Muscle Growth

(a simple guide to hypertrophy and supporting factors)

In this blog you will learn about muscle growth and the five, main supporting, factors. After you read it you’ll be able to know each and every single factor and how to apply / use it in order to get the best possible effect. I will not refer to sources, by now. You’re free to double check it. As there is no scientific evidence or a personal view I will point that out.

Reading time approximately 10minutes.

As you get into a gym you might have several reasons. Whether it’s weight or fat reduction, muscle growth, improved endurance or just to treat your body good and stay healthy.

No matter what reason is yours, all of them will come together at one point: your body has to improve and adapt in a way. But how this process of adaption works? This guide will offer you a short insight in the main factors of muscle growth and the best things to do, to support these factors.

The way to get bigger muscles, lean shape or whatever you want is surely no rocket science. All the factors above, followed in a disciplined way, will support you and make sure you are able to achieve any goal.

1. Protein: as the body is not able to produce or convert protein by itself or out of other things like carbs, it’s very important to have the right amount of protein intake. The best option to get your daily protein is the food you take. Fish, white meat, beans, cheese and nuts are very good sources of protein. Furthermore, you might want to add an ‘artificial’ source like a protein shake in order to get the daily demand fulfilled. Whey protein usually does a good job or (in case you prefer vegan) get a multicomponent vegan protein. There’s a wide-ranging discussion about the right composition of the protein source. I will avoid to get in this discussion and come back to it in a separate blog. So, what is the right amount of protein? The answer is it depends on. It depends on your goals and your weight.

Goal	Protein intake per kg bodyweight
Bodybuilding	2,2g
Muscle Growth / fat loss	1,2-1,5g
Normal demand	0,8-1g

These values are committed between several experts in have been proved in clinical studies.

2. Testosterone: the male sex hormone and anabolic steroid. It plays a main role in developing muscles, bones and hair growth. The levels of testosterone in the human body might vary. Main factors are age, gender, and personal factors. It’s good to know that between 25-30 in the male body the testosterone level will start to decrease.

As a normal value for men is between 264 to 916 ng/dL, I will not give any suggestion and make it more scientific than necessary. One of the main reasons: if you get a value, it’s usually hard to measure. But what I can do here, is giving you suggestions how to keep your testosterone level high, which is (uncontroversial) supportive for an adaption of the body. So, what we can do to keep it high?

1. Do a regular resistant training (lift weights or equal). Other trainings, such as HIIT, will be still supportive as well, but not as supportive.
2. Eat healthy fats, such as OMEGA and unsaturated fats.Even better polyunsaturated fats like in sunflower oil, fish, nuts and seeds.
3. Reduce stress
4. Get some sun or Vitamin D, as it is proven that Vitamin D can increase the testosterone level up to 25%
5. Sleep a lot
6. Get a natural testosterone booster such as:
   • Maca root
   • Tribulus Terrestris
   • Ashwagandha

3. Rest: another main factor, which correlates with a lot of the other factors is rest. We all know, that sufficient sleep is essential. But it’s not just the sleep. It’s also the time in between the training session which is to consider. A good amount of sleep is considered to be between 7-10 hours a day, some people might be good with less. Nevertheless, there’s evidence, that less than 5 hours a night, will reduce the testosterone level by 15%.

Onthe other hand, there’s the very important rest time in between the sessions. First of all, it’s good to know that: without proper rest, there’s no muscle growth, as the muscle just grow in the times it can rest.

The following graph is out of my own understanding and knowledge of the process. There is evidence that the cycles are like that. Nevertheless, the values may vary a bit.

The graph shows the correlation between rest and muscle growth on a certain intensity. As I say intensity I mean subjective intensity. Your personal feeling is the meter for that. On the Y-axis you’ll find the muscle grow in % and on the X-axis the time in hours.

The process goes like this (indicator red line):

1. You start today at hour zero and train hard
2. Your muscle will be ‘destroyed’ and decrease
3. The area between 2 and 3 we call ‘regeneration’, as we reach 3 the regeneration should be complete and the muscle back on the “basic” level (100% in this case)
4. The period between 3 and 4 we call hypertrophy, it’s the period where your muscle will grow
5. Finally, and if you wait too long, the muscle will go back on the level it start’s.

As you can see the best time to train the same muscle etc. again after a hard training is after 60-84 hours, depending on factors such as your own ability to regenerate.

4. Nutrition: we all probably heard of the 30% gym and 70% diet rule. And, to be honest, it’s true. There’s no escape from that. As we can write books and start 1000 discussions about this topic I’ll keep myself short and simple. Here’re some basic rules:

1. The relation between the nutrition’s should be about: 50% protein, 35% carbs 15% fats. This may also vary as different body response differently but that’s the most general rule to support a muscle friendly diet.
2. If you want to lose weight you have to burn more than you eat. I know it’s easier said than done. But at the end it’s that simple.
3. Try to include as much fresh vegetables as possible and do it on each and every meal
4. Same counts for fresh berries and oranges
5. Don’t let your craving take the control over you and stay disciplined.
6. If you crave anywaysthe following picture found on herbs-info.com might help a bit.

5. Training: for training there are also plenty of theories outside about what is the most beneficial and why. Today I will describe a few of the good, old classical gym, weight lifting training concepts, one can do. A schedule can be as followed:

The schedule shows very basic but fundamental example schedules for the different levels. As you just start your training it’s more than enough to stick to the full body training. After several month you might switch to the double split and if you aim high, you can even go for the triple split.

Another important part of the training is the area in which you do the repetitions.Studies usually agree to the following areas, depending on your main goal:

 

Goal	Repetition area
Explosive power	1
Muscle power	2-5
Muscle growth	6-15
Muscle endurance	16-x

These repetition values have found a wide-ranging commitment. What’s good to know is that these repetition areas are also connected to a certain period of time in which the muscle is under tension. So, for instance the abdominal musculature is an exception. As 15 repetitions could be too less you might consider to go for 45seconds in order to have the tension for the correct time.

Summary:

We spoke about the main factors of muscle growth. The first graphic we have seen was more like single and independent inputs. But now we know that all of the factors are in correlation. There is no adaption without rest, protein or a healthy diet. All these factors must come together.

As I’ve seen people training for a long period of time, but have almost zero progress, you can be sure it’s not just about training. All factors have to be valued an implemented.

Long way short:

1. Protein: at least 1,2-1,5g per kg bodyweight for results
2. Testosterone: keep it high, by having a supplement, training, get sun and enough rest
3. Rest: normally between 7-10 hours sleep a day, plus sufficient time in between the training
4. Nutrition’s: 30/70 rule, eat fresh non-processed food, 50% protein,35% carbs, 15% fat
5. Training: start with a full body workout, do a split if you want to improve more, also adapt the repetitions according to your preferences

If you want to have more and deeper information and knowledge feel free to come to our gym or write us on Facebook /evolvehealthclubth

 

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