series, we will look at whether it is possible to miss out on these beginner gains and how you should continue once the beginner gains period is over.
Can you miss your beginner gains?
Some people believe that you can miss your beginner gains if you train and eat poorly during your first year of training. While there is a grain of truth in this statement, it is more false than true. If you do a lot of things wrong during your first year of training, you won't build as much muscle mass as you could.
For example, if you don't eat enough calories or protein, don't work hard enough to increase your training weights or your reps each session, and don't get enough sleep, then you probably won't build as much muscle as the formulas in the first part of this article series would predict.
Some people make these mistakes for months, years or even decades and sometimes don't realize this mistake until they are in their late thirties or forties. Once you reach that age, you won't be able to train as hard, as heavy or as often as someone younger, and you won't be able to build muscle at the same rate.
However, if you correct your course before it's too late and have only been treading water for a few months or years, you can still make beginner gains even if you already have a few years of training experience.
I am a good example of this. When I started training with weights at the age of 16, I used a good program - Starting Strength - but only built about 5 kilos of muscle during my first year of training and then stuck at that weight for several years.
Why? I was also competing in triathlons and cycling races at the same time, which made it more or less impossible for me to make the progress I would normally have been able to make in my training with weights. I had built up some muscle mass and brought my body weight down to 68 kilos with a body fat percentage of 10%, but if I had been training and eating correctly, I should have been approaching my genetic limit in my early twenties.
After I stopped cycling and got more serious about strength training and proper nutrition, I was able to increase my weight from 68 to 77 kilos within a few years, while my body fat percentage always remained below 15%. In other words, I experienced a second round of beginner gains by changing my training and diet.
The point is that even though it's possible to miss the window of opportunity for rapid muscle gain, that window remains open for a couple decades. If you've been training incorrectly or poorly for a few years, it's still possible to experience beginner-like gains once you stop making stupid mistakes and get serious about your diet and training.
What can you do when your beginner gains are over?
First of all, it's time for a change of perspective. As you now know, you can't expect the gains to keep coming at a rapid rate. Many people get discouraged when they realize that the results of their training resemble trench warfare: they have to fight for months to inch forward.
What's really important at this point, however, is not the rate of your progress, but the simple fact that you're making progress at all. As long as you are getting stronger, you are moving in the right direction.
Secondly, you must be willing to change your training program. What has gotten you this far is probably not going to get you where you want to be. You need to be willing to work harder and smarter and invest more time in planning your training sessions once your beginner gains are over.
Thirdly, you need to become more demanding when it comes to your diet. Although eating as much as you want during your first year of training may work for muscle gain, this strategy will result in a rapid increase in body fat once you get past the beginner phase.
Fat loss is similar. During your beginner phase, you can get away with crash dieting because you simply don't have that much muscle mass to lose. However, the more advanced you are, the harder it will be to maintain your hard-earned gains during a period of calorie restriction.
To achieve these three goals, here are five things to keep in mind as you transition from a beginner to an experienced exerciser:
1. maintain a moderate calorie surplus of 5 to 10% during the muscle-building phase
This should allow you to gain 2 to 4 pounds per month, which should be your goal once your beginner gains are over. Women should aim for half these numbers: one to two pounds per month.
2. eat about 2 to 2.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day
This amount is enough to ensure that you reap all the benefits of a high-protein diet. There is no need to eat more protein to build muscle.
3. alternate cyclically between muscle building phases and diet phases until you have achieved the amount of muscle you desire
You can build muscle and lose fat at the same time when you have just started training, also known as body recomposition. However, this becomes increasingly difficult the more advanced you become and after your first year or two of training experience, such an endeavor becomes a futile effort.
Instead, you should do the following:
If you are a man and have a body fat percentage of over 15%, diet down to a body fat percentage of 10% first before starting a muscle building phase. If you are a woman and have a body fat percentage of over 25%, then diet down to a body fat percentage of 20% before starting a muscle building phase.
Once you have reached a body fat percentage of 10% as a man and 20% as a woman, maintain a calorie surplus until you reach a body fat percentage of 15% as a man and 20% as a woman. Then repeat the whole process of building muscle and losing fat until you have achieved the body development you want.
4. emphasize progressive overload over everything else in all your workouts
The term progressive overload refers to an increase in the amount of tension your muscles produce over time, and the most effective way to achieve progressive overload is to progressively increase the amount of weight you move during an exercise. In other words, the key to building muscle mass and strength is not to perform a long list of different exercises, balance on a BOSU ball or sweat as much as possible during your workout, but to make your muscles work harder and harder over time. And this is exactly what you do when you force them to move progressively heavier weights.
5. consider using supplements to increase your muscle gains
I saved this point for last as it is far less important than optimal nutrition and training. Ultimately, supplements don't build a great body, dedication to good training and nutrition does.
Unfortunately, the supplement industry is full of pseudoscience, exaggerated hype and misleading advertising, making it hard to separate the wheat from the chaff and figure out which products are really worth the money when it comes to supporting muscle building.
However, there are some safe, natural substances that have scientifically proven benefits such as increased strength, muscle endurance, muscle building and more. At this point, I just want to take a quick look at the supplements that can help you build muscle as quickly as possible and make the most of your beginner gains.
Creatine
Creatine is a compound that occurs naturally in the body and in some foods such as red meat. Creatine is probably the most studied molecule in the sports supplement field, having been the subject of well over 1000 studies, the consensus of which is very clear: supplementing with creatine helps:
- Build muscle and increase strength (9)
- Increase anaerobic endurance (10)
- Reduce muscle damage and soreness (11)
You may have heard somewhere that creatine is bad for your kidneys, but these claims have been repeatedly disproven (12). Creatine has not been shown to have any harmful side effects in healthy people, either with short-term or long-term use (13). However, people who suffer from kidney disease should not supplement creatine (14). So if you have healthy kidneys, I highly recommend supplementing with creatine. It's safe, inexpensive and effective.
Protein powder
You don't need protein supplements to build muscle, but considering the amount of protein you should consume daily to maximize your muscle growth, it can become impractical to meet your protein needs entirely through whole foods. This is the main reason I use protein supplements.
The two most commonly used protein powders are whey protein and casein, both of which are made from milk. Casein is slower to digest than whey protein and provides your muscles with a steady supply of amino acids for growth and repair over a longer period of time, which is why some experts consider it a better choice for muscle building. Whey protein, on the other hand, digests quickly and causes a faster and greater increase in blood amino acid levels, which is why some experts believe it stimulates more muscle growth after exercise.
However, most scientific research shows that it doesn't really matter whether you use casein or whey protein and you won't notice much difference as long as you consume enough protein per day.
Pre-workout drink
A pre-workout drink can increase your motivation to train and boost your performance in the gym. However, it is important to make sure that this product contains effective doses of effective ingredients. Here is a small selection of such ingredients:
- Caffeine: Caffeine provides you with more than just an energy boost. It can also increase muscle endurance and strength (15, 16).
- Beta-alanine: Beta-alanine is a naturally occurring amino acid that can reduce exercise-induced fatigue (17), increase your anaerobic training capacity (18) and accelerate your muscle growth (19).
- Citrulline malate: Citrulline is an amino acid that can increase muscle endurance (20), relieve muscle soreness (20) and increase aerobic performance (21).
- Theanine: Theanine is an amino acid primarily found in tea. Theanine can reduce the effects of physical stress (22), increase nitric oxide production (23) and improve alertness, focus, attention, memory, ability to combine and mood (24, 25, 26, 27).
Conclusion on the topic of beginner gains
Beginner gains are the rapid increases in muscle mass that occur when people with little or no weight training experience begin resistance training. When you pick up a barbell for the first time, your muscles are hypersensitive to the effects of training with weights and respond with a rapid growth response.
A good rule of thumb is that both men and women can gain about 1 to 1.5% of their body weight in muscle per month during their first year of training with weights, with gains occurring slightly faster during the first 6 months than during the second half of the first year of training. Assuming that you do everything right in terms of training and nutrition, in practice this means a gain of 10 to 12 kilos of muscle for men and 5 to 6 kilos of muscle for women.
The rate of beginner gains decreases significantly after the first 6 months of training and after more or less 12 months the period of beginner gains is over. The reason for this is that the closer you get to your genetic limit, the harder it is to build muscle.
Even if you have built up significantly less muscle mass than would have been possible due to training or nutritional errors during your first year of training, this does not mean that you have missed out on these beginner gains. As long as you're still relatively far away from realizing your ultimate lifelong muscle building potential, you can still see rapid muscle gains even if you've been training with weights for several years.
As the curtain begins to close on your beginner gains, there are five things you can do to maximize your rate of building muscle and strength as you evolve into a slightly more advanced exerciser:
- Maintain a moderate calorie surplus of 5 to 10% during the muscle-building phase.
- Eat about 2 to 2.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day
- Alternate cyclically between muscle building phases and diet phases until you have reached the amount of muscle you desire
- Emphasize progressive overload over everything else in all your training sessions
- Consider using supplements to increase your muscle gains Do all of this and you will continue to build strength and muscle for years to come.
References:
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7794282_Variability_in_muscle_size_and_strength_gain_after_unilateral_resistance_training
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26280652
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7900797
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9252488
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8563679
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25739559
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24714538
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20300012
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12945830
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16287344
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19956970
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10999421
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15758854
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19124889
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16937961
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17851681
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17690198
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19210788
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21659893
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20386132
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12145119
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16930802
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22819553
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18254874
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22326943
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18296328
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18006208
Source: https://www.muscleforlife.com/newbie-gains/
From Amistead Legge
After defining what exactly is meant by (cardio) training in a fasted state and why this type of training can accelerate fat loss in the first part of this article, in this second part of this article I will discuss how you can not only lose more fat through HIIT training in a fasted state, but also protect your muscles more effectively from diet-induced muscle loss. I will then go into more detail about planning your diet and supplements before showing you how to put what you have learned into practice using a specific example plan.
You will also lose less muscle
If you are dieting to lose fat, then your primary goal after the actual fat loss should be to maintain your existing muscle mass. And when it comes to muscle maintenance, cardio training at a constant intensity has a pretty bad reputation.
There are good reasons for this. Scientific studies show, for example, that the longer a cardio training session lasts, the more it impairs muscle strength and growth. However, that doesn't mean you have to fear cardio. There are some simple steps you can take to maximize your fat loss while minimizing potential muscle loss:
- Use a moderately aggressive calorie deficit.
- Eat a high protein diet.
- Perform 3 to 5 resistance training sessions per week.
- Keep your cardio training to a minimum.
The reason for point number 4 is this:
If you're in a calorie deficit, the less cardio you do, the more muscle you'll maintain.
This may sound a little oversimplified, but it works quite well as a rule of thumb. You could, of course, do no cardio at all, but you probably won't achieve what you want. If you really want to get lean (under 10% body fat for men and under 20% for women), then there is a point at which you need to include cardio in your program. You will need this cardio training simply to keep your energy expenditure high enough to keep losing fat.
Therefore, you will find yourself in the following dilemma: You need cardio training to increase your energy expenditure and burn fat, but you also need to keep this training in the minimum range to maintain your existing muscle mass.
So what can you do? What you shouldn't do is what most people do: hours upon hours of grueling cardio training per week that burns both fat and muscle. Combine this with a very low calorie diet, which is also very common, and you have the perfect storm for misery and muscle loss.
Get the best of both worlds with high-intensity interval training
You don't need to invest more than a few hours a week to see visible fat loss... and no training session needs to last longer than 20 or 30 minutes.
How to use HIIT correctly
Thinking about incorporating HIIT into your fat loss program? Excellent. However, you will probably still have a few questions such as...
- How intense should the high-intensity intervals be?
- How long and how easy should the rest intervals be?
- How long should the training sessions be?
- How often should HIIT training sessions be performed?
A comprehensive treatment of all aspects of HIIT would of course go far beyond the scope of this article. However, a quick search in the blog under the keyword "HIIT" will provide you with more than enough articles on the subject.
Supplements that can make cardio training more effective when fasting
Supplements are not the key to fat loss, but they can help you accelerate your progress. To maximize fat burning and better protect muscles from breakdown during a diet, I like to use the following:
Caffeine
Millions of people can't get going in the morning without their coffee, but caffeine can do a lot more than just wake you up. Caffeine can:
- Help you lose fat by increasing the amount of energy your body burns throughout the day (13).
- Increase your strength, muscle endurance and anaerobic capacity, helping you to have productive workouts even when dieting (14, 15, 16).
HMB
As we have already seen, potential muscle loss is one of the biggest disadvantages of cardio training in a fasted state. The most common solution to this problem is the use of BCAAs. BCAAs can help, but a molecule called β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate (HMB for short) is even better for this.
HMB is formed naturally in your body when it metabolizes leucine. Although HMB is often touted as a supplement to support muscle building, the studies on this topic are mixed.
However, there is one benefit of HMB that is well scientifically proven: HMB is a very effective anti-catabolic agent (17). In other words, HMB is very good at preventing muscle breakdown, which means you'll recover faster from your workouts and experience less muscle soreness. In addition to this, unlike BCAAs, HMB has no effect on insulin levels and therefore will not interrupt your fasting state (18).
All of these things make HMB a very effective supplement to support the benefits of training in a fasted state. Its powerful anti-catabolic effects will allow you to benefit from the full fat loss benefits of training in a fasted state without the problems associated with insulin spikes.
It is also worth noting that HMB is more effective than the amino acid leucine, from which HMB is formed, in terms of its anti-catabolic, muscle loss preventing effects (19). This means that HMB is more effective than BCAA supplements, which rely primarily on the anti-catabolic effect of leucine, as the other two branched-chain amino acids isoleucine and valine have only a very weak effect in this respect (20, 21).
Clinically effective doses of HMB range from 2 to 3 grams, which you should take before training.
Is fasting cardio best in the morning?
This is a frequently asked question - especially among intermittent fasting followers. And the answer is simple: the advantage of doing cardio in the morning when fasting is that you can ensure that your insulin levels are really at baseline.
This is also the reason why research shows that fat oxidation rates are highest after 6+ hours of fasting (22). And this is also why many people who do cardio in a fasted state do it after waking up and before breakfast. It simply works well.
However, I don't think you have to do fasted cardio first thing in the morning to maximize the benefits of this type of training. You can also ensure that you are in a fasted state by planning your meals accordingly.
Studies have shown that just 35 grams of sugar is enough to raise insulin levels above baseline for several hours (23). In another study, a mixed meal containing 75 grams of carbohydrates, 37 grams of protein and 17 grams of fat increased insulin levels for over 5 hours (24). Even a serving of whey protein is digested over several hours and raises insulin levels (25).
All of this means that you can't expect to eat a big lunch and be back in a fasting state by 17:00.
Here's how I do it:
- I do a training session with weights in a fasted state first thing in the morning before my first food intake.
- I drink a whey protein shake after training.
- I eat a light lunch consisting of a salad with 200 grams of chicken.
- I take another scoop of whey protein at 15:00.
- I do my cardio training at 18:00.
- I eat dinner after my cardio workout.
- I eat another big meal at 21:00.
As you can see, my calorie and carbohydrate intake is low until dinner. This ensures that my insulin levels stay low too. As a side note, I would not be in a fasted state at 6:00 pm if my meal at 3:00 pm was larger, but 3 hours is enough time to fully digest a meal consisting of only 20 to 25 grams of whey protein (26).
Should I eat something after a cardio workout in a fasted state?
If we are only talking about fat burning, then continuing to fast after a workout would make sense. The fat-burning chemicals that your body released during the workout are still in your bloodstream.
The problem, however, is that muscle breakdown will increase after training if you don't eat (27). And stopping this takes precedence over squeezing out every last gram of fat loss. Some people take another serving of HMB or BCAAs after training to extend the fast by an hour or two. This is of course an option, but I don't think it makes much sense for two reasons:
1. catecholamine levels quickly return to baseline shortly after you stop exercising (28).
This raises the question of how much extra fat you are actually burning by waiting to eat.
2 It's expensive
If you take a serving of HMB or BCAAs before and after your workout...and if you do this for multiple workouts per week...it's going to hurt your wallet. That's another reason I break my post-workout fast and eat a high protein meal.
My program for cardio training while fasting
Before I recap everything, I want to share with you a simple "do this and lose fat faster" program that has served me and many people I've worked with well.
It all starts with a 25% calorie deficit, a high protein diet and 4 to 5 hours of heavy weight training and 1.5 to 2 hours of HIIT cardio per week.
Remember that no amount of supplementation will matter unless you are doing everything right in your diet. However, once you've got your diet on point, supplements can be a valuable support.
My program looks like this:
Before training with weights in a fasted state
About 15 minutes before my fasted weight training session, which I do in the morning about 45 minutes after waking up, I take the following:
- A pre-workout supplement containing, among other things, L-citrulline and beta alanine
- 200 mg caffeine
- 2 to 3 grams of HMB
My training session with weights lasts about 45 to 60 minutes and then I eat my first meal of the day, which contains about 50 grams of protein.
Lunch:
I eat a light lunch that consists of a salad with chicken and a scoop of whey protein so that I'm back in a fasted state around 5:30 to be able to do my cardio workout in a fasted state. I don't take any fat loss supplements with my lunch.
(At this point I would like to mention that I take a scoop of whey protein around 15:00, which gives my body about 2.5 to 3 hours to digest this protein before cardio training).
Around 17:30, before the cardio workout
About 15 minutes before performing my cardio workout in a fasted state, I consume the following:
- A pre-workout supplement containing, among other things, L-citrulline and beta alanine
- 200 mg caffeine
- 2 to 3 grams of HMB
I then do 25 minutes of HIIT cardio training on the ergometer and then have dinner.
Conclusion on cardio training (and training with weights) in a fasting state
Exercising while fasting is not a magic silver bullet, but if you follow my advice from this article, it will help you lose fat faster while maintaining your existing muscle mass. This is especially true if you are struggling to lose fat in problem areas (the abdomen for men and hips and buttocks for women).
If fasting cardio doesn't work or isn't practical for you for whatever reason, don't worry. You can achieve the same results if you exercise in a postprandial/fed state - it just might take a little longer for those stubborn love handles on your body to dwindle.
References:
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8322958
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11090571
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9357807
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17784905
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12750588
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10638340
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19225360
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21051570
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25429252
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20473222
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21113312
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19387377
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2333832
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17851681
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16937961
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16937961
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23286834
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23551944
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23551944
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17299083
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6439027
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15212756
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11440894
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10331398
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22647249
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16002802
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12750588
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18416594
Source: HTTPS://LEGIONATHLETICS.COM/FASTED-CARDIO/
By Michael Matthews
Here's a quick solution for small calves
- Start with standing calf raises on a calf raise machine. Perform 8 repetitions with a 2 second pause at the lowest point of each repetition.
- Pause for 10 seconds.
- Load a barbell with 25% of your body weight. Hold the barbell in a squat position and jump up and down with minimal bend in your knees, bouncing your calves with each repetition. Perform 30 repetitions. The eccentric muscle damage caused by the landing will promote hypertrophy.
- Repeat this superset four more times.
If this won't make your calves grow, then nothing will make your calves grow.
Tip: Stop leaning backwards when deadlifting
Finishing deadlifts in a hyperextension position will hurt you. Here's why
By Will Davis
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-stop-leaning-back-on-the-deadlift
The end position of the deadlift should be characterized by a solid hip extension, which is generated by pushing the hips forward to the position where the bar physically prevents the hips from moving further forward.
However, many exercisers continue the movement by hyperextending the lumbar spine at the expense of the hips. However, this is a completely unnecessary and useless extension of the movement. Remember that the lumbar spine should remain in an extended position from the starting point to the end point of the movement.
The muscles responsible for maintaining this position achieve this through isometric contraction. Therefore, there is no need to change the shape of the lumbar spine during the exercise. In some cases, the exerciser will simply not be aware of how to use their hips during the deadlift, so they will resort to something that is more familiar - i.e. hyperextension of the lower back.
In other cases, the gluteus may simply be too weak to complete the movement, so the exerciser relies on excessive use of the lower back to help complete the movement. In both scenarios, using a lighter weight and/or revising the technique will help to promote a correct movement pattern. If this is not done, the extra strain on the lumbar spine will eventually take its toll.
Conclusion: Finish the deadlift movement with a strong and powerful hip extension. Stand up straight and resist the urge to lean back.
Tip: Replace leg extensions with a better alternative
There's a better exercise that targets your quadriceps...
By Dr. John Rusin
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-replace-the-leg-extension
The leg extension machine has been demonized in the fitness industry for the past two decades. It has been blamed for chronic knee irritation due to the high compression forces created in the knee joint, which causes damage to the joint surfaces.
This is a valid argument, but leg extensions have also helped build some of the most impressive thighs in bodybuilding. This exercise continues to be a staple exercise in the programs of those looking for maximum muscle hypertrophy due to the results it produces. So what's the answer if you want legs like tree trunks AND healthy knees? Replace leg extensions with something that will protect your knees in the long run.
A better exercise
While depletion of muscle fibers in the quadriceps is guaranteed by the leg extension machine, the same recruitment is possible through variations of exercises like lunges and split squats. If you have the ability to dominate static split squats and have earned the right to progression, then you should try split squats with an elevated rear foot.
Split squats with elevated rear foot(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-lpN1MB_uQ):
This exercise has the ability to generate massive amounts of mechanical and metabolic stress in the quadriceps and stabilizers of the posterior chain of muscles, making it an exercise that targets the quadriceps just as much as leg extensions. If you're looking for a way to generate as much pain as possible, give this exercise a shot. If you can't move your quadriceps after one set, you'll quickly forget about leg extensions.
Tip: Take curcumin every day
Curcumin is not only a natural anti-inflammatory, it also has 7 other benefits. Find out which ones.
From TC Luoma
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/supplements/tip-take-curcumin-every-day
Curcumin is a powerful anti-inflammatory, but its other benefits range from pain management to benefits that affect nearly every organ system in the body.
Curcumin can:
- Reduce body fat
- Improve cardiovascular health
- Support healthy cholesterol levels
- Alleviate cognitive decline
- Act as a natural aromatase inhibitor
- Reduce plaque in the arteries
- Reduce the risk of diabetes
And like pretty much everything that comes from plants, curcumin also has antioxidant properties.
Can't I just eat a lot of Indian food?
Curcumin is found in the spice turmeric, which is used in large quantities in Indian cuisine. Looking at the seemingly endless health benefits of curcumin, you would think that Indians must be the healthiest people in the world, but this is not the case. Unfortunately, the body does not absorb curcumin very well.
Simply consuming curcumin as the main ingredient in curry powder will not have much effect, regardless of the amount used. For this, you need to consume curcumin as part of a formula that includes piperine, which increases the absorption of curcumin by 2000%.
Tip: Perform push-ups with additional weight
Push-ups with added weight build strength and train your chest while keeping your shoulders healthy.
From Bill Rom
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-loaded-push-ups
Before barbells, there were push-ups. Push-ups are an exercise that has stood the test of time. Any healthy person should be able to perform this exercise. If you want to maintain the health of your shoulders in the long term, then it makes no sense to stick exclusively to barbell training for the chest muscles. Aside from the weight required, which is essential for barbell training, a barbell tends to put more stress on the joints than push-ups, regardless of the weight used.
Solid push-ups performed with an additional weight allow for normal movement of the shoulders and shoulder blades while still challenging your pecs. As an added bonus, they force your core to get stronger.
Perform 3 sets of 12 reps with a weight vest or heavy chains.
Tip: Stop using belts and bandages too often
Sometimes belts and bandages are needed, but sometimes they increase the risk of future injury. Here's why.
By Dr. John Rusin
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-stop-overusing-belts-and-wraps
Exercisers too often use extreme "training crutches" such as bandages, belts and other devices designed to hold body parts together that lack the necessary stability of ligaments, tendons and joints.
Bandages
Certainly, the use of knee supports can be a valid option to add more weight to squats and leg presses by adding a more elastic component to the lower range of motion. From a functional perspective, supports work - and they actually work very well. But what about long-term soft tissue and joint health?
Long-term and sustained use for a large number of sets per training day can lead to your joints being subjected to additional unwanted shear and compression forces. This won't happen after just a few sets of course, but it will happen over time if all your sets are performed under compression.
If you are performing movements with bandages over incomplete ranges of motion, then your best option is to normalize your ranges of motion - not wrap the bandages even tighter. The use of supports of any kind - whether they are sleeves or wrapped supports - can be seen as a metaphor for your whole life. If you are dependent on crutches, it will only be a matter of time before you fall and can no longer get up.
Weightlifting belts
The use of weightlifting belts is justifiable for strength athletes who know how to use such a belt correctly during strategic sets with maximum weights or insane intensities. As you may have noticed, I haven't said anything about beginners who are desperately trying to artificially inflate their already pitiful performances or have no practical place to attach their cell phone other than a weightlifting belt.
During some of the heavier basic exercises like deadlifts or squats, the use of a belt becomes almost a necessity if you want to maximize your performance. I have no problem with this. When used strategically, a weightlifting belt is a great tool.
However, you have to draw the line at the point where a weightlifting belt becomes a necessary crutch for pretty much any movement including arm workouts and elliptical workouts. Yes, yes, a strapped belt gives you a sense of stability in the lumbar spine, but shouldn't that feeling of instability tell you something?
Take the belt off and assess your basis of functionality. Only then will you be able to objectively assess your weak points, improve your weak points of stability and then use a belt correctly.
Are you a compression junkie?
Don't become a compression junky who relies on bandages, belts and other aids for every set. If your goal is to train for the rest of your life, then limit the use of external aids and start improving your internal stability, mobility and motor control. You'll thank me for this when you're 70 and still training hard.
Tip: Eat more to build up, but not so much more
Yes, you need to eat plenty of quality calories to build muscle, but many exercisers overdo it. Do the following instead:
By Chris Shugart
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-eat-more-to-build-but-not-that-much-more
Are you overdoing it with the "you need to eat a lot to get bulky and strong"?
Most men like to eat a lot. That's why it's easy to overdo it with the calorie surplus when building muscle is the goal. However, there is a difference between eating enough to provide your body with everything it needs for hard training sessions, recovery and hypertrophy and eating so much that you look more like a fatty with usable trapezius.
Big arms don't count if 10 centimeters of your upper arm circumference is fat. And if your belly is growing, then you can almost certainly assume that you are well beyond the calorie surplus needed to optimally support your muscle building process. You are simply building up stubborn fat deposits and perhaps even stretching your skin permanently instead of building muscle.
The worst case scenario
What does the worst case scenario look like? You develop anabolic resistance: the limited ability to build muscle caused by excessive calorie intake over a long period of time. This begins with insulin resistance, which is soon followed by leptin resistance and, when fully developed, manifests itself in excessive fat gain, a loss of pump during training, stagnant strength gains, inflammation and even a low libido. Also, shedding the excess fat after each mass-building phase will become harder and harder and soon you'll achieve that pot-bellied, pregnant look that will take years off your life.
The solution
Roughly 100 kcal above your maintenance calorie intake is all you need to promote muscle gains. Increase calories by this amount for a few weeks and then adjust accordingly. Remember that bodybuilding, not building a beer belly, is your goal. Use not only the scales, but photos, tape measures and mirrors to assess your progress. Use targeted training nutrition before, during and after training instead of fast food and sweets, because the quality of your food also plays a role.
Reality check
Many exercisers fall into this trap because they copy the diet of their favorite bodybuilders or muscular actors from action movies. The problem? Most people don't have the genetic predispositions of a professional and they don't use the chemical aids that these professionals use. All of these things allow for more leeway in diet. Professionals can get away with their insane diets for at least a few years because of their pharmaceutical aids. You can't. Follow the diet of these professionals and you will both get fat and ruin your health.
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-build-your-calves-with-this-superset
By Charles Poliquin
Having looked at what exactly beginner gains are in the first part of this series of articles and looked at three models that can be used to make a relatively good prediction of potential gains during the first year of training (and beyond), in this second part of this series of articles I will look in more detail at why many exercisers report larger gains during their beginner phase and why beginner gains end after about a year.
Why do the calculated values for possible beginner gains seem too low compared to what many claim to have achieved?
Depending on who you follow online, the values for beginner gains given in the first part of this article series may seem low. It's not uncommon to read of people claiming to have gained over 20 kilos of pure muscle mass during their beginner phase. Even though these people are probably not lying - i.e. they really have put on that much weight - they have not built up those amounts of muscle mass. The reason for this is that much of the weight you build during a mass-building phase is not muscle.
A good example of this fact comes from a study conducted by scientists at the University of São Paulo (2). The scientists had 10 untrained men aged 27 complete a two-day-a-week lower body strength training program for a period of 10 weeks.
The training sessions consisted of 3 sets each of leg presses, leg extensions and leg curls with 9 to 12 repetitions each until muscle failure. The subjects were told to avoid any other training for the duration of the study and to maintain their normal dietary habits apart from consuming a whey protein shake after their training sessions.
The scientists measured the muscle circumferences of the exercisers and used ultrasound measurements to determine muscle thickness. In addition, blood tests were carried out for various markers of muscle damage.
The scientists found that muscle thickness had increased by 17% above baseline after 3 weeks, but was only 14% above baseline after 10 weeks of training. How could these exercisers have built more muscle after 3 weeks than after 10 weeks? Had they lost muscle during the last 7 weeks of the study?
No, of course not. The most likely explanation for these bizarre results is that most of the increase in muscle thickness at the beginning of the study was due to increased inflammation and water retention in the muscle, not true muscle growth.
The scientists also found that blood markers for muscle damage and inflammation were significantly higher after 3 weeks than before the start of the study and that they had dropped back to normal after a further 7 weeks of training. For this reason, they hypothesized that the short-term greater increase in muscle thickness after 3 weeks of training was due to inflammation, swelling and fluid retention rather than an increase in muscle fiber size.
As the exercisers got used to the workouts, swelling, inflammation and fluid retention disappeared and a clear picture emerged of how much muscle the young men had really built up.
Another reason that many novice exercisers experience rapid weight gain is that they consume a lot more calories than usual. This also increases body weight through increased water retention, which is especially true if they are eating a lot of carbohydrates and a lot of sodium (salt). Simply eating more of any type of food will cause you to gain weight because you are carrying more food around in your digestive tract.
All in all, this increase in calorie intake can easily make you gain 4 to 5 kilos of body weight within days, and this body weight will disappear just as quickly when you go back to your normal eating habits.
You will also hear people claim to have gained 10, 15 or even 20 kilos of muscle after years of training with weights.
There are two plausible explanations for this:
- They did more or less everything wrong in the gym and kitchen before and experienced an insane growth spurt after optimizing their training and diet (more on this shortly)
- They started using steroids.
The bottom line is that you can expect beginner gains to last for about a year, with most of those gains coming during the first six months. As a man, you can expect to gain about 10 to 12 kilos of muscle during your first year of training, while women can expect to gain 5 to 6 kilos.
Why do beginner gains end?
It's clear that you can't keep building mountains of muscle forever, but...why not? Why do beginner gains plateau so quickly after just one year? Why can't you expect to build muscle at more or less the same rate until you eventually reach your genetic limit?
The answer can be found in a concept called the stress-recovery-adaptation cycle. This process describes how your body becomes stronger in response to different stressors such as strength training. The following diagram illustrates this concept:
As you can see, each stressor causes a temporary decrease in your performance, which is followed by a period of regeneration during which the body adapts to the stressor by becoming stronger to better cope with similar stressors in the future, resulting in increased performance. This pattern applies to all types of scenarios. If a particular activity is new to you - whether it's driving, playing golf or training with weights - your first attempts will be stressful.
It will feel unfamiliar, you will feel weak and you will probably be exhausted by the end of the session. If you take your foot off the gas for a while and allow your body to adapt, you'll recover and get better at your new endeavor. In order for your body to continue to adapt and continually get stronger/better at something, you need to continually expose it to increasing levels of stress.
Once you have reached a high level of skill, competence or muscle building, it becomes harder and harder to recover/recover and adapt to the increasing stress. Finding the ideal balance between enough stress for continued growth and enough recovery for adaptation will become increasingly difficult and the rate of your progress will shrink from giant strides to baby steps.
If you want to understand why your beginner gains will eventually come to an end, replace the word "stressor" with "training with weights" and the word "adaptations" with "muscle gains" and you'll know what I'm talking about.
Your body can only handle a certain amount of stress before it can't adapt any further. Let's dig a little deeper and look at what this process looks like within the body.
One of the ways the body adapts to training with weights is by ramping up a process known as muscle protein synthesis, which is responsible for building new muscle protein from amino acids. Amino acids are small molecules that make up all proteins in the body and these body proteins are continuously broken down and rebuilt in the body.
These processes of synthesis and degradation are active simultaneously at all times, but their extent varies. For example, when you are in a state of fasting, the rate of protein breakdown increases (3) and when this rate exceeds the rate of protein synthesis, this results in muscle breakdown. This state is also known as a negative nitrogen balance.
If you eat protein, your rate of protein synthesis increases (4) and if this rate exceeds the rate of protein breakdown, this results in muscle gains. This state is also known as a positive nitrogen balance.
In this way, your body moves back and forth between anabolic and catabolic states every day. If you want to build muscle, then over time the rate of protein synthesis needs to be higher on average than the rate of protein breakdown. The best way to increase the rate of protein synthesis is to subject your muscles to stress by moving heavy weights.
After a strength training session, the rate of protein synthesis remains elevated for up to 72 hours (5). During this time, your body's muscle-building machinery is running at full speed and will do everything in its power to build new muscle tissue and prepare your body for the next training session. Assuming you're eating enough protein and carbohydrates and getting enough sleep - the "regeneration" part of the stress-recovery-adaptation process - the net result of this will be muscle gain over time.
However, over time your body will also become much more efficient at repairing the damage caused by training with weights, and the increase in protein synthesis rate after a training session with weights will become increasingly short-lived.
A good example of this phenomenon comes from a study conducted by scientists at the University of São Paulo (7). The scientists combed through studies that looked at the rate of muscle protein synthesis after exercise in trained and untrained men. They only considered studies that looked at the extent of actual muscle protein synthesis and not body-wide protein synthesis, as the latter also includes protein synthesis in the liver, blood and other organs.
Based on the five studies that met their criteria, the scientists found that there was a much greater and longer-lasting increase in muscle protein synthesis after exercise in novice exercisers compared to experienced exercisers. The graph below, taken from this study, illustrates this.
The broken line, marked by squares, shows the percentage increase in muscle protein synthesis rate after training in untrained men. The broken line, marked by triangles, shows the corresponding percentage increase after training in experienced exercisers.
As you can clearly see, the rate of muscle protein synthesis in untrained men initially rises steeply immediately after training, before continuing to rise at a lower rate for around a further 10 hours, after which it remains significantly above baseline for a further two days. The scientists found that in several studies it took three days before muscle protein synthesis in novice exercisers dropped back to baseline after exercise.
In experienced strength athletes, on the other hand, the muscle protein synthesis rate reaches its zenith around 5 hours after training, drops rapidly shortly afterwards and returns to its initial value around one day later.
When evaluating the overall increase in muscle protein synthesis experienced by both groups during the hours following their training sessions, untrained athletes experienced a 4,000% increase in muscle protein synthesis, whereas this increase was only 1,500% in experienced strength athletes.
One way to overcome this problem of decreasing increases in muscle protein synthesis in more advanced exercisers is to increase your training frequency and volume. Instead of training each muscle group once or twice a week or once every three to four days, train them two or three times a week or every two to three days. This way you can increase your muscle protein synthesis rate more often per week, which will lead to more muscle growth over time.
Another way to increase protein synthesis as a more experienced exerciser is to give your muscles a stronger growth stimulus. In other words, this means performing more sets (7).
However, both of these techniques - increasing frequency and volume - will only work up to a certain point. You can only train a muscle group more often and with more sets to a certain extent before you will experience symptoms of overtraining.
In addition to this, each additional unit of effort you put into your training will produce smaller and smaller results the closer you get to your genetic potential.
A meta-analysis conducted by James Krieger concluded that you can expect an increase in muscle growth of roughly 40% if you perform two or three sets per muscle group per week instead of one (8). If you were to increase your workload to 4 to 6 sets per muscle group per week, you could expect a further 30% increase in muscle growth.
In other words, you could expect about 70% more growth if you do four to six times as much work. This pattern continues as you become more advanced, with each additional set resulting in a smaller additional growth spurt.
This is the fundamental reason why your beginner gains will end after about a year:
It takes about the same amount of time for your body to adapt to training with weights, and once it does, the rate of your muscle gains will be significantly lower for the rest of your training career. After this 'honeymoon phase' is over, the hard, arduous work begins and the best you can hope for from this point onwards is small, incremental gains in muscle mass year on year.
If this has taken some of the wind out of your sails, don't despair now. Nothing of real value has ever been easy to achieve and everyone who has naturally built a great body has had to go down the same path.
In this final installment of this article series, we'll look at whether it's possible to miss out on those beginner gains and how you should proceed once the beginner gains period is over
Source: https://www.muscleforlife.com/newbie-gains/
By Amistead Legge
