Maximize Muscle Growth with Optimum Exercise, Rest and Nutrition

Muscles are bundles of fibrous tissues in the body and there are different kinds of muscles. Skeletal muscles are muscles that cover the bones in our body which makes it possible for humans to move about. There are a number of factors that affect muscle growth such as diet, supplementation and lifestyle.

What are the mechanisms that promote muscle growth?

• Muscle tension, application of a bigger load of stress that the body is not used to, helps in increasing muscle volume. This is done by lifting progressively heavier dumbbells or weights. This changes the muscle chemistry including mTOR activation , satellite cell activation and many more.
• Muscle damage or sore muscles after a workout means that there is localized muscle damage. It causes the release of inflammatory molecules that react in muscle tissues. This sore feeling diminishes over time even if you gradually increase the weight and frequency of the activity.
• Metabolic stress or “pump” is the effect of metabolic stress when people work out. It is the swollen feeling that leads to increase in muscle growth without increasing muscle cell size.

Can testosterone affect the size of muscles or is this just a myth?

Short answer, Hell yes! Now, men are usually more muscular compared to women and the high testosterone level of men is assumed to be the cause big muscles. Somehow, testosterone seems to promote protein synthesis, prevents protein breakdown and stimulate anabolic hormones. Men who work out seem to help release testosterone which will then stimulate the neurotransmitters in the damaged muscular fibers. However, when a man reaches the age of 30 the natural production of test starts declining so getting a good test booster is a good solution!

Optimum rest and nutrition to increase muscle volume

Muscle tissues also need sufficient rest and nutrition just like any other tissues in the body. Otherwise, it can reverse the anabolic process and put the body in catabolic or also known as destructive state. If you are not sipping on a good intra workout during intense workout sessions your missing the boat and not capitalizing on your gains.

Muscle response to a vigorous workout can lasts for one to two days which means that you would need sufficient nutrition during this period. Remember that muscles have a maximum growth limit and that here are other factors that can affect muscle growth such as gender, age, genetics and lifestyle.

Muscle hypertrophy does not happen overnight

Muscle growth takes time to happen and could be relatively slow for a lot of people. It may take weeks to months before you would notice any change at all but please ensure your taking a good protein, night time recovery, multi-vitamin, oils and a good BCAA. Your body needs to have the building blocks and nutrients in order to grow.

There a lot of ways to improve your muscle volume and one of these is to ensure that muscle protein synthesis exceeds muscle protein breakdown. Adequate ingestion of foods rich in protein helps build bigger muscles while adequate carbohydrates help rebuild damaged muscle tissues. Plant-based protein found in soybeans, legumes and nuts are a good source of easy to digest protein. Flax seeds are good sources of omega 3 fatty acid, fiber and protein that help rebuild muscle tissues and reduce inflammation. With all these nutrients, it will be faster for muscle fibers to heal at a faster rate because they are receiving adequate nutrition.

Help promote muscle growth by forcing your muscles to adapt to stress from exercise but do it gradually to prevent protein breakdown. Different exercise routines are suggested to prevent muscle damage and breakdown.

It’s that time, Smoothie Time!!

~Claudia Carrera