THE #1 RATED MUSCLE BUILDING PROGRAM
by FitnessProductsReviewed.com

If you’re reading this then chances are good that you are interested in gaining muscle. This is a process we hear talked about a lot. You typically see articles or books on the best workouts for increasing muscle mass or ads for the best supplements for increasing mass.

Based on my review of these articles and ads I have come to the conclusion that many so-called “experts” really have no idea how people gain muscle. A basic understanding of how the body increases muscle size is necessary before an effective workout and nutrition program can be undertaken.

To start with, we need to be specific about what we mean when we are talking about muscle growth. There are a few ways the muscle can grow, but for the purposes of this article we are going to focus on one: myofibrillar hypertrophy. Now don’t get scared by the fancy name. All this means is that the proteins that make-up the muscle get bigger.

To cause this process to take place there must be some sort of stimulus. In our case we are chiefly concerned with weight training as the stimulus. Weight training causes the muscles to contract, and if done with enough weight and for enough reps and sets, the proteins in the muscle will develop slight tears in them. This tearing is a signal to the body to repair these damaged proteins.

There are many things that help in this repair, but one of the most important is amino acids. Protein is made of amino acids. So when you eat protein the body breaks it down into amino acids which can be transported through the blood to the damaged muscles. The muscles can then use these amino acids to rebuild the proteins that make up muscle.

The goal of training for muscle gain is to get the muscles to rebuild themselves bigger and stronger than before. The problem comes when we don’t have a good balance between muscle breakdown and muscle rebuilding. There are limits to how fast we can repair muscle.

Things like hormones, stress, and sleep all play a role in our recovery. For this reason these things need to be taken into account when designing a training program. This is why the athletes I work with do vastly different training programs at different times of the year.

During the season they are practicing daily and typically have higher stress levels. If I asked them to perform the same workouts we do in the off-season I would be creating a situation in their bodies where they simply wouldn’t be able to effectively repair all of the damage we are causing. This leads to not only a plateau in performance, but often a decrease.

This also has repercussions for people who aren’t athletes. You have your own individual profile of hormones and daily stressors. These are some of the reasons why you will respond entirely differently to one particular program than another person will.

This is also why cookie-cutter programs don’t work. Training and nutrition need to be individualized to your specific physiology. There is a great machine called the Omegawave, which gives great insight into what is going on with the various systems in your body. The downside is that this machine costs $30,000!

And frankly, this machine is probably overkill for most recreational lifters. In Athletic Muscle Building I introduce you to some simple ways to monitor what’s going on inside your body without expensive equipment. This helps you to determine the optimal training volume and frequency for you.

It will also become painfully obvious to you that there is an imbalance between muscle breakdown and muscle rebuilding. Simply put, when you aren’t gaining muscle consistently you know something is wrong with the balance between these two processes. The key is discovering what is going wrong and knowing how to make these changes.

For this reason I never suggest following a cookie-cutter program. You need a program that can be adapted to your specific physiology. After all, if generic programs worked for everyone wouldn’t you already have the body you want?