The XXX Factors for Building Muscle (Part 3)

In the last of my series on the top 3 X factors that I believe are the most important in helping to build muscle, the final piece of the jigsaw is arguably the most vital but is often the most over looked. The final X factor is nutrition. It's no good doing varied and intense work outs, allowing time for each muscle to recover fully before challenging them again, if the fuel you are consuming to help build them is not enough and/or is the wrong type of food. The body in order to repair the muscles that have been damaged during work outs, need Protein to help rebuild them and increase their size. The main source of protein comes from animal and diary products, such as chicken, meat, fish, cheese, eggs, butter and milk. They can also be found in non-animal products such as pulses, tofu, textured value protein, seeds and nuts but you have to consume a lot more in order to gain the same amount that you would get from animal sources. A lot of people prefer to now use protein shakes as they can be more convenient and you can consume a lot more protein in one go, rather than struggling to consume the same amount from chicken and eggs. Herbalife has recently brought out a whole new range of products to help both professional and keen athletes and sports people. The 24 range includes a pumped up version of Herbalife's leading protein shake, which is the world's number one meal replacement product, the Formula 1 shake. This shake is called Formula 1 Sport and contains Whey protein rather than soya, as it is transported quicker into the muscles, as its the body's preferred source of protein. It also has a unique blend of carbohydrate-protein and fibre with essential vitamins and minerals that the body needs to repair itself fully. This comes in Vanilla Cream flavour and so lends itself well to adding other ingredients to it such as fruit or peanut butter to add further vitamins, fibre or protein. I would recommend consuming this after a work out, as this is when your body needs it the most. In addition to this you can have it as a snack between meals to help top up your protein needs. In the 24 range there is also the more advanced protein shake for those who are serious about packing on the muscle. Called Rebuild Strength, this is a high protein recovery shake that you consume after training. Packed with 25g of high quality whey protein and comes in a tasty chocolate flavour. Unlike a lot of other inferior protein shakes, there are no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners in this product. Herbalife also believes in the policy of 'from seed to feed', meaning that unlike a lot of cheaper protein shakes that can have other companies involved during the development stages, Herbalife uses no outside companies and vigorously checks the product at each key stage of development in order to ensure that it contains the highest level of quality of ingredients and is fully in control of what goes into each product. Also professional sports people who can get tested for performance enhancing drugs can be reassured that every product from every batch produced in the 24 range are screened for prohibited substances by an independent 3rd party. Water is also important for our bodies, as we are made up of about 70% of water and is used to help transport nutrients to cells and get rid of waste products. In order to function at our best we need to consume at least 2.5 litres per day, even more if we are working out or in a hot environment.

The XXX Factors on building muscle (Part 2)

On my last blog I covered how important it was to up the intensity of your work out in order to stimulate the muscle enough to grow. If the muscle isn't placed under pressure, there's no reason for it to build more muscle fibres, to perform the task its asked to do, as it can already do it with the fibres it already has! In Part 2 I will be explaining the 2nd X Factor:- Rest & work out variation - how many times have you seen a really skinny guy in the gym throwing around weights and he seems to be in there all the time, 24-7 and he doesn't look any different from when he started a year ago! In fact he looks like he's putting on body fat rather than muscle! Why is this? What is going on? You would think if he is battering his body day in and day out he should be packing on lean, mean muscle and looking like a champion body builder and not a skinny weakling! It's the fact that muscle growth doesn't occur during your time in the gym but the magic happens once you leave that gym and start resting. When the body is resting and has been given adequate nutrition (more on this later)than the muscle fibres which have been ripped down during the work out can be mended and made bigger (hypertrophy). However if you're constantly working out in the gym, like that skinny guy, with the increasing swelling belly than all you're doing is ripping down the muscle and not allowing enough time for it to mend before ripping it down again. Over a period of time the muscle in fact becomes smaller and as the body only has enough energy stores for 1 to 1.5 hours per session, if you continue past this point your body will strip down the muscle to continue the work out (catabolism). This is something you don't want, as muscle mass burns more calories at rest compared with fat and this helps to keep your metabolism up and if your body starts to strip this away and leaves the fat, your body composition starts to change and your metabolism will slow down as fat% increases and muscle % decreases- not a good look! You must get plenty of sleep, at least 8 hours, as this is the time when the muscles start to rebuild and recover. This is also when testosterone and Human Growth Hormone (HGH)is produced, the hormones that help muscle growth. You must factor in rest days at least 1 day of total rest per week and split your fitness work outs in order to allow 48 hours rest of each muscle, before training them again. E.g on Monday do chest but don't do chest again until at least Wednesday, so do back or legs on Tuesday instead. Try to vary the work outs so you have heavy and lighter training days in order to help the body to recover and avoid over training. The other thing to avoid is continuing doing the same old fitness programme for months, maybe even years! The body adapts to exercise extremely quickly, so in order to continue packing on the muscle you must change your programme about every 6 weeks so you keep the body guessing and avoid plateauing. Also during each session mix up the order you do each exercise. If you always start with the bench press then start with chest flyes or pullovers instead, to keep the body guessing and make each session feel different, so each visit to the gym feels fresh for both mind and body. I leave the last word about keeping the body guessing to keep growing to arguably the most successful and influential body builder of all time, Mr Arnold Schwarzenegger, "Your muscles tend to become complacent and resist growth if you are constantly doing the same workout for them. But if you try all different types of training methods, exercises, weights, set-rep combinations and training tempos, you keep the muscles off balance. They sort of say to themselves, ‘Wow, there’s a new thing here. He just did 10 sets of 20 reps, and the next workout he’ll do 20 sets of five reps. I’ll never get used to this. I can never build up a resistance to the training, so I guess I’ll have to grow!’”