10 Quick Tips To
Increase Muscle Size
by Chris Aceto
Muscle mass is the straw
that stirs the drink in the sport of
bodybuilding. Talk all
you want about symmetry, shape and
definition, but in the
final analysis, muscle mass is the
defining element of a
physique. The mass building equation
has three components: a
correct diet strategy, hardcore
training and high tech
supplementation. It's not rocket
science, but there are
tricks to it, nonetheless.
To save you time and
trouble, I've complied 10 tips to jump
start anabolism and
create a positive nitrogen balance - to
increase muscle mass,
you need to take in more nitrogen
via protein and training
than you excrete through the
natural metabolic
process.
1. Emphasize the
Negative
Muscle growth is the
logical byproduct of muscle contraction.
Much emphasis is placed
on the concentric phase of a lift
where the muscle
shortens as it contracts. But the stretching
of the muscle during the
eccentric, or negative, phase where
the muscle lengthens
while maintaining tension can directly
cause muscle
hypertrophy, too. Emphasizing the negative is
an easy technique to
overload muscles and promote radical
gains in mass.
2. Eat Fish
Fish containing higher
amounts of fat - salmon, for instance -
provide us with the ever
popular omega-3 fatty acids. Why is
this important? The
omega-3s make the muscle more
sensitive to insulin;
hence, they fuel glycogen storage and
amino acid entry into
muscles while also preserving glutamine
stores.
3. Increase Sodium
Intake
I'm not kidding. Sodium
is an essential mineral that is an
absolute must for muscle
growth. Sodium has a bad rap
because it can cause
water retention - anathema to contest ready
odybuilders. On the plus
side, sodium enhances carbohydrate
storage and amino acid
absorption while also improving the
muscle's responsiveness
to insulin.
4. Stop All Aerobics
Aerobic exercise has a
detrimental effect on mass building.
Aerobics interfere with
strength gains and recovery while
branched
chain amino acids (BCAA).
Adding mass is the best
way to upgrade your
resting metabolic rate (RMR); is the RMR is
elevated, more calories
are burned and it is easier to stay lean.
5. Lift Explosively
The amount of force a
muscle generates is proportional to the
amount of muscle growth
you'll be able to create. Force is defined
as mass (the weight you
use) multiplied by acceleration (the
speed at which you push
a weight against resistance). To generate
more force, then,
progressively increase your poundages while
lifting explosively - in
this context, you actually increase speed
during the second half
of the rep.
6. Dramatically increase
your calories for three days
You will never achieve a
positive nitrogen balance with a low
calorie diet. It takes
raw materials - carbs, protein and fats - to
build new muscle mass
and support recovery. Increasing your
calories by 50% (from
3,0000 to 4,500 per day, for instance)
for three days can spur
growth while adding little if any bodyfat.
The key is to limit the
increased calories to a designated three
day period; you'll be
able to stimulate growth by improving muscle
sensitivity to insulin
and by providing more carbs for glycogen
storage. If you are in a
overtrained state - and if you're not g
aining any new muscle
mass, this is probably the case - the
additional calories will
promote anabolism before fat storage is
able to kick in. That's
why you want to limit the 50% increase to
a three day period.
After that time, return to your typical intake
of daily calories;
you'll have stimulated new growth without
adding unwanted fat.
7. Rest
Many bodybuilders are
unable to pack on mass because they
are always training and,
therefore, always recovering from
those grueling workouts.
Taking a couple of days off can restore
glycogen, increase
anabolism and allow hormonal indexes
such as testosterone and
cortisol to return to optimal levels.
8. Eat in the Middle of
the Night
Anabolism depends on an
excess of calories. As you are well
aware, bodybuilders eat
four to six times per day to increase
the absorption of
nutrients and to provide a steady influx of
carbs, protein and fat.
Expanding on the four to six meals per
day plan is to include a
protein drink in the middle of the
night that can encourage
additional growth.
9. Increase Strength
Through Powerlifting
Your muscles respond to
training in three ways. When you
train with high reps
(more than 15), there is an increase in
endurance with no
substantive improvement in size or
strength. The six to
twelve rep range - the range that all big
bodybuilders rely on -
promotes an increase in both size
and strength.
Powerlifters generally stay with low reps, two
to four per set, which
supplements strength with slight
variances in size.
However, if you set aside one week of
training to pile on the weights
with low reps the subsequent
improvement in strength
will make you stronger when you
return to the six to
twelve rep routine. Here's the formula:
More strength equals
more tension on the muscle equals
more growth.
10. Supplement with the
Big Three: Glutamine, Creatine
and BCAA
Glutamine is known as
the immunity amino. If you are overly
stressed from dieting or
training, the immune system kicks
in, releasing glutamine
into the bloodstream. Having low
levels of glutamine will
inhibit muscle growth - that's
why supplementing with
glutamine is important.
Creatine is associate
with added power and the ability to
produce more adenosine
triphosphate (ATP) - the chemical
fuel source for training
and growth. Supplementing with
creatine allows
bodybuilders to raise creatine levels in the
muscle - therefore
enhancing strength and ATP - without the
unwanted fat that you'd
be saddled with by getting all your
creatine exclusively
from food.
(BCAA)Branched chain
amino acids act as a handy fuel source
when glycogen stores are
low. Adding BCAA to your
nutritional program will
increase your nitrogen balance while
preventing the dreaded
catabolic state that derives from
overtraining or
overdieting.
This article was
published in Flex Magazine, November
1997 issue. To contact
Chris Aceto, write to him at
P.O. Box 557, Old
Orchard Beach, Maine, 04064
___________________________________________
A GENETICALLY AVERAGE
JOE'S GUIDE TO
BUILDING MUSCLE WHILE
LOSING FAT
If you would like to get
bigger and stronger without putting
on fat, or if you just
want to lose some fat without losing that
hard-earned muscle, or
maybe even get that
thin-skinned contest
shape...
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thanks