Page 26 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 65

26 April 2018 Issue #65
Let’s Get Jacked
By Matt O’Shagnessy
and Christine Lapierre
common question amongst most
A is ‘How do I gain more muscle’?
The answer is more complex than
‘Go lift some weight’. Gaining
muscle is an intricate phenomenon; it
involves more than just lifting weight
in an 8-12 rep range. Your body must
be in a condition that is conducive to
growth, especially if you want that
growth to be maximal.
Here are some tips on how to prime
your body for maximal growth:
1. Decrease cortisol levels: entire system down - and leave the
Elevated cortisol levels are death to gym primed for growth.
muscle growth. Learning how to
regulate your own hormonal system
in and out of the gym is key.
During and before your workout,
it is beneficial to get ‘pumped up’.
Jump around. Listen to aggressive
music. Get your adrenaline going…
or activate your sympathetic nervous
system.
HOWEVER. Bringing that
energy level down or activating your
parasympathetic nervous system in
between sets and after you leave the
gym is just as important.
Although one may think otherwise,
you don’t want to leave the gym
feeling like you can destroy and take
over the world. You don’t want to
leave the gym and enter a stressful
life situation either; as both will
have your cortisol levels raised,
putting you in a catabolic (muscle
breakdown) state.
Instead, instead try taking 5-10
minutes for a post-workout. Put
on some calming music, do some
stretching, foam rolling. Get your
cortisol levels down. Calm your
2. Understand. Not every
training session has to be balls to
the wall: There is a time and a place
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regenerate. Lack of sleep can disrupt
for that, but it is certainly not every
your gains and fat loss immensely
training session. In fact, going all through an increase in cortisol.
out, balls to the wall, every training
Taking your sleep as seriously as
session can leave you in a severely you do your training is a good idea.
compromised state; in which gains Once you get your sleep dialled in,
can be almost impossible to achieve.
your muscles will have a chance to
Your body NEEDS time to recover.
recover and grow from the torture
The difference between when to you put them though.
train at higher intensity, and when to To get a better night’s sleep, try:
train at lower intensity is determined Supplementing with vitamin D and
by the status of your nervous system. magnesium before bed,
When you stress a muscle in training,
Avoiding exposure to screen lights
you force it to adapt and become
for an hour before bed,
stronger. There’s a fine line between
Making your sleeping area as dark
the right amount of stress and going
as possible, and
too far. Decreasing the temperature in your
In order to get the best out of home at night.
your training session, try altering 5. Ensure proper hydration: So
your program based on how you many people walk into the gym
are feeling that day (also known dehydrated. They might as well turn
as autoregulation). Tune into your around and go home. It is imperative
body before you start your session. that your cells are hydrated before
Put some calming music on, do you start your training session.
some dynamic stretching. See how When you contract your muscles
you’re feeling. If your day calls for during training, water is driven
max deadlifts but you find yourself from the blood into the muscle cells
wanting to take a nap, switch it up.
Work on other goals you want or and surrounding areas, creating the
need to accomplish, and vice versa; “pump” we all desire. When you
if your day calls for active recovery are not properly hydrated cells lose
but you’re feeling strong and ready to water, protein production slows
go, then go! down, and protein breakdown speeds
up. Wave goodbye to your gains.
3. Develop proper contraction:
This one is so vital. Building To ensure proper hydration,
try starting off your day with by
muscle is not about lifting the most
amount of weight possible. That consuming lots of water. General
recommendations for people who
is powerlifting. Building muscle
relies on contraction, and tension, of train and sweat are 3.5-7 litres per day.
the muscle fibre. Learning how to BCAAs (branch-chain amino acids),
and electrolyte-based performance
contract the muscle you want to grow
is the first step. Performing a bench fluids consumed during training can
help both hydration and muscle cell
press, while feeling it in your triceps
or shoulders will not add maximal volumization (aka gains).
gains to your chest. 6. Consume proper nutrients:
This one seems obvious. But it’s
If you find that you are experiencing
an issue like this, take a step back. surprising how many people go into
a workout without having the proper
Decrease the weight and practise
contracting the muscle you want to nutrients in them first. When it
grow with very light, to no, weight comes to building muscle, protein is
essential. Everyone knows this. The
throughout the repetition. Once you
have this mastered, it’s time to add question seems to be how much?
more weight to the bar. If you take About 0.9 to 1.2 grams per
the time to practise, and treat your pound of bodyweight is a good
training session like practice, you recommendation. Some bodybuilders
will teach your nervous system how go crazy and consume 2.0g per pound
to contract your muscles properly. of body weight. That’s excessive.
How to move through a repetition Anything more than 1.2g and your
correctly - and eventually it will body is converting the protein to
become second nature. glucose and storing it as fat.
4. Get adequate sleep/ recovery: Another question stems around
Sleep is everything. It is our body’s the consumption of carbohydrates,
natural ability to restore, recover, and
Continuned on page 27