Let's Talk Muscles

The desire to build muscles has become something of a fad. Almost everyone seems to be going on a health kick nowadays, and building up muscles is something each person wants to achieve.

It might seem like an impossible feat initially, but by applying a couple of simple techniques, you can form muscle mass. The secret is to get to know everything you possibly can about the significant aspects of muscle building by using all the facts available to you.

Food Matters

It is essential to ensure that your daily calorie intake is sufficient. You will come across several calculators on the internet designed to help you determine caloric requirements dependent on your objectives.

A balanced diet targeted toward building muscles needs to include a lot of protein since it is through protein synthesis that your body reserves excess protein for muscle building. Your muscles become more robust and more robust in the process.

Foods rich in proteins, including dairy or meat, must be consumed both before and after you work out. It would be best if you could have 15 grams worth of protein just before you begin your workout session and 15 grams of protein after you are done with your workout.

Carbs are also helpful for building muscles. They provide you with the energy needed to last through a whole workout session. A sufficient amount of carbs allows your body to function at a higher than average level during your workouts. In the end, you need to ensure that your diet fits your training regime.

Exercise Type

You have to understand that the requirements of intense cardiovascular activities like marathon training and serious muscle building are not compatible. Cardio workouts may help you to develop your overall physical wellbeing and fitness, but, despite their benefits, they can cancel out the impact of strength training activities. The most effective way to build muscle mass is to focus on a strength-training schedule.

Compound exercises are a simple enough method to achieve steady muscle growth in every part of your body. These exercises concentrate on more than one group of muscles at a time.

You need to try and incorporate plyometric exercises into your workout routine since they allow your body to build up the fast-twitching muscle fibers, which are responsible for promoting muscle mass development. Plyometric exercises call for explosive movements.

Aspects of Training

Train yourself in such a way that you keep going until you cannot finish the set. If you are unable to reach a level where your intended muscles cannot complete a rep, then it is probable that you will never experience maximum growth of power.

Never overexercise. They work out just three or four times every week. If your workout sessions prove too strenuous, your body will require rest phases to repair and recuperate in the middle of exercise sessions.

Make a habit of stretching for a minimum of 10 minutes before you begin weight lifting practice to prevent any injury to your muscles. Set realistic goals for yourself. Focus on discovering the extent of your strength at first, then aim for steady improvements in all your routines.

Building muscle is a time-consuming process. You must be persistent and keep adhering to your workout regimens regularly to see results. However, you must have often felt a tad disappointed when the results do not show, considering the amount of effort you have put in. Here are a few tips to help you develop a well-toned muscular body.

Patience is the Key

This holds especially for beginners who are comparatively new to body-building workouts. They often feel demotivated when they do not see the results of their hard work materialize quickly enough.

Body-building is a time-consuming process that needs commitment and patience. The muscles of your body take a fair bit of time to get accustomed to your workout regimen.

As you improve, the co-contraction of muscles during workouts improves, and the brain communicates with your muscles more effectively. As a result, a more significant percentage of muscle fibers' is activated with time, and the process is known as neuromuscular efficiency.

Do not indulge too much in cardio.

Many people indulge in too many cardio exercises while undergoing weight training. You can give importance to some easy cardio sessions regularly but ensure they do not affect your weight-training program.

Aspirants should regularly carry out at least 3 to 4 weight-training exercises to build body muscle over a fixed period. It is a great idea to add simple cardio exercises in between workouts but ensure that they do not eat up on your recovery time.

Importance of routinely checking training logs

Pay good attention to your training logs on a timely basis. Understand the necessity and the use behind each workout and make continuous enhancements regularly.

Make sure you keep track of the various work regimens your body adheres to, including types of workouts, weight usage, number of repetitions, tempo, energy levels, and so on. Make notes on the progress at the end of each week and consult your weight trainer on how to modify and enhance your workout regimens.

Do not follow a random workout regimen.

Be true to yourself and body training workout. As far as possible, try to remove randomness from your training and follow a proper course of a plan.

This will enable you to derive the best results from your body and help build solid muscle. You can classify training into random workouts and linear periodized programs.

While random workouts might give good initial results, the latter is best suited for the long run. For instance, a periodized plan will look like this for the first week: 3*10-12, week2: 3*8-10, and week3: 3*6-8. On the other hand, a random workout may look like this week1-4: first set 12-14 reps, second set 10-12 reps, 3rd set 8-10 reps, and fourth set 6-8 reps.

Types of Muscle Fiber

Muscle Fiber is defined as a fiber inside the muscles, which is responsible for gaining size & strength, with an endurance level too.

Different Muscle Fibers are responsible for achieving other goals for the human body.

Sometimes we want explosive power & strength & sometimes we don't like it.

Nature has ingeniously designed our bodies.

The average body consists of 50 % strength or white muscle fibers & 50 % endurance or red muscle fibers.

We can increase the amount of any of the muscle fibers, depending on our training type & goals.

The muscle fibers are different for strength as compared to endurance.

There are two types of muscle fibers:-

1) Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers – Speed, Power, Size & Strength.

2) Slow Twitch Muscle Fibers – Endurance.

SLOW-TWITCH MUSCLE FIBRES OR TYPE ONE

Slow Twitch Muscle Fibers are red, which is responsible for endurance.

These are the muscle fibers that work on a concept of Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy.

They are essential for us on a day to day life like walking, cycling, cardio & picking up light objects.

Examples: Marathoners focus only on slow-twitch, and Bodybuilders focus more on fast-twitch than slow ones.

Factors Responsible For Slow Twitch Muscle Fibers

·??INTENSITY LEVEL – It is always between 0 % to 50 % of 1 repetition maximum.

·??SIZE – Don't increase in size.

·??COLOR – Red.

·??TRAINING SYSTEM – Aerobic Type (Presence of Oxygen).

·??GOAL – To increase the endurance level & time under tension

·??REPETITIONS – More than 14 to an infinite number of reps/set.

·??SETS – Only one at a time.

·??REST PERIOD – not necessary.

·??RECOVERY TIME – Maximum up to 24 hours.

·??TIME UNDER TENSION – Always more than 60 seconds.

·??FUEL TYPE – Takes Oxygen, Fat & Glucose present outside the cell as an energy source.

·??TIME FOR ACTIVATION – It takes more time to activate as the fuel is outside the cell.

·??WASTE PRODUCT – Carbon-di-Oxide by breathing out.

ADVANTAGES OF SLOW-TWITCH MUSCLE FIBRES

·??More endurance capacity

·??Burns excessive amount of fat

·??Burnt Sugar

·??Improves Cardiovascular Health

·??Active for a longer duration

DISADVANTAGES OF SLOW-TWITCH MUSCLE FIBRES

·??It doesn't increase in size

·??Lack of power & speed

·??It takes time to activate

·??It depends on an external source of energy outside the cell

FAST-TWITCH MUSCLE FIBERS OR TYPE TWO

Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers are white, which is responsible for power & strength movements.

These are the muscle fibers that work on the concept of Myofibrillar Hypertrophy.

These are important if we want enormous power or explosion in the shortest time.

Examples: Footballers, Basketball, Sprinters, Powerlifters, Boxers.

They are further classified into two types:-

·??TYPE 2 A – Produces more endurance but slightly less strength.

·??TYPE 2 B – Creates more strength but slightly less endurance.

Factors Responsible For Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers

·??INTENSITY LEVEL – It is always between 60 % to 100 % of 1 repetition maximum.

·??SIZE – Increase in size as the intensity is increased.

·??COLOR – White.

·??TRAINING SYSTEM – Anaerobic Type (Absence of Oxygen).

·??GOAL – To create speed, power & strength.

·??REPETITIONS – 1 – 6 reps / set.

·??SETS – 3- 8 sets.

·??REST PERIOD – 2 – 5 min.

·??RECOVERY TIME – At least 48 hours.

·??TIME UNDER TENSION – 30 to 60 seconds maximum.

·??FUEL TYPE – ATP ( Adenosine triphosphate ) or Glycogen, present inside the cell.

·??TIME FOR ACTIVATION – It takes less to activate, as the fuel is inside the cell.

·??WASTE PRODUCT – Lactic Acid burns outside the cell.

ADVANTAGES OF FAST-TWITCH MUSCLE FIBRES

·??More power & strength

·??Explosiveness

·??Builds Muscle & Size

·??Boosts the Central Nervous System

·??Increase the Muscular Contraction

DISADVANTAGES OF FAST-TWITCH MUSCLE FIBRES

·??Active for Less duration

·??Fatigue very easily

·??Less Time under Tension

·??More Rest period & Recovery Time

·??Always have a spotter around you

COMPARISON OF INTENSITY LEVEL VS REPETITION RANGE VS MUSCLE FIBRES

·??0 – 50 % INTENSITY RANGE – More than 14 repetitions to unlimited Focus on only Slow Twitch Muscle Fibres.

·??60 % INTENSITY RANGE – Around 14 repetitions, target maximum on Slow Twitch Muscle Fibres, but fast-twitch muscle fibers started to activate at this point, varying from person to person.

·??75 % INTENSITY RANGE – Around ten repetitions. Both Slow & Fast Twitch Muscle Fibres are equally involved.

·??85 % INTENSITY RANGE – Around six repetitions, only on Fast Twitch Muscle Fibres.

·??100 % INTENSITY RANGE – Exact one repetition maximum ( Highest muscle potential ), only on Fast Twitch Muscle Fibres.

(Note: Fast Twitch Muscle Fibres activate at different percentages in every individual, like on 58,59 or 60,61,62 % on some people, so 60 % is just an average approximation, it varies on other people based on their genetics, that's why it can't be 50 or 70 % which will create a much different, around 60 % will be the best option.)

High-Calorie Diet to Build Muscles

Adding weight that is all or mostly muscle can be tricky if you aren't too sure how to approach it. We'll assume that lots of people know that to include weight to your frame, you are going to have to consume even more calories, and to slim down, you have to consume fewer calories; however, the procedure of including muscle weight is just a tiny bit more complex than that basic equation.

When people are attempting to drop pounds, they frequently look to get rid of vacant calorie foods that are high in fats– desserts, cookies, whole milk, fried foods, and so on, so a simple assumption would be to gain weight by adding these things to your diet plan. Well, you might acquire all the weight you wanted by wolfing down bags of cookies and containers of deep-fried chicken, but it's not going to be the sort of weight gain you are searching for.

It isn't as hard as it sounds, but many individuals stop listening after they hear "eat more food" and end up overeating the wrong things in their dieting.

What do You do to Achieve Muscle Mass?

If you have been on the basic diet plan consisting of three meals, it's time to begin stepping up your numbers. You want to consume anywhere from 4 to six reasonably sized dishes daily. Do not get too ecstatic; I'm not suggesting that you take a seat to six whole chickens suppers a day; there are some fundamental means to obtain the additional calories and protein you'll have to help your muscles grow.

Reorganize your three typical dishes so that everyone includes an excellent lean source of protein if it has not been.

Your morning meal could be developed around eggs, lunch can be the chicken breast, and supper could concentrate on fish, which will most likely include a few of the needed proteins without needing extra work.

For the three additional meals, you can keep it extremely simple: a meal might consist of home cheese and some fruit, your preferred yogurt, and a handful of trail mix, or you might even have a couple of peanut butter sandwiches.

Protein beverages and dish replacement shakes are also excellent for adding extra high-quality calories. Many individuals don't like to consume right before bed because it can interrupt their sleep pattern, which can also influence the rate of recovery– a beautiful means to combat this is by drinking a protein shake shortly before you kipping down. The shake shouldn't overload your tummy or make you feel like you've just consumed a square meal before putting it down, but it will undoubtedly offer just as many calories and, possibilities are, much more protein than a small meal. Some individuals drink a shake before bed, then set their alarm clocks for about halfway through the night to get up and have another shake before returning to sleep.

And simply because you have upped your meal anti to 5 or six a day, that does not imply that you must always cut out the treats. A glass of milk and a handful of mixed nuts will certainly include much more protein, vitamins, and vital fats, as will carrot or celery sticks with peanut butter or a couple of hard-boiled eggs.

The easy truth is, no matter what your body type, if you approach your training smartly, constantly using appropriate kind and high intensity; permit your body plenty of time for healing, and enhance your calorie intake with great lean sources of protein while keeping a well-balanced diet plan, your muscles will certainly grow.

Don't get too excited; I'm not recommending that you sit down to six steak dinners a day; there are some basic ways to get the extra calories and protein you'll need to assist your muscles to grow.

Protein beverages and meal replacement shakes are excellent methods for extra high-quality calories. The shake should not overload your tummy or make you feel like you've just consumed an entire dish before laying down; however, it will offer simply as many calories and, chances are, even more protein than a small meal.

Conclusion

Follow a healthy lifestyle and lead a stress-free life as much as possible. Eat nutritious food and drink plenty of fluids to keep your body nourished and healthy. Make sure to catch in on eight hours of sleep daily and enjoy your workout sessions with no distractions from the daily pressure of life.