Building Muscle 101: Master the Basics
March 10, 2008
Building bigger muscles is at heart a hormonal event. Hormones such as insulin, growth hormone, testosterone and cortisol are giving the body signals on whether to build muscle, or break it down. While exercise is necessary to create a stimulus for certain hormones to be activated, it is also just a small part of the equation. This is why you will see so many people putting in hard effort at the gym day after day, and never really getting any results. So throw away all those books, stop spending $400/month on supplements, cancel your magazine subscription to Muscle Weekly (or one of the other 75+ fitness magazines out there), and master the basics. This is where you get 90%+ of your results from.
Who needs strength training? Everyone! Any age and yes women too! (Don’t fear ladies, you do not have enough hormones to get all big and buff….just that nice toned look you are looking for). In fact, muscle mass has been directly related to the rate at which we age. I guess once you tell the body that you don’t need muscle to do anything, it thinks it is time to shut down! Once you start losing muscle, you see an increase in fat and that is never a good thing for any long term health factor. The muscle most effected is the Type II (Fast Twitch) and not the Type I (Slow Twitch). So moral of the story is, want to live longer then build and keep your muscle! (Just ask Jack LaLanne who is still running around at 94 years young)
Now let’s look at the Hormones we want to use for building and keeping muscle:
- Testosterone - We have all heard about this one, it builds muscle
- Growth Hormone - Another muscle building (and fat burning) hormone
- Insulin - Using this properly can help to stimulate more muscle building by bringing in more amino acids into the muscles (too much and at the wrong time will only store fat)
- Cortisol - The bad guy who breaks down muscle (some is needed, too much is bad)
- Estrogen - Brings down your Testosterone (hence why women will not build the same size muscle as men). Too much has also been linked to cancer.
Ok so now that we know the players, let’s see what we need to do inorder to get the results and control the hormones for building muscle.
- Eat protein - The more amino acids you can make available to the muscles, the more they will be able to build up. There is a point of diminishing returns, but most active people need at least 0.6-0.8g protein per lean (not total) lb of bodyweight.
- Eat Fat - Higher fat diets raise Testosterone levels. Also higher fat diets have a nitrogen sparing effect (which means less muscle breakdown and wasting). Usually this means over 30% of your daily calories should come from healthy fats.
- Eat more Sat Fat and Monounsaturated Fats - These are the types of fat shown to increase more Testosterone levels (Steak and Eggs!). Also your body uses Cholesterol to build the hormone Testosterone (another plug for steak and eggs). If you are still weary about fat and cholesterol, you can read this excellent article and make up your own mind about it. Oh and Zinc is also key to T-levels (3rd plug for steak and eggs).
- Do not eat low calorie - Doing this too often will just cause a drop off in T-levels.
- Get your Sleep - As we talked about in the Fat Loss article, most of your GH is produced at night. So get your sleep and build muscle in the process.
- Skip the Alcohol - I know St Patty’s day is right around the corner, but alcohol in excess drops your T-levels. So keep it to a 2 drink maximum when you do go out otherwise you won’t look too good with less muscle and more fat around your belly.
- Lose the Fat - People who are higher in fat, will always be lower in T-levels (and higher in Estrogen). So goal #1 should be to get your bodyfat lower and then worry about adding in the muscle as it will be easier at that point.
- Take Fish Oil - Omega 3s will keep you building muscle and keep cortisol levels at bay. Also improves insulin sensitivity (see below) of muscles.
- Improve Insulin Sensitivity - Insulin is necessary to shuttle in amino acids into the muscle tissues (although too much is not good!). So you need to do things to decrease insulin resistance and increase insulin sensitivity including lower carb diets, carb cycling, resistance training, losing fat, and yes…fasting.
- Eat Your Veggies - Especially broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage that help to keep the Estrogen levels low (High Estrogen=Low Testosterone). This is also a good anti-cancer strategy especially in women.
- Improve your Gut Health - If you improve your health, your digestion improves and you improve the amount of nutrients/vitamins/minerals that your body can digest/absorb/utilize. Taking things such as digestive enzymes with meal may give you more use of the food you are eating. Oh yeah….fasting also helps to improve gut health!
- Detox Your Body - Get rid of all those toxins, take the toxins out of your daily lifestyle (food, drink, water, air, skin) and let your organs like the liver and kidneys work at more optimal levels. A healthy body will always reflect it and look that way as well.
- Train the Right Way - You want muscles? Then learn how to train them quickly and effectively with resistance training. Start with compound movements first to get the hormones up. Lift heavy and with shorter rest periods (reps of 5-10 with 30-60 sec rest between sets). Do enough volume (25-50 total reps per exercise….5×5, 3×10, etc). Keep the intensity high. Get your workout done in 30-45 min. Lift only 2-3x week (most people only need 2x if they are intense enough….as muscles do NOT grow in the gym, you need recovery!)
- Less Cardio - Too much too often will just waste muscle, lower T-levels and hamper any attempt you have at building muscle. If you want to do something, make it short and intense to keep GH levels high and cortisol levels low. This is why you will never see a chronic jogger with alot (if any) muscle…unless they are eating 5000 cal a day or taking some other type of cortisol suppressing hormone “supplement”. Here’s a good read on danger of the cardio obsession so many people have nowadays.
- Eat Post Workout - As you muscles are primed with high insulin sensitivity for a healthy protein+carb meal. Your window goes from 30min to 3 hours. Best is to eat small but frequent meals (not just one big one). Some people may benefit from a quick amino acid + carb drink (but if your main goal for now is weight loss, skip this!)
So if you are spending 5 days a week at the gym and never seeing results, go over the list about and realize you have to look at the whole picture. You can build plenty of muscle only lifting 2x a week and having the right lifestyle around to support it. If you can master these things and learn how to control your eating, lifting and recovery you will build plenty of muscle. Wouldn’t it also be great if you could do this all while improving your health, losing fat, gaining muscle , detoxifying your body, reducing insulin resistance and eating less calories overall to help extend your lifespan? Could that be…..IF?
UPDATE: If you are interested in more information about Fat Loss and Muscle Gain, please see the related posts below:
More on Muscle Building - Reader Q&A
Fat Loss 101 - Master the Basics
Above photo by Fenchurch
Thats it in a nutshell. Another good post MOD.
Nice tips! Now how about a real muscle picture!
http://www.straighttothebar.com/images/posts/071210_pisarenko.jpg
Kevin - I see so many people doing things that don’t matter and wonder why they get no results working out for 2 hours a day and sleeping 4 hours a night. Just won’t happen. Lift, Eat, Rest, Sleep….so simple yet no one sees the results. (I think it is more information overload with too many magazines with “pro” routines and endless supplements….the best supplement is whole food!).
John - You are just embarrassing me…..I shaved that mustache long ago! lol. For sure, that is muscle and power.
Excellent, simple, to the point. Definite keeper.
Jay - Life is simple, we just tend to over complicate things…and then results diminish. Figure out what basics give the big results…and put it into action. Less is more! Kind of like we can build a solid frame and foundation for a house….or just worry about what color drapes we need in the upstairs guest bedroom. If people just put the basics into action, all those supplement companies (minus fish oil of course) and magazines would go out of business…because why do you need them at that point?
MOD, nice post! The alcohol is one I can especially relate to. With all the stress I’ve had lately, I’ve been tossing back a few too many brews. I decided after my ski trip to lay off for a month. Two weeks in and I’m dropping some fat and just feeling better overall. And I’m not even much of a drinker…a few too many on some weekends, but rarely do I get drunk.
And you’re right…life is simple. It’s the implementation that people get caught up in and make things difficult, but the answer is always simple. Eat whole foods and do the big lifts: squat, deadlift, and press. That’s enough right there to be in awesome shape.
Cheers
Scott Kustes
Modern Forager
Scott - No need to tell an Irish man about alcohol.
As for simple muscle building, wish someone gave me that kind of advice when I was 18….could of gone pro! (or something like that)
Nice post!
I guess the PWO protein + carb solution is an individual thing, depending on how many carbs a person can handle?
What would you say the upper and lower limits be?
Ben - It takes less insulin to put “carbs” into muscle than it does fat, so you don’t need a ton of it. Of course there are lots of variable such as how insulin resistant you are, if the person needs to lose alot of weight first, type of workout, type of diet during the day, carb cycles for the week, etc. Best idea is to start small and then work up from there (10g aminos + 10g carbs). Get more real food protein and “paleo” carbs in the 3 hour window. Most people try to overload postworkout with sugar (the old bodybuilding 40grams Whey with 80g Dextrose/Maltodextrin) and that will not keep most people lean and muscular. Here’s a simple and easy trick…start with 8oz milk pwo. (has a 12g carb/8g protein) Then move into whole foods. See how that works.
Sounds good to me. I guess it would be hard to check if food and exercise are variable though…and then judge performance, body comp, overall feelings…
I have a feeling that a hearty dinner of fish and sweet potatoes will do the trick either way.
If you have quite a bit of fat to lose is it better to lose the fat first with a low-carb diet and then concentrate on building muscle after?
Sue - Building some muscle is key for everyone (as shown in the ageing study) especially for those wanting to lose fat and keep it off! Muscle is a very active tissue and your metabolism stays strong with more muscle fibers vs fat. Now don’t get scared, you wont get huge muscle just enough to look great when you lose the fat around it (aka that “toned” look). In fact muscle fiber is so thin compared to fat, that if you lost 5lbs of fat and gained 5lbs of muscle (the scale would say zero change in total weight), you would go down a couple sizes at least! Resistance training also give a boost to fat burning hormones such as GH. Simple strategies like IF and eating protein+veggies+healthy fat can go a long way to losing weight. Again refer back to weight loss 101 article, but I would suggest some simple strength training at least 2-3x a week (even with a simple resistance band) to get those fat burning hormones going and wake up/build those active Type II fibers. Also just be more active every day with walking or other things to get the heart and lungs going. Weight loss is of course mostly diet, but the resistance training gives it a boost and also helps in the long run as people with more muscle will have a hard time putting fat back on (unless they ate sugar for a month of course).
Regarding Post workout nutrition, I have a question. If a person could clone himself and keep everything the same about diet and nutrition except that one version ate a PWO meal or supplement and the other version didn’t, what would be the difference if any? A pound of muscle? 5? 10? How much of a difference does this make?
So for muscle gain, you would want to eat protein+veggies+fat at maintenance or surplus calories, and for fat loss, protein+veggies+fat at maintenance or less?
Maybe I was drinking too much milk… but I have a hunch I somehow overdid the fat and calories…and gained weight that wasn’t muscle…
Anyways, I found out that the answer to my question is answered in detail with the free issue of the Performance Menu (Issue 27, Glycogen Reloading).
Great list MOD. So you follow the same model as De Vany regarding PWO and how it blunts HGH correct? I used to swear by PWO shakes of 2:1 carb/protein (yes, bodybuilding dogma… we’ve all been there lol) but have noticed a significant improvement in recovery by waiting 45-1 hour and then taking in some protein and fruit.
Also, do you have an opinion on the optimal time for a workout? In the morning when test levels are higher or do you feel its really just a matter of getting the workout in, period? Thanks a lot MOD.
Ben - add in Protein+Carb meals in the pwo window (hours) and you have a good strategy.
Scott - I would think morning to afternoon workouts are ideal, mostly because you have a better chance at doing them fasted and can get large amount of calories in pwo without being too late at night. (or eating too close to bed time). Then again your energy levels matter too…so if you get a better workout in the afternoon than in the AM, you get more out of it. As for pwo see below.
J.B. - I wish I could do that! I think you have to also take into account the volume and intensity of workouts, and how often. Are they 2x a week? Every day? I definitely think recovery is increased with the pwo quick shot, but would there be a tremendous difference in muscle? Or would there be an increase in muscle but less fat loss because of pwo supplementation? Good questions…and here’s some food for though below:
Hormonal Responses to Exercise
These data demonstrate that not only does CHO and EAA ingestion during the exercise bout suppress exercise-induced cortisol release; the stimulatory effect of resistance exercise on myofibrillar protein degradation can be attenuated, most dramatically when the treatments are combined (CHO+EAA). Through an “anticatabolic effect,” this altered balance may better favor the conservation of myofibrillar protein.
Liquid carbohydrate/essential amino acid ingestion during a short-term bout of resistance exercise suppresses myofibrillar protein degradation.
In summary, these data indicate that consuming a nutritional supplement before and immediately after heavy-resistance training workouts performed over 3 consecutive days results in different exercise-induced patterns of metabolic and hormonal variables. Specifically, consuming a protein-carbohydrate supplement before and after a resistance training session increases the concentrations of glucose, insulin, growth hormone, and IGF-I while decreasing lactate accumulation.
There are lots of things to think about there as a pwo carb/protein can halt cortisol (muscle breakdown) and enhance protein synthesis. Also the one study shows no decrease in GH levels pwo probably because of high lactate levels from the workout. So if you are doing a high lactate producing strength workout, perhaps there can be an increase of muscle conservation and gain with some sort of pwo supplementation. Of course this is independent to the person. Also there has been talk about preworkout BCAA supplementation giving better protein synthesis response than pwo. You can also say that you build muscle for several days after as well, so how important is the pwo window? For those with high activity levels recovery is a key factor as well. You can also only have a couple workouts a week with pwo (high lactate muscle breakdown workouts) and skip pwo for more non lactate interval training (like sprints). I think there can be benefit but as to the amount of muscle that makes a difference in the long run…it may only be 5-10lbs. If you take a small amount (start small) and see less fat loss than before then you need to change it up (just BCAAs or wait another 30min). It’s hard to believe there is no benefit to pwo supplementation (even if very small). Even Paleo man after the “hunt” would first dig in and eat the liver for recovery (high in sugar). I wouldn’t suggest it daily esp if you want fat loss, but small pwo supplementation 2x a week (plus real food protein+carb later in the pwo window) along with an already low carb diet during the other periods (which will also give more insulin sensitivity) may be a plus for additional muscle. Like I said, there are arguments to both side (although the study above showed no difference in pwo GH levels with supplementation), I however have not seen negative results with a small pwo addition a couple times a week. (I have seen me gain fat in the past when I used to do the 100g dextrose/whey shakes many years ago) If you want quicker recovery, I say add it in and see what happens….if you are more focused on fat loss, don’t use it.
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Awesome article. Concise and right on target.
Great article. What exercises do you suggest for an exercise newbie? I’m striving for a “symmetrical balance of mass in the shoulder girdle, upper chest and back, the calves and lower quads” (i. e. the X-appeal. I probably need a wide variation, so as to promote intensity.
Cheers,
Emil.
I would always start with the mass builders…the legs. Squats and DL. DL will also help to stimulate the lats. Next up would be pullups….nothing gets a wide back like pullups. We are not talking about like 20 in a row, we are adding weight and keeping the reps in the 5-10 range and working the negatives. After that standing OH presses for the shoulders and some bench or pushups for the chest. Dips (weighted if neccessary) are a great mass builder for the upper body as well. Lots of options. Just remember that more is not always better and you need alot of rest, recovery and food to grow. Lift heavy and don’t go over 10 reps for the most part. Add in some sprints too, never seen a sprinter with little calves. If you are unsure how to do squats and DL properly, find yourself a real lifting gym (not the ones loaded with machines) and hire a trainer for a couple sessions. People get big because of the hormonal response to exercise…and squats and DL are the top 2 to start with in my book. (also I would highly suggest a book called Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe, an excellent guide to the lifts and getting strong)
Thanks for excellent reply.
I’ve been told to avoid bench presses, as they are harmful to the rotator cuffs. Are there any good alternative to bench press?
Cheers,
Emil.
I’m a bigger fan of dips for the chest. Make sure you can safely do the full range of motion before attempting to add additional resistance. Pushups can also be modified to increase the ROM (with handles or hands on something elevated like blocks) and use weighted vests or other types of resistance (like a backpack with lbs). There are also multiple standing presses (horizontal) that you can do with bands or cables too. If you want to save your shoulder make sure to keep them flexible and stretch them out (I like taking a stick with my hands and swinging it from in front, over the head and all the way around to my back…and then back again. Keep doing reps with your arms straight and bringing the hands in as it gets harder to do.) Do that ROM exercise for the shoulders and you should prevent injuries as most are just due to imbalance and tightness.
[...] So I know the BIG question people will have is how much protein is too much? Well I don’t want to go by % because that will depend on how many calories are in your diet. If you look at the zone model of 30%, I would say that should be as high as you need to go. If your fat intake is high enough to keep your calorie total up, then you really don’t need a ton of protein to even build muscle. The most I would ever say is up to 1g/lb of bodyweight (assuming your BF is lean). There are lots of other factors in building muscle too besides protein intake, so make sure to master those (see the Muscle Building 101 post) [...]
Hey guys, I’m trying to gain like 20lbs muscle.
I’m 155lbs and about 6 feet.
I’m maxing out benching at 250lb. I do chest one day a week, back and shoulders another day, arms a different day, and a whole circuit the next.
With a polo shirt on, i look pretty small… seriously (without sounding like a douchebag, my body type is matt damons)… (i need to bulk upi!)
Shirtless, yeah, i’m semi-cut - but nothing anyone will write home about. I have always (ALWAYS) outlifted my larger counterparts (pound for pound). But, i’m not seeing results… I am a lean eater, a healthy eater, I run occassionally but i would LOVE to put on some muscle for once in my life.
I feel like it may be my diet (i eat healthy/small portions), or the fact that i run occassionally, but i just want a muscle BUILDING program that shows some significant results.
ANY help is much appreciated man,
DOC
Dan - pretty much sounds like you got the strength part down…now you just need to eat more and workout less (but up the intensity per session, keep them brief but effective). Putting on the lbs is possible eating healthy. First I would say make sure you are at least getting 0.8-1 gram of protein/lb of bodyweight (since you sound lean anyways). Of course also some fruits and unlimited non-starchy vegetables, healthy carbs (so sugars, breads, pasta or processed carbs) and healthy fats (esp MUFAs, Omega 3s and health Sat fats). But it does come down to if you are not seeing muscle gain…then you need to up your food intake. Looks like you are working out 4x a week too…that is alot. You should be able to workout only 2-3x a week and still put on plenty of muscle. Most people workout too much, don’t lift the proper volume/intensity to stimulate muscle building/fat burning hormones, burn way too many calories with activity levels and then wonder why they are not gaining. A serious lifting program of 3×10s (with a couple warmup sets), 30-60 sec rest, with alternating compound movements 2-3x a week will do plenty for size and gains. For example: Squat/Bench(although I would rather do weighted dips)/Overhead press is workout A, Deadlifts/Pullups/Bent Row(or sub in Power Cleans) is workout B….then alternate workouts A & B during the week only for a total of 2-3 workouts (A/B or A/B/A & B/A/B weeks). You can do your additional secondary exercises and arm exercises on main workout days AFTER you have done the main heavy compound movement that spike your muscle building hormones…don’t do an arm day…those never work. You will get plenty big arms from heavy pushes and pulls…like weighted dips and pullups. You can also mess around with the reps doing a week of 5×5 or 3×8 or 3×10. Don’t over-complicate it and just keep it simple and effective by seeing the progress and adding weight little by little to the main lifts. Remember that you grow outside the gym…not in it. So get your workouts done quick, and then go eat and recover….and grow. When in doubt…if you are not gaining….eat more (no sugar, healthy proteins/fat/carbs) and workout less. Or just do like the Powerlifters do for more size…drink a gallon of whole (not skim) milk a day in addition to your regular meals (no guarantees on how much fat you may also put on in this process). Not something I would recommend full time…but if you are cycling it short term for a mass gain and can handle it with no ill side effects, then it can be a useful tool. Forget supplements….whole food is always your best friend first…and where 90% of your results come from….so spend your money there.
[...] got a good and probably common question from a reader about gaining muscle from the Building Muscle 101 post. I wanted to re-post it here as many may not have seen it and other readers may also be thinking [...]
Mike - I gotta say, this is the advice that I need. Thanks so much for taking the time to help!
OK, so i’m seriously ANTI lifting legs. I dont care how they look and I hate doing squats… I used to do the power clean and power squat, and I HATED it. I always thought that running/cycling would take care of the calves/quads? Am i way off? Does it help the overall build?
About whole foods, i eat pretty healthy and was wondering if there are any food products you’d recommend. Or should i just eat more of yje healthy’s?
Also (another Q?! - sorry to bug ya man!) what rep workout would you recommend? 2-3x a week (chest, shoulders, auxillaries?) High reps?
Again, I’m looking to build some muscle - i really appreciate the help man..
DOC
DanfromCHI
Dan - Everyone hates legs….I know I do. But there is something to be said to the fact that people who put on the biggest muscle…do the squats and deadlifts. (and also eat plenty) Almost like your body doesn’t want to grow a big upper part…if it doesn’t have the lower part to support it. The big muscle groups are tremendous for those muscle building hormonal spikes…and legs are #1. You can start off even with just a simple but intense 3×10 sets with 30sec rests and lighter weight plan. Get it over with and move on. But I guarantee you will see better results with squats/DL in your program than not (leg press machine doesn’t count). There’s a reason you see most people avoiding the squat rack….and most people never get any serious muscle gains. Running and cycling are not going to get you the size you are after. (while fun and no reason you can not do…but also take into account the calorie burn and now how much you will need to eat to start putting on muscle…that’s some serious eating!). As for supplements? Like I said…rather see you spend your money on good foods, steaks, eggs, etc. Reps….stay in the hypertrophy range of 8-12 with about 3-5 sets (I like the simplicity of the 3×10 scale personally). Remember to keep the rests short (30sec). You can throw in a week of 5×5s too if you want for variety. Hit the muscles, get the workout done in 30-45min, and then go eat and grow. It’s that simple. If you are not gaining muscle, chances are it’s all about what you are eating…that’s where you get 85%-90% of the results from. No results? Eat more…workout less. At some point you have to start gaining weight…it’s a given. (also be sure to check the main page and today’s post…I did another article on muscle gain because I know alot of people out there are probably just like you and wanting to ask the same questions.)
So I’m confused on controlling your insulin. How much sugar does it take to trigger a spike? An apple or similar piece of fruit? I guess I’m looking for an acceptable range that won’t cause a spike.
Stephen - Not much sugar. Fruit is more fructose based sugar and has to go through the liver first…so it’s not a sudden rush of glucose into the blood. Hence why you are better off sticking to whole food sources for a slower absorption and not processed foods or shakes loaded with dextrose that just spike your blood glucose and therefore insulin. All the years in the past (long ago) trying to load pwo with dextrose and whey just ended up me putting on more fat than muscle…and big and bloated is not a good look as lean and cut. That and someone who has very low % BF and muscular will always look 20-30lbs heavier than they really are.
I just Stumble to this site! great read.
Yannis - Glad you enjoy! Hope you enjoy the site and all the good stuff we have planned to talk about!
Holy cow this was a article I stumbled upon.
Even though most of the points you mention are the basics, there are quite some people that forget a few points, such as getting enough sleep and getting enough proteins.
Don’t forget folks, everything starts with the basics!
Keep on writing articles like this Mike.
MrCooker - Glad you stumbled by! Yep, people so often skip over all the basics and then wonder why they don’t see results. The basics build the foundation that is for sure and can work wonders. The site is all about keeping it simple, understand the key points that create the most results, and then just consistent action. Like I tell people who say they are not gaining muscle….eat more, lift heavy, go sleep.
Good article. I recently lost quite a bit of fat eating mostly paleo. I have gone from 196lbs. to 171lbs. I am now very skinny and want to add mass. I have already followed your advice and have started 2x a week workouts and begun to increase my eating. My question is though do you have some guidelines of some real numbers of grams of protien food has? Or a place I can find this info? I just want to make sure I am eating enough. How many grams of protien are in an egg? How much protien is in a serving of london broil? That is the type of thing I am looking for. I am really focused and really want to see results. Any help would be great. Thanks. Thanks again for the great articles.
Jacob - I am sure there are more specific info sites out there like http://www.nutritiondata.com , but in general you can use these guidelines:
- 7 grams protein/ 1 oz of meat (non fish)
- 5 grams protein/ 1 large egg (whole)
- 7 grams protein/ 1.5 oz of fish
(also a 1lb=16oz for other conversion factors)
Something about the size of your palm is roughly 3oz. (This is where using a scale to learn how to eyeball portions later may help).
Great job on losing the fat, and you will gain muscle if you can get enough protein and make sure the calories aren’t too low.
Mike my wife just today showed me your site and it is truly fantastic! You have a true passion for what you do and the information is presented in such a concise manner. I am in my 40’s and have a few questions about chest training:
1) How often should I train my chest per week and is the bench press the best exercise for this?
2) I read your building muscle 101 and mostly understand about volume and intensity but for chest would that mean one does 25 - 50 total reps with one exercise such as the bench press or would you recommend more than one exercise for chest development (and would that be 25-50 reps separately for each exercise)?
3) Should one vary their grip width for bench presses?
4) How about decline and incline presses?
5) How about barbell vs. dumbbell?
6) Should one vary their exercises for chest over time (and if so over what period of time) or can one just keep making gains by increasing the weights used?
7) Is it beneficial to take a week off from lifting every so often (such as 1 week off every 8-16 weeks or so)?
I realize one does not need to fixate solely on chest development but currently this is probably my only area I am trying to improve (I am satisfied with the development of my other areas).
Many thanks,
Michael
Michael - Thanks for stopping by. Personally I like to keep things simple when it comes to exercise. What you want to do for muscle growth is making sure you are making progress progressively. Are the weights going up? Are you varying the exercises too much that you are not able to keep track? I say stick with one main exercise and make sure that your weights/volume is increasing (as stronger muscles make bigger muscles). That being said if you like to do Bench, then stick with Bench. Personally I don’t do bench but favor weighted pushups and dips (which if you look at gymnasts who only do those movements and the development they get). Make sure you are not working out the muscles too much. For example if you do a 2 part workout split 3x a week with workout A on Monday, workout B on Wed, Workout A on Fri…and then start again with workout B on Monday. You can do something that is more like 5×5 or 3×10 with the same weight and short rest periods. When you can finally get all 5×5 or 3×10 then you up the weight. Again the key is to get the muscle to grow and get stronger. You can add in secondary movements if you like after, but I would still just focus on one main movement per bodypart. Free weights are the way to go, Barbell would give you the most resistance loading per bodypart as well. Deloading once in a while is always good for the muscles (and CNS). Hope that kind of answers your question, but stick with one major movement, get strong and increase the weights with it and good things will happen. That and eat, eat, eat.
What should program should I follow if I want to maintain my current physique but decrease the fat exposing more defined muscle?
Jack - lift heavy 2-3x a week, no more than 30min. Hit all the major muscle groups to keep strength and muscle. Eat enough protein to not lose muscle (1g/lb lean bw). Skip the pwo shakes. Lower carb intake overall, up the fats a little and then try some more activity to help shed the lbs. You will have to tweak carbs/fat intake to get some sort of calorie deficit or increase your lifestyle activities (aka cardio). Try the workout fasted + add in some slower activity right after for fat burn. All those tricks should get you what you are looking for. Take some fish oil too as it helps save muscle and burn fat.
What would be your recommendation, 15 mins of moderate cardio on a machine post workout? And no insulin spike? When and what should I eat pwo, currently i am doing a banana with roughly 20 grams of protein powder? Thanks for the quick response
Just to give you incite as to what to recommend, I am 6′0″ 165 consider myself in good shape and have been following the Paleo/Zone diet of late and working out 5 days a week? What also be your recommendation for IF?
Jack - fat loss will come down to calories eaten and calories burned, so of course diet is going to be key (might want to see the Fat Loss 101 post also for some look into the hormones involved). After the lifting, you can add in 20-30 min of slower type of movement whether it be walking, hiking, cardio in the gym sense, etc. Make it slow to moderate….shouldn’t be too strenuous otherwise you will just tear through muscle in the process. Also wait about 1 hr after the resistance session is done to eat. If you are taking in carbs then pwo (1-3 hours after) is the window to do it. Play with the carb numbers too….lower on non-workout days, a bit higher on workout days. That’s the trick to getting really ripped…is getting enough to replenish muscle glycogen…but not so much to spillover into fat cells. It’s a process to figure out as it is individualistic how we all respond. You should be able to tell after a week if things need to be modified. (Otherwise people like myself are happy to tweak it for you at $100/hr
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Jack - Why do you workout 5x a week? Most people workout too much and don’t eat enough to gain muscle. I’d say that your lifting sessions should be at most 3x a week. If you want to keep active doing other stuff then that is ok. As for IF, you may benefit more from the daily window of fasting 16hours, more active people respond better to that scenario. Such as eating 10am-6pm, or Noon-8pm with 3 divided up meals in that time frame. You can always play and adjust as needed.
I appreciate all of the advice and feedback but one more question. If I follow the M-W-F for short intense weightlifting, does that mean I can get away with interval training (sprints) on the off days, or does the cardio you’ve mentioned include only light jogs and bike rides?
Jack - I would generally advise less intense training on the off days. 5x a week of heavy weights and high intensity intervals is going to be very very stressful on the CNS. You may burn out with too much of that and your performance will suffer too. You can try it and see what happens. Even competitive athletes will have a week to detrain and relax at 50% effort like every 4-6 weeks. Of course the intensity of training can vary by person to person and some may be able to handle a higher work load than others, but just be on the look out for decreased performance as that is the first sign of CNS fatigue/overload. (and your body telling you to take a break) You may be able to get away with a more intense weekly schedule with build in weeks of recovery at lower effort. It’s all the proper planning and recovery.
Just to chip in here with my own experience. I used to workout 5 days a week, sometimes 6 and after awhile I think I became somewhat attached to the routine (I am sure the daily shots of endorphin didn’t hurt!). Awhile back I started doing Rippetoe’s Starting Strength where you only workout 3 times a week, cycling through just 5 basic compounds movement (squat, bench, press, deadlift, powerclean). The kicker is that (1) it follows a very basic linear progression so you have to add weight to all your exercises every single workout and (2) you squat every workout. At first I was a little worry about all the “rest” days I will have to endure on this program (”can’t I do some quick metcon, some light GPP work, some ‘active rest’ in between?”). However, as the weight got heavier and heavier the deeper and as the squat gets in the range of 1.5X BW, I no longer think like that. Quite the opposite! Now I live for my rest days when I can eat and sleep in peace!
Mike is absolutely right: to get bigger you would need to rest, EAT, sleep, in addition to working out hard. As the saying goes, muscle doesn’t grow in the gym. From my little rippetoe experiment I would just add if you are like me and have trouble “not working out”, the best way to “force” yourself to rest is to make sure that you beat the living crap out of your body when yo do workout. On your lifting days, make it so grueling that you have no choice but to rest the next day or two.
Jason - Great story. Thanks for sharing.
Sorry, you guys are ignoring biochem big time. The body will not burn fat stores without lots of aerobic exercise. Aerobics are needed to stimulate creation of fat burning enzymes in muscles. You can lift all the weights you want and you’ll just end up looking like Sumo wrestler without aerobics.
Allin - I appreciate your comment and you are correct in a sense, but you are also ignoring every other piece of information on here that does say being active is key to losing weight. So you are correct that one needs activity to burn fat, but you are blinded in actually seeing that recommendation listed on here or any article. Not too mention any biochem about higher intensity training that can help to generate hormonal response that can lead to longer fat burning. That and you posted this comment on a muscle building post?
Sumo wrestlers have intense workouts 4 hours a day that that include picking up and throwing each other around (2-300lbs) and heavy weight lifting, but no cardio work. Their goal is to get as much belly fat as possible because that gives them a low center of gravity and makes it harder for their oponents to throw them out of the wrestling ring. To get the belly fat they work out on empty stomachs and follow the warrior diet/Intermittent Fasting method of large meals after long periods of intense physical activity and fasting. They have done this for centuries and have perfected the art of accumulating massive amounts of belly fat..i.e. fast, exercise then eat large meals and go to sleep.
Alin - You are correct, they do workout for very long periods of time and want large belly fat. They also eat tons of calories and make most of it carb based. Also a trick is large amounts of beer consumption to raise cortisol to have fat storage be in the belly area. So like any plan for eating whether 12 hours a day or 6 hours a day….eating a ton of carbs, drinking lots of beer and excess calories will make you fat no matter how often you want to eat. To assume that a sumo wrestlers diet is the same as any IF/WD plan…then you are ignoring all the other variables of macronutrient ratio intake, types of workouts done fasted, length of workouts, and total calories for a day. So you are right in one sense…but your conclusions to IF are not.
Hi MOD,
I have been visiting this site for quite some time, but this is my first post. I have a couple questions related to age and an appropriate diet for mass gain.
I am 37 and weigh 155lbs. My bf is 6% at most. I want to gain weight. I am very lean and have been eating in the Zone and doing CF 3 on one off for a few months. This protocal has really leaned me out.
My goal is to be about 175-180 and I have just started Rippetoe’s Starting Strength program (3 days/ week).
On many of the Pmenu threads about mass gain, there is discussion about the enormous amount of food that one has to eat to get bigger. 4000-5000 calories seem to be suggested as a starting point. As I read the posts and suggestions, I wonder how much age has to be taken into consideration. At 37, is it recommended that I eat that much along with all of the milk suggested as well.
I see that in some of your input on the threads that you would drink the gallon of milk if you could to gain size.
What are your suggestions? Being relatively new to the IF life (16hour fasts for the last month without missing a day) and this site, I do not know your bio very well. Are you at the age where you have to consider eating less or do you believe that muscle bulding can happen in the 30’s without much problem.
Thanks for all of your time and the thr true value that you provide the training community.
Sincerely,
Mike
Mike - I’m 36 and I don’t think age should be an issue. However I think most likely you don’t want to bulk too quickly and just add the fat back on. Check out the muscle building post here too. Mass gain is pretty simple….you have to eat more and workout less. If you are doing metcons or high activity…then you probably will need tons of food. If all you want is more size, you will be better off to drop all aerobic conditioning until you can fine tune you eating. When in doubt, get enough protein…time your carbs pwo and fill in fat as calories all other times. It’s not hard, but you just have to start some place…see what results you get…and then adjust either the calories, protein intake or activity level. Milk for me is not something I would do personally….as it would make me have severe breathing issues and just make me put on more fat than muscle most likely. You will bulk up on it….but you have to weigh how much is muscle vs fat.
OK so if I want to eat daily from 5pm - 10 pm but I work out in the morning at 6 am does that mean I have to skip my pwo shake of apple juice protein and a banana or I’ll compromise my fast?
Hi Mike OD,
I am 5′8″ and 60 kilos +/-1. Tried few times in the gyms and gave up; don’t have to go over why..you would know. I can’t eat that much as suggested; as a matter of fact, I hardly am able to eat breakfast. A filling lunch might dissuade me from dinner. I would not challenge the fact that eating loads of the right foods gives the results. My belief is: there should be some way to make me realize my “dream” body despite my eating “limitation” as I am only looking to put on 10 - 15 lbs max. I would love me looking that different also. I don’t always find myself with gyms within easy reach. What to do?
Thomas - you may also want to read the following post about muscle building here. Calorie intake is needed inorder to tell the body to store and develop new muscle. Also you will need enough protein. You can build muscle on working out only 2x a week, don’t think you need any more than that. Start with the big compound exercises like squats, deadlifts to get your muscle building hormones going and then just stick to sets of 6-10 reps per muscle group (with about 3 sets per exercise). Most people workout way too much and wonder why they can’t put on weight. Simple truth is usually eat more, workout less. You can do bodyweight exercises at home like pullups, pushups, dips if need be or get some homemade weights to use. Many options, just need to challenge the muscles, deplete the glycogen and then reload after you are done.
[...] same weight as the last, there is no rush and we cannot force our bodies to get stronger. Just keep eating well for mass and you will eventually get stronger…..Try and spread the days out maybe one on a Monday and [...]
I LOVE your site! I can’t stop reading and reading…for years I’ve wanted to get into fitness modeling and no matter how hard I worked out or how much cardio I did I could never get ‘there’. Even at my lowest weight my BF% was still about 22-23%. So I gave up on it and decided those people that do it are just blessed with good genes. But since I found your site I’ve done 2 days of IF plus a work-out and pwo meal the way you suggest and the other days just protein+fat+veggie and already I can see a difference in my stomach..its crazy! Also, you gave me a link when I posted on another page of yours to something about ‘Leaky Gut’..very very good post I must say.
I was wondering about compound exercises for women. Are they the same ones you suggest for men? I’ve heard the squat is the king of lower body ex. for men and lunges for women..I have a tendency to very easily build larger muscles in my lower body. Once had a guy at the gym say ‘wow your legs are bigger then mine’ which I stopped my lower body workouts right then and there! I don’t want to look big, just nicely sculpted I guess is the word.
Thankyou!
Heather
Heather - Don’t use the “genetiks” excuse as you can get those results. WHile some are blessed with a state that makes it easier, it doesn’t mean you can’t get there if you can understand how your body works and how results happen. Lunges are great for men and women. As far as building muscle in the legs, then I would suggest doing more full body workouts and skip breaking up the parts of the body. Also add in some post lifting cardio like activity for 20-30min. You want more muscle breakdown in the legs and watch your intake of carbs (as most muscle size is really glycogen and water). Use carb ups 1-2x a week and stay more in an oxidative fat burning environment and keep your lifting to 3x a week full body with switching up the exercises and hitting all body parts (lunges one day, deadlifts another, squats another). You will get there! (and feel free send me any % of your new found modellng career as a coaching fee.
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Considering you could charge $100+ for that tidbit of information..you’ll be the first to see my progess pics
My question would be how does IF effect muscle gain? Wouldn’t there be a lack of protein to rebuild muscles when you are on fast days?
Mike - Excellent question. Yes I would say that the amount of protein one has to intake will dictate how long their eating windows must be on IF days. Protein intake is key for building muscle and not something we want to overlook of course. Also you can add high fat (lower carbs) to those days to create a better nitrogen retention environment. When in doubt and wanting to put on muscle eating is key, and while some people (like myself) can eat a ton in a short period…..if others have trouble then they have to modify their IF as needed.
This is a great article so simple yet so many people don’t get it.