Training

Here is a brief summary

1. Anabolic resistance is the impaired ability to build muscle caused by excessive calorie intake over time.
2. To build muscle it is necessary that you eat more calories, but there is a point of diminishing returns. You may reach a "nutrient overload" where fatty acids, triglycerides and glucose become toxic.
3. Insulin resistance is the first step towards anabolic resistance. You don't have to be fat to develop insulin resistance. Anyone who consistently overeats can develop insulin resistance within a few weeks.
4. To get anabolic resistance under control, you need to reduce your calorie intake below maintenance calories for a few weeks. Try to prevent inflammation as much as possible.

When mass gain goes down the drain

You have been dieting hard for months and have become hard and defined. Even though you have achieved a great shape, you have lost some muscle mass. Now the diet is over and you feel like eating a lot more again. This year, you tell yourself, you want to be bulkier than ever before.

You start to eat a lot to build up mass. You eat extra calories and train like a beast. Over the next few weeks, everything goes well: your strength increases, you get an incredible pump during training and you are hungry all the time. This is what "anabolic" feels like. You know you're growing.

After a while, however, things start to change. You start to look softer as your body begins to build fat. That full and muscular look you started with begins to fade. You become softer and flabbier, your abs start to diminish, and sight gags start to look at you in love.

Fast forward - a few months later. Your strength gains are less impressive, that legendary pump is gone and your joints start to ache - a sign of underlying chronic inflammation.

What went wrong? The simple answer is that the fat build-up generated by your mass-building phase has created a state of anabolic resistance. Yes, you need a calorie surplus to build new muscle, but a calorie surplus is only helpful up to a certain point. If you go beyond that point, then excessive fat gain, triglycerides and glucose become toxic.

At this point you are in a state of "nutrient overload" and you have reached the point of diminishing returns. Many exercisers have experienced this during their bulking phase.

When taken to the extreme, the same changes that limited your muscle growth during periods of nutrient overload will also cause metabolic syndrome, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

This is not to say that you run the risk of becoming chronically obese and developing diabetes during your next mass-building phase. Those who train hard are metabolically resilient enough to avoid developing diabetes when calorie intake increases over a prolonged period.

But prolonged nutrient overload will eventually cause negative metabolic adaptations that will lead to some degree of anabolic resistance.

3 steps to anabolic resistance

It's important to understand the reason why your muscle growth slows down while your body fat percentage increases beyond your optimal range. Nutrient overload causes a cascade of negative effects that will eventually throw a spanner in the works of the muscle building process.

This is called anabolic resistance, which stands for a reduced ability to increase muscle protein synthesis in response to amino acids, mechanical overload or other anabolic agents such as insulin or IGF-1.

Excess fat accumulation can make you more resistant to muscle growth even in the presence of normal anabolic hormone levels. This is true regardless of the availability of insulin, IGF-1 or growth hormones.

Although training plateaus are unavoidable, "metabolic plateaus caused by a misguided diet while trying to build additional muscle mass can be completely avoided through smart nutrition. There are three factors associated with nutrient overload that lead to anabolic resistance.

1 - Insulin resistance

Insulin resistance might be the most important factor, as it tends to come about early on.

You don't have to be fat for several years to develop insulin resistance. Take a relatively young, healthy person, put them in a state of nutritional overload and insulin resistance will develop after just a few weeks.

Insulin resistance increases the tendency to store carbohydrates in the form of fat instead of storing them in muscle tissue in the form of glycogen. It also causes the accumulation of triglycerides (fats) in muscle tissue, which contributes to muscle insulin resistance.

When muscle insulin sensitivity decreases, glucose uptake into the muscles also decreases. The result is less stored glycogen, reduced muscle fullness and a reduced pump during training.

A mass-building phase will therefore only work well until you start to become less sensitive to insulin. As your body fat percentage increases beyond the optimal range, your insulin resistance becomes more and more severe.

At this point, things quickly start to go south from a metabolic perspective. Fat stores increase, your training gains slow down and it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to get a pump during training.

2 - Leptin resistance

You have now reached the point of diminishing returns. As your insulin resistance decreases, you build up more and more fat. This is the point where leptin resistance comes into play.

Leptin is a peptide hormone produced by fat cells (adipocytes) that acts as a sort of regulator of metabolism and hunger. Technically, it links changes in your body fat stores to CNS control of energy homeostasis.

It helps to think of leptin as a kind of fuel gauge that measures body-wide energy availability. Leptin monitors body-wide energy stores to coordinate energy expenditure, fat oxidation and overall metabolism.

When fat stores increase, adipocytes release more leptin, which crosses the blood-brain barrier and communicates with leptin receptors in the hypothalamus.

This is a signal that your energy stores are maximally full, which stimulates the hypothalamus to signal the brain and the rest of the body to decrease appetite and increase metabolic rate.

When calorie intake decreases, fat cells produce less leptin. This signals the hypothalamus that energy reserves are low, resulting in increased appetite and lower calorie consumption. However, the effects of leptin are not limited to the hypothalamus.

Leptin receptors are located throughout the body, allowing leptin to coordinate appetite, metabolism and energy expenditure throughout the body.

When fat stores increase significantly, more and more leptin is produced and released into the bloodstream. If leptin levels are high enough over a long enough period of time, you will eventually develop insulin resistance. Leptin binds to the leptin receptors, but it no longer transmits messages.

The level indicator for body-wide energy stores is out of action and any fat-burning effects are lost. Despite the extra body fat, the brain never gets the message that the body's energy stores are full. As a result, some appetite control is lost.

Certain people are more susceptible to this. The lucky ones among us develop only a slightly weaker insulin resistance in response to prolonged periods of bulking and only possibly a certain degree of leptin resistance.

Those of us with a far less resistant metabolism and a pre-existing tendency to build up fat easily will have a much harder time - appetite control is out of action, leading to a continual build-up of fat.

This causes a vicious cycle of increasing leptin resistance, which brings us to the final stage where the shit hits the fan and you develop full-blown anabolic resistance.

3 - ER Stress - The real cause of anabolic resistance

ER stands for endoplasmic reticulum. You can think of the ER as a kind of protein factory.

The endoplasmic reticulum processes metabolic signals to control glucose, lipid and protein metabolism. It is also a primary site of protein synthesis. After being folded and processed in the ER, proteins are transported to the Golgi apparatus for further sorting, "packaging" and distribution.

If the endoplasmic reticulum is the protein factory of your cells, then the Golgi apparatus is Fed-Ex. Proteins are then transported from there to the different parts of the cell.

Together, the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus are responsible for the processing, transportation and delivery of all new proteins. The endoplasmic reticulum becomes stressed when the demands on protein synthesis exceed a cell's ability to synthesize, process and transport new proteins to their cellular destinations.

ER stress in adipose tissue

Fat cells are not only passive storage containers for body fat. They also function as endocrine organs that secrete a number of different proteins to control metabolism. These hormones include leptin, adiponectin and other peptide hormones. The larger the fat cells become, the more leptin they secrete, making the endoplasmic reticulum very important for the fat cells.

It is the job of the endoplasmic reticulum/Golgi apparatus to produce and process all this leptin. The system becomes overloaded when proteins are produced faster than they can be processed, resulting in ER stress.

This triggers the so-called unfolded protein response (UPR for short), which reduces protein synthesis and increases ER protein folding capacity to reduce the amount of unprocessed protein that has accumulated.

The problem, however, is that this comes at a price. URP triggers an inflammatory response that can lead to a vicious cycle of inflammation and oxidative stress.

This "metabolic inflammation" is both a cause and an effect of ER stress. Nutrient overload causes an increased need for protein synthesis in fat cells - both for the production of peptide hormones such as leptin, and for the proteins needed for triglyceride production and fat storage.

When nutrient overload ramps up protein synthesis beyond the endoplasmic reticulum's ability to process/fold these proteins, the UPR is triggered. All this protein synthesis is an energy expensive process.

Insulin resistant fat cells cannot take up enough glucose to meet the energy demands of protein synthesis. This triggers further ER stress. The result is a vicious cycle of inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance and leptin resistance.

ER stress in muscle tissue

When nutrient overload triggers an ER stress response in fat cells, the uptake of fatty acids slows down. This causes a shift of these fatty acids into muscle tissue.

Insulin-resistant muscle tissue has difficulty burning this fat for energy, which is why it is stored in the form of intramuscular triglycerides. This ectopic fat storage reduces insulin sensitivity in muscle tissue and causes ER stress in the muscles, which is the root cause of anabolic resistance.

When the ER stress response is triggered in muscle tissue, you are in a state of anabolic resistance. The muscles become less receptive to triggers of protein synthesis. Leucine uptake, mechanical load and even anabolic hormones become less effective at activating the protein synthesis machinery.

In short, nutrient overload is a cause of anabolic resistance. The fatter you get, the more insulin resistant you become. Insulin resistance is both a cause and a consequence of leptin resistance, as it causes fat gain. If you are in an insulin and leptin resistant state, then you are more susceptible to ER stress, which is the primary cause of anabolic resistance.

Two tips to avoid anabolic resistance

1 - Don't get too fat

Keep your body fat within a certain range at all times. The ideal range is different for different people and depends on insulin sensitivity and individual factors. If you exceed this range, you will notice it.

More of the weight you gain will be fat and your gains will slow down, the pump during training will diminish and you won't have the muscle fullness you used to have. It's obviously best to prevent this from happening in the first place by eating smart.

2 - Solve the problem

To get better, we need to push the boundaries, which is why it's not uncommon to find yourself in a situation where you've overdone it on the calories for too long and have reached the point of diminishing returns. But all is not lost.

The only way to move forward in this situation is to go backwards a little. Reduce your calories below your maintenance calorie intake for a few weeks and reduce your carbohydrate intake. Add some cardio if necessary.

If chronic, underlying inflammation induced by nutrient overload could be a real problem, then supplements such as cyanidin 3-glucoside, curcumin and fish oil are available to help limit inflammation and boost your insulin sensitivity.

Increasing your intake of food-based antioxidants or supplements such as superfoods, which are packed with potent natural antioxidants, can also help reduce oxidative stress induced by nutrient overload.

Continue this diet phase to control inflammation and oxidative stress until your body fat is back in an acceptable range.

You will then have eliminated any anabolic resistance and will be metabolically prepared to continue building quality muscle. It's no coincidence that those who alternate periods of increased calorie intake with periods of dieting have bodies that seem to continue to develop over time. Whereas the typical "permabulker" who performs a year-round bulking phase is busily developing a spare tire around the waist.

References

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2. Kraegen EW, Cooney GJ. Free fatty acids and skeletal muscle insulin resistance. Curr Opin Lipidol 2008;19:235-41.
3. Silveira LR, Fiamoncini J, Hirabara SM, Procopio J, Cambiaghi TD, Pinheiro CH, et al. Updating the effects of fatty acids on skeletal muscle. J Cell Physiol 2008;217:1-12.
4. Danielsson A, Fagerholm S, Ost A, Franck N, Kjolhede P, Nystrom FH, et al. Short-term overeating induces insulin resistance in fat cells in lean human subjects. Mol Med 2009;15:228-34.
5. Tremblay F, Marette A. Amino acid and insulin signaling via the mTOR/p70 S6 kinase pathway. A negative feedback mechanism leading to insulin resistance in skeletal muscle cells. J Biol Chem 2001;276:38052-60.
6. Aguirre V, Werner ED, Giraud J, Lee YH, Shoelson SE, White MF. Phosphorylation of Ser307 in insulin receptor substrate-1 blocks interactions with the insulin receptor and inhibits insulin action. J Biol Chem 2002;277:1531-7.
7. Beeson M, Sajan MP, Dizon M, Grebenev D, Gomez-Daspet J, Miura A, et al. Activation of protein kinase C-zeta by insulin and phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-(PO4)3 is defective in muscle in type 2 diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance: amelioration by rosiglitazone and exercise. Diabetes 2003;52:1926-34.
8. Belfort R, Mandarino L, Kashyap S, Wirfel K, Pratipanawatr T, Berria R, et al. Dose-response effect of elevated plasma free fatty acid on insulin signaling. Diabetes 2005;54:1640-8.
9. Pedrini MT, Kranebitter M, Niederwanger A, Kaser S, Engl J, Debbage P, et al. Human triglyceride-rich lipoproteins impair glucose metabolism and insulin signaling in L6 skeletal muscle cells independently of non-esterified fatty acid levels. Diabetologia 2005;48:756-66.
10. Myers MG, Jr, Munzberg H, Leinninger GM, Leshan RL. The geometry of leptin action in the brain: more complicated than a simple ARC. Cell Metab 2009;9:117-23.
11. Schwartz MW, Woods SC, Porte D, Jr, Seeley RJ, Baskin DG. Central nervous system control of food intake. Nature 2000;404:661-71.
12. Rosenbaum M, Leibel RL. The role of leptin in human physiology. N Engl J Med 1999;341:913-5.
13. Ahima RS, Saper CB, Flier JS, Elmquist JK. Leptin regulation of neuroendocrine systems. Front Neuroendocrinol 2000;21:263-307.
14. Gregor MF, Hotamisligil GS. Thematic review series: Adipocyte Biology. Adipocyte stress: the endoplasmic reticulum and metabolic disease. J Lipid Res 2007;48:1905-14.
15. Rosen ED, Spiegelman BM. Adipocytes as regulators of energy balance and glucose homeostasis. Nature 2006;444:847-53.
16. Corcoran MP, Lamon-Fava S, Fielding RA. Skeletal muscle lipid deposition and insulin resistance: effect of dietary fatty acids and exercise. Am J Clin Nutr 2007;85:662-77.
17. Moro C, Bajpeyi S, Smith SR. Determinants of intramyocellular triglyceride turnover: implications for insulin sensitivity. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2008;294:E203-E213.
18. Sitnick M, Bodine SC, Rutledge JC. Chronic high fat feeding attenuates load-induced hypertrophy in mice. J Physiol 2009;587:5753-65.

From Bill Willis

This guide will teach you the following:

• How to improve your muscle building results by optimizing every aspect of recovery.
• What steps you can use to achieve better quality sleep.
• How each of the 3 macronutrients can improve your recovery process.
• How you can support your recovery process with the right supplementation.

In our hectic lives, we are surrounded by numerous stressors. These range from the foods we eat to the places we live and the lifestyles we lead. In a world where we are constantly trying to achieve more in less time, it is crucial that we examine how we can maximize these short periods of rest that we have in our daily lives - especially when it comes to regeneration.

Inadequate recovery can take different forms which can include prolonged delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), sore joints, restlessness, insomnia, oversleeping, a low mood, excessive fatigue, a lack of motivation in the gym and even a weakened immune system. Fortunately, there is something you can do - use the following tips on sleep hygiene, nutrition, meditation, supplementation and the various techniques described below that will improve your recovery in and out of the gym.

Improve your sleep hygiene

Good sleep hygiene is crucial for muscle recovery, memory performance and improving short-term alertness.

Although caffeine can increase short-term alertness, anaerobic capacity during sprints and power release in healthy people, it can also increase blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol levels. We all know the guy or gal who drinks a cup of coffee or pops 3 caffeine pills, then works out and can fall asleep an hour later. Most of us mere mortals should focus our caffeine intake on before physical activity and preferably consume the last caffeinated product 6 hours before going to bed. This will help maximize the performance-enhancing benefits of caffeine while minimizing the potential side effects of caffeine such as habituation and insomnia. I would recommend starting conservatively with the amount of caffeine and timing and making adjustments based on your individual reactions.

You should also avoid staring at a digital screen for the last 1 to 2 hours. Artificial light interferes with your body's natural day-night rhythm and your body's own melatonin secretion. If you need to work on the computer in the evening, consider using software like f.lux(https://justgetflux.com/) that adjusts the color of the computer display to the time of day - warm in the evening and like sunlight during the day.

Establish a ritual before going to bed. All too often I talk to people who use their bed to read, study, work and browse the internet on their smartphone and then wonder why they can't fall asleep. By doing all these activities in bed, you create a kind of mental connection with that location. I have found that using my bed only for sleep and sex helps me to create a positive association with my sleeping environment, which in turn helps me to relax and fall asleep faster. You might be wondering what a bedtime ritual might look like. I tend to use the following steps:

1. I read a book, preferably a non-digital version, finding that reading on a black and white Kindle display doesn't affect my sleep in the same way as reading on a smartphone or computer screen.
2. I meditate for 5 to 30 minutes to clear my mind, lower my heart rate and lower my perceived stress levels.
3. It can be helpful to take a warm shower, which activates the body's cooling mechanisms to reduce your core temperature, which helps most people fall asleep faster and get a deeper and more restful sleep.
4. It makes sense to pay attention to the temperature and darkness of your bedroom and the comfort of your mattress. Most people sleep best at 12 to 24 degrees. I find a room temperature of 20 to 21 degrees optimal for me.
5. You should switch off all possible light sources, including nightlights, to ensure a natural release of melatonin. If there is still light coming into your bedroom, get opaque curtains to cover the windows or wear a sleep mask.
6. Use earplugs or a so-called white noise machine. Earplugs are cheap and portable, but they can fall out of your ear during the night. A white noise machine provides constant noise cancellation, but it requires electricity to work and is also significantly more expensive than earplugs.
7. The optimum mattress firmness is an individual thing, but if your mattress becomes too soft and saggy over time, then you should consider buying a new mattress as soon as possible - the benefits will far outweigh the financial cost.

Aim for at least 7 to 8 hours of uninterrupted, quality sleep per night. If your schedule allows, try to take a 15 to 30 minute nap at lunchtime. Most of us have a 9 to 5 desk job and therefore can't do this during the week, but should do this on the weekend for at least 15 to 30 minutes. These naps will improve your muscle recovery, memory performance and short-term alertness. I don't know about you, but these benefits have me looking for the nearest couch for a nap!

The crucial importance of nutrition

Proper nutrition is crucial for recovery in and out of the gym. Sure, you can make up for a lousy diet in the short term with your training, but I would encourage you to look at the bigger picture. If your training and rest periods are fine, but your nutrition is inadequate, then you can expect inadequate recovery and diminishing progress in your activity of choice.

Protein, which provides 4 kcal per gram, is the most talked about macronutrient in the fitness industry. I don't want to ride the topic to death here, so I'll keep it simple - protein is made up of amino acids, which are used for protein synthesis and muscle recovery. If you are an athlete or a highly physically active person, then you should aim for a protein intake of 1.5 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

At significantly more than 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, the law of diminishing returns comes into play in terms of body development benefits, but no significant side effects are expected from a protein intake in the range of 2 to 4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. The excess protein is typically converted to glucose which the body uses as an energy source and protein is the most satiating of the three macronutrients.

Adequate fat intake is critical for optimal hormone production and prolonged low-fat diets can lower serum testosterone levels and 4-androstenedione levels, which can affect libido, mood and muscle recovery. At first glance, my female readers might misinterpret my last sentence, thinking that they should eat a low-fat diet because testosterone will make them bulky and muscular. But nothing could be further from the truth. Even if testosterone levels are in the optimal range, and assuming my readers are steroid-free female athletes, these levels will only be a fraction of their male counterparts.

Prolonged low-fat dieting can also negatively affect the menstrual cycle of female exercisers, which can result in irregular periods. Alan Aragon, a popular and respected voice in the fitness community recommends a minimum of about one gram of fat per kilogram of body weight to ensure proper hormonal function. Don't be afraid of fat, it is very important for your recovery, mood, energy and libido.

Carbohydrates, which provide 4 kcal per gram, are an exceptionally good source of short-term energy and can help you replenish your glycogen stores after intense training sessions. Carbohydrates can increase endurance capacity, restore endurance capacity and improve nitrogen balance after resistance training. There is no precisely defined formula for determining the ideal amount of carbohydrate for you. Carbohydrate intake should be based on your age, gender, training history, activity level and goals. I would recommend that you start with a reasonable amount of carbohydrate and adjust it based on how your body responds.

From a psychological point of view, it is much more comfortable to start with a more conservative intake and adjust it upwards than to exceed your needs and then have to reduce carbohydrates. Personally, I find that eating the majority of my (starchy) carbohydrates before, during and after training optimizes my energy levels throughout the day, my performance in the gym and my recovery after training. When I increase the volume in my training program, I typically increase my carbohydrate intake while keeping my protein and fat intake constant.

Alcohol, which provides 7 kcal per gram, has been part of a great deal of research and discussion in the fitness community regarding its role in a healthy diet. Alcohol in its purest form provides no macronutrients, no vitamins and no minerals, which is why it is often labeled as a source of empty calories. However, one study suggests that it has not yet been convincingly shown that alcohol has a negative impact on performance. Based on my experience, it is no fun to train with a hangover, but I have also achieved personal bests after a boozy night out.

Acute alcohol consumption, for example, does not seem to have a significant effect on exercise-induced muscle damage. However, I have found that consuming 3 or more drinks after a training session with weights results in significantly more delayed onset muscle soreness than a normal workout followed by sober sleep. This sensation could be due to the fact that acute alcohol consumption reduces muscle protein synthesis by suppressing the mTOR pathway.

If you don't want to give up all alcohol consumption and still want to optimize your recovery, then I would recommend avoiding or minimizing excessive binge drinking, minimizing alcohol consumption before bedtime and choosing low-alcohol or non-alcoholic beverages. Not following these guidelines could reduce your recovery and performance in the gym due to reduced REM sleep, reduced overall sleep quality and increase your waist size.

Meditation - the forgotten recovery tool

Meditation is an excellent technique to improve physical and psychological recovery. Several studies have shown that meditation can help lower blood pressure and cortisol levels, reduce perceived stress and improve immune system function. The aim of meditation sessions is to disperse our thoughts, help us clear our minds and focus our concentration on the present.

The most common types of meditation include guided meditation, mantra meditation, Qi Gong, Tai Chi, transcendental meditation and yoga. I would advise you to try all variations at least a few times to find out which one works best for you.

As for the duration of the meditation sessions, recommendations range from 5 to 60 minutes of meditation once or twice a day. I recommend starting conservatively and increasing the time if you find it comfortable. I aim to meditate for 15 minutes every morning before I check my emails. I've found that the earlier I meditate in the morning, the more I feel clear-headed, feel like I'm living in the present and relaxed.

If you're worried about losing track of time, you can set an alarm and meditate in a different room or a different corner of the same room to resist the temptation to get up and look at the clock. For most people, 15 minutes will feel like hours for the first few meditation sessions, but once you get used to it, 15 minutes will fly by.

Supplementation and regeneration

Without exception, the first question many exercisers ask me about recovery is "what supplements do I need to use to improve my recovery?" I can't help but shake my head: supplementation is designed to support a sensible training, nutrition and recovery program.

Avoid prescription sleep aids unless you have a medical condition such as insomnia, restless leg syndrome, etc. Relying on sleep aids will lead to addiction. Sleep aids are typically prescribed for short-term problems and if the sleep problems are prolonged, then it is in your best interest to consult a sleep specialist as additional factors may be at play. If you absolutely refuse to eliminate prescription sleep aids from your regimen, at least consider using them as a last resort before those stressful days of long work hours, deadlines, meetings and other stressful events.

Instead of sleeping pills, try natural sleep aids such as ZMA, melatonin, 5-http, valerian and/or L-theanine. These sleep aids are prescription-free supplements designed to help the user relax, cope better with stress, fall asleep and maintain a normal day-night rhythm. The dosage of these supplements depends on the product, but here are some general recommendations:

• 1 serving of ZMA (magnesium - 200 to 400mg and zinc - 5 to 45mg)
• Melatonin - 0.3 to 5mg at bedtime
• 5-HTP - 300 to 500mg (consult your doctor if you intend to use 5-HTP but are currently using medication for depression or cognitive issues)
• Valerian - 450mg one hour before going to bed
• L-theanine - 100 to 200mg before bedtime

I take 400mg of magnesium citrate, 30mg of zinc and 200mg of 5-HTP 30 minutes before bed, which has a calming effect for me that helps me relax and fall asleep.

Examine.com, a popular website that critically reviews studies on supplements, also recommends the use of HMB, citrulline and L-carnitine to aid muscle recovery. Supplement use is optional, but if your diet, training and rest periods are already good, they can provide some extra support to help you overcome training plateaus. The dosage recommendations are as follows:

• 3 grams of Free Acid HMB 15 to 30 minutes before training
• 8 grams of citrulline - preferably in malate form - before or during training
• 2 to 4 grams of L-Carnitine before or during training

I have not yet tried this combination myself, but would be happy to receive feedback.

And last but not least we have the supplements with anti-inflammatory properties including fish oil, curcumin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories to name but a few. For fish oil, you should aim for 6 grams throughout the day. For curcumin, aim for 80 to 16,000 milligrams per day. Use lower dosages if you are using absorption enhancers such as black pepper extract and higher dosages if not.

As for one of the most popular non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, the dosage for ibuprofen is 400 mg every 4 to 6 hours if needed. While I would not recommend using non-steroidal anti-inflammatories as a first line of defense to improve recovery, ibuprofen is a well-researched and proven medication for reducing pain.

Different regeneration factors

This section covers different recovery techniques that don't fit into the previous sections - contrast showers, ice baths, menthol-based analgesics, capsaicin-based analgesics, Epsom salts and soft tissue massage.

Alternating showers

In an experiment with contrast showers, 1 minute of showering with 38-degree water followed by 1 minute of 15-degree cold water did not affect exercise-induced mobility markers, but did improve psychological perceptions of physical recovery. Another study suggests that alternating showers can reduce muscle soreness and improve recovery more compared to passive recovery techniques. At the very least, the psychological recovery will hopefully encourage exercisers to perform high-intensity training more regularly.

Ice baths

Advocates of ice baths claim that 5 to 10 minutes in 12 to 15 degree water can improve recovery by constricting blood vessels, slowing the physiological processes that cause delayed onset muscle soreness, reducing swelling and tissue breakdown and shifting pH levels. However, the positive effects seem to be mainly anecdotal and are popularized by elite athletes. I would recommend you try ice baths a few times to see if they help you in any way. Remember to set yourself a timer to make sure you don't stay in the cold water for too long. If you start to feel symptoms of hypothermia during contrast showers or ice baths, you should stop IMMEDIATELY.

Natural painkillers

The two most popular menthol-based pain relievers are Hot®© and Tiger Balm®©. Menthol can help reduce perceived pain and delayed onset muscle soreness, as well as improve muscle recovery. Two of the most popular capsaicin-based pain relievers are Capzasin-HP©® and Salonpas Hot Capsaicin Patch©®. Capsaicin can help reduce perceived pain and delayed onset muscle soreness when these products are applied to the affected areas. You can find menthol-based and capsaicin-based pain relievers in the form of creams, lotions, gels and patches in pharmacies.

Epsom salt baths

Epsom salt baths use magnesium sulphate as the active ingredient to relieve sore and aching muscles. If you dissolve 2 cups in warm bath water and lie in the bath for 20 minutes, your skin will absorb the magnesium, which can help reduce unwanted muscle contractions, cramps and muscle twitches. Although Epsom salt baths are not the most efficient way to combat a magnesium deficiency, 1 to 2 Epsom salt baths per week have helped me to support my muscle recovery during intense training periods - especially after a run or weightlifting competition.

Soft tissue massages

Soft tissue massages around tight, knotty and stiff muscles can increase range of motion, reduce pain and improve muscle function. In addition to physical relief, soft tissue massages can also reduce tension, stress and cortisol levels. If your schedule and finances allow, I would recommend at least one 50 minute deep tissue massage per month.

Deep tissue massage is not necessarily relaxing, but in my experience it can help with tension and knots, as well as release trigger points. I sometimes feel sore muscles after a deep tissue massage, like after an intensive training session. If you can afford two soft tissue massage sessions a month, then I would recommend alternating deep tissue massages and relaxation massages every two weeks.

Myofascial relaxation

Myofascial release using a fascia roll and small sports balls (e.g. tennis balls or field hockey balls) can increase the range of motion of your joints, improve circulation, reduce fatigue after exercise, reduce sensitivity to pain, relieve tension and improve sleep quality by reducing muscle pain. Myofascial release using a fascia roll may not be the most relaxing technique, but I find it extremely helpful for reducing delayed onset muscle soreness and stiffness after exercise, as well as treating pulled muscles.

If you have never done myofascial release before, then I would recommend starting with a soft foam roller and a tennis ball, as these tools have some 'cushioned' flexibility. Once you get used to this, you can move on to harder tools such as a PVC roller and a field field hockey ball.

There are a number of programs designed for mobility, including Joe DeFranco's Agile 8/Limber 11 and MobilityWOD. If you can identify the specific areas that are causing you problems, I would recommend performing 15 to 30 rolling movements in the affected area at least once a day until you have achieved the desired mobility.

Final words

I hope you have enjoyed reading this article and that you have learned something new. I firmly believe that the information presented here can help you feel less pain, increase your range of motion and improve your recovery.

Source: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/expert-guides/workout-recovery

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool"

- Richard Feynman, theoretical physicist

Welcome to the second part of my 11 principles of an effective bodybuilding training program.

Before we get into principles 6 through 11, I'd like to briefly explain how I came up with them.

I developed these principles over time to prevent myself from tricking myself into straying from the proven path to training success by chasing the next shiny object that catches my attention in hopes that it can provide me with the key to quick and easy progress.

I have found that there is simply no such thing as quick and easy progress in bodybuilding. However, there is a route to steady, predictable progress and it is described by these 11 principles.

Adopt them as your own principles or use them as a guide to generate your own principles. Either way... use them! Otherwise, you'll probably fool yourself by trying every training tactic under the sun - only to find out you've achieved nothing. However, if you are guided by principles, then your efforts will not be in vain.

6 - Perform one endurance / volumizing exercise per muscle group

While those who like to feel a burn in their muscles and maximize the pump tend to neglect heavy sets with low repetitions, those who like to train heavy tend to neglect the higher repetition range.

Performing sets of more than 10 or 12 reps is great for increasing endurance, but you probably won't care. But you do care about the visual effects that become visible as a result of performing sets with higher repetitions. Training in this higher repetition range will obviously increase the time under tension and it is this longer time under tension that also stimulates hypertrophy. Because the hypertrophy that results from higher repetition sets and is not primarily due to an increase in the mass of the contractile tissue of the muscles (i.e. actin and myosin filaments), it is often referred to as non-functional hypertrophy...a term I don't put much stock in as it is very misleading.

If we're talking specifically about an increase in muscle size by mechanisms other than an increase in muscle fiber size, then I prefer to use the term volumization. But whether you prefer the term non-functional hypertrophy or the term volumization, we are talking about an increase in muscle cross-sectional area via an increase in size and/or an increase in the number of mitochondria and capillaries, an increase in the size of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, etc.

Generally speaking, performing sets of 12 to 20 repetitions is perfect for stimulating muscle volumization. The visual result of this is rounder, fuller looking muscles.

So if your goal is bigger muscles, keep in mind that you want to increase ALL components of the muscle. If you don't do this, then you are consciously forgoing gains!

7 - Use multi-joint exercises and isolation exercises

When I was doing my undergraduate degree in exercise science, I set out to find the professor who was best known for his knowledge of resistance training. When I was in his office, I asked him my most burning question regarding resistance training for hypertrophy: "Which is better for building muscle mass - multi-joint exercises or isolation exercises. For example, is squats or leg extensions better for quadriceps growth?"

His answer surprised me. "Neither is necessarily better," he said. "Both have their pros and cons. It's best to stimulate a muscle in a variety of ways. You'll likely achieve greater overall hypertrophy if you use both, rather than focusing solely on basic exercises or isolation exercises." At first I was quite disappointed to say the least, but this lesson sank in.... True answers are not as black or white as we would like them to be.

When it comes to a bodybuilding workout, it's crucial that we don't just use multi-joint exercises. Sure, multi-joint exercises provide the best gains in functional, usable strength, but that's not our goal. It's just a nice side effect on the way to our goal.

Isolation exercises may not be as "functional" in terms of real-world applicability, but they put a laser-like focus on the target muscle to ensure that it is the recipient of the training stress.

Barbell squats are great, for example, but your lower back may give out before your quadriceps. And that will interfere with the training stimulus your quadriceps receive. This is where leg extensions come into play. If you perform a set of leg extensions to muscle failure, then you know your quadriceps have done all the work! Instead of thinking in an "either/or" mentality, you should internalize the fact that neither basic exercises nor isolation exercises are inherently superior... they are just different.

8 - Choose exercises that target your weaknesses

If you're training to improve the appearance of your body, then it's extremely important to keep symmetry and aesthetics in mind. Too often we bodybuilders get sucked into progression by training harder, which means moving more weight or doing more reps with the same weight. Sometimes we even try to do both at once (which is a recipe for stagnation, by the way). However, we should keep in mind that "improvements" in bodybuilding come not only through increases in performance, but also - and primarily for competitive bodybuilders - through an improvement in appearance.

And I'm here to tell you that improving a lagging muscle group is the surest way to quickly and dramatically improve the appearance of your body. You should think of yourself as an artist creating something artistically beautiful with your body. I have found that this mindset works well in this regard. Admittedly, this is something that comes naturally to me when I'm training others, but not so much when I'm training myself. I think this supports Alwyn Cosgrove's observation, "He who trains himself has an idiot for a client."

The best thing to do is to have someone with a sense of good body development to assess your strengths and weaknesses. If this is not possible, then take pictures of yourself and critique them as if you were critiquing someone else's body. Cover your face in the photo if necessary, but be as objective as possible. Then categorize each muscle group into one of three categories: dominant, balanced or underdeveloped. Then - and this is crucial - use this information when putting together your training program, making sure you choose exercises that specifically target your weak areas.

If a muscle group lacks size, then choose an exercise that targets that area, forcing it to do the majority of the work and pushing that area to exhaustion at the end of the set. At this point it should be noted that this will often NOT be a multi-joint exercise, as multi-joint exercises tend to spread the training stress and subsequent adaptation across multiple muscle groups. For example, if your weakness is the width of your back, then you need to focus on exercises that specifically target the inferolateral aspect of the latissimus. Dumbbell pull-ups and cable pull-downs with arms extended are examples of exercises that would be suitable for this.

You should also be aware that an overdeveloped muscle group can also be a visual weakness and it is just as important to address such a weakness by choosing appropriate exercises...exercises that will not cause hypertrophy in this area (of course this is where the set/repetition scheme comes into play).

So if you have quadriceps like tree trunks, I wouldn't train hack squats or leg extensions. And if you do barbell squats, then you should consider doing them with a wider stance so that some of the load is shifted to the gluteus, hamstrings and adductors and less stress is placed on the quadriceps. Just make sure to be methodical in your exercise selection. This will go a long way in developing a visually appealing body.

9 - Perform the most important exercises first

This principle goes hand in hand with the previous one. Because even if you choose the right exercise but do it at the wrong time, the effect can ultimately cancel itself out. Let's say you chose unilateral dumbbell rows to address the thickness and width of your latissimus. If you perform this exercise towards the end of your back workout, you will not be able to use as much weight and/or perform as many repetitions as you would if you had performed this exercise as the first exercise of your back workout due to neurobiological and muscular fatigue.

As a side note, the use of both creatine and beta-alanine is a good approach to minimizing fatigue through anaerobic training (i.e. training with weights), with the former being particularly effective for sets with heavy weights and low repetitions, while the latter is more effective with moderate weights and higher repetitions. Performing an exercise as your first exercise allows for maximum recruitment of motor units, which equates to stimulating the maximum number of muscle fibers. And remember that only the muscle fibers that have been stimulated will grow.

So don't waste your most important exercises by doing them when you're already exhausted. Do them first so that you can get the maximum benefit from them!

10 -- Repetitions and rests are inversely proportional to each other

Many training principles are more or less intuitive and common sense. But the fact that the number of repetitions and the length of rests are inversely proportional to each other is not one of them. In reality, this often contradicts intuition. Let's say you performed a maximum set of barbell bench presses with 3 repetitions in which you gave it your all.

If you pause after this set, let your heart rate and breathing rate return to their normal values, then you will notice that it won't take long for these two components to return to their normal values. In the end, you didn't even feel a burn in your chest and triceps for such a short time under tension. After about 60 seconds, you'll feel ready to do another set. Let's say you've just put the bar down on the other side after a brutal set of 15-rep barbell squats. It will take at least 2 full minutes or more before you feel like you can perform another set with the same intensity.

The strange fact, however, is that our perception of recovery is not accurate. Even though heart rate and breathing rate are important in some ways, there is something going on at a cellular level that we can't feel per se. When you reach the point of exhaustion on a heavy set with low reps - where we're talking about momentary concentric muscle failure - it's primarily related to exhaustion of the ATP-CP energy system and exhaustion of the nervous system. And it takes 2 to 3 minutes for these two components to recover to the point where you can perform another set at the same intensity.

When performing high tension, low repetition sets to stimulate protein synthesis, it is very important to maximize the performance of each set by performing as many repetitions as possible with a given weight. You must avoid having to reduce the weight to duplicate the efforts on your previous set because it is the tension in the muscle that serves as the primary stimulus for strength gains and ultimately more actin and myosin filaments (aka bigger muscles). However, if you base your rest intervals on how you feel, then you'll probably want to do the next set after just one minute because three reps on the bench press just doesn't feel as challenging. Performance on sets with higher reps and longer time under tension is not as critical. This is because it is not tension that acts as the primary stressor during these sets, but metabolic fatigue. This type of training stimulus is different from tension as a stimulus. Metabolic exhaustion does not so much lead to a build-up of new actin and myosin. Instead, it leads to hypertrophy of other structures (i.e. sarcoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, capillaries, etc.)

Unlike low repetition sets, you should not necessarily fully recover from higher repetition sets. In fact, starting the next set before you are really ready for it is a great way to increase the metabolic stimulus you generate from the following set. So for heavy sets with low reps, you should pause long enough to be able to use maximum weight again on the next set, as it is the weight and the tension the weight creates within the muscle that provides the nectar for new growth.

With higher repetition sets, on the other hand, you should not rest very long between sets so that you intentionally compromise your performance and create metabolic stress that will lead to hypertrophy of the cellular components of the muscle cells.

11 - Keep in mind that intensity and volume are inversely proportional to each other

I have deliberately saved this principle for last as I believe it is the most important of all. The fact is that if you don't follow this principle, it doesn't matter what else you do...you won't make any progress. I know this all too well as this is the principle I have struggled with the most. First, let's make sure we mean the same thing when we talk about volume and intensity. Intensity in this context is basically how close you go on a given set to the point where you've given it your all. If you do as many repetitions as you can with a given weight and only give up when you can't do another repetition, even if your life depended on it, then you have reached 100% intensity.

When we talk about volume, we mean the number of exercises, sets and repetitions you perform during a given training session. I disagree with the idea that 5 sets of 5 repetitions is the same stress on the body as one set of 25 repetitions. In my experience, it is the number of demanding sets we perform that largely determines the stress. So when I talk about volume, I am primarily referring to the number of work sets performed during a given training session. In other words, the number of sets performed to the point of exhaustion.

The degree to which you reach exhaustion on a set determines how intense the set is. Let's say you can do 10 curls with 50 kilos...and that this is your real 10RM (maximum weight for 10 reps). Sets of 10 reps where you give it your all are extremely demanding for your body. Sure, these sets are demanding for your muscles, but they are also insidiously demanding for your nervous system. The more sets in which you give your all during a training session, the fewer total sets you should perform. Otherwise, you simply won't be able to recover within a reasonable amount of time. However, if you only do 9 repetitions in a set of 50 kilos, this is not nearly as demanding on your nervous system and not as demanding on your muscles themselves. Therefore, you could do 3 sets of 9 repetitions without the risk of overdoing it.

However, if you were to perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions with your 10 RM weight (50 kilos), then we would be talking about a seriously demanding training stimulus for both your muscles and your nervous system...even if this seems to be just one more repetition. You can either train hard or long, but you can't train long and hard. To illustrate this, let me compare the training style of former Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates with the training style of former Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler. Dorian was known for his very few sets. In fact, he only performed one work set per exercise. His training was high intensity but low volume. Jay Cutler was the other extreme. He was known for performing many exercises per muscle group and many sets per exercise, and also for training each muscle group every 5 days instead of every 7 days like Dorian.

If you watch Jay train, you would definitely say that his training is intense. But if you take a closer look at his training, you'll notice that he doesn't perform his sets to the point of muscle failure. He often gets quite close to muscle failure, but still stops one or two repetitions before reaching the point of muscle failure.

This is where we (I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way) often go wrong...we try to train at maximum intensity like Dorian and at the same time try to perform a high volume workout like Jay...all at the same time! And that, my friend, will not work.

Please trust me on this one, as I have learned and relearned this lesson many, many times. Or you can be stubborn like I was and say "screw it, I can do more...I'll do one more repetition on the next set...and then I'll do one more set too!". This will give my muscles no choice but to grow!"

Except that we forget that the muscle has another option than to grow...and that is "not to grow".

The mentally challenging part of this principle is that you can do a lot of sets and do all of those sets to muscle failure...and you'll leave the gym drained but feeling like you had a fantastic workout. The problem is that even if your muscles recover and you don't feel sore at the next training session, your nervous system is still in intensive care due to the intense overload a few days earlier. So even if it's time for your next training session and you feel like you're ready, it could well be that you're not.

If you're like most other serious strength athletes and bodybuilders, it can be hard to force yourself to finish a set when you know you have more in you, and it can be just as hard to not do another set when you know you could. But sometimes you just have to stop before you've given it your all. This my friend brings us back to point number 1 - train each muscle group once a week. If you do this, then at least you have some room for error when it comes to ensuring adequate recovery. And yet, it's still crucial to keep volume and intensity inversely proportional to each other. The best rule of thumb I've found is this: only perform the last set of an exercise to muscle failure.

If you do this and limit the number of sets and reps as described, then you will achieve a good balance between intensity and volume. But if you're crazy enough and want to know what overtraining really feels like, go to muscle failure on every set and use a Cutler-style volume program. If you do this, then in a few weeks you'll know exactly what it feels like to be overtrained.

If you're more interested in making steady progress, keep in mind that it's better to train smart than to train hard.

Final words

Remember to use these 11 principles like a good recipe. You can follow it as it is to cook something great, or you can add a pinch of this or a touch of that to create something of your own. Whichever way you choose, at least you won't be starting from scratch.

If these principles help you even half as much as they helped me, then we'll both be happy! Take care of yourself.

By Clay Hyght

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/11-principles-of-bodybuilding-training-part-2