Fast Gains
The proverbial question:
what's the fastest way to gain muscle? That question can be answered in
a number of ways, but the best way (not the easiest!) is going to be discussed
in this article
By Marshall Brown. B.Sc. Ph.D. No
Bull Collection
Training
techniques: the importance of training the largest
muscle groups
In order to create a highly
anabolic environment within the body, it is important that the largest
muscles of the body (primarily those that are involved in the squat, deadlift,
and even leg-pressing to a large extent, i.e. the muscles of the thigh,
hip and lower back) are trained and stimulated to grow. Why? Since these
muscles comprise such a large amount of the total muscle mass on the human
body, any training stress of sufficient intensity to cause these muscles
to grow will also place great stress on the body overall.
These muscles are an integral
part of the physiology and mechanisms of your entire body, i.e. they do
not work on their own, and the ENTIRE body is placed under stress and the
need for growth and recuperation is generated; for example, you need the
digestion in your stomach to supply your muscles with nutrients, and their
will be a greater demand for nutrients from very large growing muscles,
and so your stomach, for example, could well adapt and become more efficient
at digesting food, i.e. the entire body adapts including the muscles. The
effects of training ARE that far-reaching.
The stress thus placed on
your body is obviously greatest from expending enough time and intensity
training the largest muscles of your body. This creates a highly anabolic
environment in the entire body, due to the need created in the body for
extensive growth and repair of muscle tissue, which will translate into
greater gains from the training of your smaller muscle groups, since the
body works as a whole, and not in separate, isolated parts.
The Importance
of Protein and Water
In order for your body to
adapt to training stress, it is vital that you are ingesting enough protein
and carbohydrate, and as I mentioned in the previous article, most people
find that a high protein diet, with lower relative carbohydrate levels,
is better for them: this is something that you have to experiment with
for yourself.
Also
as I have mentioned before, water is a vital component in the diet, and
you can't really get enough of it when in heavy training and consuming
plenty of protein. Not only does it serve the most important purpose of
being the most abundant constituent of muscle (muscle cells are 70% water,
with the rest being mostly protein), but large amounts of water also helps
to flush waste products from your system, and helps avoid stress on the
kidneys in this way. Also, water can be used to help flush nutrients (e.g.
amino acids, vitamins etc.) through your body, which enables these nutrients
to bathe all your tissues optimally and ensure their optimum health, which
is vital for good gains: this could not be achieved in a low water intake
environment. It's also important to note that the amino acid L-glutamine
is the most abundant amino acid in muscle tissue, and so it's well worthwhile
to supplement your diet with extra L-glutamine.
The importance of a good
multi-vitamin and mineral supplement cannot be overlooked either, as the
growth processes cannot proceed unless all factors necessary for growth
are present, and these include vitamins and
minerals, in addition to
the necessary amino acids supplied from dietary protein, and other dietary
constituents.
With and Without
Steroids?
As I have written before
in previous articles, as much as possible should be gained from natural
training before steroids are used, and this can mean as many as 8 or 10
years of natural training (i.e. without anabolic drugs).
When steroids are used and
the body is already very fit from years of training in the gym, then the
steroids have a much greater and more beneficial effect than they would
have on a previously untrained body, and this is due to the difference
in initial fitness between the two: the fitter and stronger the body is
to begin with, then the better it can use the steroids and other anabolic
drugs that may be used.
From No
Bull Collection |