Unconventional Bodybuilding (Pt.3)

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Mike Lipowski

Here are the final two pieces of conventional bodybuilding wisdom that will prevent you from realizing your best physique.

Unless you decide to take the unconventional road.

#4 – You Need to Use a lot of Supplements

I guess that depends on what you define as “a lot”. Personally, I use protein powders, take a Shaklee Vitalizer pack (multi-vitamin, Omegas, probiotic, and B vitamins), and creatine and BCAA’s during my competition prep. For a pre-workout shot of energy I typically drink a bold black coffee or I’ll use a pre-workout drink if my friend Rich Fitter has sent me any samples of the latest and greatest.

Whey protein powder, supplements, bodybuilding

The truth is, many top natural bodybuilders (not that I’m one of them) don’t take many supplements. Most use what would be considered “the essentials” which is essentially what I outlined above. But of course there are those that do consume virtually anything found on a supplement stores shelf if they think it will add an inkling of more muscle or burn more fat.

protein powder. Supplements for bodybuilders

More often than not, those with the best grasp on their training and nutrition utilize far fewer supplements than individuals that do not. The conventional—and outright stupid—outlook on supplements is that results can be found in a pill or powder.

As the lyrics from Survivor’s song in Rocky IV so eloquently points out, “There’s no easy way out…there’s no shortcuts home”.

Unconventional bodybuilding would have you thinking and acting like a researcher or scientist. And like any great researcher you need to control for as many variables as possible before introducing a new one. That means spending months if not years getting your diet and training dialed-in so that if some new revolutionary supplement is added to the mix you can know for sure whether or not it actually made a difference.

#5 – You Have to Dehydrate to Show More Muscle Definition

This might be THE most misunderstood aspects of bodybuilding even for seasoned bodybuilders.

Answer this question for me: How much of your muscle is made up of water?

That’s right, 75%. When you deprive or deplete yourself of water the first place the water leaves is the muscles. Not underneath the skin like most broscience knuckleheads think.

I’ll tell you in a moment the unconventional method for getting water out from under the skin and it doesn’t require the use of diuretics.

But first…

Water makes up three quarters of our muscles size so our goal is to keep as much water in the muscles as we can.

Water, bodybuilding, supplements

The way to regulate water inside and outside the cells is through carbohydrates and sodium/potassium balance.

Each gram of stored carbohydrate holds 2.7 grams of water. That means the higher the concentration of glucose in a muscle the larger or more fuller that muscle will appear as a consequence of holding more water inside of it.

This is why people who undertake a very low carb diet find their muscles looking flat or have difficulty sustaining a good pump when they train. Without a high concentration of glycogen in the muscles, water has nothing to latch onto.

However this doesn’t mean you can consume copious amounts of carbohydrates either. The muscles can only hold a certain amount of glucose at any one time. Exactly how much depends on your body type, muscular size, metabolic rate, activity level, training demands, and what you are accustomed to.

bodybuilding, carbohydrates, supplements

If more glucose is present than what the muscles can store, water now has no place to reside within the muscles so it winds up outside of the cells and underneath the skin. This situation is commonly referred to as “spill-over” and is a bodybuilder’s biggest fear and the reason they erroneously cut their water intake days prior to competition.

The unconventional approach to carbohydrate intake.

A good starting point is 1.25-1.75g/lb. of fat free mass. Those who are highly active, have a high metabolic rate, are insulin sensitive, or find their muscles appearing “flat” will need to adjust their carbohydrates higher. However it is best to methodically make these increases so as to determine the ideal amount for maintaining fullness without spillover.

The other regulating factor in achieving the cellophane skin look is sodium and potassium.

Sodium regulates extracellular fluid activity. Potassium is responsible for controlling intracellular fluid activity.

Salt shaker

What does conventional bodybuilding logic say? Drop your sodium so you hold less subcutaneous water, and if you really want to hit a home run pop some potassium pills!!!

When sodium is too low it signals the release of the hormone Aldosterone which causes the body to reabsorb and prevent the excretion of sodium which then results in water retention OUTSIDE THE CELLS! The more sodium is decreased the more Aldosterone is released and the smoother and more waterlogged the muscles begin looking.

The secret unconventional approach to subcutaneous water excretion is (drum roll please)….

Keep your water intake as high as possible (at least 1 – 1.5 ounces per pound of bodyweight) and keep sodium and potassium intake…NORMAL.

1,500-4,500 mg Na
1,500-2,000 mg K

That’s the secret recipe. It’s not a trick, it’s not magic. It is a predictable approach that will leave you looking as tight as a pair of skinny jeans on a Hipster. Presuming you are lean enough.

That’s right, none of this will make any sort of a difference unless your body-fat is low enough to where you already have significant muscle definition. Put simply, unless you have shredded shoulders, separation in your quads, or something that at least resembles six pack abs, all the manipulation of water, Na, K, and carbs won’t give you these things.

Conclusion

By and large bodybuilding is an illusion. But it’s an illusion that’s created by being as lean as possible while retaining as much muscle as possible while at your leanest. As mentioned at the very start of this series, you don’t simply grow into the incredibly shredded and jacked condition of a bodybuilder. It’s an endeavor that takes time, patience, and the willingness to turn your back on the herd mentality and take the unconventional approach.

Since we opened this series with a quote I figured we should close with on as well.

When you’re used to being prepared to reject conventional wisdom, it leaves you open to learn more.
– Mayim Bialik

Super Slow Training and Bodybuilding

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Mike Lipowski

Amass as much muscle as possible and present it as part of a symmetrical physique.

That is the bodybuilder’s creed. There is not much more to it than that. There is no bias, there are only results. Whatever will improve results will be heralded and whatever does not will be discarded.

Amid the heap of least effective training methods for bodybuilding stands Super Slow™ and its spin-offs.

Bodybuilders have for the most part shunned most forms of slow training but not for what would be considered the obvious reasons:

The overwhelming discomfort brought about by the buildup of lactic acid.
The boredom of moving as slow as a pregnant turtle (15-30 seconds to complete a single rep).
The systemic drain (CNS fatigue) following each workout.
Or the lack of “spice”.

The truth is, any dedicated bodybuilder will happily accept any by-products of a training method no matter how much discomfort or boredom it brings if the method helps him to attain larger, more fully developed muscles. In fact most bodybuilders learn to embrace those aspects of training that the average trainee is less likely to tolerate. It’s called commitment to your craft.

My early years as a competitive bodybuilder coincided with my discovery and the implementation of Super Slow™.

The workouts were excruciating, physically draining (leaving me lying on the floor for 15 minutes afterwards) and required a tremendous amount of mental toughness—and I embraced them for all of these reasons. Most bodybuilders I knew and still know today rarely train so hard they end up lying on the floor or praying to the porcelain God. Super Slow™ protocol also required just 1-2 workouts per week—something considered blasphemous within bodybuilding.

In my mind I was breaking the mold and would be living proof that the classic bodybuilding programs were nothing more than drivel. And that one could achieve equivalent results or better with Super Slow and equivalent programs.

If we isolate certain elements of slow training protocol, what’s being implied is quite rational based on exercise science.

Unfortunately when these singular elements are combined into what appears to be a logical protocol, what actually transpires does not fully reflect theory. At this juncture a bodybuilder who is more concerned with reality than theory will abandon such method in lieu of something that works, even if that something lacks a logical basis.

Where Super Slow™ and other slow training protocols stumble is in their extreme interpretation and implementation of exercise science principles.

For example it is completely rational to lift a weight slowly for the purpose of reducing momentum and the contribution of stored energy torque, increasing muscular tension, obtaining greater feel for the muscle(s) being targeted, and decreasing the risk of injury.

But is it necessary to take “moving slow” to the extreme of single repetitions that take upwards of 15-30 seconds to complete? More importantly is it truly beneficial to move this slowly? An analysis of several studies on repetition speed done by Chris Beardsley at Strength and Conditioning Research would indicate otherwise.

As with most things there comes a point where even a good thing can go bad if taken to an extreme.

Rep Speed

On average most slow training protocols have the trainee execute each movement with a 10/10 or a 10/5 cadence give or take 2-3 seconds based on the exercises range of motion. If working within the accepted time under tension (TUT) for hypertrophy (30-90 seconds) moving at the above cadence would equate to performing only 2-5 repetitions.

Although TUT is of great importance what happens within that TUT is of equal importance. More contractions mean, greater blood flow and interstitial fluid to the muscle fibers, increased mechanical work and protein synthesis, and less time for ATP replenishment and recovery of already worked muscle fibers, as well as activation of more satellite cells at the point of stretch.

Training Frequency

One thing I love about most super slow training methods is that they rightfully recognize the importance of balancing exercise stress and recovery. Most bodybuilders grossly overreach their recovery ability, resulting in perpetual stagnation. A periodic decrease in training frequency (and volume) would be a quick and easy remedy but it’s a remedy that often goes ignored for fear of being seen as less than hardcore.

However, the problem with many slow training models is they take the ‘stress/recovery archetype’ to the extreme of only 1-2 workouts each week sometimes less and rarely more.

For an individual experiencing a high degree of systemic stress from their training, as is common with Super Slow™ or any number of similar programs like Slow Burn™, such low frequency is necessary to allow for systemic recovery. One of the [many] drawbacks however is that less workouts means less protein turnover, and this is an important mechanism in maximizing muscle hypertrophy.

Variation

Slow training denounces the need for variation so most programs go unchanged for long periods. It’s true that for beginners and even some intermediates becoming proficient at performing their exercises is important in order to be effective at targeting the intended muscles. And for this reason it is best to stay with the same exercises until those skills are honed.

But for an advanced bodybuilder who already possesses a high degree of lifting proficiency executing the same exercises week-in-and-week-out on the same equipment in the same exact manner is wasteful. Being overly accustomed with an exercise diminishes its ability to disrupt homeostasis and give the muscles cause for adapting beyond their current development.

There are two other reasons why, as a bodybuilder, more variation in exercise selection is necessary—symmetry and detail.

When we talk about symmetry we are not only speaking about the balance of the upper and lower body or even the development of one muscle group compared to another—but the balance within a muscle group. Having an imbalance within a muscle group is not only an aesthetic problem but will often result in chronic injury.

It is not uncommon for a muscle to lack detail simply because certain points along that muscle have not fully developed. While it is no guarantee of “full development”, performing a variety of exercises at various angles ensures that a muscle will receive adequate stimulation along its entire length. No handful of exercises—even on the most bio-mechanically correct exercise machines as most slow training facilities boast to owning—can ensure complete and balanced development.

Overload and Progression

Slow training models only view overload through the lens of single or double progression, meaning an increase in weight lifted and/or the number of reps performed or TUT. Again, this is absolutely correct…for beginners and intermediates.

Overload is anything that adds to the burden of exercise. This means you can overload through an increase in volume, frequency, or intensity, or changing rep performance (i.e. increase or decrease in lifting tempo, Zone Training, 21’s, stage reps), adding set variables (i.e. forced reps, negatives), vary exercises, angles or equipment, as well as increasing weight load, reps, or TUT, or any combination of them all.

Focusing solely on strength gains at the advanced level of training or for the purpose of bodybuilding is ignoring the fact that increasing strength does not always necessitate an increase in size.

The Verdict

Bodybuilding is an endeavor that requires much attention to detail and constant fine-tuning. Individuals who pursue bodybuilding are not interested in average results.

Yes, very good results can be had performing only two half-hour training sessions per week. Personally, I rarely train more than two full hours in a week and neither do the majority of my clients. Quality does trump quantity, except when the quantity is less than optimal.

Speaking of optimal. From this article I intentionally left out the debate that goes on between slow training advocates, the High Intensity Training community and the rest of the resistance training world regarding whether performing one set to failure is optimal for muscle hypertrophy. The reason I left it out is because the answer is yes and no depending on a number of individual factors and factors related to program design and application that are too exhaustive to discuss here.

Though this article is not meant to bash those that perform Super Slow™ and similar training methods, I can’t help but to point to their inefficiencies for the purpose of bodybuilding and declare them inadequate for bodybuilders seeking the upper limits of muscular development.

The Truth about Missed Workouts and Detraining on Muscle & Strength Gains

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Mike Lipowski

He felt panic stricken. What was he going to do? He spent at least seven hours a week, every week for the last eleven months working to increase is bench and add more muscle. At nineteen years old he was at his peak (so he thought) and this upcoming week was about to squash all the work he’d put in. The same thing happened to him last year during the same week so you thought he would have learned by now.

It was June and he was home from college for the summer. As a lacrosse player, he loved the sport but loved training more. The hours spent in the gym smashing personal bests gave him more satisfaction than scoring goals.

That’s what made this week so hard. There would not be a single minute for him to spend in the gym. The lacrosse camp he was a coach and counselor at for this one week each June was massive—thousands of kids. And with so many kids running around on and off the field there was not a spare minute in the day.

Not being able to train ate way at him every day.

He was excited when day six finally arrived. Time to go home!

He walked in the door said a quick hello to his parents and within minutes he was back out the door, in the car, and heading to the gym.

Gym time

He got under the bench for his first couple of warm-up sets.

“Whoa, that felt easy” he thought to himself.

And then he moved onto his working set. With one-eighty-five on the bar he was expecting to push out his usual six reps. But after he completed eight it hit him that the week off didn’t hurt him one bit.

Not the type to put two and two together he just thought how “lucky” he was to have not lost any strength. Never mind that he just bested his last four bench press workouts.

What can I say, I’m a slow learner.

People get neurotic about their training.

We all agree, a healthy commitment to exercise and nutrition is great. But when a commitment turns into an obsession—usually in the case of body dysmorphic disorders—it’s never a pretty sight. I would not go so far to say I suffered from a disorder (I always maintained some sensibility about how I looked) mine was more of a compulsion.

I worked hard, earned my gains and yearned for more. I would guess you and I are probably similar that way. It’s very normal to be concerned that too much time away from the gym will result in regression.

But…

Is all the unrest we feel about time away from the gym warranted?

If we rely on the empirical evidence the answer is, no.

If rely on the research, the answer is still, no.

Research published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology in 2013 (Ogasawara R¹, Yasuda T, Ishii N, Abe T.) [1] compared the effects of a periodic resistance training (PTR) program with those of a continuous resistance training (CTR) program on muscle size and function.

The CTR group trained continuously over a 24-week period, whereas the PTR group performed three cycles of 6-week training (or retraining), with 3-week detraining periods between training cycles. After an initial 6 weeks of training, increases in cross-sectional area (CSA) of the triceps brachii and pectoralis major muscles and maximum isometric voluntary contraction of the elbow extensors and 1-RM were similar between the two groups.

In the CTR group, muscle CSA and strength gradually increased during the initial 6 weeks of training. However, the rate of increase in muscle CSA and 1-RM decreased gradually after that.

In the PTR group, increase in muscle CSA and strength during the first 3-week detraining/6-week retraining cycle were similar to that in the CTR group during the corresponding period. However, increase in muscle CSA and strength during the second 3-week detraining/6-week retraining cycle were significantly higher in the PTR group than in the CTR group.

Thus, overall improvements in muscle CSA and strength were similar between the groups. The results indicate that 3-week detraining/6-week retraining cycles result in muscle hypertrophy similar to that occurring with continuous resistance training after 24 weeks.

Another study from 2000; Neuromuscular adaptation during prolonged strength training, detraining and re-strength-training in middle-aged and elderly people (Häkkinen K¹, Alen M, Kallinen M, Newton RU, Kraemer WJ) [2] provides further evidence that 3 weeks of not training will have an inconsequential impact on muscular size and strength.

According to the researchers findings: Short-term detraining (3 weeks) led to only minor changes, while prolonged detraining (24 weeks) resulted in muscle atrophy and decreased voluntary strength…

Barring injury or some traumatic event anyone moderately committed to maintaining their fitness is unlikely to miss 24 straight weeks of training.

More is to be gained, not lost, from detraining.

Most encouraging about this study and confirmed by others [3,4] is that there is no inhibition of muscular or strength adaptations upon returning to training. But all of us life-long lifters already recognized this, we call it “Muscle Memory.”

In fact in many instances results upon re-training after a week or two of detraining exceeded previous bests. This was my experience at nineteen after returning from a [forced] week off from training. And the scenario has played out hundreds of other times with personal training clients who—fearful that the past 4 months of progress would be wiped away by their upcoming two week vacation—would come back stronger and sometimes looking better.

We shouldn’t be surprise when we consider the effect continuous training can have on the Central Nervous System (CNS) and General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), as well as how it can blunt anabolic signaling. Taking a week or more off can help all of our physiological systems fully recover and desensitize us to training. All of which are necessary for long-term gains.

Periodization has shown us the way.

As someone who is focused primarily on muscle hypertrophy and building functional strength, and not demonstrating strength (as in the case of a powerlifter or O-lifter), I’m not a big fan of Western Periodization. However, conceptually, it’s spot on. Especially when you view it through the prism of the GAS.

GAS

Periods of exercise stress must be followed by periods of rest so the body can overcompensate for and adapt to the stress. In the same way Western Periodization breaks up your training into cycles that focus on a particular adaptation, you want to have specified periods of increased or varied training demands accompanied by periods of lesser demands and layoffs.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, almost to the point of sounding like an iPod stuck on repeat—building muscle is metabolically demanding. Our body will seek out any way, other than building muscle, to increase strength and contend with the demands placed on it through exercise.

That’s why a linear training and recovery model is only beneficial to advanced trainees striving to maintain their gains.

The more our intensity, volume, frequency, method of rep/set performance, exercise selection, etc. remains the same the more sensitized we become to it. The stubborn nineteen year old couldn’t wrap his thick skull around the idea that time away from the gym is good for gains.

What-Rest-Days-Feel-Like

But that’s not to say there are not legitimate concerns about detraining.

The two that most quickly jumps to mind for those aesthetically ambitious is fat accumulation resulting from diminished activity and a loss of muscle fullness.

However these are concerns that can easily be addressed and rectified:

To avoid fat gain requires a simple recalculation in caloric intake. Accounting for the calories you won’t be burning through exercise while remaining at or below your maintenance levels will impede any potential fat storage. …Simply solution to a simple problem.

Next, loss of muscle fullness is the result of glycogen degradation. Meaning your muscles are not overcompensating for the glycogen depleted during muscular contractions. This trend reverses immediately upon returning to training.

If you’re taking a week off from training this change is nearly unnoticeable. But if you plan to take more than one week off from purposeful training then you might implement one or two very light workouts a week in which you get a moderate pump, deplete some glycogen, but do not disrupt systemic recovery.

Aside from unease about potential aesthetic deviations the only other observed negative effect in some studies (and validated through personal experience) is a short lived decrease in metabolic conditioning. Upon resuming training subjects/clients fatigued after fewer exercises than is typical or required slightly longer rest between exercises. In my experience most trainees regain their previous level of conditioning after 1-4 workouts.

One step back and two steps forward.

As much evidence as there is to support detraining it should be understood that it is not a license to fly by the seat of your pants. These periods must be planned. They should be built around periods of heavy demands so you can take advantage of heightened anabolic signaling (5) and desensitization to training on the frontend (like when you were a beginner and made rapid gains) and unimpeded recovery on the backend so you can overcompensate and adapt to the demands.

The question is: are you willing to give little in order to get a little more?

References:

1. Ogasawara R1, Yasuda T, Ishii N, Abe T. Comparison of muscle hypertrophy following 6-month of continuous and periodic strength training. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2013 Apr;113(4):975-85. doi: 10.1007/s00421-012-2511-9. Epub 2012 Oct 6.

2. Häkkinen K1, Alen M, Kallinen M, Newton RU, Kraemer WJ. Neuromuscular adaptation during prolonged strength training, detraining and re-strength-training in middle-aged and elderly people. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2000 Sep;83(1):51-62.

3. . Ogasawara R1, Yasuda T, Sakamaki M, Ozaki H, Abe T. Effects of periodic and continued resistance training on muscle CSA and
strength in previously untrained men. Clin Physiol Funct Imaging. 2011 Sep;31(5):399-404. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-097X.2011.01031.x. Epub 2011 May 31

4. Bruusgaard JC, Johansen IB, Egner IM, Rana ZA, Gundersen K. Myonuclei acquired by overload exercise precede hypertrophy and are not lost on detraining. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Aug 24;107(34):15111-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0913935107. Epub 2010 Aug 16

5. Ogasawara R1, Kobayashi K, Tsutaki A, Lee K, Abe T, Fujita S, Nakazato K, Ishii N. mTOR signaling response to resistance exercise is altered by chronic resistance training and detraining in skeletal muscle. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2013 Apr;114(7):934-40. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.01161.2012. Epub 2013 Jan 31

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5 Things You Must Know to Pack on Muscle

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Mike Lipowski

The struggle to build muscle is one that’s near and dear to me. Never the genetic freak. Completely average at best.

I know what it’s like to pour everything into your training with only negligible returns.

I’m not complaining though. This reality is what’s helped me sift through so much of the BS that’s written in articles and on other blogs and shown on YouTube.

Now when I read, see or listen to someone I know whether they’re full of shit or there’s something legitimate to what they’re saying and worth exploring.

There’s more reasons further than the eye can see for why some guys pack on muscle and others don’t. (Yes, there’s more than just genetics all you self proclaimed hardgainers.)

Knowing these five will swing the odds heavily in your favor …regardless of genetics.

Here they are, in no order of importance:

1. There is a Training Variable Domino Effect

We’re clear on the fact that every workout program has these four primary variables present: intensity, volume, frequency, and load. Then we have detail oriented variables such as rep speed, rep and set variations, equipment, and rest periods.

What’s not always clear is the immediate impact that putting your focus on one (or a few) has on the rest.

Through my first thirteen years of my weight training the focus had been on completing a certain (high) volume of work. When I made a shift to focusing on intensity of effort a funny thing happened …I couldn’t handle as much volume. At least not long term.

I tried, but soon realized that if I wanted to keep my focus on training with the highest intensity possible for each exercise, doing more sets per exercise would cut into my performance.

When my focus shifted to an increase in frequency I couldn’t maintain the same high intensity, training to muscular failure and beyond workouts, for more than 2-4 consecutive weeks.

It wasn’t for a lack of trying, rather the cumulative stress was resulting in a drop in performance because my body didn’t have time to overcompensate. We’ve all experienced this on some level.

Have you ever been forced to take a week off from training only to come back stronger?

The reason why is because your body had the opportunity to systemically recover from the cumulative stress.

Why does this matter?

Because…

Your Long Term Success in Building Muscle is Directly Proportional to Your Ability to Manage Your Overall Training Demands by Managing Exercise Variables.

When you adjust or change one variable it causes a domino effect. Think about going from your typical straight sets to adding two forced reps at the end of each set.

After one or two sets the load you can handle on each consecutive set will likely be much less than usual. It’s also likely that you won’t maintain the same level of intensity throughout the workout as you normally do.

This could be good, this could be bad.

Whether you get a hypertrophy response depends if the training demands from making this change are appropriate, relative to your needs at that time. And if they’re balanced with enough recovery time to allow for overcompensation.

The point is, whenever we adjust training variables we have to take notice of how it effects the others and our intended outcome.

2. You Have to Change Your Approach and Innovate Your Training

Let me start by saying that the following suggestion does come with a caveat. If you’re relatively new to weight training there’s no need to make frequent or dramatic changes to your training.

Depending on your responsiveness it can take 6-12 months before you start seeing diminished returns from a single or double progression approach (ie. increasing weight and/or reps).

When the time does come..

Relying on What Got You to Where You Are Won’t Get You to Where You Want to Go.

This is when periodic changes in your training demands through new and unique ways of training is most beneficial.

Sometimes the innovative thing to do is to train LESS. Not just for recovery to but to desensitize yourself to the current demands and then come back with a fury.

3. You Need to Stop Listening Everyone Else and Listen to Yourself

I hear my parents words echoing in my head, “Just because your friends would jump off a bridge doesn’t mean you should.”

I get it.

Problem is, I’m more likely to be the first to jump.

But there’s a lot of truth in the message they were trying to convey. How many of us in pursuit of the perfect program have jumped from one expert or champions routine to another?

Only to be disappointed that we didn’t get the result promised.

I should have cannonball delts and powerful pecs by now!

The times I’ve made by best progress were when I followed my intuition.

No one knows you better than you know yourself.

An outside objective point of view is important but even I’ve been proved wrong by clients who told me they felt like they needed a little bit of ‘X’ and when added into the mix (or taken out) it worked.

If you have any appreciable time training under your belt and you’re observant you don’t need to put your faith in the next guys program. Put it in yourself! If you’re intuition was wrong see #2.

4. Your Nutrition Can Not be Based on “What you think”

Having personally trained hundreds of people the most common answer I get when I ask someone how much protein they’re taking in is, “I think I get enough”.

I think I get enough, is not an amount.

(And I really wish people would stop referring to peanut butter as one of their primary sources of protein.)

When you don’t know how much carbs, fat, protein and calories you consume it’s nearly impossible to determine how much you need …or don’t need.

If your goal is to build muscle you need a certain amount of protein based on your lean body mass, body type, and activity level to optimize protein synthesis.

You also need a certain amount of carbs to supply energy for your hard workouts. For most people ketogenic diets are not ideal for muscle building building since protein will first be converted to glycogen to supply your energy needs.

We’re better served taking in enough carbs to satisfy our energy needs so the protein we do consume can do it’s primary job of repairing and building muscle tissue.

Track what you’re taking in so you, your trainer, coach or nutritionist, can make informed decisions based on what you know, not what you think.

5. Look at the Whole and Just the Parts

All of this muscle building stuff would be a heck of a lot easier if we lived in a vacuum (not the Hoover kind). But we don’t. We live in a dynamic world where our environment and our body is constantly changing.

Not too long ago my wife took me hang gliding for my birthday. She knows I love heights which is why the birthday before that was spent sky diving, and I went two other times before that.

The view from 13,500 ft. is like nothing else. You can see so much more than you can on the ground.

Our training isn’t much different. Week in and week out we’re on the ground level.

It’s Easy to Miss What’s Happening or What Has Happened Until We Take a Step Back.

Only then do we see the sum of all the parts.

Workouts are only a piece of what defines our outcome. It’s a big piece, but still just a single factor in whether or not we are building muscle, maintaining, or regressing.

Nutrition, lifestyle, age, experience, stress, rest and yes, genetics all play a role in the effectiveness of your training and muscle hypertrophy. The more you can control the controllable components the greater your likelihood for success.

Making Sure Your Fitness Results Last…Forever

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Mike Lipowski

You and I, we do it for the results. Why else would we do it? Some people think about being fit. We hunt fitness down and capture it like prey.

And when we do there is nothing better than when…

Fat has been lost…

Muscle has been built…

Strength has been gained…

And a new attitude rules the day.

Getting to Where You Want to Go

We know that not a single small improvement is made without a tremendous amount of work. The fact is, if you want good results your training, nutrition, and lifestyle choices have to be great.

If you want great results they need to be outstanding. If you want outstanding results you need to crush your self-limiting beliefs and be relentlessly consistent with your outstanding actions.

When you’ve worked your way from where you were to where you are—assuming where you are is better than where you were—then there is only one thing that can bring you down. Regression.

When You Arrive, ‘Burn the Boats’

The only way to ensure you never sink back to the place you once were, the place you worked so hard to get away from, is by cutting off all ties to that place.

The phrase ‘Burn the Boats’ is one of my favorites. (I’m pretty sure it, along with an image will wind up a future tattoo somewhere on my body.) It stems from the legend of Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes who in the early 1500’s defeated the Aztecs in Mexico.

He and his men made a commitment to do what no one before them was able to do. As legend goes Cortes got his men to commit by burning their ships.

Victory, the Only Option

Cortes made it so there was no turning back. It was either win or die.

Commitment is nothing more than a decision. You have to decide in your mind to the ‘Burn the Boats’ and eliminate any prospect of retreating back to where you came from. You need to leave the old you behind.

Even if you’re not yet where you want to be. Burning the boats means you can only move forward.

It’s a Mindset

Though it might not be a life or death situation like it was for Cortes and his men. Implanting the idea that it is (and it very well could be for some) can have a significant impact on your subconscious.

You’d be surprised what you can do.

And if burning the boats in your mind doesn’t work then try burning your clothes! If you have no larger sizes to fall back on then you’ll always have to find a way to stay in the smaller ones you’ve got on now.